Kasparov beats Short 4.5-3.5 in blitz match
(UPDATED) Garry Kasparov beat Nigel Short 4.5-3.5 in the YourNextMove blitz match that took place on Sunday evening in Leuven, Belgium. In a match that wasn't without mistakes, Kasparov had a 2-point lead after five games, but Short levelled the score with two consecutive wins. Kasparov then won the last game, and the match.
| Event | Kasparov-Short blitz | (Your Next Move) | PGN via TWIC |
| Date | October 9th, 2011 |
| Location | Leuven, Belgium |
| System | Match |
| Players | Garry Kasparov, Nigel Short |
| Time control | 5 minutes + 2 seconds increment |
Kasparov-Short: 4.5-3.5
The blitz match between Garry Kasparov and Nigel Short was a special part of the traditional YourNextMove event, which this year celebrated its 5th edition. Venue was the Leuven city hall and the time control was 5 minutes per game, plus 2 seconds increment per move. Here are the games:
[board]/drupal7/sites/default/files/games/kasparov-short11/kaspshort11.pgn[/board]
The games were transmitted on the internet in a superb way, which reminded of the Foidos system that was tried during the Anand-Kramnik World Championship match in Bonn, 2008. Different screens were available for the viewer: close-ups of the players, a general view, a chess board and a screen with commentator GM Genna Sosonko, and by clicking on one of the screens, it would be shown as the big screen in the middle:
For many chess fans the retired Kasparov was the big favourite in this match against the semi-retired Short, especially taking into account that the 13th World Champion recently beat top-GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in blitz (although that was only over two games). After five games this notion seemed quite accurate: Kasparov was leading by a 2-point margin, and he had been better in the three draws as well.
However, then the Russian surprisingly lost two games in a row. Short, who in this match played romantic openings like the King's Gambit and the Evans Gambit, needed a bit of help though. In game 6, in a better position Kasparov blundered an exchange (like Short had done before earlier in the match) and after he lost, which set the score at 3.5-3.5, he walked away from the board shaking his head, like in the old days when he suffered a rare loss. Determined to win this match, Kasparov then outplayed Short in the final game with Black, from a Two Knights Defence.
YourNextMove is a Belgian initiative to promote chess and support children between 6 and 12 years old. On Tuesday, October 11th Kasparov will also play the traditional YourNextMove simul against 30 businessmen, politicians and children. Like in previous years, children can qualify for this event in several qualification events in different locations in Belgium. More info can be found here.
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Peter Doggers joined a chess club a month before turning 15 and still plays for it. He used to be an active tournament player and holds two IM norms. Peter has a Master of Arts degree in Dutch Language & Literature. He briefly worked at New in Chess, then as a Dutch teacher and then in a project for improving safety and security in Amsterdam schools. Between 2007 and 2013 Peter was running ChessVibes, a major source for chess news and videos acquired by Chess.com in October 2013. As our Director News & Events, Peter writes many of our news reports. In the summer of 2022, The Guardian’s Leonard Barden described him as “widely regarded as the world’s best chess journalist.”
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