BCN wishes Nigel Short a happy birthday on this day (June 1st) in 1965.

In the 1999 Queen’s Birthday Honours List Nigel was awarded the MBE. The citation read simply : “For services to Chess”.

Here is his extensive Wikipedia entry.

For the 1979 Spassky vs the BCF Junior Squad simultaneous display this was written : “Rating 213. World No.1, 13 year old. First Evening Standard under-10s, 1975. First under-14s, 1976. First under-21s, 1978.

British Men’s Lightning (10 seconds per move) champion 1978 – the youngest National Men’s Champion in chess history. Bronze medallist world under-17 championship 1979.

In simuls Nigel has beaten Korchnoi and Petrosian. World Nos. 2 and 4. Now he plays Spassky, World No.3.”

In 1978 Harry Golombek OBE wrote the following in the 1979 Dataday Chess Diary:

“The youngest and perhaps the one who will eventually make the most impression on the world of chess. Nigel Short, who at the age of 12 is London Under 21 champion, is the likeliest prospect for a world champion this country has ever seen. Certainly I cannot think of s single attribute that a prospective world champion should have that he has not got. Positional flair, steadiness of purpose, tactical ability, all these he has in profusion.

It is a blessing that he has not got a swollen head as might so easily have happened. Perhaps there is something about the game which acts as a steadying influence. At any rate, chess apart, he is just a pleasant little boy; but a pleasant little boy who can play the following game (in a county match, Lancashire v. Durham towards the end of October 1977) in a style reminiscent of Capablanca.”

[pgn]
[Event “Lancashire vs Durham”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “1977.10.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Nigel David, Short”]
[Black “George, Knapton”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “C84”]
[Annotator “Harry Golombek”]
[PlyCount “93”]
[EventDate “1977.??.??”]
[SourceTitle “Dataday Diary”]

{[%evp 0,66,58,6,8,25,25,28,29,-27,16,-78,-38,-25,-17,9,-20,-21,-9,-59,-26,-47,
-39,-23,-57,-55,-53,-28,-28,-31,-31,-21,-44,-24,-45,-62,-51,-216,-86,-139,0,0,
0,0,0,0,51,51,143,115,128,113,124,100,100,58,80,84,76,76,75,74,81,115,122,92,
98,105,128]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. O-O Be7 7.
Re1 b5 8. e5 (8. Bb3) 8… Nxe5 9. Rxe5 bxa4 10. Nxd4 O-O 11. Nf5 Re8 12. Bg5
d6 13. Nxe7+ Rxe7 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15. Rh5 Rb8 (15… Re5 16. Nc3 Bb7 17. Rh4 Rg5
18. Ne4) 16. Nc3 Re5 17. Rh4 $15 {[#]} Rxb2 $146 18. Qc1 Rb8 19. Qh6 Bf5 20. g4
Bg6 21. f4 Rc5 22. f5 Qf8 23. Qd2 Bxf5 24. gxf5 Rxf5 25. Rg4+ Rg5 26. Rxg5+
fxg5 27. Qxg5+ Qg7 28. Qxg7+ Kxg7 {[#]} 29. Nxa4 $16 Rb4 30. Nc3 Rc4 31. Nd5
Rxc2 32. Nb4 Rc4 33. Nxa6 d5 34. a4 d4 35. Kf2 d3 36. Kf3 Rc2 37. Nb4 Rxh2 38.
Nxd3 Rh6 39. a5 Ra6 40. Nb4 Ra7 41. a6 c5 42. Nc6 Ra8 43. a7 c4 44. Ke4 Kf6 45.
Rb1 c3 46. Kd3 Ke6 47. Rb8 {and Black resigned} 1-0
[/pgn]

Nigel had beaten the same opponent in 15 moves a year before in the same match:

[pgn]
[Event “Lancashire vs Durham County Match”]
[Site “England”]
[Date “1976.??.??”]
[EventDate “?”]
[Round “?”]
[Result “1-0”]
[White “Nigel David, Short”]
[Black “Geoff , Knapton”]
[ECO “C77”]
[PlyCount “29”]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d4 b5 6.Bb3 Be7 7.dxe5
Ng4 8.h3 Nh6 9.Nc3 O-O 10.O-O d6 11.exd6 Qxd6 12.Qe2 Qg6
13.Nd5 Rd8 14.Ne5 Qd6 15.Nxc6 1-0
[/pgn]

[pgn]
[Event “British CF-66 Championship”]
[Site “Chester/ Cheshire”]
[Date “1979.08.14”]
[Round “8”]
[White “Miles, Anthony John”]
[Black “Short, Nigel D”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “C01”]
[WhiteElo “2560”]
[BlackElo “2260”]
[Annotator “Nigel Short & Malcolm Pein (from Nigel Short’s Chess Skills)”]
[PlyCount “92”]
[EventDate “1979.08.06”]
[EventType “swiss”]
[EventRounds “11”]
[EventCountry “GBR”]
[SourceTitle “Nigel Short’s Chess Skills”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1999.07.01”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1999.07.01”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{At the time this game was played Tony Miles was Britain’s top player and had
been a grandmaster for some four years. I think he played this game badly –
perhaps he underestimated me?} 1. d4 e6 2. e4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. exd5 {This move
is not considered to be very good and I have not mentioned it in the Opening
section when covering the French Defence.} exd5 5. Bd3 Nc6 {[#] and I have
already equalised.} 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 Nf6 8. Bg5 Qe7+ 9. Ne2 ({It might have
been better for Miles to have played} 9. Qe2 {here to hasten the onset of the
endgame where his bishop pair would have been useful.}) 9… Bd7 10. O-O h6 11.
Bf4 O-O-O {Here I sensed chances of a king-side pawn storm.} 12. c4 Be6 {
[#] a good move as it blockades and defends without opening lines which, with
White’s bishop pair, is best avoided at this stage.} {I think} 13. c5 {was a
good move. It cuts off my pieces from hampering an attack on the queen’s side
in general and the b-file in particular.} ({It has been suggested that Miles
would have been better playing} 13. cxd5 {after which} Nxd5 14. Bd2 {would
have prepared 15.c4 driving the Black knight away and creating an outpost for
his own pieces.}) 13… g5 14. Bd2 Ne4 15. Rb1 ({I think it very important
that white played should have played} 15. Be1 {here. He can then play f3,
removing my knight, and then Bf2.}) 15… f5 16. f3 Nxd2 17. Qxd2 f4 18. Bb5
Bd7 19. Rfe1 Qf6 20. Qc3 Rde8 21. Qb3 {[#]} Re3 $1 22. Bd3 ({White cannot take
the d-pawn by} 22. Qxd5 $2 {as} Be6 {traps the queen.}) 22… Nd8 $17 {Now it
is obvious that Black stands much better. My control of the e-file is complete
and the rook on e3 is a real tower (!) of strength.} 23. c4 Bf5 $1 24. Bxf5+
Qxf5 25. Qa2 Rhe8 26. Rb2 g4 $19 {This move really exploits the vulnerability
of White’s king-side defences.} 27. Rf1 (27. fxg4 Qxg4 {then 28..f3 is a
crushing threat and the g-file is wide open.}) 27… gxf3 28. gxf3 Rg8+ 29. Kh1
Qh3 30. Rf2 Rxf3 31. Ng1 Re3 $1 {[#]} 32. Rg2 ({If} 32. Nxh3 Re1+ 33. Ng1 {
and either rook mates.}) 32… Qe6 33. Rxg8 ({If} 33. cxd5 Qe4 {and …f3
willl be decisive}) 33… Qxg8 34. cxd5 f3 35. d6 Qg5 36. d7+ Kxd7 37. Qb1 Ne6
38. Qh7+ Kc6 39. Qf7 Nxd4 40. Qc4 Qxc5 41. Qa4+ b5 42. Qd1 Qd5 43. Rf2 Re2 44.
Qc1+ Kb7 45. Nxe2 fxe2+ 46. Rg2 Nc2 $1 {[#]} 0-1
[/pgn]

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_JJF2XoST8[/embedyt]

[pgn]
[Event “Amsterdam VSB”]
[Site “Amsterdam”]
[Date “1993.??.??”]
[Round “6”]
[White “Short, Nigel D”]
[Black “Anand, Viswanathan”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “C42”]
[WhiteElo “2655”]
[BlackElo “2710”]
[Annotator “Kramnik,V”]
[PlyCount “81”]
[EventDate “1993.05.??”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[EventRounds “6”]
[EventCountry “NED”]
[EventCategory “17”]
[SourceTitle “CBM 035”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1993.08.01”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1993.08.01”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,81,19,21,25,9,19,17,34,28,27,-9,3,18,23,20,41,36,28,-4,8,10,16,-9,-12,
10,27,72,87,87,110,110,118,43,48,48,35,35,48,-6,-15,-23,-24,-35,-42,-14,-28,9,
0,5,48,89,137,41,41,49,80,32,32,54,32,26,12,17,51,0,41,0,0,0,0,0,0,43,112,144,
165,165,205,207,208,362,386,454]} 1. e4 {Ftacnik} e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4.
Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8. c4 Nb4 9. Be2 Be6 10. Nc3 O-O 11.
Be3 Bf5 12. Ne5 $5 $146 (12. Rc1 $2 {Ftacnik} Nxc3 13. bxc3 Nxa2 $17) 12… Bf6
$2 (12… Nxc3 13. bxc3 Nc2 14. Rc1 Nxe3 15. fxe3 Be4 (15… Be6 $5 $14) 16.
Bf3 $14 Bg5 17. Qe2 $14) 13. g4 $1 Be6 14. f4 Nxc3 15. bxc3 Nc6 16. Bf3 (16. f5
$1 Bc8 17. Nf3 $1 Re8 18. Bf4 $16) (16. Rb1) (16. Nxc6 {Ftacnik} bxc6 17. f5
Bc8 18. Qd2 $16) (16. Rb1 {Ftacnik}) 16… Bxe5 17. dxe5 d4 $1 (17… dxc4 18.
f5 Bd7 19. Qd5 Re8 20. Bf4 $16) 18. cxd4 Bxc4 19. d5 $1 (19. Rf2 Bd5 20. f5 $36
) 19… Ne7 20. Bc5 $1 Bxf1 21. Kxf1 $16 Qd7 22. Qb3 b6 23. Ba3 Rae8 (23… c6
$5 $16 {Ftacnik}) 24. Rd1 Ng6 (24… Kh8 25. f5 $18) 25. e6 $1 (25. Bxf8 Rxf8
26. Qb4 $18) 25… Qd8 (25… fxe6 {Ftacnik} 26. dxe6 Qxe6 27. Bd5 Rxf4+ 28.
Kg1 Rxg4+ 29. Kh1 $18) 26. f5 Ne5 27. Be2 Qh4 28. Qg3 (28. h3 h5 29. Bxf8 Rxf8
30. Qe3 $1 f6 31. gxh5 $16) (28. h3 {Ftacnik}) 28… Qxg3 29. hxg3 fxe6 30.
Bxf8 Kxf8 31. dxe6 Ke7 (31… h6 {Ftacnik} 32. Rd5 $18) 32. g5 $1 c6 33. g4 (
33. Rd4 {Ftacnik} g6 34. Re4 Kd6) 33… g6 34. Rd4 $1 gxf5 35. gxf5 Rf8 36. Rf4
b5 $1 37. Ke1 $1 (37. Kf2 Ng6 $5 (37… Ng6 {Ftacnik} 38. Rf3 Nh4)) 37… h6
38. gxh6 Rh8 39. Re4 Kf6 40. e7 Kxf5 41. Rxe5+ (41. Rxe5+ {Ftacnik} Kxe5 42.
Bh5 $18) 1-0
[/pgn]

[pgn]
[Event “Ponomariov-Short Training match”]
[Site “Yalta”]
[Date “2003.08.02”]
[Round “8”]
[White “Short, Nigel D”]
[Black “Ponomariov, Ruslan”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “C52”]
[WhiteElo “2701”]
[BlackElo “2718”]
[Annotator “British Chess News”]
[PlyCount “133”]
[EventDate “2003.03.28”]
[EventType “match”]
[EventRounds “8”]
[EventCountry “UKR”]
[SourceTitle “EXT 2017”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2016.10.25”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2016.10.25”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,133,19,28,20,25,28,18,11,-43,-48,-45,-30,-81,7,-18,11,26,18,18,33,38,
27,19,38,-54,-34,-31,-77,-18,-74,-95,-72,-35,77,94,61,-156,0,-54,-66,-98,-86,
-160,-73,-80,-80,-80,0,-76,-30,-71,-52,-183,-152,-136,-74,-84,-59,-60,-61,-65,
-67,-57,-49,-104,-26,-38,-21,-58,0,4,19,2,23,0,21,11,0,-2,15,0,21,8,22,12,21,0,
9,13,13,25,15,23,19,28,44,45,39,46,103,103,169,171,165,155,172,175,161,175,168,
161,160,157,160,160,157,157,157,290,290,286,302,314,368,390,390,430,488,614,
676,1016,1157,29196,29975,29976]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5.
c3 Ba5 6. d4 d6 7. Qb3 Qd7 8. dxe5 Bb6 9. Nbd2 Na5 10. Qc2 Nxc4 11. Nxc4 d5 12.
Bg5 $5 (12. exd5 Qxd5 13. Qa4+ Bd7 14. Nxb6 cxb6 15. Qb4 Bb5 16. Nd4) 12… h6
13. Bh4 {[#]} Qg4 $146 (13… g5 $6) 14. O-O-O g5 15. e6 Bxe6 16. exd5 Bd7 $6 (
16… Qxc4 $142 17. dxe6 gxh4 18. Rhe1 Qf4+ 19. Kb1) 17. Rhe1+ $18 Kf8 18. Re4
(18. Nce5 $142 $16 {[#]}) 18… Qf5 19. g4 Qh7 20. Nfe5 Be8 21. Qe2 Nf6 22. Rf4
Qg7 23. d6 Kg8 24. d7 Nxd7 25. Rxd7 gxf4 26. Qf3 Bxd7 27. Nxd7 Be3+ 28. Kb2 Bd4
29. Kb3 Bxc3 30. Qxc3 Qxc3+ 31. Kxc3 Re8 32. Nce5 Rxe5 33. Nxe5 Kg7 34. Nd3 f3
35. Bg3 Re8 36. Ne5 c5 37. Nxf3 b5 38. h3 Re2 39. Nd2 a5 40. Kc2 a4 41. Kd1 Re6
42. Bf4 Kg6 43. Be3 Re5 44. Kc2 h5 45. Nf3 Rd5 46. Ne1 hxg4 47. hxg4 c4 48. Kc3
f5 49. Ng2 Rd3+ 50. Kb4 $16 fxg4 $2 (50… Kf7) 51. Nf4+ Kf5 52. Nxd3 cxd3 53.
Kc3 Ke4 54. Bc5 Kd5 55. Be7 Ke4 56. Kd2 Kf3 57. Bh4 Ke4 58. a3 Kd4 59. Bg5 Kc4
60. Bf6 Kb3 61. Be7 Kc4 62. Ke3 Kc3 63. Bf8 b4 64. Bxb4+ Kc2 65. Bd2 Kb3 66.
Kxd3 Kxa3 67. Kc2 {It is mate in 11.} 1-0
[/pgn]