Round 10 15th September 2006
FINAL TABLE

                              Nat Ti FIDE  
Pos Player                    lty tl Rtng     A   B  C     D     E     F   TB 	
  1 Short, Nigel D........... ENG g  2676     7½ 10  7½  2490  7.38  0.12  44½	
	

  2 Sulskis, Sarunas......... LTU g  2514     7  10  7   2429  6.06  0.94  42 	
  3 McShane, Luke J.......... ENG g  2614     7  10  7   2469  6.91  0.09  41½	
  4 Gordon, Stephen J........ ENG m  2443     7  10  7   2501  4.22  2.78  40½	
  5 Jones, Gawain CB......... ENG m  2416     7  10  7   2415  4.91  2.09  38½	
  6 Galego, Luis............. POR g  2528     7  10  7   2381  6.83  0.17  37½	
  7 Gormally, Daniel W....... ENG g  2513     7  10  7   2391  6.54  0.46  37½	
  8 Bischoff, Klaus.......... GER g  2533     7  10  7   2366  7.13 -0.13  36 	
  9 Van Der Weide, Karel..... NED g  2446     7  10  7   2364  5.98  1.02  35½	
	

 10 Williams, Simon K........ ENG m  2473     6½ 10  6½  2460  5.11  1.39  42 	
 11 Hebden, Mark L........... ENG g  2532     6½ 10  6½  2403  6.65 -0.15  37½	
 12 Ciuksyte, Dagne.......... LTU m  2440     6½ 10  6½  2348  6.08  0.42  35½	
 13 Luther, Thomas........... GER g  2589     6½  9  5½  2362  7.00 -1.50  35 	
 14 Conquest, Stuart C....... ENG g  2534     6½ 10  6½  2369  7.08 -0.58  34 	
 15 Rudd, Jack............... ENG f  2328     6½  9  5½  2357  4.15  1.35  32½	
	

 16 Pert, Nicholas........... ENG g  2503     6  10  6   2461  5.51  0.49  37 	
 17 Brandenburg, Daan........ NED    2392     6  10  6   2380  5.05  0.95  36 	
 18 Miezis, Normunds......... LAT g  2527     6  10  6   2389  6.77 -0.77  36 	
 19 Haslinger, Stewart G..... ENG m  2423     6  10  6   2422  4.94  1.06  35 	
 20 Gyimesi, Zoltan.......... HUN g  2616     6  10  6   2378  7.90 -1.90  34½	
 21 Hanley, Craig A.......... ENG m  2419     6  10  6   2318  6.26 -0.26  33½	
 22 McNab, Colin A........... SCO g  2433     6  10  6   2377  5.69  0.31  33½	
 23 Medvegy, Zoltan.......... HUN g  2518     6  10  6   2320  7.44 -1.44  32½	
 24 Pritchett, Craig W....... SCO m  2289     6   9  5   2390  3.32  1.68  32 	
 25 Swinkels, Robin.......... NED    2286     6   8  4   2438  2.49  1.51  31½	
 26 Karttunen, Mika.......... FIN m  2422     6  10  6   2340  5.98  0.02  31 	
 27 White, Michael JR........ ENG    2239     6   8  4   2303  3.36  0.64  30 	
 28 Wallace, Paul A.......... IRL    2242     6   7  4½  2279  3.19  1.31  27 	
	

 29 Sarakauskas, Gediminas... LTU m  2414     5½ 10  5½  2417  4.87  0.63  35½	
 30 Lund, D Brett............ ENG    2249     5½  8  3½  2383  2.73  0.77  30½	
 31 Radovanovic, Jovica......     f  2366     5½ 10  5½  2325  5.47  0.03  30½	
 32 Knott, Simon JB.......... ENG m  2387     5½  9  4½  2309  5.37 -0.87  30 	
 33 Sarakauskiene, Zivile.... LTU wm 2158     5½  8  3½  2249  3.08  0.42  28½	
 34 Bennett, Patrick J....... WLS    2128     5½  6  2   2303  1.70  0.30  25 	
	

 35 Dgebuadze, Alexandre..... BEL g  2527     5  10  5   2387  6.80 -1.80  34½	
 36 Devereux, Maxim L........ ENG f  2377     5  10  5   2444  4.06  0.94  33½	
 37 Carleton, John J......... ENG    2294     5  10  5   2304  4.91  0.09  29½	
 38 Quillan, Gary............ ENG    2344     5   9  5   2257  5.55 -0.55  29 	
 39 Redmond, John............ IRL             5  10  5   2226   --   2226  29 	
 40 Blackburn, Jonathan LB... WLS    2207     5   8  3   2309  3.02 -0.02  28 	
 41 Britton, Richard L....... ENG f  2288     5   9  4   2278  4.66 -0.66  28 	
 42 Taylor, Martin R......... ENG f  2332     5  10  5   2283  5.63 -0.63  28 	
 43 Eggleston, David J....... ENG    2232     5   7  2½  2424  1.80  0.70  27½	
 44 Grant, Jonathan.......... SCO    2251     5  10  5   2291  4.46  0.54  27½	
 45 Trevelyan, John.......... WLS    2243     5   9  4½  2199  5.02 -0.52  27 	
 46 Lauterbach, Ingrid....... ENG wm 2120     5   8  3   2284  2.45  0.55  26½	
 47 Armstrong, William G..... ENG    1955     5   7  2   2237  1.11  0.89  24 	
 48 Armstrong, Malcolm J..... ENG    2111     5   5  2   2260  1.64  0.36  23 	
 49 Dunn, Andrew............. ENG c  2199     5   4  1½  2035  2.82 -1.32  23 	
	

 50 Meijers, Viesturs........ LAT g  2474     4½ 10  4½  2277  7.44 -2.94  31 	
 51 Shaw, John K............. SCO g  2473     4½ 10  4½  2253  7.65 -3.15  29 	
 52 Littlewood, John E....... ENG f  2244     4½  7  1½  2360  2.56 -1.06  27½	
 53 Surtees, Mike J.......... ENG    2182     4½  8  3   2328  2.59  0.41  26½	
 54 Peacock, Malcolm R....... ENG    2079     4½  9  3½  2203  3.13  0.37  25½	
 55 Hardman, Michael J....... ENG    2151     4½  9  3½  2122  4.78 -1.28  25 	
 56 Williamson, Roger G...... ENG    2155     4½  7  2½  2270  2.48  0.02  25 	
 57 Taylor, Edward A......... ENG             4½  9  3½  2152        2072  23½	
 58 McGrane, Stephen......... ENG    2044     4½  8  2½  2139  3.02 -0.52  22 	
 59 Brown, Martin............ ENG             4½  9  3½  2118        2038  21½	
 60 Campbell, Ian............ ENG    2003     4½  4  1½  2130  1.37  0.13  21 	
 61 Gorman, John A........... ENG             4½  8  3   2099        2012  19½	
	

 62 Tebb, David J............ ENG    2231     4   8  2   2350  2.82 -0.82  27 	
 63 Jackson, Oliver.......... ENG    2225     4   9  3½  2248  4.30 -0.80  26 	
 64 Grassie, Duncan.......... SCO    2042     4   7  1   2239  1.83 -0.83  23 	
 65 Hawkins, James N......... ENG    2022     4   6   ½  2230  1.54 -1.04  23 	
 66 Boumphrey, Luke S........ ENG             4   9  3   2111        1986  21 	
 67 Legge, Andrew............ ENG    1717     4   7  1   2064  0.47  0.53  21 	
 68 Van Kemenade, Rudy....... ENG    2039     4   2  0   2361  0.21 -0.21  20½	
 69 Robertson, David J....... ENG             4   7  1½  2138        1908  19 	
 70 Kent, Paul............... ENG             4   7  1   2010        1701  17 	
	

 71 Wilson, Alexandra........ SUI wf 2090     3½  7  2   2259  2.05 -0.05  23½	
 72 Gandolfi, Gianfranco..... ITA    1882     3½  5  0   2170  0.69 -0.69  21 	
 73 Duke, Michael............ SCO    2081     3½  2   ½  2143  0.84 -0.34  19½	
 74 Hulligan, Steve.......... ENG    1821     3½  6  1   2111  0.87  0.13  18½	
 75 MacGilchrist, Siegrun.... SCO    1845     3½  5   ½  2148  0.63 -0.13  18 	
 76 Lee, Steven.............. ENG             3½  5   ½  2041        1675  17½	
 77 Ewart, Brian R........... ENG             3½  6  1   2063        1790  16 	
	

 78 Savory, Richard J........ ECU    2101     3   7  2   2308  1.65  0.35  23 	
 79 Solomon, Graeme R........ ENG             3   6  1   1988        1715  16 	
 80 Soikkeli, Raino.......... FIN             3   4  0   2054        1377  14 	
 81 Weidman, Mark............ ENG             3   5  0   1975        1298  14 	
	

 82 Hughes, Robert C......... ENG             2½  4   ½  2069        1733  11 	
	

 83 Cockerill, Martin........ ENG             2   3  0   1902        1225  10 	
 84 Tanner, Frank............ ENG             2   3  0   1956        1279   7½	
	

 85 Redmond, John............ IRL             0   0  0                   0 	
 86 Taylor, Edward H......... ENG             0   0  0                   0 	


Round 10 results: Friday 15th September 2006

 Bd White                                Result  Black                              
  1 Short, Nigel D.......... 2676  (6½)  1 - 0   Hebden, Mark L.......... 2532  (6½)
  2 McShane, Luke J......... 2614  (6½)  ½ - ½   Gordon, Stephen J....... 2443  (6½)
  3 Sulskis, Sarunas........ 2514  (6½)  ½ - ½   Jones, Gawain CB........ 2416  (6½)
  4 Gormally, Daniel W...... 2513   (6)  1 - 0   Williams, Simon K....... 2473  (6½)
  5 Luther, Thomas.......... 2589   (6)  ½ - ½   Conquest, Stuart C...... 2534   (6)

  6 Bischoff, Klaus......... 2533   (6)  1 - 0   Pert, Nicholas.......... 2503   (6)
  7 Brandenburg, Daan....... 2392   (6)  0 - 1   Galego, Luis............ 2528   (6)
  8 Van Der Weide, Karel.... 2446   (6)  1 - 0   Hanley, Craig A......... 2419   (6)
  9 Gyimesi, Zoltan......... 2616  (5½)  ½ - ½   Swinkels, Robin......... 2286  (5½)
 10 Miezis, Normunds........ 2527  (5½)  ½ - ½   Medvegy, Zoltan......... 2518  (5½)

 11 Ciuksyte, Dagne......... 2440  (5½)  1 - 0   Sarakauskas, Gediminas.. 2414  (5½)
 12 Haslinger, Stewart G.... 2423  (5½)  ½ - ½   McNab, Colin A.......... 2433  (5½)
 13 Rudd, Jack.............. 2328  (5½)  1 - 0   Carleton, John J........ 2294   (5)
 14 Wallace, Paul A......... 2242   (5)  1 - 0   Dgebuadze, Alexandre.... 2527   (5)
 15 Blackburn, Jonathan LB.. 2207   (5)  0 - 1   Karttunen, Mika......... 2422   (5)

 16 Knott, Simon JB......... 2387   (5)  ½ - ½   Sarakauskiene, Zivile... 2158   (5)
 17 Quillan, Gary........... 2344   (5)  0 - 1   White, Michael JR....... 2239   (5)
 18 Pritchett, Craig W...... 2289   (5)  1 - 0   Redmond, John........... 2095*  (5)
 19 Grant, Jonathan......... 2251  (4½)  ½ - ½   Lund, D Brett........... 2249   (5)
 20 Bennett, Patrick J...... 2128  (4½)  1 - 0   Meijers, Viesturs....... 2474  (4½)

 21 Shaw, John K............ 2473  (4½)  0 - 1   Radovanovic, Jovica..... 2366  (4½)
 22 Devereux, Maxim L....... 2377  (4½)  ½ - ½   Lauterbach, Ingrid...... 2120  (4½)
 23 Eggleston, David J...... 2232  (4½)  ½ - ½   Britton, Richard L...... 2288  (4½)
 24 Williamson, Roger G..... 2155   (4)  ½ - ½   Taylor, Martin R........ 2332  (4½)
 25 Hardman, Michael J...... 2151   (4)  ½ - ½   Littlewood, John E...... 2244   (4)

 26 Trevelyan, John......... 2243   (4)  1 - 0   Grassie, Duncan......... 2042   (4)
 27 Armstrong, Malcolm J.... 2111   (4)  1 - 0   Tebb, David J........... 2231   (4)
 28 Jackson, Oliver......... 2225   (4)  0 - 1   Armstrong, William G.... 1955   (4)
 29 Dunn, Andrew............ 2199   (4)  1 - 0   Legge, Andrew........... 1717   (4)
 30 Gorman, John A.......... 2040*  (4)  ½ - ½   Surtees, Mike J......... 2182   (4)

 31 Brown, Martin........... 1785* (3½)  1 - 0   Wilson, Alexandra....... 2090  (3½)
 32 Taylor, Edward A........ 1895* (3½)  1 - 0   Duke, Michael........... 2081  (3½)
 33 Peacock, Malcolm R...... 2079  (3½)  1 - 0   Gandolfi, Gianfranco.... 1882  (3½)
 34 McGrane, Stephen........ 2044  (3½)  1 - 0   Lee, Steven............. 1890* (3½)
 35 Van Kemenade, Rudy...... 2039  (3½)  ½ - ½   Boumphrey, Luke S....... 2100* (3½)
 	
 36 Hulligan, Steve......... 1821   (3)  ½ - ½   Hawkins, James N........ 2022  (3½)
 37 Solomon, Graeme R....... 1765*  (3)  0 - 1   Kent, Paul.............. 1765*  (3)
 38 Hughes, Robert C........ 1785* (2½)  0 - 1   Ewart, Brian R.......... 1910* (2½)
 39 Cockerill, Martin....... 1600*  (2)  0 - 1   MacGilchrist, Siegrun... 1845  (2½)
 40 Weidman, Mark........... 1645* (2½)  ½ - ½   Tanner, Frank........... 1535* (1½)

 41 Soikkeli, Raino......... 2200d  (2)  1 - 0   Bye.....................          
 42 Campbell, Ian........... 2003   (4)  ½ - ½   Bye.....................          
 43 Robertson, David J...... 2130* (3½)  ½ - ½   Bye.....................          
 44 Savory, Richard J....... 2101   (3)  0 - 0   Bye.....................  

Extremely chuffed

FM Steve Giddins reports on round 10 of the EU Championships in Liverpool

Report from the official site: http://www.liverpoolchessinternational.co.uk

Nigel Short became the outright winner of the 2006 EU Championship, by beating Mark Hebden in today’s 10th round, whilst his main rivals could only draw. The former world title challenger later declared himself “extremely chuffed” at having won on his first appearance in an nternational tournament in his home country, since 1989.

Hebden is a player whose opening repertoire is well-known, and has been almost constant for his entire chess-playing life. As Black against 1 e4, he plays only 1...e5, usually either the Marshall or a main line Chigorin. Short avoided these with 3 Bc4, secure in the knowledge that Hebden only ever plays 3...Nf6. Over recent years, just about every top-level player has abandoned the Two Knights Defence, on the basis that Black does not have enough compensation after 4 Ng5. Indeed, after the game, Short commented that “The Two Knights just loses a pawn!”, and he added that anybody who played the line regularly as Black “is taking their life in their hands”. Hebden fought well, but never really had enough for his pawn, and eventually lost the ending.

Meanwhile, McShane and Sulskis both fought out hard draws with Gordon and Jones respectively. Unlike Short, McShane chose to avoid a theoretical dispute and chose the Trompowsky. He did not achieve much for a long time, and althougha significant bout of manoeuvering eventually netted him an extra pawsn in the N+P ending, Black’s king was very active and he held the balance. Jones played the Scandinavian with 3...Qd6 against Sulskis. This line has been doing remarkably well for Black in recent times, notably in the hands of Dutch champion, Sergey Tiviakov. After some inaccuracies by Black in the early middlegame, Sulskis was soon well on top, and by move 25, he was completely winning, with an extra pawn and the better king. From then on, however, he made no progress at all against Jones’ stubborn defence, and eventually drifted into a drawn rook ending. It is hard to pinpoint any one moment when he could have wrapped the game up, but 31 Qa5, with the idea of penetrating to b6 and b7, looks like one way of breaking down Black’s resistance.

Simon Williams has had an excellent tournament, but today he hit the buffers big-time, losing in 19 moves, in under two hours. In an obscure line of his favourite Dutch, he produced the novelty 11...exf6?, instead of the compulsory 11...e6, which was played successfully in Kharitonov-Gajewski, San Augustin 2003. After White’s obvious reply, he was already in trouble, and his 12th move simply lost the exchange, after which the position was already hopeless. Amongst the other leaders, there were wins for Bischoff, van der Weide and Galego, who all moved up into prize spots.

Thus ends a great 10 days’ of chess. All credit is due to Dave Robertson, David Welch and all the many others, whose hard work and imagination has made such a huge success of this event. In fact, I would go so far as to say that everybody involved with the event is entitled to be “extremely chuffed”. This year’s tournament is “only” a curtain-raiser in the run-up to 2008, when Liverpool celebrates its EU Capital of Culture award. Next year, there are plans for another powerful international open, the budget for which is already in place, and will be more than double this year’s. The final budget for 2008 is yet to be confirmed, but believe me, if the plans come to fruition, you will see a chess event, the like of which has not happened in this country for 70 or more years. All, being well, I will be there to bring you daily reports, and once again, will endeavour to get through the entire event, without once mentioning Cilla Black, Ken Dodd or The Beatles...

Short,Nigel (2676) - Hebden,Mark (2532) [C58]
EU Championship Liverpool (10.1), 15.09.2006

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6 4 Ng5 d5 5 exd5 Na5 6 Bb5+ c6 7 dxc6 bxc6 8 Qf3

This old move has for years been regarded as giving Black a strong initiative, but in recent times, the cold reality of computer analysis has made people realise that Black may just be a pawn down for not enough. John van der Wiel has been at the forefront of rehabilitating the move.

8...h6 9 Ne4 Nd5 10 Ba4

Van der Wiel prefers 10 Nbc3 here, but Short was following some analysis that he had done a couple of years ago, with the Ukrainian teenage super-talent, Sergey Kariakin.

10...Be7 11 d3 0-0 12 0-0 f5 13 Ng3 Be6 14 Re1 Bd6 15 c4 Ne7 16 Bd2 c5 17 Nc3 a6 18 Nd5 Nac6 19 Bxc6

This is the logical follow-up to White’s plan, which is to pressurise e5, but Fritz 9 is hot to trot with the strange move 19 Nh5!?. Looking more closely, it does seem surprisingly strong. The knight will drop into f4 at some stage, exploiting the loose Black bishop on e6.

19...Nxc6 20 Bc3 Qe8 21 h3 Rd8 22 Re2 Bb8 23 Rae1 a5 24 a3 Nd4 25 Bxd4 cxd4

26 Nb6?!

Here, the exchange sacrifice 26 Rxe5 comes strongly into consideration.

26...e4 27 dxe4 f4 28 Nf1 Qc6 29 Nd5 Qxc4 30 Nd2 Qb5 31 Qb3 Qxb3

Over the past few moves, White has lost most of his advantage. At this point, Black offered a draw, but this was declined.

32 Nxb3 Bxd5 33 exd5 Rxd5 34 Rd2 Be5 35 Nc1 a4 36 Nd3 Bd6 37 Rc2

Thanks to the knight on d3, White retains a small advantage. Black’s pawn on a4 is more vulnerable that White’s on b2, which is defended by the knight-blockader.

37...f3 38 g3 h5 39 Rc4 h4 40 g4 Ra5?

Losing without much fight. A better try was 40...Rb8 41 Rxa4 Rb3, when White still has significant technical problems to solve.

41 Rxd4 Rf6 42 Ree4

Now a4 goes as well, and the rest is silence.

42...Bc7 43 Kf1 Rc6 44 Rxa4 Rxa4 45 Rxa4 Rd6 46 Ne1 Rd1 47 Re4 Rb1 48 Re8+ Kh7 49 Rf8 Bd6 50 Rxf3 Rxb2 51 Rc3 Be5 52 Rd3 Bb8 53 Nf3 Ba7 54 Rd2 Rb3 55 Kg2 Rxa3 56 Nxh4 Bb8 57 Nf3 Bf4 58 Rd4 g5 59 h4 1-0