London Chess Classic: Boris Becker v. Nigel Short – exhibition game + annotation

This game featured tennis legend Boris Becker (White) against chess legend Nigel Short (Black), in a rather brief, crowd-pleasing chess exhibition match at the London Chess Classic, 2011. Boris is an enthusiastic Chess amateur and, a few years ago, played a similar friendly game against Gary Kasparov. In this game, we see Nigel play 3. …f5!?, referred to as either the Schliemann Defence or Jaenisch Gambit. This variation is accredited to Carl Jaenisch, although also named after Adolf Schliemann. It’s a sharp line in which Black gains accelerated piece development, and an early kingside attack – frequently sacrificing one or two pawns. This game was over rather quickly but, if Nigel attends Wimbledon, perhas we’ll see the return? Best of 3 sets? Nigel with a tennis racquet? Is the Caro-Kann defence a forehand or backhand shot? Only time will tell ….