The Neal & Massy /Seven Seas National Chess Championship ends today with the final two rounds being played at the Ocean Spray Hotel. Although at the time of writing Kriskal Persaud commanded the lead, any of the top four still had a chance of taking the title.
The championship was rigorous and the games were of a high standard. Ryan Singh surprised many when he defeated both Learie Webster and Taffin Khan. Kriskal demonstrated consistency in his games and this may well give him the edge to take the title, which he held previously. He did not falter during his games with his lesser ranked opponents, and made certain he scored those full points to maintain the force of his lead.
Kriskal was merciless in the endgame. He won a beautiful ending against Taffin Khan. David Khan demonstrated he was properly prepared in his theoretical lines.
He should win the prize for being the most careful player of the tournament. Webster dominated his opponents with flashy combinative play, which was also brilliant. But his loss against Ryan Singh came as a surprise to his colleagues.
Short vs Pacey
English grandmaster Nigel Short paid a visit recently to the RA Chess Club in Ottawa, Canada. He delivered a lecture relating to his successful World Championship matches against Boris Gelfand and Anatoly Karpov. After that match, Short became the first player other than Kasparov to defeat Karpov in a match. Short also played a simultaneous exhibition where he faced 29 opponents, scoring 23 wins, six draws and zero losses. Here is his draw against Kevin Pacey, one of the RA Club’s more popular members.
Short, Nigel – Pacey, Kevin
Nigel Short simul RA Centre Ottawa (2), 18.11.2010
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Qc7 7.Nf3 b6! 8.a4 h6 9.Bb5+ Bd7 10.Bd3 Nc6 11.0-0 Nge7 12.Re1 c4 13.Bf1 0-0-0 14.Ba3 Rde8 15.g3 Nf5 16.Bh3 g6 17.Qd2 Na5 18.Bb4 Nc6 19.a5 b5 20.Bxf5 Nxb4 21.Bxg6 fxg6 22.cxb4 Ref8.
23.Nh4 Be8 24.f4 Qe7 25.Rf1 g5 26.fxg5 hxg5 27.Nf3 Rf5! 28.Qe3 g4! 29.Nh4 Rxf1+ 30.Rxf1 Qxb4 31.Qg5 Bd7 32.Ng6 Re8 33.Qxg4 Qxa5 34.h4 Qc3 35.h5 a5 36.Nf8 a4 37.Nxd7 Kxd7 38.Rf7+ Kc6 39.Rf6 Kd7 40.Rf7+ ½-½. DRAW.
