MARK RUBERY CHESS
The Zambian chess player, Amon Simutowe, became the first grandmaster from sub-Saharan Africa when he acquired the coveted title in 2007 at a tournament in Holland. To my mind he revealed the depths of his talent during the penultimate round of the Mind Sports Olympiad tournament some seven years earlier, when he delivered a magnificent performance in defeating a solid English IM. I would go as far as saying that it is perhaps one of the most impressive games that a player from this continent has produced. After beginning the game in his usual positional fashion, Simutowe had to change tactics when the position began to flare up, and it was then we were shown the full range of his imagination.
Simutowe,A (2322) - Crouch,C (2448) [E44]
MSO Ron Banwell mem London, 2000 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 b6 5.Nge2 Ne4 6.Qc2 f5 7.a3 Bxc3+ 8.Nxc3 Bb7 9.Nxe4 Bxe4 10.Qc3 0-0 11.f3 Bb7 12.Be2 Qh4+ 13.g3 Qh5 14.0-0 d6 15.b4 Nc6 16.Rf2 Ne7 17.Bb2 Rf7 18.Raf1 Re8 19.a4 Qg6 20.Ra1 h5 21.Rg2 h4 22.Kf2 Qh5 23.a5 b5!? 24.a6 Ba8 25.d5!? (An important move as 25 cxb5 Nd5 gives Black some counterplay)…exd5 26.cxb5 h3 27.Rgg1 f4!? 28.exf4 Nf5 29.Qd2 d4 30.g4!! (Simutowe offers an exchange sacrifice that would have done Petrosian proud! The White pawns and bishops will soon begin to control the board )... Qh4+ 31.Rg3 Nxg3 32.hxg3 (Creating a remarkable pawn-structure)...Qe7 33.Bxd4 Qe6 34.Rh1 Qd5 35.Bd1 (35... Rxe2+ was the threat)... Qxb5 (35... Rfe7!?) 36.Rxh3 Qc4 37.f5 Bc6 38.f6!
Bb5 39.Rh1 c5 40.Bc3 cxb4 41.fxg7 (The start of an attractive and decisive combination)... Rfe7 42.Rh8+ Kf7 43.Bb3!! … Re2+ 44.Qxe2 Rxe2+ 45.Kg1! (And this final and unassuming move leaves Black helpless) 1-0
Simutowe focused with success on his studies acquiring a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Finance from the University of Texas at Dallas and a Master of Science in Economics for Development from the University of Oxford.
Korkser chess is an unorthodox form of the game that was played mainly in rural areas in the not too distant past. Each side has two consecutive moves to start the game and castling is not permitted if the king has been checked. A pawn can only be promoted to a piece that has already been captured and any threat to the enemy queen must be announced as a ‘check to the queen’.