It is not often we see Malcolm Pein writing about Dodgy dealings, yet in today’s Daily Telegraph column that is precisely what we find.
Who is Mr Dodgy – and how does he manage to persuade so many top chess players to compete for little more than a picture of him on a horse? Malcolm believes he has picked up the clues to his identity, but can we ever really be sure?
Malcolm Pein on…Dodgy Dealings
The second Mr Dodgy Invitational was staged on chess24.com last week with the self-appointed high lord of Chess Twitter gently bullying some of the world’s leading players to take part. Mr Dodgy is an English chess player, whose witty remarks in the chat during live tournament broadcasts on Chess 24 turned him into a chess Internet personality – a status that was enhanced when his hilarious tweets gained an increasingly wider audience.
True to style, the Internet tournament was billed as the: Prestigious MrDodgy Invitational 2.0 (Bigger Better Harder). David Howell took a break from commentating and defeated Jorden van Foreest, the victor of Wijk aan Zee 7-5, before losing out to Santosh Vidit 5-7 in another tight match.
The tournament was won for the second time by Anish Giri, who overcame Baadur Jobava in the final, after the latter had got the better of Alexander Grischuk. Anish Giri’s Sicilian Najdorf netted him four wins and four losses.
N. Grandelius – A. Giri
Mr Dodgy Invitational 2.0 Chess24
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 b5 8.0–0 Be7 9.Qf3 Qb6 10.Be3 Qb7 11.Qg3 0–0 12.Bh6 Ne8 13.Rfe1 b4 14.Na4 (After 14.Nd5! Black must play Bd8) 14…a5 15.Rad1 Kh8 16.Bg5 Nf6 17.Qh4 Nc6 18.Nxc6 Qxc6 19.Rd3! (The rook swings over and Black is close to lost, he does not have enough defenders) 19…e5 20.Rf3 Rg8 21.Bxf7 Qxa4 (22.Bxf6 Bxf6 23.Rxf6 wins, but White found something better)
Test Your Strength
White to play and win
As there was only a small cash prize at stake as well as a picture of Mr Dodgy on a horse, the players were not taking it totally seriously.
B. Adhiban – D. Navara
Nimzo-Larsen Attack
1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 Nc6 3.c4 Nf6 4.Nf3 e4 5.Nd4 Bc5 6.Nf5 0–0 7.e3 d5 8.cxd5 Nxd5?? (8…Bxf5 or 8..Nb4 are fine)
Test Your Strength
If 9.Nxg7 Bd6 is not so clear, but White forced an immediate win, how?
Highlight the space below this line to reveal the answers.
Answer One: 22.Bg6! 1–0 If 22…h6 23.Bxh6 Nh7 24.Bg5!
Answer Two: 9.Qg4 1–0 If 9…g6 10.Nh6#.
Play Through the Game
