JUST HOW MUCH WOOD CAN A WOODCHUCK CHUCK, CHUCKY?

IT surely can be no coincidence that the night before Vasily Ivanchuk "suddenly" sprang to life in Linares after an unbelievable round seven game with Mickey Adams, in the clear, Andalucian sky above there was the fullest of fullest moons on view.

Wrapping up warmly for a pre-midnight stroll (it gets quite chilly at night in Linares) after a late dinner with fellow journalist Arvind Aaron, we happened to bump into Big Chucky doing likewise – except he was going out with a pair of shorts on! Afternoon in Linares: yes. Nighttime Linares: definitely not! We speculated then that he would be looking for inspiration with a quick howl or two at the moon. There was even the case of a previous Linares where Chucky was discovered howling like a wolf in the park not far from the hotel – all in a desperate attempt to exorcise the demons of a bad loss.

Some may regard Linares as belonging to Garry Kasparov due to his many wins here. In reality, however, it actually belongs to Ivanchuk. He’s a very popular figure with the Linarese, who greet him warmly everywhere with a brief ‘Ivanchuk!’. Next to Kasparov who has six Linares titles, Big Chucky is next on the roll of honour with three wins here (1989, 1991 and 1995).

His second win, in 1991, was by far his greatest achievement – then at a category 17 the strongest tournament of all time when he came a half point ahead of Kasparov. In the space of two months, he had got married (to top WGM Alisa Gallimova – now sadly divorced), going literally straight from the alter to a Candidates victory over Leonid Yudashin, and then driving Southern Spain for Linares – arriving just a couple of hours before the first round started.

The victory at Linares 1991 looked set to put the Lvov star on a collision course with Kasparov for the world crown. However, plagued since his youth by instability and weak nerves, he never lived up to the early promise of a player who had a true insight into chess and would often "crack" under the mounting pressure. Many made light of his habits when he would withdraw into a world of his own; some even ridiculing him as the chess world’s answer to the village idiot. I don’t suppose his case was helped by admitting to the press and spectators during Tilburg 1992 that he often played chess with his dog!

His habit of staring anywhere but at the board during play is often the highlight of the tournament for the spectators and press – the press in particular who can fill many column inches with these exploits. We have an expression in Scotland "the lights are on but no one is home" about people who have such vacant looks. For Chucky, however, he’s not day-dreaming – the habit comes from his childhood when he taught himself to analyze positions in his head.

Sure, there have been many Chucky "moments" over the years. In Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam’s Linares! Linares!, Peter Svidler recalled a memorable moment at a bullfight that showed just how popular Chucky is in Spain. On the rest day he accompanied Chucky to a corrida in nearby Villanueva. Just when the first bull was about to be killed, they jumped up in excitement to applaud with all the other spectators. The unmistakable figure of Ivanchuk was immediately recognized by the crowd, who started shouting ‘I-van-chuk!’. Like a Mexican wave, it soon caught on and before they knew it the whole audience were on their feet applauding not the slayer of the bull but big Chucky! Even the bullfighters joined in on the cheering – one going as far as dedicating the kill to Chucky!

My own personal favourite, witnessed at first hand, came at the end of the 1994 Intel Grand Prix in London after he had beaten Vishy Anand in the final. Intel had decided to go into the PR of the tournament in a big way and had presented Chucky with a large cardboard cheque (about 3 ft x 4 ft) for $30,000, which before the ceremony they had quickly written his name on it with a black marker. After the photographers had finished taking their pictures and everyone started to leave the theatre, Chucky was left alone on stage still holding the presentation cheque. Looking a bit bemused by it, he stared at it for a priceless 10 seconds or so before attempting to fold it to get it into his wallet! You could hear the organizer frantically shouting to him "No! No, Chucky! The real cheque is in the envelope inside the trophy".

But Chucky is Chucky and we wouldn’t have him any other way – especially when he produces one of those special Chucky moments at the chessboard.

And here are games of round seven,
with Ivanchuk-Adams extensively annotated.