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Hafiz,Arif Abdul 2343 – Ganguly,Surya Shekhar 2572

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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

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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

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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

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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 Open round 5: Thai ace Prin comes close while none of the leaders emerges unscathed

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Mid-tournament syndrome is that moment in the week when games get evenly matched, and hence the action doesn’t decant quite as quickly. For the correspondent, it’s usually that time when one realises he actually needs that other cup of coffee or that extra kick of insulin. When things are quiet in the press room, and one would wish Yasser Seirawan were there to delight the audience with some witty anecdote from the defunct century.

Round 4 had left us with a trio of leaders, two of whom were squaring off on the top board. The game between GM Babu Lalit from India and Indonesian IM Ariz Abdul Hafiz, was a finely balanced affair although Black’s Queen had ventured off to snatch a pawn as early as move 4.

On board two, Macedonian GM Romanov made short work of the third co-leader, FM Arca from the Philippines after the white Queen went on an unsuccessful fishing expedition on the Kingside.

Meanwhile, Thai star Prin Laohawirapap was facing a resurgent Nigel Short. After dominating the opening phase with the Black pieces, Prin got low on time and struggled to maintain his advantage before going astray wih 24… h5, when the position became level but with the momentum firmly on White’s side. There were a couple more plot twists, with White going astray shortly after entering a 4-Rook endgame. Black however failed to capitalise, capturing the wrong pawn (35…. Rxd4 instead of … Rxb2) after which the soon to be sexagenarian grandmaster had no difficulty steering the position towards a peaceful conclusion.

Short, Nigel D (2594) – Laohawirapap, Prin (2380)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bd3 g6 7.O-O Bg7 8.Kh1 O-O 9.f4 Nbd7 10.Qe1 Nc5 11.Nf3 b5 12.Bd2 b4 13.Nd1 Bb7 14.Nf2 a5 15.e5 Nfd7 16.Be2 Qc7 17.exd6 exd6 18.c3 Rfe8 19.Qd1 Na4 20.Rb1 Ndc5 21.Bb5 Bc6 22.Bxc6 Qxc6 23.Nd4 Qd5 24.f5 h5 25.fxg6 fxg6 26.Qc2 Ne4 27.Nxe4 Rxe4 28.Qxa4 Bxd4 29.cxd4 Re2 30.Rf3 Rxd2 31.Re1 Kg7 32.Qd7+ Kh6 33.Qe7 Qg5 34.Qxg5+ Kxg5 35.h3

35…Rxd4 (…Rxb2!) 36.Re6 Rg8 37.b3 Rd2 38.Kh2 Rg7 39.Rf8 Rxa2 40.Rxd6 Ra3 41.Ra6 h4 42.Rd8 Rxb3 43.Rxa5+ Kh6 44.Rb5 g5 45.Rd4 ½-½

As several players on 3.5 points came out victorious, we enter tonight’s blitz final stage – as well as round 6 – with an unexpectedly large squad of competitors leading with 4.5/5.

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