Nigel Short recorded a superb victory at the 17th Sigeman and Co tournament in Malmo. Of his five opponents only Tiger Hillarp-Persson managed to draw and he was rather fortuitous. In the final game Short outplayed Ivan Sokolov with black. His tournament performance rating was close to 3000 and he gained 15 rating points.

Scores: 1 Short (England) 3.5/4; 2 Grandelius (Sweden)3; 3-4 Sokolov (Holland), Nyback (Finland) 2.5; 5 Hillarp-Persson 1.5; 6 Berg (Sweden) 1.

Short sets up a Hedgehog type structure but with a pair of knights exchanged on move 11 Black has more freedom than usual. However he is soon forced back but tempts Sokolov forward and then grabs a pawn in a tactical sequence that changes the game.

I Sokolov - N Short

Sigeman & Co Malmo (5)

Queen's Indian

1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3 Ba6 5.Qc2 Bb7 6.Nc3 c5 7.e4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bc5 9.Nb3 Nc6 10.Bg5 Nd4 11.Nxd4 Bxd4 12.Bd3 Qb8 13.Ne2 h6

14.Bd2 Bc5 15.b4 Be7 16.0-0 0-0 17.f4 a5

(Black's position looks dubious but he has no weaknesses if 17...d6 18.Bc3 Qc7 19.Ng3 with a good attacking position)

18.e5 Ne8 19.bxa5 bxa5 20.Rab1 Bxa3! 21.f5

(21.Qb3 Bc5+ 22.Kh1 Ra7 23.Be4 Bb4 24.Bxb4 Bxe4! 25.Bxf8 Rb7! is the point)

21...Bb4 22.Bxb4 axb4 23.Rxb4 Qc7 24.Kh1

(24.Qb2 was preferable now e5 becomes weak)

24...exf5! 25.Bxf5

(25.Nd4 g6 26.Bxf5!?)

25...Bc6 26.Qd2

(26.Qb2 Ra5)

26...Qxe5

(Black is a pawn up and his knight comes to a fine central square on d6)

27.Rb3 Nd6 28.Bb1 Rfe8 29.Ng3 Rab8

(Safer than 29...Nxc4 30.Qd3 Nd6 31.Qh7+)

30.Rc3 Re7 31.c5 Ne4 32.Bxe4 Bxe4 33.h3? Bg6! (D

ominating the Ng3)

34.Kh2 Rc8 35.Qc1 d5 36.c6 d4 37.Rc5 Qd6 38.Qc4 Bd3 39.Qxd3 Qxc5 40.Nf5 Qe5+ 41.Kh1 Re6 42.Nxd4 Rd6 43.Qf5 Qxf5 44.Nxf5 Re6 45.Rc1 h5

(Preparing g6, the position is a simple win for a GM not 45...Rexc6?? 46.Rxc6 Rxc6 47.Ne7+)

46.Kh2 g6 47.Nd4 Rd6 48.Rc4 Kf8 49.g4 hxg4 50.hxg4 Ke7 51.Kg3 Rd5 52.Kf4 Kd6 53.Ke4 Re5+ 54.Kd3 Ra5 0-1

N Short - E Berg

Sigeman & Co Malmo (1)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Bc5 6.Nb3 Be7 7.a4 d6 8.a5 Nf6 9.0-0 0-0 10.Nc3 e5 11.Be3 Be6 12.Nd5

(Black has played Bc5-e7 and e6-e5 so he is worse off than in normal Sicilian lines)

12...Nc6 13.c4 Nd7 14.Qd2 Nc5 15.Bc2 Bxd5 16.exd5 Nxb3 17.Bxb3 Nd4

(Black sacrifices a pawn to secure opposite bishops if 17...Nb8 18.f4 or 18.Bc2 Nd7 19.b4 with a clear advantage)

18.Ba4 b6 19.Bxd4 exd4 20.Qxd4 bxa5 21.Rae1 Bf6 22.Qd2 Ra7 23.b3 g6 24.Re4 Re7 25.Rxe7 Bxe7 26.Re1 Bf6

(26...Qc7 27.Qd4)

27.c5! Qc7

(27...dxc5 28.d6 Qb6 29.d7)

28.c6 Kg7 29.g3 Rb8 30.Re4 h5 31.Kg2 Qb6 32.h3 Qc7 33.f4 Qd8 34.Qe3 Qc7 35.g4! hxg4 36.hxg4 Kf8 37.g5 Bg7 38.Qe2 Qa7 39.c7 1-0

as Re8+ mates