chess

English players have had a generally depressing week in international tournaments. In the Zonal tournament in Linares, Spain, where Miles, Hodgson and Sadler were among the favourites to qualify for the next stage of the world championship, only the English fourth string, Peter Wells, finally squeezed into the Interzonal thanks to a finishing spring. Tony Miles, who had led for all the early rounds, but collapsed to defeats in the last two rounds. The qualifiers were Illescas (Spain), van Wely, van der Wiel and van der Sterren (all Netherlands) and Wells (England).

Meanwhile, in Belgrade, Michael Adams has spent most of the Investbanka tournament in the bottom half of a very powerful field. His game against Vladimir Kramnik shows the sort of imaginative play he has been up against when meeting the new generation of top Russians. White's strategy was based on creating weaknesses in Black's K-side, but at the end it was White's king that found itself fatally under fire.

White: Adams

Black: Kramnik

1 e4 c5 16 Nd5 h4

2 Nc3 Nc6 17 Nxf6+ Nxf6

3 Nf3 d6 18 Bxh4 Nxe4

4 d4 cxd4 19 Bf3 Ng5

5 Nxd4 Nf6 20 Bxg5 Rxg5

6 Be3 Ng4 21 Qd2 Rg8

7 Bg5 h6 22 Nd4 Ne5

8 Bh4 g5 23 Be4 Qb6

9 Bg3 Bg7 24 Rfe1 d5

10 Nb3 Be6 25 Bxd5 Bxd5

11 Be2 h5 26 Rxe5 Rxg2+

12 h4 gxh4 27 Kf1 Qg6

13 Bxh4 Rc8 28 Qb4 Bc4+

14 0-0 Bf6 29 Ke1 Qf6

15 Bg3 Rg8 White resigns