Shirazi ! Bar Room Brawler

Many of you may have seen the film Searching For Bobby Fischer. In one scene, Laurence Fishburne says " Shirazi ! You come to hustle me? You come to hustle the hustler? " In truth, Kamran Shirazi is an IM with a wild streak. He plays the most aggressive ( and speculative) chess you could ever hope to see. It provides many entertaining games. Here is one of his entertaining games. From move two, he leaves theory and makes a real fight of it.

Unfortunately, I think he has the shortest loss in a U.S. Open too.
1. e4 c5 2. b4 cb4 3. a3 d5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. axb4 Qe5+ Resigns

Win some, lose some, but always entertain. 🙂

Originally posted by paulbuchmanfromfics
Many of you may have seen the film Searching For Bobby Fischer. In one scene, Laurence Fishburne says " Shirazi ! You come to hustle me? You come to hustle the hustler? " In truth, Kamran Shirazi is an IM with a wild streak. He plays the most aggressive ( and speculative) chess you could ever hope to see. It provides many entertaining games ...[text shortened]... xd5 Qxd5 5. axb4 Qe5+ Resigns

Win some, lose some, but always entertain. 🙂

You're right, Shirazi is one of the most amazing players around. He comes out with moves that hardly anyone else would think of, let alone play. But as you also say, some of them are pretty awful, which is probably why he's never advanced beyond average IM level. I believe his main game is backgammon, in which apparently he plays for pretty high stakes in US tournaments.

As far as the above game is concerned, Shirazi's idea against the King's Gambit (2...f5? and 3...e4?) is objectively pretty awful and should almost lead to a forced loss. Indeed it would have done had white played 8.dxe4 first and then (after 8...dxe4) 9.g4 when the position is virtually resignable for black. Instead white reckoned without the resources 9...h5! and 11...Nd7!! (the latter move particularly redolent of the brilliance Shirazi is capable of). Black then achieved a pretty venomous attack for the piece, which Shirazi handles extremely impressively. White probably does well to survive into a lost endgame.

However, it should be noted that Shirazi must have misplayed the endgame, since right at the end white missed the amazing drawing opportunity 41.Rxb6!! (Incidentally, this incredible resource was pointed out years later by an internet blogger!)

Originally posted by paulbuchmanfromfics
Unfortunately, I think he has the shortest loss in a U.S. Open too.
1. e4 c5 2. b4 cb4 3. a3 d5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. axb4 Qe5+ Resigns

Win some, lose some, but always entertain. 🙂

This game is IM Shirazi-IM Peters from the 1984 U. S. Championship. And yes, it is the shortest game in U. S. Championship history. He scored only a 1/2 point in the 17-round tournament (only a 1/2 point more than I would have scored). In a later U. S. Championship, he actually obtained a plus score.