2016 Bangkok Open attracts record field

The Bangkok Open goes from strength to strength, attracting a record field of 320 players. Top seed this year is Franciso Vallejo Pons, with defending champion Nigel Short second seed. The first round had very few upsets (not a suprise given the size of the field), although GM Abhijit Kunte was lucky to escape with a draw against his lower rated opponent.
On interesting pairing was the board 2 match up between GM Nigel Short and WFM Helen Milligan. The official tournament press release did make mention of Short's brain being 'hard-wired differently', although the fact that Helen Milligan holds a PhD in Astro-Physics makes me wonder what effect the hard wiring has. Nonetheless Short proved to be the better player in this game, building up the pressure in the middle game, and then patiently converting his advantage in the endgame.


Short,Nigel - Milligan,Helen [C90]
2016 Bangkok Open (1), 10.04.2016

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. a3 Na5 10. Ba2 Bg4 11. h3 Bh5 12. d3 c5 13. Nbd2 Qc7 14. Nf1 c4 15. Bg5 Rac8 16. Ne3 h6 17. Bxf6 Bxf6 18. Nd5 Qd8 19. a4 Nb7 20. axb5 axb5 21. dxc4 bxc4 22. Qe2 Bxf3 23. Qxf3 Bg5 24. g3 Rc5 25. h4 Be7 26. Bb1 Na5 27. Ra4 Qd7 28. Bc2 Bd8 29. Rd1 Re8 30. Rb4 Rf8 31. Ba4 Qe6 32. Qf5 g6 33. Qxe6 fxe6 34. Nb6 Nc6 35. Bxc6 Rxc6 36. Nxc4 Bc7 37. Kf1 Rd8 38. Ke2 Kf7 39. Ne3 Bb6 40. Rc4 Rdc8 41. Rxd6 Rxc4 42. Nxc4 Bxf2 43. Kxf2 Rxc4 44. Ke3 Ke7 45. Ra6 Rc8 46. Ra7+ Kf6 47. g4 g5 48. hxg5+ Kxg5 49. Rg7+ Kf6 50. Rh7 Kg6 51. Rd7 Rf8 52. b4 Rf4 53. b5 Rxg4 54. b6 Rg1 55. b7 Rb1 56. c4 1-0