BCC Open: Short wins, returns to the 2700 club

by ChessBase
4/20/2012 – British GM and former World Championship challeger Nigel Short beat his main rivals and wrapped up the Bangkok Chess Club Open a full point ahead of the field. With this victory Nigel returns to the 2700 club, where he clearly belongs. After the event there was a rendezvous with some informal blitz on the roof of the hotel. Final report with some breathtaking photos by WGM Kruttika Nadig.
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The 12th Bangkok Chess Club (BCC) Open took place from April 13th-19th, with top seeds GMs Nigel Short, rated 2697, Jan Gustafsson, 2642, Hou Yifan, 2639, and Farrukh Amonatov 2604. The time controls were 90 minutes for the game plus 30 seconds per move.

The 12th Bangkok Chess Club Open 2012 was won by British GM Nigel Short, with a last-round draw against IM Nguyen Duc Hoa, whose outstanding performance has earned the Vietnamese player a GM norm. From the beginning of the tournament, Short demonstrated his great fighting spirit. Having won the Gibraltar Chess Festival in January, it was apparent that he had come to Bangkok with a high confidence level and the mission to become the sole champion. Mission accomplished! GM Nigel Short has played with passion and expertise in his fourth consecutive BCC Open tournament and has finally won it. While defending champion GM Jan Gustafsson and Women’s World Champion GM Hou Yifan underperformed, other predominantly Asian participants played very well and often surpassed expectations.


Nigel Short ponders his 33rd move against Hou Yifan

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1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 b6 4.e3 Bb7 5.Bd3 d5 6.0-0 Bd6 7.b3 0-0 8.Bb2 Nbd7 9.Nc3 a6 10.Qc2 dxc4 11.bxc4 Bxf3 12.gxf3 c5 13.d5 exd5 14.cxd5 b5 15.Be2 c4 16.Ne4 Nxe4 17.fxe4 Qe7 18.f4 f6 19.Rad1 Rac8 20.Bd4 Nc5 21.Bxc5 Sacrificing a pawn. Bxc5 22.Bg4 Bxe3+ 23.Kh1 Until this point the 18-year-old Chinese GM is doing fine, and she surely had thoughts of victory. But now things go astray. f5? Black probably considered 23...Rcd8 24.Be6+ Kh8 25.Rf3 Bc5 26.Rh3 (as proposed by Fritz) too dangerous. 24.Bxf5 Did Hou plan and then abandon an exchange sacrifice? Rcd8 25.e5 Kh8 25...g6 26.Bxg6 Rxf4 27.Rxf4 Bxf4 28.e6 Qf6 28...hxg6 29.Qxg6+ Qg7 29...Kh8 30.Rg1 and mate in six 30.e7 wins quickly for White. 29.Bxh7+ is winning for White (Fritz). 26.Qe4 Qc5? 27.Bxh7 c3 This pawn is not going anywhere - Black is basically lost. 28.Bg6 c2 29.Qg2 Very nice. Bxf4 If 29...cxd1Q 30.Qh3+ leads to a quick mate. 30.Bxc2 and Black has nothing left to show. Qe7 31.d6 Qe6 32.Rde1 32.d7 would have been quicker. 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 Quite a traumatic defeat for the brightest talent in women's chess. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Short,N2697Hou,Y26391–02012E1412th BCC Open7

Here's an important game from the penultimate round that basically decided the winner of the tournament:

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1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 Nf6 3.e3 c5 4.Nc3 e6 5.Nb5 Na6 6.a4 Be7 7.c3 0-0 8.h3 Bd7 9.Nf3 Bxb5 10.Bxb5 Nb8 11.Bd3 Nc6 12.0-0 Bd6 13.Bg5 h6 14.Bh4 Be7 15.Ne5 Nxe5 16.dxe5 Nd7 17.Bg3 g6 18.b3 Qc7 19.f4 c4 20.bxc4 dxc4 21.Bc2 Rfd8 22.Qe2 Qa5 23.Be1 Rac8 24.h4 Nc5 25.h5 g5 26.Qxc4 Nd3 27.Qe4 Qd5 28.Bxd3 Qxd3 29.Qxb7 Bc5 30.fxg5 Qxe3+ 31.Kh1 Rf8 32.gxh6 Qxe5 33.Rf3 Qxh5+ 34.Rh3 Qd5 35.Qxd5 exd5 36.Rd1 Rfe8 37.Rh5 Kh7 38.Bd2 Be3 39.Bxe3 Rxe3 40.Rdxd5 Rexc3 41.Rdg5 Rg8 42.Rxg8 Kxg8 43.Rg5+ Kh8 44.Rf5 Rc4 45.a5 Rh4+ 46.Kg1 Rxh6 47.Rxf7 Ra6 48.Rf5 Kg7 49.Kf2 Kg6 50.g4 Rc6 51.Kg3 Rc3+ 52.Kh4 Rc1 53.Rg5+ Kf6 54.Rd5 Rh1+ 55.Kg3 Ra1 56.Rc5 Ra2 57.Rf5+ Kg6 58.Rb5 Kf6 59.Kf3 Ra3+ 60.Ke4 Ra4+ 61.Kf3 Ra3+ 62.Kf4 Ra4+ 63.Kg3 Ra1 64.g5+ Kg6 65.Kf4 Ra4+ 66.Ke3 After outplaying his opponent Nigel Short has allowed him to escape with a theoretical draw - which, however, his GM opponent needs to play error free. Rg4 67.Rb7 Rxg5 68.Rxa7 Kf6 69.a6 Ra5? 69...Rd5! Dr Karsten Müller will tell us, is the move required to hold a draw. 70.Ra8 Ra4 71.Kd3 Kg7 72.Kc3 Rf4 73.Ra7+ Kg6 74.Rb7 Ra4 75.a7 Kf6 76.Kb3 Ra1 77.Kc4 Ke6 78.Kc5 The grandmaster from the Republic of Tajikistan has received a lesson in rook endings from his British opponent. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Short,N2697Amonatov,F26041–02012D0012th BCC Open8

And here is a fun finish to an exciting attacking game from the final round:

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1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 Nbd7 7.Nxc4 Qc7 8.g3 e5 9.dxe5 Nxe5 10.Bf4 Nfd7 11.Bg2 g5 12.Ne3 gxf4 13.Nxf5 0-0-0 14.Qc2 Kb8 15.0-0 fxg3 16.hxg3 h5 17.Rfc1 Nf6 18.a5 h4 19.Nxh4 Rxh4 20.gxh4 Neg4 21.Qf5 Qh2+ 22.Kf1 Bh6 23.Ne4? Rg8 23...Be3! was a nice cheapo: after 24.fxe3 Nxe3+ wins the queen (and in fact leads to mate). 24.Ng5 Qxh4 25.Nh3?
25...Qxh3 25...Qxh3 wins immediately because in case of 26.Bxh3 Nh2+ leads to mate: 27.Ke1 Rg1+ 28.Bf1 Rxf1# 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Xiu,D2492Sriram,J24060–12012D1712th BCC Open9

Final top standings (after nine rounds)

Rk.
Title
 Name
FED
 Rtg
Pts.
 TB1 
 TB2 
 TB3 
 Perf
rtg+/-
1
GM
 Short Nigel D
ENG
 2697
8.0
54.5
48.00
44.0
 2768
8.4
2
GM
 Amonatov Farrukh
TJK
 2604
7.0
55.0
40.25
42.5
 2601
2.5
3
IM
 Nguyen Duc Hoa
VIE
 2453
7.0
53.0
39.25
41.0
 2616
19.0
4
GM
 Sriram Jha
IND
 2406
7.0
50.5
38.00
39.5
 2514
12.8
5
IM
 Liu Qingnan
CHN
 2461
6.5
54.0
36.00
41.0
 2542
10.7
6
IM
 Venkatesh M R
IND
 2509
6.5
53.5
35.25
41.0
 2561
7.9
7
IM
 Saptarshi Roy
IND
 2384
6.5
49.5
35.50
39.0
 2435
7.4
8
Wan Yunguo
CHN
 2441
6.5
49.5
34.75
39.0
 2458
5.7
9
GM
 Gustafsson Jan
GER
 2642
6.5
49.5
34.00
39.0
 2492
-11.0
10
Liu Chang
CHN
 2262
6.5
49.5
31.50
39.0
 2461
34.3
11
IM
 Nguyen Van Huy
VIE
 2485
6.5
48.5
32.25
39.0
 2421
2.5
12
GM
 Schebler Gerhard
GER
 2449
6.5
47.0
34.00
36.5
 2405
-3.3
13
GM
 Neelotpal Das
IND
 2462
6.5
45.0
31.25
35.0
 2390
-5.9
14
GM
 Hou Yifan
CHN
 2639
6.0
53.0
32.50
41.5
 2500
-10.9
15
Severino Sander
PHI
 2344
6.0
51.0
31.00
38.5
 2481
23.4
16
GM
 Ghane Shojaat
IRI
 2339
6.0
50.0
30.50
39.5
 2423
10.3
17
GM
 Xiu Deshun
CHN
 2492
6.0
49.5
31.00
38.0
 2412
-7.8
18
IM
 Contin Daniel
ITA
 2331
6.0
48.5
29.75
37.5
 2408
9.7
19
Mohammad Nubairshah
IND
 2119
6.0
48.0
30.50
38.5
 2354
44.3
20
IM
 Myo Naing
MYA
 2321
6.0
45.5
29.25
36.0
 2232
-9.1
21
IM
 Lammers Markus
GER
 2384
6.0
45.0
29.25
35.0
 2319
-6.6
22
WGM
 Pham Le Thao Nguyen
VIE
 2351
6.0
43.0
28.00
33.5
 2291
-9.1

Pictures from Bangkok

Our playing correspondent WGM Kruttika Nadig sent us some pictures from a photo shoot arranged on the roof top of the Dusit Thani hotel, where the tournament was held. "The view was lovely," writes Kruttika, "but it was extremely bright and sunny, and we all nearly had a stroke..."


The luxurious five-star hotel Dusit Thani in the heart of Bangkok


The prize winners gather on the roof of the hotel, high above the city


Look, ma, no railing! A chess table set up in dizzying heights for...


... an informal "blitz-on-the-roof", here between Nigel Short and Jan Gustafsson


Revenge for two painful losses to the Brit? At least Yifan did not push him off the roof


Organisers and player celebrate with a glass of Champagne – why do we keep worrying
about that six-inch balustrade?


Yifan over Bangkok – the Women's World Champion poses for our reporter

The Bangkok Chess Club

The Bangkok Chess Club meets every Tuesday evening at Roadhouse Barbecue on the corner of Surawong and Rama IV Roads, near the Sala Daeng skytrain station (walk through Thaniya Plaza to Surawong Road and turn right), and the Silom MRT station. Players begin to arrive from 6:30pm and tournaments usually begin at about 8:00pm. With over 200 active players of every standard from beginners to masters, you are bound to find players to give you a good game – all are welcome. And it is free – though nobody would object if you bought the organiser a drink ;-). The Bangkok Chess Club also meets every Friday evening at the Queen Victoria Pub and Restaurant in Sukhumvit Soi 23 – a short stroll up Soi 23 or through Soi Cowboy from Sukhumvit MRT and Asoke BTS.

Links

The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

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