England’s Short knocked-out of World Chess Championship in Libya

AP Online
Jun 23, 2004

MAHMOUD KASSEM

The top two chess players at the World Chess Championship have earned
a place in round three that starts Wednesday but England’s Nigel
D. Short was knocked out the night before in the biggest upset of the
tournament so far.

Short, world No. 15 and No. 5 in the tournament, drew Tuesday’s second
round two game with his Polish opponent Michal Krasenkow after 71
moves in an English defense opening that forced the Brit to bow out of
the contest early.

The English grandmaster who was once a world champion finalist against
Garry Kasparov lost his game Monday with Krasenkow, seeded No. 57 in
the competition, due to a serious blunder that robbed him of a
rook. He needed to win Tuesday’s game to have a chance at a tiebreaker
with his weaker-ranked Polish opponent.

Shorts compatriot Michael Adams, No. 2 in the tournament and No. 8 in
the world, fared better in the day’s games, beating his Armenian
opponent Karen Asrian with comeback determination. A draw between the
two players in the first game of round two on Monday had upped the
stakes for Tuesday’s match.

Asrian, the weaker player, initiated a Caro-Kann exchange defense that
developed into Panov-Botvinnik attack but he could not stave away his
opponent’s meticulous thrust and resigned after 46 moves.

Tournament favorite Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria continued to sail
through the opening rounds without much suspense.

Elsewhere, the youngest player and only American left in the
tournament, 16-year-old Hikaru Nakamura, proved that he had done his
homework before coming to Tripoli. He made it to round three after
beating his higher ranked opponent by 1.5 points to half a point.

“Yesterday’s game, which I won, was more exciting because today was
just a draw. Both of us were low on time and I managed to outplay him
with a rook and a knight,” Nakamura told The Associated Press of the
creative endgame from Monday’s first game of round one.

Fifteen of the 32 games played Tuesday ended in draws and required
rapid and blitz games to eliminate the stubborn hangers on.

Cuba’s Lenier Dominguez, one of eight players to reach the final
sudden death round, displayed inspiring stamina to topple higher-rated
Vladimir Malakhov of Russia in a battle that lasted until the early
hours of Wednesday.

Short on time, Dominguez got a lucky draw in the second blitz game but
came back with a strong attack in the sudden death round and cordoned
off black’s king with two rooks and a queen on the “f” file.

The World Chess Federation, known by its French initials FIDE, began
its Tripoli championship Saturday despite Libya’s refusal to allow
players from Israel and the absence of many top players. Only two of
FIDE’s top 10 were participating, apparently because many players were
angry that the world’s strongest rated player, Kasparov of Russia, was
to be allowed to play the winner without having to go through
qualifying rounds.

Libya, which is putting up the US$1.5 million in prize money for the
tournament, has been struggling to shake off its reputation as a rogue
state that sponsors terrorism and foments trouble around the
world. Welcoming the chess tournament and making a failed bid to host
the 2010 soccer World Cup were seen as part of a campaign to clean up
its international image.