Chess - The Scotsman 04/04/2012

SURPRISINGLY, the new dress code – which bans hats, thongs and displays of cleavage, amongst a long list of sartorial dos and dont’s – didn’t claim any victims at the recently concluded European Individual Championship in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. But other controversial rules changes did see multiple forfeits and the walk-out of a top seed.

The draconian ‘Zero Tolerance’ rule - which, according to the game’s governing body FIDE, requires a player to be seated at the board when the starting gong sounds – resulted in at least eight players losing games without play in Plovdiv, the most high-profile victim being the No 2 seed and world No 13 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.

In what could well be a modern-day record, the temperamental Azeri star racked up consecutive forfeits in Rounds 8 and 9; first for arriving at his board as little as ten seconds late for his game against IM Shota Azaladze (who himself had the misfortune of being in the joint lead in the tournament, only to be one of six Georgians defaulted en masse for not understanding daylight saving time, as it doesn’t apply in Georgia), and then unwisely opting to agree a quick draw the next day with Spanish IM Alvar Alonso, only to have fallen foul of another new rule in force, the tournament’s new anti-draw rules.

To both players‘ surprise, they were double forfeited for their discretion, as the anti-draw rule forbids draws in less than 40 moves without the prior consent of the arbiter. Disgusted, Mamedyarov stormed out of the tournament.

A Boruchovsky - B Savchenko

European Individual Ch., (11)

Alekhine’s Defence

1 e4 Nf6 2 e5 Nd5 3 d4 d6 4 Nf3 dxe5 5 Nxe5 Nd7 6 Nxf7 Kxf7 7 Qh5+ Ke6 8 c4 N5f6 9 d5+ Kd6 10 Qf7 Ne5 11 Bf4 c5 12 Nc3 a6 13 Bd3 g6 14 b4 Qc7 15 bxc5+ Kxc5 16 Na4+ Kd4 17 0–0–0 Bh6 18 Bxh6 Nxd3+ 19 Rxd3+ Kxd3 20 Rd1+ Ke2 21 d6! Qd7 22 Nc3+ Kxf2 23 Ne4+ Kxg2 24 Rd2+ Kf3 25 Rf2+ Kxe4 26 Rxf6 e6 27 Rf4+ Kd3 28 Rf3+ Kd4 29 Be3+ 1–0