Max Euwe Matches in Amsterdam
From Thursday, May 13, to Sunday, May 16, the Max Euwe Center in Amsterdam
staged five matches for talented young Dutch players.
Results of round four
Anish Giri |
1-0 |
Nigel Short |
Robin van Kampen |
0-1 |
Lubomir Ftacnik |
Benjamin Bok |
½-½ |
Yasser Seirawan |
Lisa Schut |
½-½ |
Sebastian Siebrecht |
Anne Haast |
0-1 |
Dennis de Vreugt |
The top billed match was of course between British GM Nigel Short and the 2009
Dutch Champion, 15-year-old GM Anish Giri. Though Short had the clear Elo edge
with 2684 Elo and a 50-point advantage, one also had to wonder how valid Giri's
rating is at this point considering his youth and meteoric rise over the last
few years. Short began well, and came close to winning the second game and then
actually won the third, essentially 'stamping his authority' on the match –
or so it seemed. The fourth game took a very different direction and Giri played
an extremely unpleasant exchange sac that left Nigel short of ideas (pun intended).

Anish trying to remember the theory after Nigel Short has sprung the Chigorin
Defence on him
Giri,A (2642) - Short,N (2685) [D02]
Max Euwe Match Amsterdam NED (4), 16.05.2010
1.d4 Nc6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 Bg4 4.cxd5 Bxf3 5.gxf3 Qxd5 6.e3 e5 7.Nc3 Bb4 8.Bd2
Bxc3 9.bxc3 Nf6 10.c4 Qd6 11.d5 Ne7 12.Rb1 b6 13.Bb4 c5 14.dxc6 Qxd1+ 15.Rxd1
Nxc6 16.Ba3 Rd8 17.Bd6?

The question mark is by Anish Giri, who tells us that he awarded it because
the move turns a position from strategically winning to very, very complicated.
"To be honest I played it, then went for a stroll thinking that I already
won, but when I came back, I saw Black could play Nd4 and almost cried. But
still, this way, the whole world must think that I am so cool because I had
this whole Rxd4 thing in mind." 17...Nd4! 18.c5 bxc5 19.Rxd4!?
An excellent practical exchange sac, for which White will obtain an extremely
unpleasant bind, tying down Black. Whether or not it is winning is another story
altogether, but there is no question who has the harder position to play. 19...cxd4
20.Bb5+ Nd7 21.Rg1. In order to survive, Black has two approaches: 1: find
a way to free himself from the bind, and with some luck, his material advantage
can swing the game in his favor, or 2: if there is no miracle escape, then try
to give back the material at an opportune moment, and recover a comfortable
balance. 21...a6 22.Ba4 g6 23.Ke2 f6 24.Rc1 dxe3 25.fxe3 h5 26.Rc7 Rh7 27.Kd3
Re7. An offer to return the material and try to free himself. 28.Ke4.
But Giri is having none of it, and pursues his plan. 28...Kf7?! As
ugly as it might appear, Black had to reconsider giving the exchange back as
this move amounts to a tempo loss and gives White's king further time to penetrate
into the position. 29.Bxe7 Kxe7 30.Kd5 f5 31.Rxd7+ Rxd7+ 32.Bxd7 Kxd7 33.Kxe5
Ke7 34.h4 g5 35.Kxf5 gxh4 36.Kf4 Kf6 37.e4 a5 38.a4 Kg6 39.Ke3 Kg5 40.Kf2
Kf4 41.Kg2 1-0.

Anish Giri discussing his victory over Nigel Short to the public at the
Max Euwe Center
Addendum: on the round three game in which Nigel Short beat
Anish Giri, Anatoly Guaniezo of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia wrote: " Grandmaster
Nigel Short was amazing ever since his early youth. His kind of chess is classical
and entertaining – classical in the sense of its simple clarity and
directness. In his games with grandmaster Anish Giri he shows no doubts about
his theories, even using an opening that is known to be refuted. I understand
his chess, what he means, what he want to show the world: that he is still
a unique player among the elite. I know age matters in chess, but in game
three Short vs Giri he shows his maturity against youth! Its not enough that
you have a high rating in able to beat an experience and tough player. More
power to Nigel Short! I celebrate your win against GM Giri."
The other matches went the way of experience, with victories of GM Lubomir
Ftacnik over Robin van Kampen with a score of 3-1, and GM Yasser Seirawan over
Benjamin Bok by 2.5-1.5. Though both two ladies, Lisa Schut and Anne Haast also
lost their respective encounters, Lisa losing to Sebastian Siebrecht by 2.5-1.5,
and Anne Haast to Dennis de Vreugt by 4-0, it is well worth noting that not
only did Lisa avenge her first loss to Siebrecht in the second round, but she
was also completely winning in the fourth, and could easily have tied her match
had she brought in the full point.

Lisa Schut and Sebastian Siebrecht under the watchful eyes of Dr. Max Euwe
A warm congratulations nonetheless to all participants, and to the organizers
and sponsors for the wonderful initiative.
Final scores
Nigel Short |
2.0-2.0 |
Anish Giri |
Lubomir Ftacnik |
3.0-1.0 |
Robin van Kampen |
Yasser Seirawan |
2.5-1.5 |
Benjamin Bok |
Sebastian Siebrecht |
2.5-1.5 |
Lisa Schut |
Dennis de Vreugt |
4.0-0.0 |
Anne Haast |

The players: Lisa Schut, Sebastian Siebrecht, Robin van Kampen, Anish Giri,
Lubomir Ftacnik,
Nigel Short, Anne Haast, Dennis de Vreugt, Benjamin Bok, Yasser Seirawan.
Photos by René Olthof
Links
The games are were broadcast live on the official web site and on the
chess server Playchess.com.
If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase
Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program
to read, replay and analyse PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009! |
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