Match between Julian M Hodgson and Nigel D Short
Event: ENG-ch m
Variation: Reti – King’s Indian attack (Barcza system)
Eco code: A07
Pgn File:
[Event “ENG-ch m”]
[Site “England”]
[Date “1991.??.??”]
[Round “1”]
[White “Hodgson, Julian M”]
[Black “Short, Nigel D”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[WhiteElo “2570”]
[BlackElo “2660”]
[ECO “A07”]
[Annotator “Chandler,M”]
[EventDate “1991.12.??”]
[PlyCount “89”]
[EventType “k.o.”]
[EventRounds “3”]
[EventCountry “ENG”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1992.06.01”]
1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nc6 3. Bg2 e5 4. d3 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. c4 O-O 7. cxd5 Nxd5
8. a3 Be6 9. b4 $6 Bf6 $1 10. Bb2 e4 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 12. dxe4 Ne3 {
Completely overlooked by Hodgson. } 13. fxe3 Qxa1 { I’ve never seen Short
fail to capitalise on such an advantage. I’ve also never seen a middlegame
comeback like the one Julian now produces. } 14. b5 Ne5 15. Qc2 Nc4 16. Qc1
Rad8 17. Kf2 $1 Rd7 18. Nc3 Qxc1 19. Rxc1 Rfd8 20. a4 c6 21. h3 Na5 22. e5
c5 23. g4 b6 24. g5 Kf8 25. h4 { None of the spectators could understand
this plan of pushing the K-side pawns. Even Short, after writing down the
move, was ostentatiously analysing only on the queen’s wing! } 25… Nb3
26. Rh1 Nd2 27. h5 Nxf3 28. Bxf3 Rd2 29. h6 Rc2 30. Ne4 Ra2 31. hxg7+ Kxg7
32. Nf6 Rh8 $2 { Black could have improved earlier, but making this rook
passive is a serious error. } (32… Bf5 { Natural and correct. }) 33. Nh5+
Kf8 34. Nf4 $1 Rg8 $2 35. Rxh7 Rxa4 36. g6 { /\ 37.Ne6 fe6 38.Rf7 Ke8
39.Bc6 Kd8 40.g7 /\ 41.Rf8 } 36… Rxg6 { A bitter concession. } 37. Nxg6+
fxg6 38. Bc6 c4 39. e4 c3 40. Bd5 c2 $2 { Although material is level, black
is suffering in this endgame. His king is cut off on the back rank, and the
three-pawn centre is remarkably useful for white. } (40… Bxd5 $1 { Yet I
cannot see a win for White. } 41. exd5 Rc4 42. d6 c2 43. d7 Rd4 44. e6 c1=Q
45. e7+ Kg8 46. e8=Q+ Kxh7) 41. Rc7 Bd7 42. Rxc2 Ke7 43. Rc7 Kd8 44. Rb7
Kc8 45. Bc6 $2 { Finding it hard to mentally adjust to playing for a win,
Jules forces the draw. } (45. Bc6 $2 $10 Bxc6 46. bxc6 Rxe4 47. Rxa7) (45.
Ke3 $1 { With this move White could have maintained very dangerous
prospects. } 45… g5 46. Bc6 Bxc6 47. bxc6 Rc4 48. e6 Rxc6 49. e7 Re6 50.
Rxa7 $18) 1/2-1/2
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