Vergani Cup 2022 R2: Short saves a point as his opponent's phone goes off

by Shahid Ahmed - 04/01/2022

We have already seen that Nigel Short can still go and have fantastic games against strong opponents. However, it would be naive to think he is 100% chess wise, as he just recovered from COVID less than two weeks ago. A slight misstep in the early part of the game gave his 14-year-old opponent, Lorenzo Candian, a decisive advantage. Unfortunately it was not his day as his phone went off, and he was immediately handed a loss in Round 2 of Vergani Cup January 2022. 18 players including three Indians - GM M Lalit Rohit, IM Bharath Subramaniyam H and IM Pranesh M are at 2.0/2 each. Round 3 starts tonight at 7:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Rupali Mullick

Nandhidhaa draws with Brunello

Two out of the last three events I played last year, I witnessed two players' phone going off during a game. While one was of a veteran in a non-rating tournament, the other one was of a 15-year-old kid who is a promising talent in a rating tournament. Naturally he was handed a loss as per the rules. When I tried to find out how did it happen, it was his parent who put the phone to stay in touch after the games to pick him up, they just forgot to switch it off. Just like the 15-year-old kid, it could be that Candian was completely unaware of the phone being there, or it could go off during a game. One does not get the opportunity to play against someone like Short every day, let alone get a winning position. He would certainly not want to squander a golden opportunity.

Lorenzo Candian was on the brink of victory against Nigel Short | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Nandhidhaa - Brunello: 0.5-0.5

WGM Nandhidhaa P V had a promising position against GM Sabino Brunello (ITA).

Position after 25...Nc5

White's isolated center passed pawn is quite strong. The reason behind 25...Nc5 is simple, it wants to go the d3-square and make White's position difficult. While White cannot prevent it, she can certainly make sure that the threat becomes less effective. How? The game continued 26.g4 Nd3 27.g5 Nd7 28.Bg3 hxg5, after a fluctuation of evaluation, it eventually ended in a draw.

Candian - Short: 0-1

14-year-old Lorenzo Candian (ITA) seized his opportunity when Nigel Short made a huge mistake early in the game.

Position after 12...Nf6

12...Nf6 invites trouble as 13.Bxc6+ bxc6 14.Nd6+ Ke7 15.Ne5 and Black's position is in shambles. It was just a matter of time before White won the game, however, something else was in store for White. His phone went off, and immediately he was declared lost as the rules are in all rating tournaments.

The mobile phone alarm episode in the game of Nigel Short and Lorenzo Candian | Video: ChessBase India

Nigel Short tweeted on his Round 2 game

He also shared that not being allowed to walk in the hall due to COVID-19 policy, has also made things difficult for him

IM Bharath Subramaniyam H... | Photo: Rupali Mullick

IM Pranesh M... | Photo: Rupali Mullick

...and GM Lalit Rohit are the only three Indians at 2.0/2 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

For more photos, click here.

The tournament is taking place at Hotel Kursaal, Cattolica in Italy from 2nd to 9th January 2021. Time control is 90 mins + 30 seconds increment and 15 minutes each will be added after 40th move in Group A which is for above 1800 FIDE rating.

Replay Round 2 games

Round 2 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	31	FM	Martinovici Ilia	2398	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Korobov Anton	2699	1
2	2	GM	Niemann Hans Moke	2645	1	1 - 0	1	FM	Formento Paolo	2382	33
3	32	IM	Barp Alberto	2388	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Tabatabaei M. Amin	2643	3
4	4	GM	Kozul Zdenko	2639	1	½ - ½	1	FM	Ghazarian Kirk	2379	35
5	6	GM	Lagarde Maxime	2632	1	1 - 0	1	IM	Moksh Amit Doshi	2368	37
6	34	IM	Sorensen Hampus	2379	1	½ - ½	1	GM	Thybo Jesper Sondergaard	2592	7
7	8	GM	Bernadskiy Vitaliy	2589	1	1 - 0	1	FM	Klabis Rokas	2356	41
8	43	WGM	Gomes Mary Ann	2354	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Lalith Babu M R	2548	9
9	11	GM	Arjun Kalyan	2532	1	½ - ½	1	FM	Siddharth Jagadeesh	2344	47
10	44	IM	Salimova Nurgyul	2353	1	1 - 0	1	GM	Zelcic Robert	2531	12
11	13	GM	Lodici Lorenzo	2524	1	1 - 0	1	WGM	Fataliyeva Ulviyya	2324	51
12	46	IM	Santarius Erik	2346	1	½ - ½	1	GM	Nikolov Momchil	2508	14
13	15	GM	Alsina Leal Daniel	2507	1	1 - 0	1	IM	Manish Anto Cristiano F	2321	53
14	48	WGM	Nandhidhaa P V	2336	1	½ - ½	1	GM	Brunello Sabino	2503	16
15	50	IM	Rakesh Kumar Jena	2329	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Kotronias Vasilios	2485	18

Details

Round 3 pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	1	GM	Korobov Anton	2699	2		2	IM	Bharath Subramaniyam H	2476	21
2	22	IM	Ioannidis Evgenios	2466	2		2	GM	Niemann Hans Moke	2645	2
3	3	GM	Tabatabaei M. Amin	2643	2		2	IM	Pranesh M	2437	23
4	24	IM	Pantzar Milton	2434	2		2	GM	Lagarde Maxime	2632	6
5	26	FM	Sarrau Jelle	2412	2		2	GM	Bernadskiy Vitaliy	2589	8
6	9	GM	Lalith Babu M R	2548	2		2	FM	Hess Max	2404	30
7	29	IM	Gilevych Artem	2407	2		2	GM	Lodici Lorenzo	2524	13
8	44	IM	Salimova Nurgyul	2353	2		2	GM	Alsina Leal Daniel	2507	15
9	18	GM	Kotronias Vasilios	2485	2		2	FM	Becker Matthias	2311	54
10	34	IM	Sorensen Hampus	2379	1½		1½	GM	Kozul Zdenko	2639	4
11	5	GM	Short Nigel D	2633	1½		1½		Bhambure Shantanu	2368	38
12	7	GM	Thybo Jesper Sondergaard	2592	1½		1½	IM	Santarius Erik	2346	46
13	35	FM	Ghazarian Kirk	2379	1½		1½	GM	Iniyan P	2540	10
14	49	FM	Pasztor Balazs	2335	1½		1½	GM	Arjun Kalyan	2532	11
15	14	GM	Nikolov Momchil	2508	1½		1½	WGM	Nandhidhaa P V	2336	48

Details

Prizes

Total Prize fund - €10000.

Links

Official site

Tournament regulations

Related news:

	Lalit Rohit victorious at Vergani Cup January 2022 @ 10/01/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	भारत के ललित बाबू बने वेरगानी कप के विजेता @ 09/01/2022 by Niklesh Jain (hi)
	Lalit Rohit moves closer to win the Vergani Cup 2022 @ 09/01/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	वेरगानी कप - जीत के साथ ललित बाबू फिर सयुंक्त बढ़त पर @ 08/01/2022 by Niklesh Jain (hi)
	वेरगानी कप - शानदार जीत से तबातबाई नें बनाई बढ़त @ 07/01/2022 by Niklesh Jain (hi)
	Vergani Cup 2022 R5: Prraneeth Vuppala beats Hans Niemann @ 06/01/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	वेरगानी कप : भारत के ललित बाबू सयुंक्त बढ़त पर @ 05/01/2022 by Niklesh Jain (hi)
	Vergani Cup 2022 R3: Lalit Rohit in an eight-way lead @ 05/01/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Vergani Cup 2022 R1: Ojas Kulkarni makes a peaceful start against Nigel Short @ 03/01/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)