CHESS
Secret weapon
Raymond Keene
Nigel Short's controversial shorts were in evidence again during the Kleinworth Grieveson British Championship at Swan- sea. Last month Zoltan Ribli, the Hunga- rian Grandmaster, protested when Short wore them at the Subotica Interzonal. Hardly surprising, since Short had won every game with them and, even shortless, he still defeated Ribli when the time came. In fact, the shorts are no ordinary pair but a peculiarly revolting set in pink and green, presented to Nigel by Dominic Lawson for the purpose of playing tennis rather than chess. My advice: hang on to them, Nigel; they may be necessary next time you face Kasparov.
Nigel slaughtered the opposition at Swansea, leading scores out of 11 being: Short 91/2; Ivanov and Conquest 8; Plaskett and King 71/2; Adams, Pritchett, Gal- lagher, Mestel, Speelman and Wells 7.
Here is Nigel's win against a very prom- ising 15-year-old, described by the Daily Telegraph as a 'Short-clone'.
Adams-Short: Ruy Lopez.
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Be7 6 Rel b5 7 Bb3 d6 8 c3 0-0 9 h3 Nd7 10 d4 Bf6 11 a4 Bb7 12 Na3 exd4 13 cxd4 Re8 14 Qd2 Re7 15 Bc2 Qe8 16 b3 bxa4 17 bxa4 a518 Bbl Nc5 19 e5 dxe5 20 Qc2 e4 21 Bg5 BxgS 22 Nxg5 Nd3 23 Rxe4 Rxe4 24 Qxd3 Rel + 25 Kh2 g6 26 Bat Re7 27 Rel Nd8 28 Rbl Qc6 29 d5 Qd6+ 30 Kg1 Qf4 31 h4 Qxh4 32 Qd2 Ba6 33 Nb5 Bxb5 34 RxbS Qxa4 35 Rb3 Ra6 36 Rb8 Rd6 37 Ra8 Qb4 38 Qxb4 axb4 39 f3 Kg7 40 Ne4 b3 41 Bxb3 Rb6 42 Ba4 Nb7 43 Bch Nd6 and White resigns. Cool defence by Black. If 27 . . . Rxel? 28 Bxf7+ Qxf7 29 Nxf7 Kxf7 30 Qb3+ and Qxb7. In the final position both Black rooks will penetrate to White's second rank with deadly effects.
Before the championship I had har- boured thoughts that Jon Speelman might win for the fourth time. His recent form had been so devastating, while Nigel Short had suffered a signal setback at SWIFT in April. Indeed, Speelman had barely lost a single game over the past year.
It was, however, not to be. Short won crushingly, while second place was shared by two relative newcomers. Stuart Con- quest, of Hastings, is still barely 21, while Igor Ivanov is one of those Russians whose careers have blossomed after leaving the USSR. He currently plays for Canada but will be in the UK throughout August playing in the BIS British Speed Cham- pionship and the Lloyds Bank Masters. Further down, the performance of 23-year- old Joe Gallagher must be noted. He is one of the hungry young men trying to fill the vacant post on the English team left by Tony Miles's 'defection.'
I have not yet been able to do justice to John Nunn's wins from the Szirak Inter- zonal. Here is a superb selection: Nunn-Marin: Sicilian Defence.
1 e4 c5 2 NO d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Be3 e6 7 Qd2 b5 8 f3 Nbd7 9 g4 h6 10 0-0-0 Bb7 11 Bd3 Ne5 12 Rhel Nfd7?! 13 14! b4 14 Nd5! Nxd3+ 15 Qxd3 exd5 16 exd5 Bel 17 Nc6 Bxc6 18 dxc6 Nf6 19 Bb6!! Qxb6 20 Rxe7+! Kf8 21 Qxd6 ICg8 22 g5 hxg5 23 fxg5 Rc8 24 c7 Qxd6 25 Rxd6 Ng4 26 Rd8+ Kh7 27 Red? Black resigns. Best is 12 . . . b4! 13 Na4 d5. With 19 Bb6!! Nunn, already a piece down, launches a tremendous combination.
Bouaziz-Nunn: King's Indian Defence. 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 g6 3 c4 Bg7 4 Nc3 0-0 5 e4 d6 6 Be2 e5 7 dxe5 dxe5 8 QxdS Rxd8 9 Bg5 c6 10 NxeS Re8 11 Bf4 Na6 12 0-0-0 Nc5 13 13 Nh5 14 Be3 Nxe4 15 Nxe4 BxeS 16 Bd4 Bf5 17 BxeS Rxe5 18 Nc3 Nf4 19 Bfl RaeS 20 g3 Nh3 21 Bxh3 Bxh3 22
14 Re3 23 Rd2 h5 24 Ndl R3e4 25 b3 Bf5 26 Nc3 Re3 27 Ndl Rf3 28 Rgl b5 29 cxb5 cxb5 30 R1g2 Rfl 31 Kb2 b4 32 a3 Bg4 33 NO Bf3 34 Nd3 Bxg2 35 Rxg2 bxa3+ 36 Kxa3 and White resigns. Nunn improves on the usual line: 9 . . . Re8 10 Nd5 NxdS 11 cxd5 c6 12 Bc4 cxd5 13 Bxd5 which is not truly satisfactory for Black. If 11 0-0-0 Na6 12 Nf3 Bg4 13 Bd3 Nc5 14 Rhel Nfd7! Barlov- Watson, Bor 1986.
Nunn-Velimirovic: Sicilian Defence.
1 e4 c5 2 NO Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 g6 5 c4 Bg7 6 Be3 Nf6 7 Nc3 d6 8 Bet Bd7 9 0-0 0-0 10 Rcl Nxd4 11 Bxd4 Bc6 1213 a513 b3 Bh6 14 Rc2 Nd7 15 Khl Nc5 16 Nd5 Bg7 17 Bxg7 Kxg7 18 Rd2 Bxd5 19 RxdS Qb6 20 Qd4+ f6 21 f4 Qb4 22 Rdl! a4 23 e5 axb3 24 axb3 Ra2 2511f3 b6 26 Qe3 dxe5 27 fxe5 Qxb3? 28 exf6+ exf6 29 Rd7+! 12f7 30 Rxf7+ Kxf7 31 Rd7+ Nxd7 32 Rd7+ Nxd7 33 Bdl Nc5 34 Qc2 Ne4 35 Kg1 f5 36 h3 h5 37 h4 Ke7 38 Kh2 Nf6 39 Qb2 Black resigns.
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