Chess - The Scotsman 27/04/2012

WHO could forget Murray Head’s upbeat hit of 1984, One Night in Bangkok, with famous lines such as: I get my kicks above the waistline/queens we use would not excite you and One town’s very like another/

when your head’s down over your pieces, brother?

One Night in Bangkok was one of two major international hits - the other being “I Know Him So Well” with Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson - from the concept musical Chess, that was written and produced by ex-ABBA members Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus in collaboration with famed lyricist Sir Tim Rice.

But last week it was a case of 7 nights in Bangkok for England’s former world championship challenger Nigel Short, as he produced a big moral-boosting 8/9 winning score to take the 12th Bangkok Chess Club Open in Thailand. Short took the title ahead of a tough field that included defending champion GM Jan Gustafsson of Germany and the Women’s World Champion GM Hou Yifan, China’s golden girl.

This was Short’s second open victory of the year, after his success at the Gibraltar Chess Festival back in January. Short’s Bangkok performance also saw his Elo rating again rising above 2700 on the live list.

Final scores: 1. GM N Short (England), 8/9; 2-4. GM F Amonatov (Tajikistan), IM Nguyen Duc Hoa (Vietnam) and GM Sriram Jha (India), 7.

N Short - Hou Yifan

Bangkok Chess Club Open, (7)

Queen’s Indian Defence

1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 e6 3 c4 b6 4 e3 Bb7 5 Bd3 d5 6 0–0 Bd6 7 b3 0–0 8 Bb2 Nbd7 9 Nc3 a6 10 Qc2 dxc4 11 bxc4 Bxf3 12 gxf3 c5 13 d5 exd5 14 cxd5 b5 15 Be2 c4 16 Ne4 Nxe4 17 fxe4 Qe7 18 f4 f6 19 Rad1 Rac8 20 Bd4 Nc5 21 Bxc5 Bxc5 22 Bg4 Bxe3+ 23 Kh1 f5 24 Bxf5 Rcd8 25 e5 Kh8 26 Qe4 Qc5 27 Bxh7 c3 28 Bg6 c2 29 Qg2! Bxf4 30 Bxc2 Qe7 31 d6 Qe6 32 Rde1 g5 33 Rf3 g4 34 Rf2 Qh6 35 Qxg4 Bxe5 36 Rxe5 Rxf2 37 Rh5 Rxd6 38 Rxh6+ Rxh6 39 Qc8+ Kg7 40 Qc7+ Rf7 41 Qg3+ Kf8 42 h4 Rhf6 43 Bb3 Rf1+ 44 Kg2 R7f6 45 h5 1–0