Bunratty | 1 March 2018

This year’s tournament at Bunratty in Ireland was the celebratory 25th in the series and I was invited to deliver the closing peroration. The competition was particularly stiff on this occasion, with British champion Gawain Jones sharing first prize with grandmaster Sergey Tiviakov, ahead of Nigel Short, Jon Speelman, Luke McShane and a host of other grandmasters and masters.
 
To break the tie a sudden death playoff was required, from which Tiviakov emerged the winner. For the key moment see this week’s puzzle. The game I have selected demonstrates the great talent of the female grandmaster Dina Belenkaya, of whom no doubt we shall be hearing much more.
 
Belenkaya-McShane: Bunratty Masters 2018; Scotch Game
 
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 d4 exd4 5 Nxd4 Bb4 6 Nxc6 bxc6 7 Bd3 d5 8 exd5 0-0 Black can safely offer a gambit here and White does well to decline it, preferring to castle.