THE Sharjah Chess Club replaced their traditional over-the-board Open with an online invitational, World Stars all-play-all. It was good to see some players involved who are not getting many online invites to the elite events.
The six-player double-round robin was played at a time limit of 10 minutes plus three seconds per move increment.
Final scores: Shak Mamedyarov 7.5; Pentala Harikrishna 6.5; Radoslaw Wojtaszek 6; Rustam Kasimdzhanov 5.5; AR Saleh Salem 3; Bassem Amin 1.5.
Mamedyarov unleashes a 19th-century opening. Objectively 4.Qg4 is a pretty good move, even though it breaks one of the cardinal rules of opening play: don’t bring your queen out too early. The first game with 4.Qg4 on my database was Mieses-Teichmann, London 1895, which continued 4...Bf8 5.Qg3 d6 6.Nge2 Be6 7.Bb5 Nge7 8.f4 a6 9.Ba4 f6 10.d4! when White was doing very well but eventually lost. If 4...Kf8 5.Qf3 looks good, or even 5.Qd1 and job done.
S. Mamedyarov – B. Amin
World Stars Sharjah
Vienna Game
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Qg4 
4…g6 5.Qf3 Nf6 6.Nge2 d6 7.d3!? (Or 7.h3 Be6 8.d3 h6 (8...Nb4 9.Bg5! wins) 9.Nd5 Bxd5 10.exd5 e4! 11.Qf4! (11.dxe4? Ne5 12.Qb3 Nxe4) 11...Ne5 12.0–0 when the computer still favours White, for example 12...Nxc4 13.dxc4 Qe7 14.b4!) 7...Bg4 8.Qg3 Be6 (Better 8...Bxe2 9.Nxe2 Na5) 9.Bg5 h6 10.Qh4! (Pretty much game over already) 
10...Ng4 (Black’s reply loses a piece but 10...hxg5 11.Qxh8+ was hardly appetising) 11.Bxe6 Bxf2+ (11...Qxg5 12.Qxg5 Bxf2+ 13.Kd2 hxg5 14.Bxg4) 12.Qxf2 Nxf2 (12...Qxg5 13.Qxf7+ Kd8 14.Qd7#) 13.Bxd8 Nxh1 White to play and win:
from the Telegraph Chess Column by International Master Malcolm Pein
