Alexei Shirov beat Viktor Laznicka in a 6-game friendly match played in Novy Bor, Czech Republic. After three draws the Latvian grandmaster won games 4 and 5, the latter due to a big blunder by Laznicka. The final game was also drawn.

Alexei Shirov beats Viktor Laznicka 4-2 | Photos © Vladimir Jagr, more here

From August 2nd till 8th the Ajeto restaurant in Novy Bor, a town in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic, was the venue of a friendly match between Czech GM Viktor Laznicka and Latvian GM Alexei Shirov. The two played six classical games with the FIDE time control: 40 moves in 90 minutes followed by 30 minutes to finish the game, with 30 seconds increment per move. Sunday, August 5 was a rest day when Shirov gave a simultaneous exhibition.

The statistics before the match were rather scant: the two had met only twice in a classical game. The first game, in 2006 in Pamplona, went to the more experienced player, while a year later, at the Karlovy Vary tournament, the Czech player managed to even the score with a win. Before the match, Laznicka said about his opponent: 

An attacking player with a well thought-out repertoire. Whenever he sees a chance of attack, he doesn't think twice. You can only wonder whether there has ever been a better dynamic attacker than Alexei in his best years.

Shirov was the pre-match favourite, which he confirmed from the start. In the first three games, which ended in draws, the Latvian already had some chances here and there. In the highly theoretical 4th game he scored the first win:

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In the next game Laznicka was doing quite well, until he blundered terribly:

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And so the match was already decided. The last game, an Anti-Meran, ended in a draw.

With his victory in the match Alexei Shirov won an “Asteroid” glass bowl. A blue Asteroid has already charmed the tennis world last year, at the Abu Dhabi tennis exhibition tournament. There the glass trophy, created by Czech glass producing company Lasvit, went to Rafael Nadal. The same company also had a trophy made for the match, again created by designer Jitka Kamencova-Skuhrava. 

The set of “structural bowls”, glassworks products representing minor planets – asteroids, fragments of space matter – has been formed spontaneously by shaping hot glass without a mould. The whirlwind-like design is meant to evoke the perpetual cycle of dynamic changes of the universe in time and space.

Thanks to Vladimir Jagr, who provided lots of information and the photos

Shirov-Laznicka match 2012 | Final score