Vote Basman

To the best of my knowledge, Michael Basman is the first officially titled chess master to ever stand in a UK parliamentary election. Marmaduke Wyvill, MP for Richmond Yorkshire, was an accomplished player who took second prize in the great London tournament of 1851, but he could not have been described as a chess professional.

Basman will be standing as an independent in Kingston-upon-Thames, and his manifesto is a curious blend of selective support for Jeremy Corbyn-style intervention combined with extreme libertarianism. (The manifesto can be found at endtaxsploitation.co.uk.) This week’s game and puzzle are an excursion into Basmanland.

Keene-Basman: Bognor 1967; King’s Indian Attack

1 e4 e6 2 d3 b5 3 Nf3 Bb7 4 g3 Nf6 5 Bg2 Bc5 This is hard to justify, since the king’s bishop is normally needed on the kingside for defensive purposes. 6 0-0 0-0 7 Nbd2 d6 8 Qe2 Bb6 9 Kh1 c5 10 Nh4 Nc6 11 c3 d5 12 e5 Nd7 13 f4 b4 14 Ndf3 White’s kingside attack proceeds unopposed, largely due to the absence of the useful defensive king’s bishop. 14 … Qc7 15 f5 exf5 16 Bf4 Rae8 17 Rae1 bxc3 18 bxc3 d4 19 c4 19 e6, winning material, is objectively better. 19 … Re6 A mistake. Black should reorganise with 19 … Qc8 20 Nxf5 Bc7 with complex play. 20 Nxf5 f6 (see diagram 1) Threatening to destroy White’s strong point at e5, but the scheme is over-optimistic and allows the energy in White’s position to burst forth by means of a positional queen sacrifice. 21 Nxg7 This is good but White has another, remarkable sacrificial line, e.g. 21 Bh6 gxh6 22 N3xd4 Nxd4 23 Qg4+ Kf7 24 Qg7+ Ke8 25 Nd6+ Kd8 26 Nxb7+ Ke8 27 Nd6+ Kd8 28 Bd5 with a very strong attack.