Who was that masked man playing the Short Variation? Evgeniy Najer

Episodes of "The Lone Ranger" would often end with someone saying, "Who was that masked man? He never told us his name." Another would answer with, "Why, he's the Lone Ranger." This would be followed by the Lone Ranger and Tonto riding off with the sound of, "Hi, yo Silver away!"

Evgeniy Najer is not among the chess elite most familiar to readers. When Garry Kasparov was still playing he called those at Najer's level "tourists," if they competed in top events. Najer is currently "touring" at number 49 in the world with a rating of 2670 as of July 2008. He is a Russian GM who was born on June 22, 1977, the 36th anniversary of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union (which was one year after the Fall of France). This year, Najer's "tour" has included winning clear first in the President's Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan in May with 7.5/9. He followed that up with scoring 7/9 for a four-way tie for first place in the World Open in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He earned the title in that event by winning a playoff game against the Indian prodigy, Negi. Najer had White and 7 minutes while Negi had 5 minutes and draw odds. The following game is an introduction to the play of Evgeniy Najer.