Raymond Keene

Chess Maecenas

issue 28 November 2015

Last week saw the death of the city financier Jim Slater. He was famous in chess circles for joining Henry Kissinger in persuading Bobby Fischer to play his 1972 World Championship match against Boris Spassky in Reykjavik. Kissinger’s contribution was a diplomatic phone call to Fischer, while Slater pumped extra cash into the prize fund and said Fischer was ‘chicken’ if he did not come out to play.

Slater also supported British chess by offering thousands of pounds in incentives for the first British grandmasters and by sponsoring tournaments to promote British talent. I won the first of these, from which this week’s game and puzzle are taken.

Whiteley-Keene: Slater Tournament, Southend 1968, Nimzo-Indian Defence

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Qc2 Nc6 5 Nf3 d6 6 Bd2 0-0 7 a3 Bxc3 8 Bxc3 Re8 8 … Qe7 is better.

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