Gibraltar 2012: Short Wins Tie-Break Playoff
There was a dramatic tiebreak playoff at the 2012 Tradewise Gibraltar Masters, after Hou Yifan drew her final round game with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and was caught on 8/10 points by England's Nigel Short, who beat Krishnan Sasikiran.
Short won the first rapid playoff game (10 mins plus 5 second increment) with the white pieces and drew the second to take the Masters title and £20,000.
Despite this, the 2012 Gibraltar tournament has been all about Hou! Her win against Judit Polgar proved to be no fluke, as she continued to hold her own in the rest of the event, achieving a fantastic final result.
The top finishers at the 2012 Gibraltar Masters:
| Name | Nat | Elo | Pts. | TB1 | |
| 1 | Hou Yifan | CHN | 2605 | 8.0 | 2872 |
| 2 | Short Nigel D | ENG | 2677 | 8.0 | 2838 |
| 3 | Adams Michael | ENG | 2724 | 7.5 | 2807 |
| 4 | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | AZE | 2747 | 7.5 | 2783 |
| 5 | Bologan Viktor | MDA | 2680 | 7.5 | 2734 |
| 6 | Sutovsky Emil | ISR | 2703 | 7.5 | 2669 |
| 7 | Le Quang Liem | VIE | 2714 | 7.0 | 2733 |
| 8 | Almasi Zoltan | HUN | 2717 | 7.0 | 2730 |
| 9 | Howell David W L | ENG | 2603 | 7.0 | 2725 |
| 10 | Sasikiran Krishnan | IND | 2700 | 7.0 | 2717 |
| 11 | Movsesian Sergei | ARM | 2700 | 7.0 | 2711 |
| 12 | Svidler Peter | RUS | 2749 | 7.0 | 2700 |
| 13 | Negi Parimarjan | IND | 2641 | 7.0 | 2694 |
| 14 | Polgar Judit | HUN | 2710 | 7.0 | 2693 |
| 15 | Laznicka Viktor | CZE | 2704 | 7.0 | 2681 |
| 16 | Fridman Daniel | GER | 2660 | 7.0 | 2632 |
| 17 | Gustafsson Jan | GER | 2643 | 7.0 | 2628 |
| 18 | Jussupow Artur | GER | 2569 | 7.0 | 2625 |
| 19 | Salem A R Saleh | UAE | 2505 | 7.0 | 2621 |
| 20 | Berg Emanuel | SWE | 2550 | 7.0 | 2603 |
The results on the top boards in the final round:
| No. | Name | Elo | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Elo | No. | |
| 1 | 25 | Hou Yifan | 2605 | 7½ | ½ - ½ | 7 | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2747 | 2 |
| 2 | 14 | Bologan Viktor | 2680 | 7 | ½ - ½ | 7 | Adams Michael | 2724 | 3 |
| 3 | 11 | Sasikiran Krishnan | 2700 | 7 | 0 - 1 | 7 | Short Nigel |
2677 | 15 |
| 4 | 10 | Movsesian Sergei | 2700 | 6½ | ½ - ½ | 6½ | Svidler Peter | 2749 | 1 |
| 5 | 21 | Gustafsson Jan | 2643 | 6½ | ½ - ½ | 6½ | Almasi Zoltan | 2717 | 4 |
| 6 | 22 | Negi Parimarjan | 2641 | 6½ | ½ - ½ | 6½ | Le Quang Liem | 2714 | 5 |
| 7 | 23 | Erdos Viktor | 2634 | 6½ | 0 - 1 | 6½ | Sutovsky Emil | 2703 | 9 |
| 8 | 27 | Howell David |
2603 | 6½ | ½ - ½ | 6 | Shirov Alexei | 2710 | 7 |
| 9 | 6 | Polgar Judit | 2710 | 6 | 1 - 0 | 6 | Korchnoi Viktor | 2558 | 37 |
| 10 | 8 | Laznicka Viktor | 2704 | 6 | 1 - 0 | 6 | Rapport Richard | 2543 | 39 |
More details are at the excellent official website. All photos by Ray Morris-Hill.
