Battle of Legends (Day 2)

[Ted Summers]

[Event "Battle of the Legends"]<br> [Site "Saint Louis"]<br> [Date "2015.04.26"]<br> [Round "6"]<br> [White "Short, Nigel D"]<br> [Black "Kasparov, Garry"]<br> [Result "0-1"]<br> [ECO "B91"]<br> [WhiteElo "2678"]<br> [BlackElo "2812"]<br> [PlyCount "105"]<br> [EventDate "2015.??.??"]<br> <br> 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. g3 e5 7. Nb3 Nbd7 8. a4<br> b6 9. Bg2 Bb7 10. O-O Be7 11. Re1 Rc8 12. Nd2 h5 13. Nf1 h4 14. Ne3 g6 15. Re2<br> hxg3 16. hxg3 Rxc3 17. bxc3 Nxe4 18. Bb2 Ndf6 19. c4 Qc8 20. Nd5 Nxd5 21. cxd5<br> Ng5 22. c4 a5 23. Rc1 Ba6 24. Qb3 Qg4 25. Rcc2 Bc8 26. f4 Nh3+ 27. Kf1 f6 28.<br> Qf3 Qf5 29. Re4 Kf7 30. Rce2 Qg4 31. fxe5 Qxf3+ 32. Bxf3 dxe5 33. Rh4 Rxh4 34.<br> gxh4 Nf4 35. Rd2 Bc5 36. d6 Bh3+ 37. Ke1 Bb4 38. Kd1 Bd7 39. Rh2 Bxa4+ 40. Kc1<br> Bxd6 41. Kb1 f5 42. Bc1 e4 43. Bh1 Nd3 44. Re2 Bd1 45. Rd2 Bb3 46. Rxd3 exd3<br> 47. Bd5+ Kf6 48. Kb2 a4 49. Kc3 b5 50. Kxd3 Bxc4+ 51. Bxc4 bxc4+ 52. Kxc4 f4<br> 53. Kd4 {Ke5+} 0-1

[Event "Battle of the Legends"]<br> [Site "Saint Louis"]<br> [Date "2015.04.26"]<br> [Round "7"]<br> [White "Kasparov, Garry"]<br> [Black "Short, Nigel D"]<br> [Result "1-0"]<br> [ECO "A50"]<br> [WhiteElo "2812"]<br> [BlackElo "2678"]<br> [PlyCount "97"]<br> [EventDate "2015.??.??"]<br> <br> 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 b6 3. f3 Nc6 4. Nc3 e5 5. d5 Ne7 6. e3 c6 7. Nh3 Bb7 8. e4 Ng6<br> 9. Be3 Bc5 10. Bxc5 bxc5 11. d6 O-O 12. Qd2 Qa5 13. b3 Qa3 14. Na4 Rfb8 15. Qc1<br> Qb4+ 16. Qc3 Nf8 17. Qxb4 cxb4 18. c5 Ne6 19. Nf2 a5 20. Rc1 Nf4 21. g3 Ng6 22.<br> Bc4 Ba6 23. Bxa6 Rxa6 24. Nd3 h5 25. h4 Nh7 26. Kd2 Nhf8 27. f4 Re8 28. Rce1 f6<br> 29. f5 Nh8 30. Rhf1 Nf7 31. Rf3 Nh6 32. Nf2 Ra7 33. Nb6 Kf7 34. Ra1 g6 35. Kd3<br> Kg7 36. a3 Rb7 37. axb4 gxf5 38. exf5 Ng4 39. Ne4 axb4 40. Kc4 Reb8 41. Kxb4<br> Rxb6+ 42. cxb6 Rxb6+ 43. Kc4 Rb5 44. b4 Rd5 45. Rd3 Rxd3 46. Kxd3 Nh6 47. Rf1<br> Kf7 48. Kc4 Nh7 49. Kc5 1-0

[Event "Battle of the Legends"]<br> [Site "Saint Louis"]<br> [Date "2015.04.26"]<br> [Round "8"]<br> [White "Short, Nigel D"]<br> [Black "Kasparov, Garry"]<br> [Result "0-1"]<br> [ECO "B63"]<br> [WhiteElo "2678"]<br> [BlackElo "2812"]<br> [PlyCount "58"]<br> [EventDate "2015.??.??"]<br> <br> 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nge2 Nf6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 d6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 Be7 8.<br> O-O-O O-O 9. h4 a6 10. Kb1 h6 11. f4 Bd7 12. Bxf6 Bxf6 13. Nf3 Qa5 14. e5 dxe5<br> 15. Qxd7 e4 16. Ne5 Bxe5 17. fxe5 Rad8 18. Qxb7 Rxd1+ 19. Nxd1 Qe1 20. Be2 Qxh1<br> 21. Qxc6 Rd8 22. b4 Qe1 23. Qxa6 Qxb4+ 24. Kc1 Qd2+ 25. Kb2 Rb8+ 26. Bb5 Qb4+<br> 27. Kc1 Rxb5 28. Nc3 Rxe5 29. Qc6 e3 0-1

[Event "Battle of the Legends"]<br> [Site "Saint Louis"]<br> [Date "2015.04.26"]<br> [Round "9"]<br> [White "Kasparov, Garry"]<br> [Black "Short, Nigel D"]<br> [Result "1-0"]<br> [ECO "C00"]<br> [WhiteElo "2812"]<br> [BlackElo "2678"]<br> [PlyCount "79"]<br> [EventDate "2015.??.??"]<br> <br> 1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 b6 4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. c3 c5 6. Be2 Be7 7. O-O a5 8. Re1<br> O-O 9. e5 Nfd7 10. Nf1 Nc6 11. d4 Ba6 12. Bxa6 Rxa6 13. Qd3 c4 14. Qc2 b5 15.<br> Ne3 b4 16. Ng4 a4 17. a3 bxc3 18. bxc3 Rb6 19. Qxa4 Qa8 20. Qc2 h5 21. Ne3 Rfb8<br> 22. g4 hxg4 23. Nxg4 R8b7 24. Kh1 Na5 25. Rg1 Qe8 26. Bg5 Rb2 27. Qc1 Kf8 28.<br> Qf4 Qd8 29. Bh6 Re2 30. Bxg7+ Ke8 31. Nh6 Nb6 32. Qxf7+ Kd7 33. Ng5 Kc8 34.<br> Qxe6+ Kb8 35. Ngf7 Qc7 36. Nf5 Rxf2 37. N7d6 Bxd6 38. Nxd6 Qxg7 39. Rxg7 Rxg7<br> 40. Rg1 1-0

[Event "Battle of the Legends"]<br> [Site "Saint Louis"]<br> [Date "2015.04.26"]<br> [Round "10"]<br> [White "Short, Nigel D"]<br> [Black "Kasparov, Garry"]<br> [Result "0-1"]<br> [ECO "A48"]<br> [WhiteElo "2678"]<br> [BlackElo "2812"]<br> [PlyCount "76"]<br> [EventDate "2015.??.??"]<br> <br> 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bg5 Bg7 4. Nbd2 h6 5. Bh4 d6 6. c3 g5 7. Bg3 Nh5 8. e3<br> Nd7 9. Bd3 e6 10. O-O Qe7 11. a4 f5 12. Ne1 Ndf6 13. f4 Nxg3 14. hxg3 O-O 15.<br> e4 c5 16. dxc5 d5 17. exf5 Qxc5+ 18. Kh1 exf5 19. Nb3 Qe3 20. Qf3 Qe8 21. Nc2<br> Ng4 22. Kg1 Qh5 23. Rfe1 Bd7 24. Qxd5+ Kh8 25. Qxd7 Qh2+ 26. Kf1 Rad8 27. Qxb7<br> Qxg3 28. Re2 Rxd3 29. Nc5 Qxf4+ 30. Ke1 Qg3+ 31. Kf1 Qh4 32. g3 Rxg3 33. Ne6<br> Rg8 34. Nxg7 Nh2+ 35. Ke1 Nf3+ 36. Kf2 Rh3+ 37. Ke3 Qf4+ 38. Kd3 Ne5# {Kd4} 0-1

[BB+]

About the expected result (5-0 for GK). Short claims he is jet-lagged from travel, waking up at 3AM.

[BB+]

Is the exchange sac Rxc3 in game 6 correct? White seemed to get good play after it., while looked better prior. The direct Nh6+ on move 25 of game 9 would have been nice, but hard to calculate (well, if you are up 3-0, and Nh6+ is probably a draw at worse, why not go for it?). And the slow build is probably better anyway, makes it harder to defend IMO. The KID in the last game was a nice throwback (though Short played it very weakly as White). The Qc5-e3-e8-h5 manuever was interesting geometry too.

[Ted Summers]

On my laptop computer Komodo 8 does believe it was the best move for black, however as it reached greater depth it started to favor 16. ... Kf8 only to return to 16. ... Rxc3


2rqk2r/1b1nbp2/pp1p1np1/4p3/P3P3/2N1N1P1/1PP1RPB1/R1BQ2K1 b k - 0 16

0.00/22 16...Rxc3 17.bxc3 Nxe4 18.Ra3 Bg5 19.a5 b5 20.Qe1 Qc7 21.c4 bxc4 22.Qb4 f6 23.Nxc4 Bxc1 24.Ra1 Ndc5 25.Rxc1 Qh7 26.Kf1 Nd2+ 27.Rxd2 Bxg2+ 28.Kxg2 Qh3+ 29.Kf3 Qf5+ 30.Kg2 Qh3+
+0.12/21 16...Rc5 17.Ra3 Kf8 18.b4 Rc8 19.Ned5 Kg7 20.Nxe7 Qxe7 21.Rd2 d5 22.Nxd5 Bxd5 23.exd5 Qxb4 24.a5 b5 25.Re3 Qxa5 26.d6 b4 27.Bb2 Qb5 28.Bf3 a5 29.Qa1 Rc5 30.Be2 Qc6 31.Bf3
+0.22/22 16...Kf8 17.Ned5 Nxd5 18.Nxd5 Bxd5 19.Qxd5 Kg7 20.Be3 Nc5 21.Rd2 a5 22.c3 Qd7 23.Rdd1 Qg4 24.Re1 Qd7 25.Ra2 Qc6 26.Rd1 Qxd5 27.Rxd5 Nd7 28.Ra3 Rc4 29.Rb5 Nc5

[Ted Summers]

The direct Nh6+ on move 25 of game 9 would have been nice, but hard to calculate (well, if you are up 3-0, and Nh6+ is probably a draw at worse, why not go for it?). And the slow build is probably better anyway, makes it harder to defend IMO.

I don't know if you have ever heard of the movie "How Stella got her groove back", but that is how I felt watching Kasparov in game 9. Kasparov was getting his groove back.

q5k1/1r1nbpp1/1r2p3/n2pP3/2pP2N1/P1P2N2/2Q2P1P/R1B1R2K w - - 3 25

25.Nh6! would have been nice to see, still it was a nice win in any event.

Komodo 8 Analysis
+2.95/25 25.Nh6+ Kh8 26.Nxf7+ Kg8 27.Qg6 Nf8 28.Nh6+ Kh8 29.Qh5 Nh7 30.Nf7+ Kg8 31.Rg1 Qf8 32.Bh6 Qxf7 33.Rxg7+ Qxg7 34.Bxg7 Rb1+ 35.Rxb1 Rxb1+ 36.Kg2 Kxg7 37.Qe8 Rb7 38.Qa8 Rb3 39.Qxa5 Rxa3 40.Qb5 Kf7 41.Qb1 Kg7 42.Qb8 Kf7 43.Qh8 Nf8 44.Qh5+ Kg7 45.Ng5 Bxg5 46.Qxg5+ Kf7 47.Qf4+ Ke8
+1.73/25 25.Rg1 Nf8 26.Nh6+ Kh8 27.Ng5 Bxg5 28.Bxg5 Nh7 29.Bf6 gxf6 30.f4 Qf8 31.Rg8+ Qxg8 32.Nxg8 Rb2 33.Qa4 Rb1+ 34.Rxb1 Rxb1+ 35.Kg2 Kxg8 36.Qxa5 Kg7 37.h4 Rb2+ 38.Kg3 Rb3 39.a4 Kg6 40.Kg4 f5+ 41.Kf3 Kh5 42.Ke2 Rb2+ 43.Kd1 Rb1+ 44.Kc2 Rh1 45.Qc7 Rh2+ 46.Kb1 Kg6 47.a5
+1.41/24 25.Bg5 Bxg5 26.Nxg5 Nf8 27.Rg1 Nb3 28.Ra2 Qc8 29.f4 Na5 30.f5 exf5 31.Ne3 Rg6 32.Nxf5 Qd8 33.Qg2 Rb3 34.Qg3 Nc6 35.Rf2 Ne6 36.Nxe6 Rxg3 37.Nxd8 Rxg1+ 38.Kxg1 Nxd8 39.Ne7+ Kf8 40.Nxd5 Rxa3 41.Kg2 Ne6 42.Rb2 Rb3 43.Ra2 Kg8 44.Ra4 Rb5 45.Nb4

[BB+]

+2.95/25 25.Nh6+ Kh8

I got to think Short goes for something more like 25. Nh6+ gxh6 26. Bxh6 Kh8 27. Rg1 Bf8 and even if White doesn't find one of the many crushers (like Qc1/Qd2), it is still two pawns for a piece and a massive attack.