
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

[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"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2012.04.13"] 1. d4 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 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 $2 ({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 $2 27. Bxh7 c3 {This pawn is not going anywhere - Black
is basically lost.} 28. Bg6 c2 29. Qg2 {Very nice.} Bxf4 ({If} 29... cxd1=Q
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
Here's an important game from the penultimate round that basically decided
the winner of the tournament:

[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"] [PlyCount "155"] [EventDate "2012.04.13"]
1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 Nf6 3. e3 c5 4. Nc3 e6 5. Nb5 Na6 6. a4 Be7 7. c3 O-O 8. h3
Bd7 9. Nf3 Bxb5 10. Bxb5 Nb8 11. Bd3 Nc6 12. O-O 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 $2 (69...
Rd5 $1 { 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
And here is a fun finish to an exciting attacking game from the final round:

[Event "12th BCC Open"] [Site "Bangkok THA"] [Date "2012.04.19"] [Round "9"]
[White "Xiu, Deshun"] [Black "Sriram, Jha"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D17"] [WhiteElo
"2492"] [BlackElo "2406"] [PlyCount "50"] [EventDate "2012.04.13"] 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 O-O-O 14. Qc2 Kb8 15.
O-O fxg3 16. hxg3 h5 17. Rfc1 Nf6 18. a5 h4 19. Nxh4 Rxh4 20. gxh4 Neg4 21.
Qf5 Qh2+ 22. Kf1 Bh6 23. Ne4 $2 Rg8 (23... Be3 $1 {was a nice cheapo: after
} 24. fxe3 Nxe3+ {wins the queen (and in fact leads to mate).}) 24. Ng5 Qxh4
25. Nh3 $2 {[#]} Qxh3 (25... Qxh3 {wins immediately because in case of} 26.
Bxh3 Nh2+ {leads to mate:} 27. Ke1 Rg1+ 28. Bf1 Rxf1#) 0-1
Final top standings (after nine rounds)
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.
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