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What Goes Around Comes Around:
A Grandmaster Morality Tale
by David Korn
I was witness to a striking incident at the 42nd World Amateur Team
Championship (WATC) tournament involving one of the top grandmasters in
the U.S. It was an act that demonstrated the highest level of sportsmanship.
This story is hopefully taken as a morality tale involving chess, rather than
primarily a chess tale with a moral side note.
The WATC, held in late February, is the largest single annual tournament in
the United States. The format consists of four separate team tournaments all
occurring over the same weekend, divided geographically by East, West,
North, and South. The four winning teams then enter a playoff to determine
the overall nationwide team champion.
The requirement for qualifying is that the average ratings of the four team
members be below 2200. Sometimes this might involve four strong experts or
masters with roughly equivalent ratings, or, say, a team with a high-level
grandmaster on Board One and a lower-ranked, but nevertheless appropriately
strong, team member, sometimes even one drawn from scholastic chess
circles, on Board Four.
The Eastern Region routinely attracts the largest number of participants: this
year, 294 teams or about 1,300 combatants attended in Parsippany, NJ. It was
a three-day, six-round Swiss in which some potential thirty-six hours of chess
matches were concentrated into two-and-one-half days; making this a
veritable marathon competition of grueling chess.
The top players in the United States regularly participate, as do world-class
titled players from abroad. Needless to say, this makes for a wonderful
opportunity for amateurs to play against, socialize with, or simply observe the
best players.
GM Robert Hess
In Round Two, grandmaster Robert Hess (FIDE 2635/USCF 2727) was paired
against a determined and strong master from Maryland named Benjamin
Krause (USCF 2244). Krause was having the game of his life, and was
pressing for a win in great complications against a particularly resilient Hess.
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2. A crowd had gathered around the board, growing like a bee hive. Krause had
some thirteen minutes to Hess's three minutes. Yet, Hess, even though losing,
had such an air of certainty; the self-proposed manner of someone who knew
exactly what he was doing. Imagine the sight: one player completely winning,
with time on the clock, but obviously distressed; the other, in a worse
position, with less time, but completely calm. One wondered, "how could
Hess be so calm?"
Krause could be observed almost rocking in his chair trying to find the
winning line amongst the sea of variations that might take hours to sort out
even in the quiet study of home analysis. A crowd of more than twenty
persons were now encircling the board; some holding their breath as the time
control loomed. While under enormous stress and down to nine seconds in
terrific time pressure, Krause sat clench-fisted in his chair and forgot to hit his
clock after making his thirty-eighth move. It appeared that he was set to lose
tragically.
Hess similarly had a handful of seconds and could have simply let his
opponent lose on time. Instead, he calmly reached over and pressed the clock
for Krause, giving Krause the opportunity to play on!
The writer stood in awe at this gesture. Who among us would do that? One
spectator was overheard saying, "That's Hess, a class act." When I approached
Hess the next morning to ask about chronicling this episode, I asked how he
could be so calm and relaxed in such a situation. He said, "It's hard to be
stressed when you are completely losing."
This is a moral story. Hess risked the success of his team (not to mention his
rating) with this gesture of sportsmanship that granted his opponent a chance
to win or draw from a sure loss. When grandmaster Yasser Seirawan was told
the story, he commented, "I am very proud of Robert." Hess and Krause
eventually drew, and Hess and his team went on to win the overall
tournament.
We wish GM Hess the best of luck at the U.S. Chess Championship scheduled
for this May at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, founded
by Rex Sinquefield. Hess is seeded fifth, behind opponents no less than
Nakamura, Kamsky, Onischuk, and Seirawan. It promises to be a fierce
competition among twelve grandmasters, including Akobian (2709),
Stripunsky (2700), Robson (2674), Ramirez (2668), Shulman (2666),
Lenderman (2665), and Kaidanov (2658).
Benjamin Krause has kindly furnished his annotations to the game:
Hess, Robert (2635) – Krause, Benjamin (2244)
World Amateur Team Parsippany NJ (2), 18.02.2012
Sicilian Defense [B23]
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bb5
I felt a little uneasy after he played this line. I had a couple bad games against
it in the past, and had not done much to update my preparation.
3...Nd4 4.Bc4 e6
Probably best. It avoids a trap line that goes 4...g6 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.Nxd4 cxd4 7.
Qf3 e6?! (7...Nh6) 8.Nb5 d6 9.Qa3+/- with an ugly position for Black.
5.Nge2 a6 6.Nxd4 cxd4 7.Ne2 Bc5 8.d3 Ne7 9.Nf4 Ng6 10.Nxg6 hxg6
3. [FEN "r1bqk2r/1p1p1pp1/p3p1p1/2b5/2BpP3/
3P4/PPP2PPP/R1BQK2R w KQkq - 0 11"]
I was pretty happy with how the opening went. I felt that I had fully equalized.
11.Bd2
On 11.0–0, I intended 11...d5! 12.exd5 exd5 13.Bb3 Qh4, with the idea of
sacrificing on h3, 14.Re1+ Kf8 15.h3 Bxh3 16.gxh3 Qxh3 17.Bxd5 Rh4.
11...d6 12.Bb3 Bd7 13.Qf3 Bc6
I am slowly improving my pieces while waiting for his king to commit.
14.0–0–0!?
I was surprised by this move. I thought it looked risky for him. I considered
Qh4 to block the kingside and possibly trade queens, but I thought I had good
chances in the pawn race.
14...a5! 15.a3 b5 16.h4
I could feel what used to be a quiet position heating up.
16...b4 17.axb4
I anticipated 17.a4 Qd7 18.h5 gxh5 19.Rxh5 Rf8 where I would win his a4-
pawn, but he would have play on the kingside.
17...Bxb4 18.Bg5?!
[FEN "r2qk2r/5pp1/2bpp1p1/p5B1/1b1pP2P/
1B1P1Q2/1PP2PP1/2KR3R b kq - 0 18"]
I thought for about twenty minutes in this position, because I knew it was a
critical point in the game. I wanted to play Qb6 and break open the queenside
with a4–a3, but this plan was a little to slow. I first needed to find a way to
gain time, so that my kingside would hold together.
18...Qb6 19.h5 Qc5!
Improving the position of my queen with tempo.
20.Qg4 f5!
4. This kicks out his queen and helps me hold the kingside. 20...a4! 21.Bxe6 a3
22.Bxf7+ Kf8 is complicated, but also good for Black 23.Kb1 axb2 24.Ba2
Qa7 25.Be7+ Kxe7 26.Qe6+ Kd8 27.hxg6 Rf8+–.
21.Qe2 a4 22.exf5 e5!
[FEN "r3k2r/6p1/2bp2p1/2q1pPBP/pb1p4/
1B1P4/1PP1QPP1/2KR3R w kq - 0 23"]
Now my kingside is held together and I have some very serious threats. I
could not see how he would defend this position.
23.hxg6 Rxh1 24.Rxh1
24.Bf7+ loses to 24...Kd7 25.Rxh1 a3 with an overwhelming attack.
24...axb3 25.Rh8+ Kd7 26.Rxa8 Bxa8
I was now ahead a piece, still had an attack, and a big advantage on the clock.
I felt like I had the game.
27.f4 Bd5
I could have played Qxc2 with a winning ending, but I was going for mate.
27...Qxc2+ 28.Qxc2 bxc2 29.g3 e4!+–.
28.fxe5 dxe5 29.f6 gxf6 30.Bxf6 Qa5 31.cxb3 Bxb3 32.Qg4+ Be6??
[FEN "8/3k4/4bBP1/q3p3/1b1p2Q1/
3P4/1P4P1/2K5 w - - 0 33"]
I was exhausted at this point and somehow missed that after 32...Kd6 33.Bxe5
+ I could recapture the bishop with my queen 33...Qxe5 with forced mate.
33.Qe4 Kd6?
I was very discouraged here, because I noticed that I could have easily won
with Kd6 on the previous move. After 33...Qa1+ 34.Kc2 Qa4+ 35.Kc1 Bb3, I
would have eventually been able to escape the checks from his queen 36.Qg4
+ Kc6 37.Qe4+ Kb6 38.Bd8+ Ka7.
34.Qb7
I was really worried that I was letting the game slip away. I was now in time
5. pressure and he was getting counterplay.
34...Qa1+ 35.Kc2 Qa4+ 36.Kc1 Qa1+ 37.Kc2 Qa4+
I repeated moves once to help get to the time control.
38.Kc1 Qc6+
[FEN "8/1Q6/2qkbBP1/4p3/1b1p4/
3P4/1P4P1/2K5 w - - 0 39"]
I wanted to simplify, as I was in time pressure with ten seconds left. However,
I forgot to hit my clock, because I was still preoccupied with the easy win I
missed. At this point, Robert reached over and pressed my clock for me. I
likely would not have noticed my time was running had he not done this. I
thought this was an especially nice gesture considering he was going to at best
draw and could potentially lose the game.
39.Qxc6+ Kxc6 40.Bxe5 Kd5 41.Bf6 Bd6 42.g7 Bf4+
I had underestimated the endgame after 42...Be5 43.Bxe5 Kxe5, which turns
out to be winning for me. His best try is probably 44.Kc2, but I can play 44...
Bg8! giving him the move back. I wait for him to either play b4 or retreat his
king. In the first case, I play Kd6 and go win his b-pawn, and if he retreats his
king, I just barely have time to play Kf6 and win his g7-pawn, freeing my
bishop its duty to guard the queening square: (44...Kf6?! 45.b4 Kxg7 46.b5
Kf6 47.Kb2 Ke5 48.Ka3 Kf4 49.Kb4 Ke3 50.Kc5 Kxd3 51.b6 Bc8 52.g4 Kc3
53.g5 d3 54.g6 d2 55.g7 Be6 56.b7 d1Q 57.b8Q=) 45.b4 (45.g3 Bd5 46.Kd2
Kf6 47.b4 Kxg7 48.Kc2 Kg6 49.Kb2 Kf5 50.Ka3 Kg4+/-; 45.Kd2 Kf6 46.
Ke2 Bd5 47.Kf2 Kxg7 48.Kg3 Kf6+–; 45.Kc1 Bb3) 45...Kd6 46.Kb2 Kc6 47.
Ka3 Kb5+–.
43.Kc2 Be3
Again, Be5 was best.
44.Kb3 Kc5+ 45.Ka4 Kd5 46.Kb5 Bg8 47.g4 Bf4 ½–½
I knew I had completely misplayed the endgame and no longer had any
winning chances.
A PDF file of this week's Skittles Room article, along with all previous
articles, is available in the ChessCafe.com Archives.
The ChessCafe.com Skittles Room is open to reader contributions. If you
have an article that you would like published, please write to us via our
Contact Page.
![A crowd had gathered around the board, growing like a bee hive. Krause had
some thirteen minutes to Hess's three minutes. Yet, Hess, even though losing,
had such an air of certainty; the self-proposed manner of someone who knew
exactly what he was doing. Imagine the sight: one player completely winning,
with time on the clock, but obviously distressed; the other, in a worse
position, with less time, but completely calm. One wondered, "how could
Hess be so calm?"
Krause could be observed almost rocking in his chair trying to find the
winning line amongst the sea of variations that might take hours to sort out
even in the quiet study of home analysis. A crowd of more than twenty
persons were now encircling the board; some holding their breath as the time
control loomed. While under enormous stress and down to nine seconds in
terrific time pressure, Krause sat clench-fisted in his chair and forgot to hit his
clock after making his thirty-eighth move. It appeared that he was set to lose
tragically.
Hess similarly had a handful of seconds and could have simply let his
opponent lose on time. Instead, he calmly reached over and pressed the clock
for Krause, giving Krause the opportunity to play on!
The writer stood in awe at this gesture. Who among us would do that? One
spectator was overheard saying, "That's Hess, a class act." When I approached
Hess the next morning to ask about chronicling this episode, I asked how he
could be so calm and relaxed in such a situation. He said, "It's hard to be
stressed when you are completely losing."
This is a moral story. Hess risked the success of his team (not to mention his
rating) with this gesture of sportsmanship that granted his opponent a chance
to win or draw from a sure loss. When grandmaster Yasser Seirawan was told
the story, he commented, "I am very proud of Robert." Hess and Krause
eventually drew, and Hess and his team went on to win the overall
tournament.
We wish GM Hess the best of luck at the U.S. Chess Championship scheduled
for this May at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, founded
by Rex Sinquefield. Hess is seeded fifth, behind opponents no less than
Nakamura, Kamsky, Onischuk, and Seirawan. It promises to be a fierce
competition among twelve grandmasters, including Akobian (2709),
Stripunsky (2700), Robson (2674), Ramirez (2668), Shulman (2666),
Lenderman (2665), and Kaidanov (2658).
Benjamin Krause has kindly furnished his annotations to the game:
Hess, Robert (2635) – Krause, Benjamin (2244)
World Amateur Team Parsippany NJ (2), 18.02.2012
Sicilian Defense [B23]
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bb5
I felt a little uneasy after he played this line. I had a couple bad games against
it in the past, and had not done much to update my preparation.
3...Nd4 4.Bc4 e6
Probably best. It avoids a trap line that goes 4...g6 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.Nxd4 cxd4 7.
Qf3 e6?! (7...Nh6) 8.Nb5 d6 9.Qa3+/- with an ugly position for Black.
5.Nge2 a6 6.Nxd4 cxd4 7.Ne2 Bc5 8.d3 Ne7 9.Nf4 Ng6 10.Nxg6 hxg6](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)