Chess - The Scotsman 23/03/2012

Published on 23/03/2012 00:00

Friday’s puzzle...

TO the obvious delight of the tabloids, the game of chess got a little bit less sexier this week, as the European Chess Union enforced a strict conservative dress code to prevent women from deploying the fabled tactic of short skirts and “cleavage exposure” to distract their male adversaries.

The new ECU dress code allows women competitors to open only the top two buttons of their blouses and wear skirts that are no shorter than four inches above the knee.

The ECU said the new ruling, which also includes stipulations for men and spectators, was introduced after some women turned up at past events dressed “like someone going to the beach.”

Meanwhile, at the European Individual Championship in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, the only revealing slips have come from one of the favourites, with the big upset of third seed Anish Giri taking an unexpected early tumble in round two.

The 17-year-old rising Dutch star lost in just 29 moves to the even younger hands of Ukraine’s Ilya Nyzhnyk.

Nyzhnyk, 15, came to international prominence five years ago by winning the B Group of the 2007 Moscow Open at the age of ten, with a near-perfect score of 8.5/9 and a 2633 performance. He went on to become the 11th youngest GM in history (Giri being the 15th youngest), and many experts say he’s the one to watch for the future.

The deadly tactic of 26 d5! proves to be fatal for Giri; the point being that if 26 ..exd5 27 Kg2! and black is lost.

I Nyzhnyk - A Giri

European Individual Ch, (2)

Catalan Opening

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 d5 4 Nc3 c6 5 g3 dxc4 6 Bg2 b5 7 Ne5 a6 8 a4 Bb7 9 0–0 Be7 10 axb5 axb5 11 Rxa8 Bxa8 12 Nxb5 cxb5 13 Bxa8 0–0 14 Bg2 Nd5 15 f4 Bd6 16 e3 Bxe5 17 fxe5 Nc6 18 Qg4 Qd7 19 h4 Ncb4 20 h5 Nd3 21 h6 f5 22 exf6 Rxf6 23 Bxd5 Rxf1+ 24 Kxf1 Qf7+ 25 Bf3 Nxc1 26 d5! Nd3 27 dxe6 Qe7 28 Bd5 Kf8 29 Qxg7+ 1–0