Garry Kasparov retired from competitive chess in 2005, but has proved that at the age of 61 he remains competitive at the highest level. That is an extraordinary achievement in an time when just five of the world’s top 100 active players are older than 50. The former world champion joined a powerful field in St Louis for nine rounds of ‘Chess 9LX’ played at a rapid time control. Chess 9LX, in which the pieces on the back rank are shuffled at the start of the game, is an ideal format for Kasparov, who can count on pure chess skill, without worrying about his outdated knowledge of opening theory.
Three wins, three losses and three draws placed him in the middle of the final table, but his score could easily have been higher, given that he had an advantageous position against tournament winner Fabiano Caruana (see game below) as well as runner-up Hikaru Nakamura. With more time in the latter game, Kasparov might well have found the win that was available in the final position when he agreed to a draw.
To set up the game below, place the pieces in the following position: Ra1, Qb1, Bc1, Bd1, Ne1, Kf1, Ng1, Rh1. Black’s setup mirrors that: Ra8, Qb8, etc.
Fabiano Caruana – Garry Kasparov
St Louis Chess 9LX, October 2024
1 e4 c5 2 Ngf3 Ngf6 3 c3 b6 4 Be2 Bb7 5 e5 Nd5 6 d4 cxd4 7 cxd4 e6 The contours of the position closely resemble some lines of the Alapin Sicilian in vanilla chess, which begins 1.e4 c5 2.c3 8 Nd3 Be7 9 Bd2 f5 10 h4 Nec7 11 h5 Qd8 12 h6 A premature push, perhaps counting on the passive 12… g7-g6 and forgetting Kasparov’s more spirited response. g5 13 Qd1 O-O Castling rules are peculiar in this format. Here, move the Black king from f8 to g8 and the rook from h8 to f8.14 Rc1 Kh8 15 Rh5 g4 16 Nfe1 Rc8 17 Nc2 Qe8 18 Rh2 Qg6 19 g3 Bg5
19…f4! would have posed huge problems to Caruana. For example, 20 Nxf4 Nxf4 21 Bxf4 Rxf4! 22 gxf4 g3 devastates the kingside, or 20 gxf4 g3 21 Rg2 Nc3! 22 bxc3 Bxg2+ 23 Kxg2 gxf2+ 24 Kxf2 Bh4+ and again the attack is too strong. 20 Bxg5 Qxg5 21 Ke1 f4 22 Qd2 Qg6 23 gxf4 g3 24 Rg2 Qxh6 25 Rxg3 Nxf4 26 Nxf4 Rxf4 27 Ne3 Qh2 28 Bd3 (see diagram)
Caruana has defended stubbornly. Kasparov’s next move, attempting to bulldoze the f2-pawn, backfires. Rcf8? 28…Bc6! keeps better chances 29 Nf1! Knight retreats are one of the most common blindspots in chess. This intermezzo ensures that the queens will be exchanged, so White can play Rxc7 in safety. Qh4 30 Rxc7 Rxf2 31 Qg5 Black resigns
Despite its advantages, events in the Chess 9LX format are still relatively rare. The naming confusion doesn’t help. It was christened Fischer Random chess, and the erratic American’s endorsement was obviously a mixed blessing. So the later rebrand to the neutral ‘Chess960’ made sense, that being the number of permitted start positions. More recently, the announcement of a forthcoming $12 million ‘Freestyle’ Chess Grand Slam series (with Magnus Carlsen’s involvement) looks set to raise the variant’s profile. (Intriguingly, Carlsen will face Caruana in a short Freestyle match in Singapore, just days before the start of the Classical World Championship between Ding and Gukesh on 25 November.) I happen to like the name Freestyle, but the prismatic nomenclature calls to mind the splintered political factions in The Life of Brian. And what have the Romans done for us? Well, I suppose we have them to thank for the numerals in Chess 9LX.
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