Nigel Short beats Hou Yifan in blitz playoff, wins in Gibraltar

English grandmaster Nigel Short won the 10th Tradewise Chess Festival in Gibraltar on Thursday after beating Hou Yifan of China in a blitz playoff. Both players had finished on 8/10.

17-year-old Hou Yifan was already assured of the top Woman’s Award of £10,000, irrespective of what would happen in the last round. She was lone leader on 7.5/9, and assured of some sort of open prize as well as the U18 prize! On the last day, all eyes were on Gibraltar to see if Hou Yifan could also claim the first prize of £20,000.

Round 10

In the final round Hou Yifan drew with White against Shakhiyar Mamedyarov in a rather nice game.

[Event "Gibraltar Open"]
[Site "Caleta ENG"]
[Date "2012.02.02"]
[Round "10.1"]
[White "Hou, Yifan"]
[Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B07"]
[WhiteElo "2605"]
[BlackElo "2747"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2012.01.24"]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 c6 {
Mamedyarov apparently wanted to surprise his young opponent in the opening.} 4.
Nf3 Bg4 5. Be2 e6 6. O-O Be7 7. h3 Bh5 8. e5 dxe5 9. Nxe5 Bxe2 10. Nxe2 Nbd7
11. c4 $5 ({Moves like} 11. Nf3 {and}) (11. Nd3 {had been played before.})
11... Nxe5 12. dxe5 Nd7 13. Bf4 Qa5 14. a3 $1 {An interesting pawn sacrifice.}
(14. Qb3 O-O-O) 14... Nxe5 {Taking up the gauntlet.} 15. b4 Qc7 16. Qd4 f6 (
16... Bf6 17. Rad1 O-O 18. Ng3) 17. Rad1 a5 (17... c5 $5) 18. Qe4 Kf7 19. Bg3
$5 {Hou Yifan again doesn't pay too much attention to material.} (19. c5) 19...
axb4 20. axb4 Bxb4 21. Nd4 Bc5 {Allowing a nice tactic with which White wins
back the pawn. The good news is that the queens will be traded, so the black
king will feel more secure.} 22. f4 Bxd4+ 23. Rxd4 Nd7 24. Qxe6+ $1 Kxe6 25.
f5+ Ke7 26. Bxc7 Rhe8 27. Rb1 Ra7 28. Rbd1 Nf8 29. Rb1 Kf7 30. c5 Re7 31. Bd6
Rd7 32. Rdb4 h5 33. Rh4 Nh7 34. Rxh5 Kg8 35. Rh4 Ra8 36. Rb6 Ng5 37. Rhb4 Ra7
38. Bb8 Ra1+ 39. Kh2 Rd5 40. Rxb7 Rxf5 41. Bd6 Ra2 42. Rg4 Rf3 {
This more or less forces the draw.} 43. h4 Rh3+ 44. Kg1 Ra1+ 45. Kf2 Ra2+ 46.
Kg1 1/2-1/2

Mickey Adams, who had been leading the tournament until the 8th round, had to play with Black in the last two rounds. He drew both games, on Thursday against Viorel Bologan, who seemed to have a technically winning ending.

[Event "Gibraltar Open"]
[Site "Caleta ENG"]
[Date "2012.02.02"]
[Round "10.2"]
[White "Bologan, Viktor"]
[Black "Adams, Michael"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C84"]
[WhiteElo "2680"]
[BlackElo "2724"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3n4/3k1pp1/1p5r/3PR1p1/6P1/2PN3P/5PK1/8 b - - 0 45"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "2012.01.24"]

45... f6 46. Re1 Nb7 47. c4 Na5 48. c5 bxc5 49. Nxc5+ Kd6 50. Ne6 Rh7 51. f4
gxf4 52. Nxf4 Nc4 53. Re6+ Kc5 54. Rc6+ Kd4 55. Rc7 Nd6 56. Rd7 Ke5 57. Kf3 Nc4
58. Ng6+ Kd4 59. Kg3 Nb6 60. Rd8 Rh6 61. Ne7 Rh7 62. d6 g5 63. Rb8 Kc5 64. Rb7
Rh8 65. Nf5 Rd8 66. Re7 Nd7 67. Kf3 Kd5 68. Kg3 Ne5 69. Ra7 Nc4 70. d7 Ne5 71.
Ra6 Nc6 72. Ra1 Rxd7 73. Rd1+ 1/2-1/2

The other two players who were trailing by half a point were Krishnan Sasikiran and Nigel Short. The Englishman didn't hold back and played the Benoni. He won a good game where he showed better tactical vision than his opponent.

[Event "Gibraltar Open"]
[Site "Caleta ENG"]
[Date "2012.02.02"]
[Round "10.3"]
[White "Sasikiran, Krishnan"]
[Black "Short, Nigel D"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A63"]
[WhiteElo "2700"]
[BlackElo "2677"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2b1r1r1/4q2k/p2p1bnp/2pP1p2/2P2P2/2N1PR1P/1BQ3BK/6R1 w - - 0 29"]
[PlyCount "44"]
[EventDate "2012.01.24"]

29. Bh1 $2 {A big mistake, and Black's refutation is pretty.} Ne5 $1 30. Rfg3 (
30. fxe5 Bxe5+ 31. Rf4 Bxf4+ 32. exf4 Qe3 $1 {is not better, e.g.} 33. Bg2
Qxf4+ 34. Kh1 Qxc4) 30... Rxg3 31. Rxg3 Nxc4 32. Bc1 Bh4 33. Rf3 Qg7 34. Ne2
Nb6 35. e4 $6 {A "trick" which doesn't work.} (35. Rf1) 35... Rxe4 $1 36. Rb3 {
The point, but...} Re8 $1 {..and White cannot take the knight.} 37. Bf3 (37.
Rxb6 Rxe2+ 38. Qxe2 Qg3#) 37... Bf2 38. Bg4 Qg6 39. Rxb6 fxg4 40. Qxg6+ Kxg6
41. Rxd6+ Kf7 {The ending is winning.} 42. Ng3 Re1 43. Bd2 Rg1 44. Rf6+ Kxf6
45. Ne4+ Kf7 46. Nxf2 Ra1 47. hxg4 Ra2 48. Be3 Bxg4 49. Kg3 Bf5 50. Bxc5 Ra5
0-1

Emil Sutovsky won a queen ending that was theoretically drawn, but very difficult to hold over the board.

[Event "Gibraltar Open"]
[Site "Caleta ENG"]
[Date "2012.02.02"]
[Round "10.7"]
[White "Erdos, Viktor"]
[Black "Sutovsky, Emil"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E60"]
[WhiteElo "2634"]
[BlackElo "2703"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "Q7/7p/8/8/1K6/8/7k/6q1 b - - 0 48"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2012.01.24"]

{At first, Erdos makes no mistakes.} 48... Qg4+ 49. Ka5 Qf5+ 50. Kb6 Qe6+ 51.
Kc5 Qe3+ 52. Kb5 h5 53. Qd8 Qf4 54. Qe8 Qf5+ 55. Ka6 Qd3+ 56. Ka5 Qc3+ 57. Kb5
h4 58. Qf7 Qd3+ 59. Ka5 Qd2+ 60. Ka6 Qe2+ 61. Ka5 Qe5+ 62. Ka6 Qd6+ 63. Kb5 Kg3
64. Qg7+ Kf4 65. Qf7+ Ke3 66. Qh5 Qd7+ 67. Ka5 h3 68. Qg5+ Ke4 69. Qh4+ Kd3 70.
Qg3+ $2 {Only here it goes wrong.} ({Only the moves} 70. Qh5) ({and} 70. Qe1 {
draw here.}) 70... Kc2 $1 71. Qg6+ Qd3 $1 72. Qh5 Qd2+ $1 73. Ka4 h2 74. Qh7+
Kc1 75. Qh3 Qd4+ 76. Ka3 Qc5+ 77. Kb3 Qd5+ 78. Ka3 h1=Q 79. Qc3+ Kd1 0-1

Another nice last-round pairing was Judit Polgar vs. Viktor Korchnoi!

[Event "Gibraltar Open"]
[Site "Caleta ENG"]
[Date "2012.02.02"]
[Round "10.9"]
[White "Polgar, Judit"]
[Black "Korchnoi, Viktor"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C11"]
[WhiteElo "2710"]
[BlackElo "2558"]
[PlyCount "131"]
[EventDate "2012.01.24"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Nce2 c5 6. c3 cxd4 7. cxd4 f6 8.
exf6 Nxf6 9. Nf3 Nc6 10. Nc3 Bd6 11. Bd3 O-O 12. O-O Qe8 13. Re1 Qh5 14. Be2
Qg6 15. Ng5 h6 16. Bd3 Qe8 17. Nf3 Qh5 18. h3 Bd7 19. a3 g5 20. Nb5 Bb8 21. Qc2
Kg7 22. Ne5 Nxe5 23. dxe5 Ne4 24. Bxe4 Bxb5 25. Qb3 dxe4 26. Qxb5 Qf7 27. Be3
a6 28. Qb4 Bxe5 29. Qxe4 Bf6 30. Rad1 Rad8 31. Bc5 Rfe8 32. Rxd8 Rxd8 33. Qxe6
Qxe6 34. Rxe6 Rd5 35. b4 Rd1+ 36. Kh2 h5 37. g4 hxg4 38. hxg4 Rd3 39. a4 Kf7
40. Rb6 Rd7 41. Kg2 Bd8 42. Rh6 Kg7 43. Re6 Kf7 44. Re5 Bf6 45. Re3 Bd8 46. a5
Rd5 47. Kf3 Bf6 48. Ke4 Ke6 49. Rh3 Rd7 50. Rh1 Kf7 51. Rh7+ Bg7 52. Rh3 Ke6
53. Rd3 Rxd3 54. Kxd3 Kd5 55. Be7 Bh6 56. f3 Ke6 57. Bc5 Bg7 58. Be3 Bf6 59.
Kc4 Kd6 60. f4 gxf4 61. Bxf4+ Ke6 62. g5 Bd8 63. Be3 Bc7 64. g6 Kf6 65. Kd5 Bg3
66. Bc5 1-0

A truly fantastic game was played by Emanuel Berg - the Swedish grandmaster beat Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in a mere 29 moves with a queen sacrifice:

[Event "Gibraltar Open"]
[Site "Caleta ENG"]
[Date "2012.02.02"]
[Round "10.11"]
[White "Berg, Emanuel"]
[Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B96"]
[WhiteElo "2550"]
[BlackElo "2699"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "2012.01.24"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 h6 8. Bh4
Qb6 {The Improved Poisoned Pawn.} 9. Qd3 Qxb2 10. Rb1 Qa3 11. f5 Be7 12. fxe6
fxe6 (12... Bxe6 13. Nxe6 fxe6 14. Be2 Nbd7 15. O-O Nc5 16. Qh3 Qa5 17. Bc4 b5
18. Bb3 b4 19. Ne2 Nxb3 20. Rxb3 Qe5 {
Huschenbeth,N (2521)-Van Kampen,R (2519)/Haarlem NED 2011}) 13. Be2 O-O 14. O-O
Kh8 15. Kh1 Nbd7 $2 (15... Nc6) 16. Nxe6 $3 {
Giving up the queen. The pawn on e6 seems as poisoned as the one on b2. ;-)}
Ne5 17. Nxf8 Nxd3 18. Ng6+ Kh7 (18... Kg8 19. Nxe7+ Kf7 20. Bxf6 gxf6 21. Ncd5
$18) 19. Bxd3 Kxg6 ({After the ugly} 19... Bd8 20. Nd5 $1 {
Black also has a tough job ahead of him.}) 20. e5+ Kh5 (20... Kf7 21. exf6 Bxf6
22. Nd5) 21. exf6 Bxf6 (21... Qxc3 22. fxe7 Bd7 23. Be1 $1 Qe5 24. Rxb7) 22.
Bxf6 gxf6 23. Rb3 $1 {White has a winning attack.} Qa5 24. Rxf6 Bd7 25. Ne4 Bg4
26. h3 Rg8 {What else?} 27. hxg4+ Rxg4 28. Be2 Qe1+ 29. Kh2 (29. Kh2 {
Black resigned because of} Qxe2 30. Rh3+ Rh4 31. Ng3+ Kg5 32. Rxh4) 1-0

The ever-creative Emanuel Berg sac'ed a queen against Vachier-Lagrave. Game of the tournament?

Playoff

This meant that Hou Yifan and Nigel Short had finished on shared first place, with 8/10 (see below). Traditionally, in such cases the Gibraltar tournament is decided in a playoff. Hou Yifan and Short played two games with 10 minutes on the clock, and 5 seconds increment per move.

In the first game Hou Yifan missed an excellent chance, after Short blundered in the middlegame. Both players missed an intermediate moves, and Short then won convincingly. In the second game the Chinese had to go all or nothing, and it became nothing. Well, the half point was worth as much as nothing.

Here are the two games, and the video commentary with GM Simon Williams and GM Mickey Adams:

[Event "Gibraltar Open Playoff"]
[Site "Caleta ENG"]
[Date "2012.02.02"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Short, Nigel D"]
[Black "Hou, Yifan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B23"]
[WhiteElo "2677"]
[BlackElo "2605"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2012.01.24"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. f4 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bb5+ Nc6 6. Bxc6+ bxc6 7. d3 Nf6 8.
O-O O-O 9. Kh1 Rb8 10. Qe1 Nd7 11. b3 e5 12. f5 gxf5 13. Nh4 f4 14. g3 Bf6 15.
Nf5 Nb6 16. gxf4 (16. Nh6+) 16... Bxf5 17. fxe5 $2 (17. exf5) 17... Bxe5 $2 ({
Apparently both players missed} 17... Bh4 $1) 18. Rxf5 Kh8 19. Bf4 Nd7 20. Qd2
Qh4 21. Rf1 Rbe8 22. Ne2 Rg8 $6 23. Rxf7 Qh3 24. Ng1 Qg4 25. Nf3 Qh3 26. Qf2 ({
Even stronger was} 26. Bxe5+ {followed by 27.Ng5 and Black can resign.}) 26... Bxf4 27.
Rxf4 Rg6 $6 28. Nh4 $1 Rg5 29. Nf5 Reg8 30. Nxd6 Ne5 31. Nf7+ Nxf7 32. Rxf7
R5g6 33. Rf8 Qh5 34. Rxg8+ Rxg8 35. Qf6+ Rg7 36. Rg1 1-0

[Event "Gibraltar Open Playoff"]
[Site "Caleta ENG"]
[Date "2012.02.02"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Hou, Yifan"]
[Black "Short, Nigel D"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C11"]
[WhiteElo "2605"]
[BlackElo "2677"]
[PlyCount "90"]
[EventDate "2012.01.24"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Qb6 7. Ne2 cxd4 8.
Nexd4 Nc6 9. c3 Nxd4 10. Nxd4 Bc5 11. Rb1 Bxd4 12. cxd4 Nb8 13. b4 Nc6 14. Be3
Bd7 15. Be2 Ne7 16. a4 a6 17. O-O Rc8 18. Bf2 O-O 19. Qb3 Qc7 20. Qh3 $6 (20.
b5) 20... Bxa4 {This is especially strong because Black can follow up with 21..
.Bb5, exchanging the light-squared bishops.} 21. Bd3 h6 22. Bh4 Bb5 23. Bxb5
axb5 24. Rf3 Nf5 25. Bf2 Qc2 26. Rf1 Rc4 27. Rd3 h5 28. Rfd1 g6 29. Be1 Qe2 30.
R3d2 Qe4 {White needs to win, but Black has a winning position.} 31. Bf2 Qxf4
32. Qa3 Rfc8 33. g3 Qg4 34. Qd3 Rc1 35. Qf1 Rxd1 36. Rxd1 Rc4 37. h3 Qf3 38.
Rd3 Qe4 39. Qd1 Rc1 40. Qxc1 Qxd3 41. Qc8+ Kg7 42. Qd8 Nxd4 43. Qf6+ Kg8 44.
Qd8+ Kg7 {Short grants his young opponent a draw.} (44... Kh7 45. Qf6 Ne2+ 46.
Kg2 Qf5 $19) 45. Qf6+ Kg8 1/2-1/2

Tradewise Chess Festival | Masters | Round 10 (final) standings (top 40)