Xtracon Open 2017

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Nigel Short playing in the Xtracon Open 2017 (formerly the Politiken Cup), a 10-round Swiss being held from 22-30 July in Elsinore, Denmark.

Nigel has reached 4.5/5 and round 6 is currently being broadcast live where he is Black against Tiger Hillarp Persson.

What other tournaments are England (and other UK) players playing in this summer?

(Well, there is obviously the British Chess Championships 2017!)

Also playing in Denmark: Justin Tan, Ravi Haria, Stephen Dishman, Matthew Wadsworth, Adam C Taylor, Simon Roe, Max French, David Quinn, Robert McAndrew, Matthew Dishman, Leif Hafstad.

[Mick Norris]

TWIC would indicate there have been at least Dundee 150, Scottish Championships, Cannes, Eastman Open Ghent, S Wales Int'l, plus Glenn Flear playing a couple in France

Dutch Open, Prague Open and others coming up or already underway

[Chris Rice]

Rd 5 and I just sat there staring at Black's 18th in Shabalov-Jobava.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Rd 5 and I just sat there staring at Black's 18th in Shabalov-Jobava.

Crazy. Both players went wrong with the same moves (hxg5). It is difficult to see the response to 19.Bxc4, but makes sense once you see it.

[Mick Norris]

Rd 5 and I just sat there staring at Black's 18th in Shabalov-Jobava.

yes, another boring Petroff

[Barry Sandercock]

Good win by Nigel Short in round 7.

[Mick Norris]

Short - Jobava then in round 8

[Chris Rice]

Staying on Round 7 for the moment.....

Wadsworth, Matthew J (ENG) (2298) - Hjartarson, Johann (ISL) (2541)
Xtracon Open 2017 round 07 1-0
1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. Nc3 O-O 5. e4 d6 6. Nge2 c5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d3 a6 9. h3 Rb8 10. a4 Ne8 11. Be3 Nc7 12. d4 cxd4 13. Nxd4 Ne6 14. Nde2 Na5 15. b3 Bd7 16. f4 Nc5 17. Rb1 b5 18. axb5 axb5 19. Nxb5 Bxb5 20. cxb5 Rxb5 21. b4 Nc4 22. Bd4 Ne6 23. Bxg7 Kxg7 24. Qd3 Qb6+ 25. Kh2 Ne3 26. Rfc1 Nxg2 27. Kxg2 Rb8 28. Rc4 Qa6 29. f5 gxf5 30. exf5 Ng5 31. Rg4 f6 32. h4 h5 33. Rf4 Qa8+ 34. Kh2 Rd5 35. Qc3 Re5 36. Nd4 Ne4 37. Qb2 Qd5 38. b5 Ra8 39. Ra1 Rxa1 40. Qxa1 Nc5 41. Qb1 Re3 42. Qg1 Ra3 43. Qg2 Qe5 44. b6 d5 45. Qb2 Rb3 46. Qc2 Rxb6 47. Qxc5 Rb2+ 48. Nc2 d4 49. Qc4 Qe3 50. Kh3 Qc1 51. Rf2 Qh1+ 52. Rh2 Qf3 53. Qc5 Kh6 54. Rg2 d3 55. Qe3+ Qxe3 56. Nxe3 Rb4 57. Rd2 Rd4 58. Kg2 Kg7 59. Kf3 Kf7 60. Ng2 Rd5 61. Ke4 Re5+ 62. Kf4 Rd5 63. Ne1 1-0

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Adam C. Taylor is the next highest-ranked of the England players, on 5.5/7. Matthew Wadsworth and Ravi Haria on 5/7.

Short up to 2696.6 in the live ratings.

Not to jinx things, but the last time he got close to going back above 2700 it all went a bit pear-shaped.

http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php ... 17#p199787

Believe it or not, it is the same opponent, that pesky Jobava!

[Chris Rice]

I was just on the verge of posting the game by my fellow Chess In Schools tutor...

Taylor, Adam C (ENG) (2265) - Zude, Erik, Dr. (GER) (2241)

1-0

Xtracon Open 2017 round 07

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. b3 Bg7 4. Bb2 c5 5. c4 d6 6. Bg2 e5 7. Nc3 O-O 8. O-O Nc6 9. Ne1 Be6 10. Nd5 Bxd5 11. cxd5 Ne7 12. e4 Nd7 13. d3 f5 14. f4 fxe4 15. dxe4 c4 16. Kh1 Qb6 17. Rb1 cxb3 18. axb3 exf4 19. Bxg7 Kxg7 20. gxf4 a5 21. Nf3 Qe3 22. Ng5 Rf6 23. Rf3 Qb6 24. Rh3 Nf8 25. Qc1 Rc8 26. Rc3 Rxc3 27. Qxc3 Qb4 28. Qc7 Rf7 29. Nxf7 Kxf7 30. e5 Ke8 31. exd6 Nf5 32. Qc8+ Kf7 33. d7 1-0

[Mick Norris]

Short - Jobava then in round 8

Nigel is black which I assume is a quirk of the pairing rules

[IM Jack Rudd]

Jobava colour sequence: WBWWBBW
Short colour sequence: WBWBWBW

Both have had four whites and three blacks, so we go back to the last round in which they had different colours, which is round 5. Jobava had black and Short white in that round, so Short is more due black than Jobava is.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Not looking good for Nigel (move 27).

[Barry Sandercock]

Jobava still winning (move 39).

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Nigel's a rook up and unable to avoid mate. Seems he graciously allowed mate on the board.