A Hard Day’s Night

Peter Lombaers – Nigel David Short
15th Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival; Catalan Bay, January 24, 2017
4q3/r4p1k/1R1P2p1/3Q3p/2P4P/5P2/6PK/8 w - - 1 44

Position after 43. ... Qa4-e8

Grandmaster Short, after his very recent tournée in Rasht, Iran, is like protected by a spiritual aura which makes him untouchable. The position in the diagram is an easy win for White, for instance by 44. Qd4 followed by c4-c5, but Lombaers, probably too excited, or maybe unwillingly afraid of the consequences of such an act of unbelief, played the only move... impossible: 44. Rb4?? Qe1! Attacking both the b4-Rook and the h4-Pawn. 45. Qd4 Qxb4 46. Qxa7 Qxd6+ 47. g3 Qd2+ 48. Kh3 Kg7 49. Qa1+ Kg8 50. Qf1 Qc2! White’s extra Pawn is completely meaningless or, as Dylan would say, “Temporary Like Achilles”. 51. g4 hxg4+ 52. fxg4 Qc3+ 53. Kg2 Qc2+ 54. Kf3 f5 55. Qe2 fxg4+ 56. Kf2 Qc3 57. Qxg4 Qd2+ 58. Kf1 Qc1+ 59. Ke2 Qc2+ 60. Ke3 Qc3+ 61. Kf2 Qd2+ 62. Kg3 Qc3+ 63. Kg2 Qc2+ 64. Kh3 Qd3+ 65. Qg3 Qxc4 66. Qxg6+ Kh8 67. Qh6+ ½ : ½. “Having come within a whisker of resigning, I’m greatly relieved that the executioner’s axe somehow missed my neck”, Short afterwards said.

Peter Lombaers vs. Nigel David Short
Photo: John Saunders (@johnchess)