Rogoff

Recently Fraser Nelson quoted the bestseller This Time is Different - Eight Centuries of Financial Folly, co-authored by Ken Rogoff, former chief economist at the I M F . Not everyone knows that Rogoff acquired his talent for clinical analysis through playing chess. As an itinerant international chess player in his teens he used to sleep on the floor of my rooms at that hotbed of chess activity, Trinity College, Cambridge. He went on to become top board for the USA student team and a grandmaster with aspirations to the world title. Amongst his illustrious victims were Lajos Portisch and Sammy Reshevsky.

According to chessgames.com, Rogoff, who was born in 1953, learned chess from his father at age six, but took up the game in earnest when he was given his own chess set for his 13th birthday. By age 14, he was a master and New York State Open Champion, and shortly after became a senior master, the highest US national title. He was awarded the I nternational Master title in 1974, and the Grandmaster title in 1978.

He was third in the W orld Junior Championship of 1971 and finished second in the US Championship of 1975.

I n other tournaments he was 1st= at Norristown 1973 and 1st= at Orense in 1976, where I also played and drew with him.

Rogoff is currently the Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy and Professor of E conomics at Harvard University. He has also served on the board of governors of the F ederal Reserve System. This week a game of his from the Biel 1976 I nterzonal qualifier for the world championship, and a tactical demolition of Portisch, the great Hungarian.

Rogoff-Castro: Biel I nterzonal 1976; English Opening 1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 cxd5 Nxd5 5 e4 Nxc3 I f 5 . . . Nb4 6 d4 gives White a comfortable edge: central pawn control and black's knight is offside. 6 dxc3 W hite could recapture with the b-pawn of course but the text is an astute choice against an opponent whose chief strength lay in obscure tactics.

W ithout queen's tactics reduce to a minimum. 6 . . . Qxd1+ 7 Kxd1 Nd7 8 Bf4 Nc5 9 Nd2 Ne6 10 Be3 h5 (see diagram 1) Even in such a simplified position wasting time with this irrelevant advance is dangerous. 11 f4 h4 12 Kc2 Bd7 13 Bd3 0-0-0 14 Nf3 Kb8 Accidentally setting himself up for a back rank tactic.

I nstead 14 . . . Bh6 is safer. 15 Rad1 Bg7 16 f5 gxf5 17 exf5 Nf8 18 Ng5 Be8 (see diagram 2) 19 Nxf7 An elegant exploitation of Black's vulnerability to mating motifs on his own back rank. 19 . . . Bxf7 20 Bc4 Ne6 Black's forces scramble over themselves in trying to prevent checkmate delivered by White's queen's rook, but now Black loses material. 21 Bxe6 Bxe6 22 fxe6 Be5 23 Rxd8+ Rxd8 24 Bg5 Rg8 25 Bxe7 Rxg2+ 26 Kd3 W hite's material advantage remains decisive and the ingenious Castro is running out of ammunition with which to obfuscate matters any further. 26 . . .

Rg6 27 Bxh4 Rxe6 28 Bg5 Kc8 29 h4 Black resigns

PUZZLE NO. 196

Black to play. This position is from PortischRogoff, Las Palmas 1976. Black's next move decimated the white position.

W hat did he play?Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 22 November or via email to [email protected] or by fax on 020 7961 0058. The winner will be the first correct answer out of a hat, and each week I shall be offering a prize of £20. Please include a postal address and allow six weeks for prize delivery.

Last week's solution 1 Bf8

Last week's winner Peter Skelly, Bedford