Short wins the long race at Commonwealth chess

English GM Nigel Short preferred a sound afternoon nap to providing sound bytes to the waiting mediapersons after he was declared as the 9th...

English GM Nigel Short preferred a sound afternoon nap to providing sound bytes to the waiting mediapersons after he was declared as the 9th Commonwealth chess champion, here on Sunday. On the other hand, Russian GM Pavel Smirnov, who outwitted Short for the International Open and overall title on his maiden visit to India, was ecstatic while he conveyed his feelings.

‘‘My last round game against Thipsay (Pravin) was very difficult to handle. I managed to salvage a full point and win the title,’’ Pavel said.

As a result, Thipsay was pushed to the third spot. Bangladesh GM Niaz Murshed defeated Russian GM Iskusnyh Sergey to bag the silver medal. ‘‘My start was disappointing and the silver is a pleasant surprise to me,’’ said Niaz, a builder from Dhaka.

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Short and Pavel (both 7.5) tied for the top spot but the latter came out trumps on the basis of better progressive score.

‘‘It wasn’t too difficult for me. I was always in control during the championship,’’ Short told this newspaper during presentation ceremony. Short had surprised all by saying last night that he would not play up to his expectations because he did not like to play in the mornings. However, the brilliant English, now based in Greece, produced a brilliant piece of endgame against GM P Harikrishna. It was a Rubeinstein variation of French Defence in which Nigel’s pieces entered Hari’s castle to drag the White King out of the castle. Koneru Humpy (6) won the Commonwealth women’s championship ahead of the Subbaraman sisters Vijayalaxmi (6, silver) and Meenakshi (5.5, bronze).

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