Battle of Legends (Day 2)

[Ted Summers]

[Event "Battle of the Legends"]
[Site "Saint Louis"]
[Date "2015.04.26"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Short, Nigel D"]
[Black "Kasparov, Garry"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B91"]
[WhiteElo "2678"]
[BlackElo "2812"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

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

[Event "Battle of the Legends"]
[Site "Saint Louis"]
[Date "2015.04.26"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Kasparov, Garry"]
[Black "Short, Nigel D"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A50"]
[WhiteElo "2812"]
[BlackElo "2678"]
[PlyCount "97"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 b6 3. f3 Nc6 4. Nc3 e5 5. d5 Ne7 6. e3 c6 7. Nh3 Bb7 8. e4 Ng6
9. Be3 Bc5 10. Bxc5 bxc5 11. d6 O-O 12. Qd2 Qa5 13. b3 Qa3 14. Na4 Rfb8 15. Qc1
Qb4+ 16. Qc3 Nf8 17. Qxb4 cxb4 18. c5 Ne6 19. Nf2 a5 20. Rc1 Nf4 21. g3 Ng6 22.
Bc4 Ba6 23. Bxa6 Rxa6 24. Nd3 h5 25. h4 Nh7 26. Kd2 Nhf8 27. f4 Re8 28. Rce1 f6
29. f5 Nh8 30. Rhf1 Nf7 31. Rf3 Nh6 32. Nf2 Ra7 33. Nb6 Kf7 34. Ra1 g6 35. Kd3
Kg7 36. a3 Rb7 37. axb4 gxf5 38. exf5 Ng4 39. Ne4 axb4 40. Kc4 Reb8 41. Kxb4
Rxb6+ 42. cxb6 Rxb6+ 43. Kc4 Rb5 44. b4 Rd5 45. Rd3 Rxd3 46. Kxd3 Nh6 47. Rf1
Kf7 48. Kc4 Nh7 49. Kc5 1-0

[Event "Battle of the Legends"]
[Site "Saint Louis"]
[Date "2015.04.26"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Short, Nigel D"]
[Black "Kasparov, Garry"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B63"]
[WhiteElo "2678"]
[BlackElo "2812"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nge2 Nf6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 d6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 Be7 8.
O-O-O O-O 9. h4 a6 10. Kb1 h6 11. f4 Bd7 12. Bxf6 Bxf6 13. Nf3 Qa5 14. e5 dxe5
15. Qxd7 e4 16. Ne5 Bxe5 17. fxe5 Rad8 18. Qxb7 Rxd1+ 19. Nxd1 Qe1 20. Be2 Qxh1
21. Qxc6 Rd8 22. b4 Qe1 23. Qxa6 Qxb4+ 24. Kc1 Qd2+ 25. Kb2 Rb8+ 26. Bb5 Qb4+
27. Kc1 Rxb5 28. Nc3 Rxe5 29. Qc6 e3 0-1

[Event "Battle of the Legends"]
[Site "Saint Louis"]
[Date "2015.04.26"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Kasparov, Garry"]
[Black "Short, Nigel D"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C00"]
[WhiteElo "2812"]
[BlackElo "2678"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 b6 4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. c3 c5 6. Be2 Be7 7. O-O a5 8. Re1
O-O 9. e5 Nfd7 10. Nf1 Nc6 11. d4 Ba6 12. Bxa6 Rxa6 13. Qd3 c4 14. Qc2 b5 15.
Ne3 b4 16. Ng4 a4 17. a3 bxc3 18. bxc3 Rb6 19. Qxa4 Qa8 20. Qc2 h5 21. Ne3 Rfb8
22. g4 hxg4 23. Nxg4 R8b7 24. Kh1 Na5 25. Rg1 Qe8 26. Bg5 Rb2 27. Qc1 Kf8 28.
Qf4 Qd8 29. Bh6 Re2 30. Bxg7+ Ke8 31. Nh6 Nb6 32. Qxf7+ Kd7 33. Ng5 Kc8 34.
Qxe6+ Kb8 35. Ngf7 Qc7 36. Nf5 Rxf2 37. N7d6 Bxd6 38. Nxd6 Qxg7 39. Rxg7 Rxg7
40. Rg1 1-0

[Event "Battle of the Legends"]
[Site "Saint Louis"]
[Date "2015.04.26"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Short, Nigel D"]
[Black "Kasparov, Garry"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A48"]
[WhiteElo "2678"]
[BlackElo "2812"]
[PlyCount "76"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bg5 Bg7 4. Nbd2 h6 5. Bh4 d6 6. c3 g5 7. Bg3 Nh5 8. e3
Nd7 9. Bd3 e6 10. O-O Qe7 11. a4 f5 12. Ne1 Ndf6 13. f4 Nxg3 14. hxg3 O-O 15.
e4 c5 16. dxc5 d5 17. exf5 Qxc5+ 18. Kh1 exf5 19. Nb3 Qe3 20. Qf3 Qe8 21. Nc2
Ng4 22. Kg1 Qh5 23. Rfe1 Bd7 24. Qxd5+ Kh8 25. Qxd7 Qh2+ 26. Kf1 Rad8 27. Qxb7
Qxg3 28. Re2 Rxd3 29. Nc5 Qxf4+ 30. Ke1 Qg3+ 31. Kf1 Qh4 32. g3 Rxg3 33. Ne6
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.