Chess

THE ANNUAL Politiken Cup has just finished in Copenhagen, with 162 players taking part in this year's tournament, which ran over 11 rounds from 3 to 14 July.

Big Opens always lead to mass slaughter and Copenhagen was certainly no exception, with all of the top 10 players losing at least once. Going into the last round, Nick de Firmian, an American (who lives in Copenhagen with his wife and small child) and the Dane Sune Berg Hansen led with 8/10. But both were defeated by the ex-Russian Irishman, Alexander Baburin and the aptly named Swede, Tiger Hillarp Persson, for Hillarp Persson and Baburin to emerge as joint winners on 8.5/11.

In their wake came the traditional huge tie with 11 players on 8/11, including, of course, De Firmian and Sune Berg Hansen and four of the seven English players (the others were Dave Coleman, 6, Mark Lyell, Dave Gunter and Arthur Bramald, 5.5 and Luke McShane's father, Rod, who far from disgraced himself on 2.5): Chris Ward , Karl Mah - a magnificent result for him and his final International Master norm, though he still has to get his rating up to 2,400 to obtain the IM title; and Luke McShane who started with a nightmare loss in the first round but then fought back splendidly.

Baburin, who, incidentally, will play in the British Championship in Scarborough in August, is a strong, sensible player with great positional feel and determination. This fairly typical game against Henrik El Kher from Denmark shows him quickly gaining the advantage in his favourite Alekhine Defence, then remorselessly exploiting his centralised pieces; at the end Black will soon win at least a piece.

White: Henrik El Kher

Black: Alexander Baburin

Copenhagen 1999 (Round 4)

All the stranger, then, that Baburin should have lost this shockingly short game four rounds later against an opponent rated 2,335 (just three points more than El Kher) - 10 e4 and 11 d5 attempted to exploit Black's opening, but exploded in Baburin's face.

White: Alexander Baburin

Black: Stefan Schneider

Copenhagen 1999 (round 7)

Queen's Gambit Slav