Chigorin lives

Nigel Short, who challenged Garry Kasparov for the world title in 1993, has made a reputation for employing slightly offbeat openings in order to derail opponents who are unused to non-standard situations. As part of his repertoire, Short has a penchant for the ancient Chigorin Defence, and has even employed a version of this in a game against Kasparov himself.

Earlier this month Short triumphed handsomely in the Negros Open in the Philippines, taking first prize with 8 points from 9, well clear of the runners-up, Karen Grigoryan and Nguyen Duc Hoa, who finished on 7. In round one, Short wheeled out the Chigorin to great effect.

Fronda–Short: Negros Open, Bacolod 2017; Chigorin Defence

1 d4 Nc6 A cunning way of introducing the Chigorin given that the move order 1 d4 d5 2 c4 Nc6 is severely tested by 3 Nc3. Now if 2 d5 Ne5 Black has a kind of mirror-image of Alekhine’s Defence (1 e4 Nf6 2 e5 Nd5) where the relatively uncharted waters would lead to precisely the type of position which Short is seeking to achieve. 2 Nf3 d5 3 c4 Bg4 4 cxd5 Bxf3 5 dxc6 Bxc6 6 Nc3 e6 Now we have a main line Chigorin which has been known since the days when Chigorin himself introduced the defence (see diagram 1). 7 a3 Here the most aggressive is 7 e4 Bb4 8 f3 f5 can be met by the gambit continuation 9 Bc4. Instead Pillsbury-Chigorin, St Petersburg 1895 continued 9 e5 Ne7 10 a3 Ba5 11 Bc4 Bd5 and Black stood well. 7 … f5 8 h4 Way too ambitious. 8 e3 is normal and best. 8 … Bd6 9 Bg5 Qd7 10 e3 Under the changed circumstances this is now wrong with 10 h5, making space for the bishop being vastly preferable.