Rock solid | 7 February 2013

The Gibraltar Masters, where I was last week, has been won by a quartet consisting of Vitiugov, Short, Sandipan and Vachier Lagrave. In the final knockout to determine who would receive the £20,000 first prize, Nigel Short lost out narrowly to Vitiugov. In my opinion, the British grandmaster’s display of fighting spirit after an early loss would have justified his winning top honours for a fourth time. Here is a sample of his uncompromising play.
 
Short-Nieto: Gibraltar Masters, Caleta 2013; Ruy Lopez
 
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 Nd4 Named after the 19th-century English master Henry Bird, this knight sortie is strategically suspect but rich in tactical tricks. In Short-Kupreichik, Hastings 1981 white now preferred 4 Ba4 and won decisive material on move 14 with a neat combination: 4 Ba4 Bc5 5 d3 Qf6 6 Nbd2 b5 7 Bb3 d6 8 Nxd4 Bxd4 9 Nf3 Bg4 10 c3 Bb6 11 a4 bxa4 12 Bxa4+ Kf8 13 Be3 Ne7 14 Nxe5.