The Guardian London, Greater London, England Wednesday, January 03, 1968 - Page 12
Champion Falls Into Chess Trap
Hastings, Tuesday
The sixth round of the International Chess tournament here was distinctly lively, and at the adjournment the overall outcome of four fluctuating games between British players and foreign opponents remained unclear.
Michael Basman showed a welcome return to form and has chances of a win in his unfinished game against the world under-21 champion Julio Kaplan, who fell into a trap in the middle game and lost his Queen for rook, bishop and pawn. The adjourned position is complicated but Basman has the advantage.
Keene kept his opening plus against Ostojic well into the middle game, but an inaccurate move enabled the Yugoslav to equalise and the game was agreed drawn in 28 moves. Whiteley sacrificed a pawn against Gheorghiu for a prolonged initiative.
Opening specialists
The game between two of Europe's leading specialists in opening play began with a sharp variation of the Sicilian Defense in which Hartston (England) attacked Suetin (Soviet Union) by Bobby Fischer's B-QB4. Hartsten's pawn advance on the King's side caused weaknesses in his own position and Suetin's Queen and rook penetrated for a strong attack.
At the adjournment Suetin had a favorable end game. Hort and Stein, who meet next month in a world title eliminating match, opted for a 14-move Grandma draw which kept them both among the leaders. However, it looks increasingly as if the Soviet champion, Stein, with five draws in six games will fail to justify his position as tournament favorite. The leaders are: Hort 4; Gheorghiu 3½ and 1 adjourned; Stein 3½; Suetin 3 and 1 adjourned.
