[Event "Nigel Short Simul 2016"] [Site "Ballarat Chess Club"] [Date "2016.03.10"] [White "Nigel Short "] [Black "Tim Commons"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2671"] [BlackElo "1236"] [ECO "B04"] [Opening "Alekhine: Modern Variation"] {"He chased me until I could run no more" - Cassandra Barnett} 1.e4 Nf6 {Black played an opening he is known for at the Ballarat Chess Club but later discovered Nigel "does not rate Alekhine's Defence" - P. Cook. Nevertheless this proved to provide Black with an interesting and inventive game deep into the middle game...} 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 Nc6 6.c4 Nb6 7.exd6 cxd6 8.O-O Be7 9.Nc3 Bf6 10.Be3 O-O 11.Rc1! d5 12.c5! Nd7 13.a3 e5? 14.Nxd5! e4 15.Ne1 Bg5 16.Nc2! f5 {Rather than wait around to be smothered, Black decides to launch an attack and see where it leads...} 17.Bc4 Kh8 18.Qh5 f4! {Black's best moment of the game. Causing Nigel to stop, cross his arms, and think for at least 7 seconds. :-)} 19.Bd2 g6 20.Qd1 f3 21.g3 h5 {Black probably had better but was forced to move with a GM towering over him impatiently.} 22.Re1 h4? {Losing the e4 pawn... probably better Re1 first which I contemplated.} 23.Rxe4 hxg3 24.hxg3 Rf7 25.Bxg5 Qxg5 26.Rh4+ Kg7 27.Nce3 Nf6 28.Nxf6 Rxf6 29.Bd5 Bd7 30.b4 Rh8 31.Rxh8 Kxh8 32.Bxf3! Bf5 33.Bg2 Rf7 34.b5 Ne7 35.c6 bxc6 36.bxc6 Qf6 37.Qd2 Rh7 38.d5 Nc8 39.Nc4 Kg7 40.d6 Bh3 41.d7 {#R} 1-0

[Event "Nigel Short Simul"] [Site "BCC"] [Date "2016.03.10"] [White "Nigel Short"] [Black "Jasan Barnett"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2671"] [ECO "B04"] [Opening "Alekhine: Modern Variation"] 1.e4 {e4 allowed Black to play his favourite Black opening (Alekhine), probably allowing black to last longer in the game than he would have otherwise :) Chessmaster 10th edition stated that Nigel's preferred first move is indeed e4 (which he played as his first move on 29 of the 31 boards). This gave black the benefit of preparing a more in-depth Alekhine opening before the game.} Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 g6 {Black wanting to castle early and stay out of trouble} 5.Bc4 c6 6.O-O {5 moves in and (to my knowledge), the longest time that black has followed an opening book without departing from it (Alekhine Defense/Modern Variation/Fianchello Variation)} Nb6 {Black wanting to put some pressure (no matter how slight) on white. Black may not get another chance to do so ;)} 7.Bb3 d5 {White bishop stuck at b3 (for now)} 8.h3 Bg7 9.Re1 O-O 10.c3 Re8 11.Bf4 h6 {Was originally thinking 11....f6. 12.exf6 exf6 and have the rooks stare each other down but got spooked at the prospect of 12. Ng5} 12.Nbd2 e6 {Abandoned the rook staring down idea} 13.Nf1 f6 {13 moves in and no pieces taken yet. Black is very happy with this (But Chessmaster 10th ed says this move has weaknesses and that a5 was better). Black wasn't even considering that side of the board at this point :)} 14.exf6 Qxf6 15.Be5 {Uh-oh. Black has to retreat.} Qd8 {Wrong place to retreat. Chessmaster says Qf7.} 16.Bc2 {Black expected a Qd3 move here (which Chessmaster agreed with)} Bxe5 17.Nxe5 Rf8 18.Nxg6 {Black running out of kingside pawns :(} Rf6 19.Qh5 {Wow. Black was expecting Qd3. Looks bad for Black now.} Kg7 20.Re3 Nc4 21.Rg3 Rxf2?? {This moves smacks of desparation. Hoping for 22. Kxf2 Qf6+ (Very silly). Chessmaster says Nd6 is better.} 22.Nf4+ Kf8 {Run away!!} 23.Qxh6+ Ke7 24.Kxf2 Kd6 25.Ne3 Nxe3 26.Rxe3 Kc7 27.Nxe6+ Bxe6 28.Rxe6 Qd7 29.Rae1 Qf7+ {Is there still a chance........} 30.Kg1 Kb6 31.Re7 {Ah....no} Qg8 32.Qd6 Na6 33.a4 {Time for the foot soliders to swarm down....} Rd8 34.Qa3 c5 35.dxc5+ {That'll do. Chessmaster has this as a forced mate in 12 more moves. 35...c6 36.a5 b5 37.cxb6ep axb6 38.Ba4+ b5 39.Bxb5+ Kxb5 40.Qb3+ Kc5 41.Qb6+ Kc4 42.Qxa6+ Kb3 43.Qb5+ Ka2 44.Qa4+ Kxb2 45.R7e2+ Kxc3 46.Rc1+ Kd3 47.Qd1#} {#r} 1-0

[Event "Nigel Short Simil"] [Site "BCC"] [Date "2016.03.10"] [White "Nigel Short"] [Black "Patrick Cook"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2671"] [BlackElo "1669"] [ECO "A30"] [Opening "English: Symmetrical, 2.Nf3 Nf6"] 1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nxd4 6.Qxd4 d6 7.Bg5 Qa5 8.Bxf6 gxf6 9.e3 Bg7 10.Be2 Bd7 11.O-O O-O 12.Nd5 Rfe8 13.b4 Qd8 14.Qd2 Bc6 15.Rad1 Bxd5 16.Qxd5 Qc7 17.Rd2 Rac8 18.Rfd1 Qc6 19.g4 Qxd5 20.Rxd5 Rc7 21.a4 Rec8 22.a5 a6?! 23.Kg2 Bf8 24.f4 e6 25.R5d2 d5 26.c5 Bg7 27.Rd3 Kf8 28.Bf3 Ke7 29.e4 dxe4 30.Bxe4 h6 31.Rd6! Ke8 32.Rb6 Rd8 33.Rxd8+ Kxd8 34.Bxb7 Rd7 35.Bxa6 Rd2+ 36.Kf3 Rxh2? 37.Rb8+ Ke7 38.Rb7+ Ke8 39.Bb5+ {#r} 1-0

[Date "2016.03.10"] [White "Nigel Short"] [Black "James Watson"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2671"] [BlackElo "1802"] [ECO "A16"] [Opening "English: Anglo-Indian, 2.Nc3"] 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 c5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 g6 6.e4 Bg7 {d6 would have brought the position back in to the mainline maroczy bind but even though this allows white e5 I knew it to be playable and was curious if the GM would play that variation} 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.e5 Ng8 {Black gets some positional trumps such as center pawn majority and open b file, plus the knight will reroute to f5 via h6 possibly with ...h5 inserted first. In return white has more space and quicker development} 9.Bf4 {looses a pawn. White admitted after the game that they overlooked this loses material however white will still have good compensation for the pawn} Qa5 10.Qe2 d6 11.O-O-O?! {Rybika suggests Qf3 with a dead even evaluation and other moves giving black a slight pull, after this move black has a full pawns advantage, though the position is difficult to play} Bxe5?! {eager to trade down I make a couple of ill considered moves, 11...dxe5 and black is supposdly much better, here black still has half a pawns worth of advantage} 12.Bxe5 Qxe5?! {again ...dxe5 was stronger now the position is close to equal} 13.Qxe5 dxe5 14.g3 Bg4 15.Bg2 Rc8 16.Rd2 f5?? {Throws the game, until here black even has a slight pull but now the position goes from slightly better for black to an objectively lost position} 17.f3 Bh5 18.Re1 {Here as black I considered sacing a piece for 2 pawns by Bxf3 which infact may be the best move} Nf6 19.Rxe5 Rc7 20.h3 Nd7 21.Ra5 g5 22.Rxf5 h6 23.f4 Bg6 24.Ra5 gxf4 25.gxf4 Rf8 26.Rf2 e6 27.Be4 Bf5 28.Bxf5 Rxf5 29.Rxf5 exf5 30.Kc2 Nf6 31.Re2+ Kf7 {Re7 was slightly better but I was hoping for the chance to reach a rook ending} 32.Re5 Nh5!? {a creative way to facilitate exchanges} 33.Rxf5+ Kg6 34.Rc5 Nxf4 35.Nd5 Ne6 36.Nxc7 Nxc5 37.b4 Ne4 38.Ne6 Kf6 39.Nd8 c5 40.b5 Nd6 41.Kd3 Kf5 42.a4 h5 43.a5 h4 44.Nc6 Nc8 45.Ke3 Nd6 46.Kd3 Nc8 47.a6 {Here I considered resignation} Kf4 48.Nxa7 Nb6 49.Nc6 Kg3 50.a7 Kxh3 51.Ne5 Kg2 52.Nd7 Na8 53.b6 {#r} 1-0

[Event "Nigel Short Simul 2016"] [Site "Library Meeting Room"] [Date "2016.03.10"] [White "Nigel Short "] [Black "Ben Naughton"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2671"] [BlackElo "1100"] [ECO "C50"] [Opening "Italian Game"] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.d4 d6 5.dxe5 Be7 6.exd6 cxd6 7.O-O Qc7 8.Nc3 Nf6 9.Nd5 Nxd5 10.exd5 Ne5 11.Nxe5 O-O 12.Nc6 bxc6 13.dxc6 Be6 14.Bd5 Rab8 15.c4 Bf6 16.Qc2 Be5 17.Rb1 Qe7 18.b4 Kh8 19.Be3 f5 20.f4 Bf6 21.Bf2 Qe8 22.Ra1 Be5 23.fxe5 {#r} 1-0

[Event "Nigel Short Simul"] [Site "BCC"] [Date "2016.03.10"] [White "Nigel Short"] [Black "Caitlin Barnett"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2678"] [ECO "C30"] [Opening "King's Gambit: 2...Nc6"] 1.e4 e5 2.f4 Nc6 3.Nf3 d6 4.Bb5 Nf6 5.d3 exf4 6.Bxf4 Be7 7.O-O O-O 8.Nbd2 Bg4 9.c3 a6 10.Ba4 d5 11.e5 Bxf3 12.Qxf3 Ne8 13.d4 b5 14.Bb3 h6 15.Bxd5 Rb8 16.Bxc6 Bg5 17.Ne4 Bxf4 18.Qxf4 Rb6 19.Bxe8 Rxe8 20.Qxf7+ Kh8 21.Rf3 Rf8 22.Qxf8+ Qxf8 23.Rxf8+ Kh7 24.Raf1 c6 25.e6 Rb7 26.R1f7 Rxf7 27.exf7 {#r} 1-0

[Site "?"] [Date "2016.03.10"] [Round "0"] [White "Nigel Short"] [Black "Jeremy Lim"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2683"] [BlackElo "0"] [ECO "B54"] [Opening "Sicilian: Open, 2...d6"] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Be2 Bg7 8.Be3 O-O 9.O-O a6 10.Rc1 Bd7 11.Nc2 Rc8 12.f3 Be6 13.Qd2 Ne5 14.b3 Qa5 15.Nd4 Bd7 16.Nd5 Qd8 17.a4 Bc6 18.a5 Ned7 19.b4 e6 20.Nc3 Ne5 21.Rfd1 d5 22.exd5 exd5 23.b5 axb5 24.cxb5 Bd7 25.b6 Nc4 26.Bxc4 dxc4 27.Bh6 Qe7 28.Bxg7 Kxg7 29.Qb2 Qc5 30.Ra1 Ra8 31.Qa3 Rfc8 32.Qxc5 Rxc5 33.a6 bxa6 34.Rdb1 Rb8 35.Rxa6 Bc8 36.Ra7 Bb7 37.Rb5 Nd7 38.Rxc5 Nxc5 39.Ndb5 Kf6 40.Kf2 Ke5 41.Ke3 Rd8 42.Na4 {#r} 1-0

[Event "Nigel Short Simul"] [Site "Clubrooms"] [Date "2016.03.10"] [White "Short Nigel"] [Black "Jacobs Rodney"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2671"] [ECO "A13"] [Opening "English: 1...e6 2.Nc3 d5"] 1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.g3 Nc6 7.Bg2 Be7 8.O-O O-O 9.dxc5 d4 10.Na4 Bf5 11.a3 Be4 12.b4 b5 13.Nb2 a5 14.Bd2 Qd5 15.Nd3 axb4 16.axb4 Rxa1 17.Qxa1 h6 18.Qb2 g5 19.Ra1 Nh5 20.Ra6 g4 21.Nfe1 Bxg2 22.Nxg2 Kh7 23.Ngf4 Nxf4 24.Nxf4 Qe4 25.Qb3 Ne5 26.Qd5 Qb1+ 27.Kg2 Nc4 28.Qxd4 Rd8 29.Rxh6+ Kxh6 30.Ne6+ Kh7 31.Qg7# 1-0

[Site "?"] [Date "2016.03.10"] [Round "0"] [White "Nigel Short, GM"] [Black "Bas van Riel"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A16"] [Opening "English: Anglo-Indian, 2.Nc3 g6 3.e4"] {584MB, Fritz11.ctg} 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. e4 d6 4. d4 Bg7 5. Bd3 O-O 6. Nge2 Nc6 7. O-O e5 8. d5 Ne7 9. b4 Nd7 10. Ba3 a5 11. bxa5 Rxa5 12. Bb4 Ra8 13. a4 f5 14. a5 Nc5 15. Bxc5 dxc5 16. Nc1 c6 17. Nb3 cxd5 $2 (17... Qd6 18. dxc6 Nxc6 19. Nb5 Qe7) 18. cxd5 fxe4 19. Bxe4 $2 {Bc4!} Nf5 $1 20. Nxc5 Rxa5 21. Ne6 Bxe6 22. dxe6 Rxa1 { (?) 22....Qxd1; 23.Rfxd1 would have been easier for black to defend} 23. Qxa1 Qe7 24. Qa2 Re8 $2 {blunder. 24.Nd4 would have been much stronger} 25. Rb1 Kf8 $4 {Awful...But postition is already lost} 26. Rxb7 Qxe6 $4 {Three in a row!} 27. Bd5 {#r} 1-0