Hafiz,Arif Abdul 2343 – Ganguly,Surya Shekhar 2572

22nd Bangkok Chess Club Open 2025 

Annotated by Paul Raynes

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 The Vienna Game 3…exf4 4.d4 The Steinitz Gambit, often played by first World Champion Wilhelm Steinitz. Steinitz trusted this move enough to play it in a World Championship game against Zukertort in 1886, and won in 19 moves! It went out of fashion around 1900, but was revived by a young Paul Keres in 1933. Very risky, and an excellent choice for a Tiger to catch out a Heffalump ( kid’s word for an Elephant ), as described in Simon Webb’s Chess For Tigers (2002). In this case young Indonesian IM Arif Abdul Hafiz is the Tiger, and top Indian GM Surya Ganguly – six-time Champion of India no less, from 2003-2008 – is the Heffalump he is hoping to lure into a swamp. 4…Qh4+! The best move, forcing the White King out into the open. The resulting positions are mind- blowingly complicated and very counter-intuitive. 5.Ke2 The only move, 5. g3 loses to fxg3 6. Nf3 g2+ 7. Nxh4 gxh1=Q and there are no tricks. 5…d5 A good and natural move which equalises. But “bloody Iron Monsters” as GM Michael Stean once memorably described them, chess computers, now engines in the cloud, say the best move is 5. …b6! which has been known since the 1870 and was first played by Von Minckwitz against Steinitz. 

[ 5…b6! 5. …b6! was played by Heffalump Mickey Adams, when he faced the Tiger IM Andy Martin in London 1992. In that game the trap worked perfectly, as Adams – normally regarded as a consummate positional genius rather than a hacker ! – was lured into a murky swamp, Martin winning the game in 37 moves. . 6.Nb5 Ba6 7.a4 0-0-0 8.Nf3 Qg4! 9.h3 Qg3 10.Qd2 Nf6 11.Qxf4 Nh5 12.Qxf7 Nf6 13.e5 Bxb5+ 14.axb5 Nxd4+ 15.Nxd4 Qxe5+ 16.Kd3 Bc5+= ] 

6.Nf3?! Even more daring ! 6. exd5 Bg4+ 7. Nf3 Nce7 8. Bxf4= leads to less swampy areas. 

[ 6.exd5! Bg4+ 7.Nf3 Nce7! 8.Bxf4= 0-0-0 9.g3 Qh5 10.Bg2 Nxd5 11.Nxd5 Qxd5 12.Kf2 Nf6 13.Re1= ] 

6…Bg4!? Surprisingly, this natural pin is inaccurate. 6… Qe7 ! is correct  

[ 6…Qe7! 7.Bxf4 dxe4 8.Nd5 exf3+ 9.Kf2 Qe4 10.Nxc7+ Kd8 11.Qd2 fxg2 12.Bxg2 Qf5 13.Kg1 Rb8 14.Nd5 Be6 15.Rf1 Qg6 16.Ne3 Ke8 17.d5 Rd8 ] 

7.exd5 0-0-0 Risky. Heffalumps normally steer clear of swamps, but not Ganguly!  

[ 7…Nce7! ] 

8.dxc6± With accurate play, White is slightly better ! But Ganguly must have known this , because he was still playing fast. 8…Nf6?! All played a tempo by Ganguly  

[ 8…Bc5! is the most common move – and has been played xxx times in practice – after which White is hanging on for dear life to his extra material. 9.Qe1!± ] 

9.Qd2? White took a long time over this dubious move, he is presumably out of his prep.  

[ 9.Qd3! was best Re8+ 10.Kd2 Qf2+ 11.Be2 Re3 12.Qc4 Qxg2 13.Rg1 Rxe2+ 14.Qxe2 Qxf3 15.cxb7+ Kb8 16.Qxf3 Bxf3 17.Kd3 – just impossible for a Human Being to navigate ! ]

9…Bc5! 10.Kd1! Well played, it is thematic of this variation to go walkies with the King until a safe haven is found. 10…Rxd4?! Ganguly goes wrong and gives White a chance!  

[ 10…Bxd4-+ 11.Bd3 Rhe8 with a massive attack ] 

11.Bd3+= White’s position is surprisingly resilient now, but he had left himself with only 20 mins for the remaining 29 moves, whereas Black had about 50 minutes 

11…Qh5 12.Rf1 Rhd8 13.Ne2! Well played again.

13…Ra4? Such is the complexity of the position that even the world-class Ganguly has lost the thread.  

[ 13…Bb4! 14.Nxf4! Qa5! 15.c3 Rxf4! 16.Qxf4 Rxd3+ 17.Bd2 Bd6 was best ! ] 

14.Bf5+? A clever but faulty combination.  

[ 14.Nxf4+- wins, eg Qe5 15.h3 Bxf3+ 16.Rxf3 and White has hung on, clinging to his material advantage ] 

14…Qxf5! 15.cxb7+ Kxb7 16.Qxd8 Bd6! Now White’s Queen is cut off from the defence of her King. Even now though, it is still unclear after 16. Bd2. 17.b4?  

[ 17.Bd2! Re4 18.Re1 Qh5 ( 18…Re8 19.Ned4! Rxd8 20.Nxf5 Bxf5= ) 19.Qh8! only a computer could see this move ] 

17…Qd5+!-+ A deadly check.  

[ 17…Rxb4? 18.Bd2 ] 

18.Bd2 Ne4! 19.Ke1 White is pinned every which way and helpless against the threat of the removal of the guard, the knight on f3. 

19…Bxf3 20.Rxf3 Qxd2+ 21.Kf1 Rxa2 22.Re1 Bxb4 0-1

BCC Open Round 9: Evgeny Romanov wins outright with 8/9

The 22nd edition of the Bangkok Chess Club Open concluded with the undisputed victory of Macedonian GM Evgeny Romanov. Facing the young FM Ern Ang from Malaysia with the Black pieces, Romanov quickly obtained a promising position in which his doubled pawns were of little significance in view of the juicy outposts available to his minor pieces. After the game, he praised his opponent for his very tricky style and attributed his victory to the fact that he probably felt more at ease with the unusual pawn structure which resulted from the opening.

Ang, Ern Jie Anderson (2286) – Romanov, Evgeny (2590)

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Bd6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.O-O Nc6 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Nc3 h6 9.Nb5 Bf5 10.Nxd6 cxd6 11.Bf4 Re8 12.h3 Qd7 13.g4 Be4 14.e3 a5 15.Nd2 Bd3

16.Re1? Nb4 17.Bf1 Bc2 18.Qf3 Ne4 19.Qe2 Bd3 20.Qd1 Rac8 21.Nxe4 dxe4 22.Bxd3 Nxd3 23.Re2 h5 24.Rd2 d5 25.Bg3 Rc6 26.f4 Rec8 27.Kh2 hxg4 28.hxg4 f5 29.Bh4 fxg4 30.Rg2 Rh6 31.Kg3 g5 32.fxg5 Rxh4 33.Kxh4 Kg7 34.Rxg4 Qd6 35.Rg2 Rh8+ 36.Qh5 Rxh5+ 37.Kxh5 Qf8 38.Rg3 Qh8+ 0-1

Romanov precedes Filipino IM Paulo Bersamina by a half point, as the latter managed to convert a winding Rook endgame against 2024 winner GM Bernadskyi.

On 7/9 follows a group of five players: FM Ang, Filipino IM Concio as well as GMs Lalit, Ganguly and Short, who also tops the ranking in the Senior citizen category.

Other prize winners, include IM Prin Laohawirapap as best player under the Thai federation on 6/9, and WGM Julia Ryjanova among ladies with a total of 5.5.

In the Challenger group, the final round began under similar auspices with two players on 7/8 chased by a trio on 6.5. Following their draw on board 1, Khalid Azzamy and Nguyen Tran are joined on 7.5/9 by John De Guzman, with Azzamy winning on tiebreak.

This concludes this year’s coverage of the Bangkok Chess Club Open and Challenger tournaments. Please follow us on www.bangkokchess.com for announcements regarding the next edition!


BCC Round 8 : draw at the top, GM comebacks and an Easter egg on board 2

The tournament entered its final stretch and dying hours as this penultimate round will be followed in quick order by the dreaded 9:00 game on Monday morning.

The game on board 1 between the leader Evgeny Romanov and Babu Lalit was wrapped up peacefully after a couple of hours. The position stayed well within drawing parameters and left both opponents undefeated in this tournament, with two and three draws respectively.

On board 2 GM Stephen Gordon was facing the round’s surprise package in the person of Ern Ang. The young FM from Malaysia chalked his sixth successive win after his Mancunian opponent had missed the tactical shot 24… Bg3, which won the exchange and then some.

On the third table, Indian GM Ganguly carefully nursed his advantage – until he didn’t. The complications arising from his Rook sacrifice 35…. Rxf2 resulted in a drawn position, whereas doubling Rooks on the f-file first would instead have given Black a decisive advantage.

Michael Concio outlasted James Morris in a position where White’s Queen and Knight decided against Black’s two extra pawns and lone Queen.

The face-off between untitled Latvian Batashevs Arsens, 2176, and IM Bersamina from the Philippines was in equilibrium until the time scramble, with 34. Rdd3 landing White in a passive position causing the loss of a piece.

Other winners on this round include GMs Bernadskyi, Short and Gustafsson, who called upon a time-honoured mixture of knowledge, experience and guile to move up the ranking table.


Cooling off on the River of Kings

This tournament’s yearly photo opportunity took place – predictably – on the Chao Phraya river, courtesy of the Royal Orchid Sheraton Riverside Hotel management who put their luxurious ferry boat at the disposal of the organisers.

Under a bright morning sun, the whole family of Indian GM Surya Ganguly posed for the photographers as the boat departed to the massive Icon Siam commercial center situated across the hotel. 

Three games were then played underway to the Thaksin bridge and back, with defending champion GM Vitaliy Bernadskyi facing WFM Aleksandra Samaganova before leaving the board to GMs Evgeny Romanov and Nigel Short.  

In the remaining game, GM Jan Gustafsson managed to reach a promising position against Nina Tuorila, the tournament director’s daughter.  He did however chicken out and offered a draw, keeping with the tradition that every game played during BCC photo ops must end with a peaceful result.


BCC round 7: Saturday, bloody Saturday – Evgeny Romanov sole leader with Ang, Gordon and Lalit in pursuit

In a first this year around, the top three boards had six GMs battling it out today. Battling being the operative word: no grandmasterly draws here, Sir!

On board 1 Evgeny Romanov uncorked a deep and powerful combination to bring down Surya Ganguly following a balanced middle game contest in which the Indian GM declined a draw offer by move 25.

Ganguly, Surya Shekhar (2572) – Romanov, Evgeny (2590)

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bd7 6.Be2 Nge7 7.O-O Nf5 8.dxc5 a5 9.Bd3 Bxc5 10.a4 h6 11.Nbd2 Bb6 12.Nb3 Nh4 13.Nxh4 Qxh4 14.Qe2 O-O 15.Be3 Qd8 16.Bc2 Bxe3 17.Qxe3 f6 18.exf6 Rxf6 19.Nc5 b6 20.Nxd7 Qxd7 21.Rae1 Qd6 22.Qd3 g6 23.Re3 Qc5 24.Rh3 Kg7 25.Qd2 Rh8 26.Rb1 Ne5 27.b4 Qc7 28.bxa5 bxa5 29.Rb5 The start of the decisive manoeuvre, allowing the doubling of the Rooks on the f-file.
29..h5 30.Rg3 Rhf8 31.Qd4 Rxf2 32.Rxg6+

32..Kh7 The crux. Seldom does one see a King go willingly into a vortex of discovered checks, and emerge triumphant.
33.Rg3+ Rxc2 34.Qd1 Kh6 35.h3 Qa7+ 36.Kh2 Qf2 37.h4 Rf4 38.Kh3 Rg4 0-1

At board 2, Stephen Gordon was hanging on in spite of undergoing some time and positional pressure at the hands of Nigel Short. Things then took a turn for the worse for him after the capture of a forbidden pawn on c2, after which it appeared White’s two minor pieces would have dominated Black’s Rook. Instead Black invaded White’s first rank, won White’s Bishop and converted the win after liquidating into a won pawn endgame.

On board 3, Babu Lalit overcame the resistance of Jozsef Horvath with a timely Queenside breakthrough culminating with a triple battery of White’s heavy pieces on the a-file.

They are joined in 2-4 places by junior FM Ern Ang from Malaysia, who managed to defeat IM Hafiz.

Games: https://www.chess.com/events/2025-bangkok-open/games
Open section: https://chess-results.com/tnr1137279.aspx?lan=1
Challenger section: https://chess-results.com/tnr1137307.aspx?lan=1