Nigel Short triumphs at the 12th Bangkok Chess Club Open

Nigel Short won the 7th Bangkok Chess Club Open on Friday. In the last round the English grandmaster drew with IM Nguyen Duc Hoa of Vietnam, who earned a GM norm. Short won 3.3 rating points to get to a virtual 2700 Elo exactly.

Nigel Short victorious in Bangkok, and back in the "2700 club"  

In our first report we saw that in round 6 Nigel Short had just taken over the lead from Indian IM M.R. Venkatesh, who had started so strongly with 5/5. One day later there was the interesting confrontation between Short and Women's World Champion Hou Yifan from China. This game was also won by Short:

[Event "12th BCC Open"]
[Site "Bangkok THA"]
[Date "2012.04.17"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Short, Nigel D"]
[Black "Hou, Yifan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E14"]
[WhiteElo "2697"]
[BlackElo "2639"]
[Annotator "ChessVibes"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2012.04.13"]

1. d4 {Short has always been a 1.e4 player - in fact we only count 36 games
where he started with 1.d4 between 1976 and 2012. He's played it a few times
in recent years, the last time in Gibraltar in January against Salome Melia.}
Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 b6 4. e3 Bb7 5. Bd3 d5 6. O-O Bd6 7. b3 O-O 8. Bb2 Nbd7 9.
Nc3 a6 10. Qc2 dxc4 11. bxc4 Bxf3 12. gxf3 c5 13. d5 exd5 (13... Ne5 14. f4
Nxd3 15. Qxd3 Qe7 16. Kh1 e5 17. fxe5 Bxe5 18. Rg1 Rfe8 19. Rg2 Rad8 20. f4
Bxc3 21. Bxc3 g6 22. Rd1 Nd7 23. Re1 Qe4 24. Qf1 b5 {Jussupow,A (2645) -Timman,
J (2629)/Netherlands 2001}) 14. cxd5 b5 15. Be2 $146 (15. Bf5 Re8 16. Ne4 Nxe4
17. fxe4 Ne5 18. f4 Nc4 19. e5 Nxe3 20. Bxh7+ Kf8 21. Qc3 Bxe5 22. Qxc5+ Bd6
23. Qd4 Qf6 24. Qxf6 gxf6 {Khurtsidze,N (2417)-Kovanova,B (2379)/ Kallithea
2008}) 15... c4 16. Ne4 Nxe4 17. fxe4 Qe7 18. f4 f6 19. Rad1 Rac8 $6 ({From
what follows we may suggest the logical improvement} 19... Nc5 $5 20. Bf3 Rae8
{and Black seems to have a decent position.}) 20. Bd4 $1 Nc5 21. Bxc5 $5 {
Deciding to sacrifice a pawn.} (21. Bg4) 21... Bxc5 22. Bg4 Bxe3+ 23. Kh1 f5 {
Giving the pawn back already.} (23... Rcd8 24. Be6+ Kh8 25. Rf3 Bc5 26. Rh3 {
gives nice compensation.}) 24. Bxf5 Rcd8 25. e5 Kh8 ({Maybe Black should have
gone for} 25... g6 26. Bxg6 Rxf4 (26... hxg6 27. Qxg6+ Kh8 28. Rf3) 27. Rxf4
Bxf4 28. e6 {and now} Qf6 $5 (28... hxg6 29. Qxg6+ Qg7 (29... Kh8 30. Rg1) 30.
e7 $1) 29. Bxh7+ Kh8 {but} 30. Be4 {should win.}) 26. Qe4 Qc5 $2 {This seems
to lose by force.} (26... Qe8 $5 {is Houdini's suggestion but even there} 27.
Bxh7 Bxf4 28. Bf5 {looks horrible for Black.}) 27. Bxh7 c3 28. Bg6 c2 $6 {This
just drops the pawn but there was no serious alternative:} (28... Rc8 29. Qg2
Bxf4 30. Be4 $1) (28... Bd2 29. Rf3 Qxd5 30. Qxd5 Rxd5 31. e6) 29. Qg2 Bxf4 30.
Bxc2 Qe7 31. d6 Qe6 32. Rde1 (32. d7 $1 {would have won even quicker because
of the threat 33.Rd7 and the black queen has to leave the h3-c8 diagonal.
However, in the remainder of the game Short doesn't let go of the win.}) 32...
g5 33. Rf3 g4 34. Rf2 Qh6 35. Qxg4 Bxe5 36. Rxe5 Rxf2 37. Rh5 Rxd6 38. Rxh6+
Rxh6 39. Qc8+ Kg7 40. Qc7+ Rf7 41. Qg3+ Kf8 42. h4 Rhf6 43. Bb3 Rf1+ 44. Kg2
R7f6 45. h5 1-0

Venkatesh lost for the second time in a row; the Indian blundered in his game against Vietnamese IM Nguyen Duc Hoa.

[Event "12th BCC Open"]
[Site "Bangkok THA"]
[Date "2012.04.17"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Nguyen, Duc Hoa"]
[Black "Venkatesh, M.R."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E10"]
[WhiteElo "2453"]
[BlackElo "2509"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "R7/6pk/6p1/3pN3/3P1P1P/5b2/7K/3r4 b - - 0 59"]
[PlyCount "38"]
[EventDate "2012.04.13"]

59... Bh5 $4 {This drops a full piece.} (59... Be4 $11) 60. Nf7 $1 g5 {The
only move to avoid mate.} 61. Rh8+ Kg6 62. Ne5+ Kf5 63. Rxh5 Kxf4 64. Rxg5 Rxd4
65. Kh3 Rd1 66. Ng6+ Ke3 67. Rg3+ Ke4 68. Rg4+ Ke3 69. Ne7 $6 (69. Kg2 $1 d4
70. Ne5) 69... Kf3 70. Rg3+ Kf4 (70... Ke4 $1 {looks stronger.}) 71. Rxg7 d4 $6
({And here} 71... Rd3+ 72. Kg2 Rd2+ 73. Kf1 d4 {is a tougher defence.}) 72.
Rf7+ $1 Ke4 73. Nf5 $1 {The knight will run to f1.} d3 74. Ng3+ Ke3 75. Re7+
Kd4 76. Rd7+ Ke3 77. h5 d2 78. h6 (78. h6 Ra1 79. h7 Ra8 80. Nf1+) 1-0

2011 winner Jan Gustafsson, who was already a point behind Short after six rounds, dropped another half point against another Indian IM, Roy Saptarshi.

In the penultimate round Short secured tournament victory (well, at least shared) thanks to another win with the white pieces in an instructive rook ending.

[Event "12th BCC Open"]
[Site "Bangkok THA"]
[Date "2012.04.18"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Short, Nigel D"]
[Black "Amonatov, Farrukh"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D00"]
[WhiteElo "2697"]
[BlackElo "2604"]
[Annotator "ChessVibes"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/R7/6k1/P5r1/8/4K3/8/8 b - - 0 68"]
[PlyCount "20"]
[EventDate "2012.04.13"]

{This ending is theoretically drawn, but Amonatov apparently doesn't know the
method to hold it. We can recommend John Nunn's Secrets of Practical Chess
where it is explained very well.} 68... Kf6 69. a6 Ra5 $2 {Usually it's
logical to put the rook behind the passed pawn, but here it loses!} ({The only
move was} 69... Rd5 70. Ra8 Kg7 $1 (70... Rd7 {also draws}) 71. Ke4 Rd6 $1 (
71... Rc5 {and}) (71... Rb5 {also draw but this is easier}) 72. Ke5 Rg6 $1 (
72... Rf6 $4 73. Rg8+ {is curtains}) ({while another point is that Black
cannot just cut off the enemy king with} 72... Rd1 $2 {because} 73. Rb8 $1 Ra1
74. Rb7+ $1 {wins}) (72... Rc6 $11) (72... Rb6 $11) (72... Rh6 $11) 73. Kd5 Rf6
$1 {Placing the rook on f6 is the key to Black's defence. Because White is
trying to use the a7 square as a shelter for his king, Black will give lateral
checks along the f-file.}) 70. Ra8 $1 {In fact the only move that wins here,
not giving Black the opportunity to correct his mistake.} Ra4 71. Kd3 Kg7 72.
Kc3 Rf4 {Maybe Amonatov did know the method after all? However, here the white
king is too close to the a-pawn; it's too late.} 73. Ra7+ $1 Kg6 74. Rb7 Ra4
75. a7 Kf6 76. Kb3 Ra1 77. Kc4 Ke6 78. Kc5 1-0

In the last round Short drew with Nguyen Duc Hoa. This way Englishman finished sole first while the Vietnamese clinched a GM norm.

Winner Nigel Short between Indians Sriram Jha and M.R. Venkatesh

The following game from the last round had a nice finish:

[Event "BCC Open 2012"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2012.04.19"]
[Round "?"]
[White "GM Deshun Xiu"]
[Black "GM Jha Sriram"]
[Result "0-1"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "1k4r1/pp3p2/2p2n1b/P4Q2/6nq/7N/1P2PPB1/R1R2K2 b - - 0 25"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]
[TimeControl "120+28"]
[WhiteClock "1:27:00"]
[BlackClock "1:30:00"]

25... Qxh3 $1 {The nicest way to decide the game, in a position where more
moves were winning.} 0-1

The 12th Bangkok Chess Club Open took place 13-19 April at the luxurious Dusit Thani Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. There was also a 7-round Challenger and together with the open there were over 230 players from 34 countries.

Bangkok Chess Club Open 2012 | Round 9 (final) standings (top 30)

Thai dancers during the closing ceremony