Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2012 (10)
Short's round 10 win against Sasikiran from Gibraltar
IM Malcolm Pein - Tuesday 7th February 2012
IM Malcolm Pein reports on Nigel Short's energetic win with black against Krishnan Sasikiran in a Benoni that allowed him to catch Hou Yifan and eventually win the event after a playoff.
Krishnan Sasikiran against Nigel Short. Photo © | http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com
Nigel Short's record at Gibraltar is remarkable, the 10th anniversary edition of the Tradewise Gibraltar Masters was his third success. He tied for first place in the inaugural event in 2003 and took clear first the following year. In 2011 Short played some exemplary chess and scored 8.5/10, but Vasily Ivanchuk won with 9/10.
Going into the last round this year, Short was half a point behind Hou Yifan and needed to win with black. He chose the aggressive Modern Benoni and played a fine game to defeat Krishnan Sasikiran of India. Short took home the £20,000 first prize and also the £5,000 prize for the the best placed Commonwealth competitor to commemorate Queen Elizabeth's diamond jubilee.
K Sasikiran - N Short
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 c5 4.d5 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Bg2 Bg7 8.Nf3 0-0 9.0-0 Nbd7 10.a4
(10.Nd2 Is standard)
10...h6!?11.Qc2 Qe7 12.Ra3 a6 13.Nd2 Rb8 14.a5
White must prevent the b7-b5-b4
14...b5 15.axb6 Nxb6 16.b3 Ng4 17.Bb2 f5 18.e3 g5 19.Raa1 Bb7 20.Rae1 Rbe8 21.h3 Ne5 22.f4 Ng6 23.Kh2 gxf4 24.gxf4 Kh7 25.Nc4 Nxc4 26.bxc4 Bc8 27.Rf3 Rg8 28.Rg1 Bf6 29.Bh1? Ne5!!
Nigel Short
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Krishnan Sasikiran
Position after 29...Ne5!!
30.Rfg3
(30.fxe5 Bxe5+ 31.Rf4 Rxg1 32.Kxg1 Bxf4 33.exf4 Qe1+ 34.Kh2 Re3 35.Qg2 Re7! leaves Black curiously helpless against Re7-g7 and 30.fxe5 Bxe5+31.Rfg3 Bxg3+ 32.Rxg3 Rxg3 33.Kxg3 Qxe3+ 34.Kh2 Qf4+ 35.Kg1 Qg3+ 36.Qg2 Re1is mate)
30...Rxg3 31.Rxg3 Nxc4 32.Bc1 Bh4 33.Rf3 Qg7 34.Ne2 Nb6 35.e4? Rxe4 36.Rb3
Double attack
36...Re8! 37.Bf3
(The knight is immune 37.Rxb6 Rxe2+ 38.Qxe2 Qg3#)
37...Bf2
Threat Rxe2+ and Qg1#
38.Bg4 Qg6 39.Rxb6 fxg4 40.Qxg6+ Kxg6 41.Rxd6+ Kf7 42.Ng3 Re1 43.Bd2 Rg1
Nigel Short
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Krishnan Sasikiran
Position after 43...Rg1
44.Rf6+
(44.Nh5 g3+)
44...Kxf6 45.Ne4+ Kf7 46.Nxf2 Ra1 47.hxg4 Ra2 48.Be3 Bxg4 49.Kg3 Bf5 50.Bxc5 Ra5 0-1
A miniature and today's puzzle
N Savage - A Van Diermen
Modern Defence
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Be2 Nf6 5.h4 h5 6.Bg5 c6 7.Qd2 b5 8.a3 Nbd7 9.f3 Nb6 10.0-0-0 a5 11.e5 Nfd5 12.exd6 Qxd6 13.Ne4 Qc7 14.Nc5
A Van Diermen
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N Savage
Position after 14.Nc5
Answer: 14...f6! 15.Be3 Nxe3 0-1
16.Qxe3 Bh6 wins the queen.
