Sigeman: Nigel Short doesn't need a Viagra after a finish like this
India's Harika Dronavalli is taking part in the new edition of TePe Sigeman & Co Chess tournament, being held in Malmo, Sweden. The tournament features a strong contention in the form of Nigel Short, Pavel Eljanov, Baadur Jobava, Nils Grandelius, and Erik Blomqvist. In the first round, GM Nigel Short had an exciting finish. Report with grandmaster analysis.
Sigeman: Nigel Short doesn't need a Viagra after a finish like this
Nigel Short during the opening ceremony.
Short was the only winner in a fighting day of chess in Sigeman and Co. All the three games turned out to be interesting, but while Harika and Grandelius stood solid with Black, Erik wasn’t up to the task.
Short played 13.Bg5 in a well known tabiya in the Ruy Lopez Zaitsev. I am not sure if Black was right to respond traditionally with the c6 break plan, and when he did so, he reached a position on the 18th move where he had to solve a complex problem. After a couple of inaccuracies, it was all easy for White. Short reached climax with Qg7+!
One doesn't need Viagra after a finish like this :) #TePeSigeman https://t.co/LT1w8qQmul
— Nigel Short (@nigelshortchess) May 10, 2017
[Site "Malmo SWE"]
[Date "2017.05.10"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Short, N."]
[Black "Blomqvist, E."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C92"]
[WhiteElo "2688"]
[BlackElo "2546"]
[Annotator "Srinath,Narayanan"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2017.05.10"]
O-O 9. h3 Bb7 10. d4 Re8 11. Nbd2 Bf8 12. d5 Nb8 13. Nf1 Nbd7 14. Bg5 $5 {
[%csl Gd5] A relatively rare move, but a typical idea. I suspect one of the
ideas is to retain the knight on f1 to have the option of jumping to e3 when
Black plays the inevitable c6 break. The d5 square is a very important
strategic point in this position, so I suppose Bg5,Ne3 makes logical sense.} (
14. Ng3 Nc5 15. Bc2 c6 {is the typical idea in these lines.} 16. b4 Ncd7 17.
dxc6 Bxc6 18. Bb3 h6 19. Nh2 a5 20. a3 Bb7) (14. N3h2 Nc5 15. Bc2 c6 16. b4
Ncd7 17. dxc6 Bxc6 18. Bg5 h6 19. Bxf6 Nxf6 20. Ng4 {[%csl Gd5]}) 14... Nc5 (
14... h6 15. Bh4 Be7 $5 {was an interesting way to react against this idea.
Black didn't play c6 the whole game, taking the fight for d5 out of the
equation.} 16. a4 (16. Ng3 g6 {seems to make the h4 bishop awkward.}) 16... g6
17. N3h2 Kg7 18. Ng4 Nxg4 19. Bxe7 Qxe7 20. Qxg4 Reb8 21. Ne3 Qd8 22. axb5 axb5
23. Qe2 Rxa1 24. Rxa1 Ra8 25. Rc1 Ba6 26. Qe1 Nf6 27. Bc2 Bc8 28. Ra1 Bd7 29.
Rxa8 Qxa8 30. Kh2 h5 31. f3 Qa2 32. Nd1 c6 33. dxc6 Bxc6 34. Qe3 d5 35. Qb6 Qc4
36. b3 Qe2 37. Qxc6 {1/2-1/2 (37) Szymanski,R (2408)-Maver,I (2332) ICCF 2014})
15. Bc2 c6 16. Ne3 {I think this plays into White's hands.} a5 (16... h6 17.
Bxf6 Qxf6 18. b4 Nd7 19. a4 $14) 17. b4 Ncd7 18. a4 $5 {[#]} Qc7 $6 {Black
faces a difficult problem.The classic rule is to maintain tension in the
position as much as possible, but here it runs into a concrete refutation.} (
18... cxd5 $142 19. Nxd5 Bxd5 20. exd5 {not an easy decision to take.} Qc7 21.
axb5 axb4 22. Rxa8 Rxa8 23. cxb4 Qc4 24. Bd3 Qxb4 $11) (18... axb4 $142 19.
cxb4 h6 20. Bh4 (20. Bxf6 Nxf6 21. dxc6 Bxc6 22. Nd5 (22. a5 d5 23. exd5 Bb7
$44) 22... Nxd5 23. exd5 Bd7 24. a5 f5 25. Rc1 $132) 20... cxd5 21. exd5 g5 22.
Bg3 Nb6 23. h4 $36) 19. dxc6 Qxc6 20. axb5 Qxc3 21. bxa5 Rxa5 22. Rc1 $1 Qb4
23. Ng4 Qxb5 $2 {the decisive mistake.} (23... Nxg4 24. Bd2 Qxb5 $1 (24... Qa3
25. hxg4 Raa8 26. Ng5 $1 $16) (24... Nxf2 25. Bxb4 Nxd1 26. Bxa5 Nb2 27. Bb4
$18) 25. Rb1 Ngf6 26. Bxa5 (26. Rxb5 Rxb5 $44) 26... Qxa5 27. Rxb7 Nc5 28. Rb1
g6 {with some compensation on the dark squares.}) 24. Rb1 Qa6 25. Bxf6 Nxf6 26.
Nxf6+ gxf6 27. Nh4 $16 {[#]} Bc8 28. Bb3 Be6 29. Qh5 Rc8 30. Nf5 Ra3 31. Re3 {
game over.} Rxb3 32. Rexb3 Bxb3 33. Rxb3 Rc1+ 34. Kh2 Qf1 35. Qg4+ Kh8 36. Qg7+
{[#]} 1-0
Jobava took the game out of well known theoretical lines and seemed to have a slight edge after 13.Qxb6 instead of 13.Ke2, which was a typical human move. After that point, Black achieved equality and held the game solidly, without a trace of chance.
[Site "Malmo SWE"]
[Date "2017.05.10"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Jobava, Ba"]
[Black "Grandelius, N."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A45"]
[WhiteElo "2713"]
[BlackElo "2665"]
[Annotator "Srinath,Narayanan"]
[PlyCount "90"]
[EventDate "2017.05.10"]
Be7 9. Bd3 O-O 10. Rc1 Qb6 11. Qb3 Bd7 12. Ne5 Rfc8 13. Ke2 (13. Qxb6 axb6 14.
Nxd7 Nxd7 {it's a bit counter intuitive to exchange off the supposedly 'bad
bishop'. However, it seems to me that the pawns on b6,b7 is the important
factor here.} 15. Bxe7 Nxe7 16. Rxc8+ Nxc8 17. a3 Nd6 18. Nb1 $14 {[%csl Rb6,
Rb7]}) 13... Be8 (13... g5 14. Bg3 Nb4 15. Nxd7 Nxd7 16. a3 Nxd3 17. Qxd3 h5
$15) 14. Qxb6 axb6 15. a3 b5 $1 {after Black liquidates with b4, it's just
equal.} 16. Nxc6 bxc6 17. Nb3 b4 18. axb4 Bxb4 {If only the h4 bishop could
somehow teleport to c5...} 19. Ra1 (19. f3 {[%cal Gh4e1]} Bd6 $11 {[%csl Rb2,
Rb3][%cal Gc8b8]}) 19... Nd7 20. Bg3 Rxa1 21. Rxa1 c5 $11 22. Bd6 c4 23. Bxb4
Rb8 24. Nc5 Rxb4 25. Bc2 Kf8 (25... Nxc5 26. dxc5 Rxb2 27. Kd2 Kf8 28. Ra8 Ke7
29. Kc3 Rb7 30. e4 $44 {is passive for Black despite being a pawn up.}) 26.
Nxd7+ Bxd7 27. Ra2 Ke7 28. Kd2 Bc6 29. Kc3 Rb7 30. Ra6 Kd7 31. e4 Kc7 32. f4
Rb8 33. e5 f5 34. exf6 gxf6 35. Ra7+ Bb7 36. g4 Rg8 37. Bd1 Kb6 38. Ra3 f5 39.
gxf5 exf5 40. Bf3 Rg1 41. Kd2 Rf1 42. Ke3 Rb1 43. Ra2 Re1+ 44. Kd2 Rf1 45. Ke3
Re1+ 1/2-1/2
@tepesigeman Brynell and @HarikaDronavali. Photo: Lars Grahn. First round tomorrow: Jobava-Grandelius, Short-Blomqvist, Eljanov-Harika. pic.twitter.com/9eV0h1v80y
— Lars Grahn (@larsgrahn) May 9, 2017
Harika’s game was slightly more eventful. In a Reti double fianchetto, Harika handled the opening in a strange way and it seemed better for White after 10 moves.
I believe that White should have used a different approach to play against b5 and also should have kept the option to castle more flexible. The approach played in the text allowed Black adequate counter-play and Harika didn’t commit another inaccuracy.
[Site "Malmo SWE"]
[Date "2017.05.10"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Eljanov, P."]
[Black "Harika, D."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A05"]
[WhiteElo "2755"]
[BlackElo "2531"]
[Annotator "Srinath,Narayanan"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2017.05.10"]
played much in this position so far.} (5... c5 6. Bg2 (6. dxc5 Qa5+ 7. Nbd2
Qxc5 $11 {[%csl Rb2,Rf2][%cal Gf6g4]}) 6... cxd4 7. Nxd4 d5 8. O-O O-O {
is normal.}) 6. Bg2 Qc8 7. h4 O-O 8. c4 c5 9. Nc3 Nc6 $2 10. d5 Ne5 11. Nxe5
dxe5 {White should be better here.} 12. Qd2 Rb8 {[#]} 13. a4 $6 {Black's idea
is b5 alright, but I don't think a4-a5 effectively prevents this. With the
centre closed, it was also idea for White to delay castling/keep the king and
rook's role more flexible.} (13. Nd1 $142 Qc7 14. Rc1 a6 15. e4 {[%cal Gg2f3,
Gh4h5] was probably better, preparing against b5, which looks like Black's
only counterplay.}) 13... a6 14. O-O Ne8 15. a5 Nd6 {I don't think this
approach fights effectively against Black's counter-play in this position.} 16.
Qc2 Qc7 {I think here Black has already enough counte-play which comes very
fast.} 17. e4 b5 18. axb6 Qxb6 19. Ra3 Nxc4 20. bxc4 Qxb2 21. Qxb2 Rxb2 22. Na4
Bxa4 23. Rxa4 Bh6 24. Rxa6 Rb4 25. Ra7 Re8 26. Rc7 Rxc4 27. Ra1 Rc1+ 28. Rxc1
Bxc1 29. Bf1 Kf8 30. Bc4 Rd8 31. g4 Bb2 32. Kg2 h6 33. Rb7 Bc3 34. Kg3 Bd2 35.
Rc7 Bc1 36. Kf3 Bd2 37. Ke2 Bc1 38. Kd3 Bb2 39. Rb7 Bd4 40. Ke2 Bc3 41. Rc7
1/2-1/2