Includes quotes from Robert Bryne in his February 18th 1986 article for the New York Times, available on the website archive

This article was also published in the ECF Newsletter for February 2023

At the start of 1986, English rising star Nigel Short landed in the Netherlands for the Hoogovens Wijk aan Zee Tournament. The event is traditionally the first major event of the calendar and has the potential to produce explosive attacking games as players look to start the season by adding their names to the illustrious list of previous winners.  

The tournament has a fascinating origin story. Starting in Beverwijk a year before World War One broke out, ‘The Wimbledon of Chess’ gradually expanded, becoming an international tournament in 1945 before moving from Beverwijk to Wijk aan Zee in 1968. This move coincided with the beginning of the Soviet stronghold of the event. From 1964 to 1973, nine out of the ten winners came from the Soviet Union, a streak only broken by Lajos Portisch’s victory in 1972. England had to wait until 1982 for its first winner of the competition through the heroic performances of John Nunn, who shared the first-place prize with Yuri Balashov.

In recent times English representation in the master’s section has been limited to only one since 2016, coming in the form of Michael Adams’ 10th-place finish. However, those old enough will remember a 21-year-old, spectacle-wearing talent by the name of Nigel Short. Born in 1965, Short rose to fame in the world of English chess after defeating Victor Korchnoi at the age of 10 - he went on to become a grandmaster at 19 and win the British Championship in the same year.

'It was the trapper who was horribly trapped’

Our protagonist started off the event at a blistering pace, shooting to the top of the standings with 3.5/4. One of these wins came against Swedish teenager Ferdinand Hellers.

Hoogovens Wijk aan Zee Round 2

Short, Nigel D (2585) – Hellers, Ferdinand (2435), 1986

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Bc4 Bg7 7.h3!?  

A prophylactic move that has been emulated in notable grandmaster matches but is still a considerable second choice behind 7.0-0, 0-0, 8.Re1 Nc6.

‘Its objective is not a violent mating attack, but a solid, positional grip on the centre. Chances for kingside Attack’

 O-O 8.O-O Nc6 9.Be3 Bd7 10.Bb3 Qa5 11.f4 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 Bc6 13.Qd3 Rad8

Short leaves the opening with a typical Sicilian Dragon position. His pieces are aimed towards Hellers’ king whilst the Swede will try to fight back in the centre or on the queenside.

14.Rad1 b5 Heller lunges forward.

15.a3 b4 16.axb4 Qxb4 17.e5 dxe5 18.fxe5 Nd5 19.Ne4?!

 An inaccuracy from Short. The computer claims that Black can now equalise with the obscure 19… Bh6!, activating the bishop on a more promising diagonal and taking an iron grip on the dark squares.

‘It was at this juncture where Hellers tries his ill-fated trap with…’

 19… Nf4?

20.Rxf4 Bxe5 21.Bxe5 Short sacrifices his queen, unfazed by his knight hanging on e4.

 Rxd3 22.Rxd3 Qe1+ 23.Rf1

A move that must have been missed after 19… Nf4 was played. The point is that the white knight stands untouchable in the centre of the board. If black carries on with his plan of 23… Qxe4 Short ends the game in a swift and decisive manner with 24.Bxf7! Rxf7 25. Rd8 with an incoming mate on the f8 square.

23… Qa5 A humble retreat. Short has more than enough compensation for the queen with the final push towards Black’s king beginning imminently.

 24.Bc3 Qb6+ 25.Bd4 Qa5 26.Nc3

‘When Short consolidated his material advantage of rook, bishop and knight for queen and pawn with 26 N-B3, the game was as good as over.’

26 …e5 27.Be3 Kg7 28.Rd6 Qc7 29.Rdf6 Be8 30.Ne4 1-0

‘After 30 N-K4 there is nothing for black to do against the looming 31 N-Q6 which both wins more material and starts a winning attack. Hellers gave up.’

Along with 30. Nd6 there is also a winning threat of Bc5 - missed by Bryne in his analysis.

The burst of form continued into his next match with Hans Ree, where he scored a dominant victory with black in the Falkbeer Countergambit.

1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 c6 4. dxc6 Nxc6…

At the midpoint of the tournament, Short was leading with five points from a possible 6. To put his dominance into perspective, only one player in the event achieved more than four wins, Short had hit this after six rounds. A remarkable showing for someone so young.

But, as standard for top-level tournaments, his winning streak slowed down as he was forced to play more solidly and take less risk. He drew all four games between rounds 7 and 10 all by defending unpleasant but equal positions through the middlegame but was looking to end the run in round 11 against Nick de Firmian.

Hoogovens Wijk aan Zee Round 11

de Firmian, Nick (2520) – Short, Nigel D (2585), 1986

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.g3 c5 5.Nf3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 b6 (Diagram 6)

de Firmian entered this match on the back of three straight losses and without a win since the second round. His lack of form combined with Short’s need for a win may be why the Englishman picked this combative approach in the Nimzo-Indian. b6 is a complete novelty at the highest level.

7.Bg2 Bb7 8.dxc5 bxc5  9.O-O Nc6 10.Be3 d6 11.Bf4 Ke7 12.Rb1 Rb8 13.Qa4 Qc7 14.Rfd1 Rhd8

Short once again finds himself defending a worse position in this tournament. On this occasion his opponents’ position looks far more appealing and, on immediate observation, arguably winning. White has managed to use his double-isolated c pawns to his advantage by using the open files around them to place long-distance pressure on black’s army.

15.Ng5?

A logical attempt to open the bishop’s diagonal, but an attempt that the computer is highly sceptical of. Apparently, 15. Ne1! is the way forward with the idea to head to d3 in the future. The line, 15.Ne1 Rbc8 16. Nd3 is suggested, creating the looming threat of Nxc5.

15… h6 16.Ne4 Nxe4 17.Bxe4 Na5 18.Bxb7 Rxb7 19.Rxb7 Nxb7 20.Qxa7 Rd7

De Firmian chooses to trade two minor pieces and a rook, relieving most of the pressure but winning the a7 pawn. Short’s position still seems miserable, he is all but fully confined to the sixth rank and at the mercy of his point-hungry opponent.

 21.Qa4 Nd8 22.Rd2?

Another strange decision from de Firmian. To be fair to him, the way forward is not clear in the slightest but 22.Rd2 seems to be another move without any clear reason behind it, a common feature of his games during the tournament.

22… Qc6

The rush to consolidate begins.

 23.Qc2 f5 24.f3 Nf7 25.h4 g5! 26.hxg5 hxg5 27.Be3 Kf6

By now it’s clear de Firmian has completely lost control of this game as Short snatches back the initiative with a decisive counterattack.

28.Rd1 Ra7 29.g4 f4 30.Bf2 Qa4 31.Qd3 Qxa2 32.e3?? fxe3?

It’s safe to say both players may have been in time trouble at this point as 32… Ne5 33.Qxd6 fxe3 was overlooked. Black still remains in complete control with the defence around the white king about to be completely destroyed.

33.Bxe3 Ne5 34.Qxd6 Nxf3+ 35.Kf1 Rf7 36.Qxc5 Kg6 37.Bf2 Nh2+ 38.Kg1 Nxg4 39.Bg3 Qe2 40.Re1 Qf3 41.Bh2 Nf2!

Weaving the final touches to the mating net.

42.Rxe6+ Kh5

0-1  White resigns

De Firmian resigns with 43… Qh1# being unstoppable without a large loss of material.

Round 12 saw Short obliterate the notoriously solid Gennadi Sosonko in 37 moves with the white pieces, securing his victory with a full round to spare. Round 13 was a 30-move draw ending his Wijk aan Zee campaign unbeaten and with a one-and-a-half-point gap against the three players tied for second place.

In conclusion, Short won this tournament with a mix of playstyles showing all the strengths that took him to the World Championship match and made him an iconic figure of world chess. The game against de Firmian may not earn the title of a ‘swindle’ but his ability to fight back from worse positions with timely and aggressive counterplay is something that we can all add to our games.