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Nigel Short is off to a great
start at the Monarch Assurance Open, which runs this week in
Port Erin on the Isle of Man. England's former WC Challenger has won
his first three games in convincing fashion, and although there are
several world class Grandmasters competing in this 54 man event, I'd
be surprised if he doesn't take home the largest prize check.
Top standings after round 3: 1.Short 3/3 2-5.Tiviakov,
Sutovsky, Kiriakov and Schneider 2.5/3.
The only contestant in the same neighbourhood as Short in the
world rankings, Russian Grandmaster Sergey Shipov, is already
trailing by a point, after conceding draws in rounds one and two.
So far all of Short's games have featured the French Defence.
This opening must have come as a bit of a surprise in round one,
when he teed off against Chris Ward, a renowned expert in the
Sicilian Dragon. Surprised or not, Short soon got the upper hand.
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Short (2675) - Ward (2473)
Monarch Assurance Open Port Erin HUN (1), 1999
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Qb6 5.Nf3 Bd7 6.Be2 cxd4 7.cxd4 Bb5 8.Nc3 Bxe2 9.Nxe2 Nc6 10.0-0 0-0-0?! A risky choice indeed! Short wastes no time launching his attack on the Queen's-side. 11.Rb1 Kb8 12.b4 Rc8 13.Bd2 h6 14.a4 g5 Black's counterattack is pretty feeble, since it basically consists of a couple of pawns marching down the board. 15.Bc3 Be7 16.Ne1 f5 [After this move, Black is strategically bankrupt. 16...f6 looked like the only try.] 17.Nd3 f4 18.Qd2 Nd8 19.b5 Qc7 20.Rfc1 You'll note that Short's pawn storm is backed by almost all of his pieces. 20...Qd7 21.Bb4 Rc4 22.Nc5 Rxc1+ 23.Rxc1 Bxc5 24.Bxc5 b6 [24...Nf7 loses to 25.Bxa7+! Kxa7 26.Qa5+ Kb8 27.b6 with check mate to follow.] 25.Bd6+ Kb7 26.Qb4 Rh7 27.a5 and here Black decided he'd had enough. [27.a5 bxa5 28.Qxa5 Ka8 29.Qa6 Nb7 30.b6 Nxd6 31.exd6 is the end of the world.] 1-0
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Ye Gads, the French didn't look too hot in that game, did it? Now,
before you decide to scrap it completely, take a look at Short's
handling of this opening in round two.
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Kudrin (2525) - Short (2675)
Monarch Assurance Open Port Erin HUN (2),1999
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Be7 4.Bd3 c5 5.dxc5 Nf6 6.exd5 Qxd5 7.Ngf3 Nbd7 8.Nb3 a5 9.c4 Qh5 The main question now is whether or not Black's Queen will become vulnerable to harassment. In the early stage of the game, you generally want to keep her close to home! 10.Be2 e5 11.0-0 a4 12.Nbd2 Nxc5 13.Re1 0-0 14.Nf1 Rd8 15.Qc2 e4 16.Ng3 Qg4 17.Ng5!? A bold, but extremely risky decision! 17...Qh4 18.Be3 Nd3 19.Red1? Any other square would have been preferable! 19...Ng4 20.Bxg4 Bxg4 21.N5xe4 Bxd1 22.Rxd1 Nb4 23.Rxd8+ Rxd8?! [I doubt that White has enough for the exchange after 23...Bxd8 ] 24.Qxa4 f5 25.Bc5? [Absolutely horrible. The position remains unclear after 25.Nc3 since f5-f4 actually loses material: 25...f4? 26.Bb6 fxg3 27.hxg3 . Note that 27...Qxc4 saves nothing in light of 28.Bxd8 Bxd8? 29.Qe8#] 25...Nd3 and White resigned. [25...Nd3 26.Bxe7 Qxe7 27.Nd2 Qe1+ 28.Ndf1 Qxf2+ 29.Kh1 Nf4 and mate is unavoidable.] 0-1
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That was more like it, eh? Well, the very next day Short again
tore this opening to shreds as white. His opponent, by the way, was
former Soviet Champion and leading French expert Lev Psakhis! So,
the merit of this opening would seem to depend on which side of the
board Short is sitting, wouldn't it? A word of advice to his
opponent in round four: For the love of God, don't play 1.e4!
We'll be rounding up this event next week.
- Einar Gausel
All games on this page as PGN here
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Monarch Assurance
Open
