Lessons From Bad Wörishofen V

IN round five my opponent hit me with a novelty in the following position.

I have just played 9...Nb8-c6

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I have previously faced 10.Qh4?!, when play after 10...h6 should favour Black, although the remarkable 11.Rad1!? complicates matters.

I also knew 10.Qa4 is a possibility, but the game saw 10.Qf4!?, which does not appear in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database.

Over the board I did not know Qf4 was a novelty, but I knew it was at least unusual, and I felt it should probably be refutable.

I was almost certainly wrong about the last point - the move is liked by Stockfish17 and Dragon1.

However, I was working with that assumption, and naturally I wanted to make 10...h6 work.

I assumed retreating the bishop would be wrong, but first I tried to calculate what would happen if Black captured on h6.

After 11.Bxh6 gxh6 12.Qxh6 it seemed to me White had promising play against my king, and indeed that is correct.

What I completely missed is that 11.Bxh6? fails to 11...Nh5!, when the white queen has to leave the kingside, allowing what is now the winning 12...gxh6.

My assumption that 11.Bh4!? loses was also wrong, as 11...g5? 12.Bxg5! hxg5 13.Qxg5+ Kh8 14.Qh6+ Kg8 15.Ng5 etc wins for White.

After 10...h6 White's best is probably 11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.0-0, with what the engines regard as an equal position.

LESSON: when faced with a novelty, or at least an apparent-novelty, to which there is the possibility of a sharp response, success cannot be hoped for without spending the time needed to get basic calculations right.

League Chess

PLAYED on board one (of five) for Battersea against Pimlico 3 in Central London League Division Two last night.

Spanton (1985) - Simon Wilks (2127)

French Defence

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bd3 c5!?

The main move is 5...Bd6, but Stockfish17 and Dragon1 also like the text.

6.0-0!? c4 7.Re1+ Be7 8.Bf1 0-0

Now both sides have castled, how would you assess the position?

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Black has more space on the queenside, but that is easily challengeable in a way that is likely to leave Black with an IQP, albeit not on a semi-open file, and White with a half-open a file. The engines reckon the position is equal.

9.b3!?

Kasparov played 9.Bg5 in a win over Korchnoi at Tilburg (Netherlands) 1991, but the engines prefer the text.

9...cxb3 10.axb3 Nc6 11.c4!?

The main line in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database runs 11.Ne5!? Bf5 12.Nxc6 bxc6, when Dragon1 gives White a slight edge, but Stockfish17 is less convinced.

11...Bg4 12.Be3?

Correct is 12.Bb2, and if, as in the game, 12...Bb4!?, then 13.Re3.

12...Bb4! 13.Nbd2
Duško Pavasovič (2546) - Steve Berger (2435), Chess.com Rapid 1991, went 13.Re2 Bxf3 14.gxf3 Re8, with at least a slight edge for Black, according to the engines (0-1, 56 moves).

The engines suggest 13.Bd2!? Bxf3 14.Qxf3 Nxd4 15.Qd1 Bxd2 16.Nxd2 dxc4, again with at least a slight edge for Black.

13...Bc3

The engines reckon 13...Ne4!? is even stronger.

14.Rc1 Bxd4

The engines prefer maintaining the pressure with 14...Bb4!?

15.Bxd4 Nxd4 16.h3 Nxf3+ 17.Nxf3 Bh5!? 18.g4 Bg6 19.g5 Ne4 20.Qxd5 Qxd5 21.cxd5 Rfd8

Equal, according to the engines

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22.Bd3?

But not anymore.

22...Nxg5 23.Nxg5 Rxd5!

This is much better than 23...Bxd3 24.Rc7.

24.Be4?

After 24.Nxf7 Rxd3 25.Ne5 Rxh3 26.Nxg6 hxg6 White is two pawns down, but Black has 'only' the upper hand, according to the engines.

24...Rxg5+ 25.Bg2 Rb5?!

It was almost certainly better to activate the queen's rook or king.

26.Re3?

Better is the engines' 26.Rc7 Rxb3 27.Ra1!
26...h6 27.Rc7 a5?

For once a passive rook move, 27...Rb8!?, is best.

28.Rxb7 Rxb7 29.Bbx7 Rb8 30.Bd5

The engines prefer 30.Bg2!?

30...Kf8 31.Rc3 Rb4?

Black still has at least the upper hand after 31...Bf5, according to the engines, eg 32.Kg2?! Rd8 33.Bc4 a4! 34.bxa4 Rc8 etc. Better is 32.Rc7!? Be6 33.Bxe6 fxe6, but the engines reckon the rook-and-pawn ending is winning for Black.

32.Rc5 a4!? 33.bxa4 Rxa4 34.Rc7

The engines prefer immediately activating the king with 34.Kg2.

34...Rd4 35.Bg2 Bf5 36.Kh2 g5 37.Ra7 Be6 38.Bf3 Rf4 39.Ra3 Kg7 40.Kg3 Kg6 41.Re3?!

The rook is probably better kept at a distance.

41...h5 42.Be4+ Kg7 43.Bf3?!

And here the engines prefer removing the bishop from the crowded kingside with 43.Bc6.

43...Kh6 44.Kg2?

After 44.Bc6 White probably holds.

Black to play and win

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44...Bxh3+! 45.Kxh3 Rxf3+! 46.Rxf3 g4+ 47.Kg3 gxf3 48.Kxf3

The pawn-ending is a simple win for Black

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48...Kg5 49.Kg3 h4+ 50.Kh3 f6 51.f3 f5 52.Kg2 Kf4 53.Kh3 Kxf3 54.Kxh4 f4 55.Kh3 Ke2 0-1
Pimlico 3 won the match 3-2.
MY BATTERSEA SEASON 2024-5

DATE.....EVENT...........................COL..RATING..OPP'S RATING..SCORE..SEASON PERF

12/9/24..Central London League....W......1933..........1886................1............2286

26/9/24..Central London League....B.......1933..........2112................1............2399

15/10/24.Club Championship.........W......1968..........1578................1............2259*

31/10/24.Central London League...B.......1968..........1867................0...........2061*

19/11/24.London League...............W.......1957..........1991................1............2127*

21/11/24.Central London League...B.......1957..........2035................=............2112*

27/11/24.London League...............W.......1957..........1723................=............2056*

12/12/24.Central London League...B.......1965..........2153................0............2018*

7/1/25.....Club Championship.........B.......1958..........1785................1............2037*

9/1/25.....Central London League...B.......1958..........1851................0............1978

14/1/25....Eastman Cup.................B........1958..........2052................1............2021*

28/1/25....London League..............B........1958..........1766................1............2033*

4/2/25......London League..............B........1980..........1757................1............2043*

6/2/25......Central London League..W.......1980..........1932................0............2006*

11/2/25....Central London League..B........1986..........2178................=............2018*

13/2/25....Central London League.W........1986..........1998................1............2042*

27/2/25....Central London League..B........1986..........1996................0............2015*

13/3/25....Central London League..B........1984..........2286................0............2008*

17/3/25....London League..............W........1984..........1870................0............1980*

3/4/25......Central London League..W.......1985...........2127...............0............1967

*My season's performance is slightly better than this as my win against a 1578 was a 1978 performance, lowering my average despite me winning.

I also scored a default win in a Croydon & District League match.

Correspondence Chess

I PLAY correspondence at the Fide-recognised International Correspondence Chess Federation, mainly for various England teams.

Thanks to the strength of modern engines, most games are drawn, but occasionally one escapes that fate, or has some other particular point of interest.

Spanton (England 2320) - Kenneth Josefsson (Sweden 2005)

North Sea Team Tournament Board Six

English

1.c4 Nf6 2.g3 e5 3.Bg2 c6 4.d4 exd4 5.Qxd4 d5 6.Nf3 dxc4!?

The main line in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database runs 6...Be7 7.cxd5 cxd5 8.0-0 Nc6 9.Qa4, with a slight edge for White, according to Stockfish17 and Dragon1.

How should White proceed?

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7.Qxc4

This is more popular than 7.Qxd8+, and scores 13 percentage points better, albeit Black's score against the text is an excellent 53%.
7...Be7 8.0-0 0-0

With both sides castling early, how would you assess the position?

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White has a small lead in development, and has the only pawn on the two centre files; Black has the endgame advantage of a farside pawn-majority. The engines give White a slight edge.

9.e4 Qa5!? 10.h3!?

A somewhat strange-looking novelty. Anthony Kosten (2510) - Christian Bauer (2420), Reims (France) Rapid 1994), went 10.Nc3 Be6 11.Qe2 Qh5!?, with an equal game, according to Stockfish17, although Dragon1 prefers White (1-0, 51 moves).

10...Na6 11.Nc3 Be6 12.Qe2 Qb4

Now 12...Qh5!?, borrowing a leaf from Kosten-Bauer, may not be so advisable, eg 13.g4 Qc5 14.Be3 Qc4 15.Nd4 Qxe2 16.Ncxe2 Bc4 17.Rac1 Bxe2 18.Nxe2 with the bishop-pair and active play for White.

13.a3 Qc4 14.Qc2 Rfd8 15.Be3 Bc5 16.Rfe1 Bxe3 17.Rxe3 Nc7 18.Rae1 h6!? 19.Nh4 Qc5 20.f4 g5!? 21.b4 Qe7 22.Nf3 a5 23.f5!?

How should Black react to this thrust?

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23...Bd7

KJ said afterwards 23...axb4!? may be better, although 24.fxe6 bxc3 25.exf7+ Kxf7 26.Qxc3 leaves the black king  rather exposed.

24.Qb2 axb4 25.axb4 b5 26.Nh2 Qe5!? 27.Nf3!?

How should Black proceed?

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27...Qe7

After 27...Qxg3?!, which for a long time is Dragon1's top choice, 28.Nd1!? looks very strong - the black king's knight is hanging, and the queen is short of good squares.

28.R3e2 Be8!? 29.e5 Ndf5 30.Nxd5 Nxd5 31.f6!? Qxb4

This time Black is more-or-less forced to accept the pawn sacrifice.

32.Qc2 Nc7 33.Nxg5! Qd4+

If 33...hxg5? then 34.Qf5, eg 34...Ne6 35.Be4 Qc5+ 36.Kh2 Nf8 37.Qxg5+ Ng6 38.h4 etc.

34.Kh2 Qd3

Again, capturing the knight is met by Qf5.

35.Qc1 Qg6 36.Ne4 Rd3

What should White play?

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37.Nc5!?

The engines prefer 37.Nf2, but the text is also good.

37...Rda3

Or 37...Qxg3+ 38.Kh1, when Black has no good answer to 39.Qxh6.

38.Qf4 Nd5 39.Qf2 b4 40.Be4 Qh5 41.Bd3 R8a5 42.h4 Rxd3!?

Sacrificing the exchange to relieve pressure on Black's kingside. The engines prefer 42...Qg4, but after 43.Re4 Qg6 44.Rd4! they reckon Black will be forced to give up the exchange anyway, eg 44...Qh5 45.Re2! Rxc5 costs Black the queen after 46.g4.

43.Nxd3 Bd7 44.g4!? Qg6

Or 44...Bxg4 45.Qg3 Qg6 46.e6! Bxe6 47.Qxg6+ fxg6 48.Rxe6.

45.Nf4 Nxf4 46.Qxf4 Be6 47.Qxb4 Ra8 48.Qe4 Qxe4 49.Rxe4

Black is the exchange and a pawn down

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49...Kh7 50.h5 c5 51.Rc1 Ra5 52.Kg3 c4 53.Kf4 Rc5 54.Rc3 1-0

Not for the first time with a correspondence game, I have been unable to pinpoint the moment the game left the drawing margin - nor, for that matter, can I mark any of the loser's moves as definite errors.

Pulling No Punches

HOW many people still buy a chess magazine?

It is many years since I saw a copy in WH Smith, and the opportunity to buy one at a congress diminished as quickly as the presence of bookstalls.

The main culprit is the rise of the internet, which put paid to one of my favourite publications, Inside Chess.

This afternoon the April edition of Chess dropped through my letterbox.

Pride of place goes to former world champion Boris Spassky

So far I have only read Michael Pein's editorial, but for entertainment value it is alone worth the price of admission.

His two bugbears this month are Fide's Fair Play Commission - compared unfavourably with the KGB - and cheating at correspondence chess.

You might think the latter is impossible, bearing in mind all serious governing bodies allow the use of engines. 

Indeed, one of the first questions asked of newly crowned world champions at the Fide-recognised International Correspondence Chess Federation is which engines they have, and how they use them (answers are normally somewhat uninformative).

However, it seems I am rather naive ...

Lessons From Bad Wörishofen IV

MY round-four game reached the following position after White's ninth move.

There are 1,142 examples of this setup in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database

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The game continued with the move that occurs in 651 of the Mega25 games, 9...0-0-0?!

The list of well-known names who have played this is impressive, including Alexander Alekhine, Rudolf Spielmann, Lev Psakhis, Nigel Short and Wesley So.

But the move reminds me of correspondence player Charles Warburton's comment in My Chess Adventures that queenside castling is "probably the most dangerous move in chess."

Certainly the engines strongly dislike castling long in the diagram, whereas after castling short they reckon Black is close to having equalised.

LESSON: queenside castling is often the more-exciting choice in chess, but it is usually double-edged, especially for Black.

Footnote 1: My Chess Adventures is an entertaining read. If you see a secondhand copy for a reasonable price, it is well worth getting - the sole one I could find at Amazon is on offer at £71.87.

Footnote 2: I have had the position after 9...0-0-0?! five times with white, scoring +2=1-2. That is hardly setting the world on fire, but in those five games my average rating was 1875, and I performed to an average of 1994.

Lessons From Bad Wörishofen III

IN rounds three and eight I faced the same somewhat-unusual variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined.

Both games began 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 Nf6 4.e3!?, reaching what is probably best described as a line from the Normal Position,  or System, of the QGD.

I wrote somewhat-unusual because this position occurs 19.728 times in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database, which means it is far from a rarity

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Black, not surprisingly in view of White's slow fourth move, has quite a free hand as how to continue, but in all 11 games in my praxis I have played 4...c5.

More popular in Mega25 are 4...c6 and 4...Be7, but all three score a respectable 48%, and, as Black in many lines of  the QGD goes to some pains to get in the move ...c5, it seems sensible to play it when the chance is offered.

I was discussing the position with Geoffrey Stern of Luxembourg, and he said that on first facing it he played the most popular move, 4...Be7, but got into a passive position and lost.

Naturally 4...Be7 cannot be blamed for the loss, but all-in-all I feel 4...c5 is perfectly reasonable, and may even be best at club level, where most players are far better at attacking than defending.

What made my BW games truly unusual is that both continued 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bb5+, reaching a position occurring 667 times in Mega25.

What is Black's best response?

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In round three, against a 1719, I played 6...Bd7, which is the commonest continuation in Mega25.

After 7.Bxd7+ I recaptured with the queen's knight, at which point Stockfish17 and Dragon1 reckon White can get an edge with both 7...b3!? and 7....dxc5!?

Instead my opponent met 7...Nbxd7 with 8.0-0, after which the engines agree 8...c4!? is better than the more popular 8...Bd6 and 8...Be7, although the game was drawn.

Three years ago in Brno, the only previous time I have faced 6.Bb5+, Stefan Arndt (2176) - Spanton (1771), went 6...Bd7 7.Bxd7+ Qxd7, which seems at first glance to be asking to be punished by 8.Ne5, but the engines reckon that is well-met by Jonathan Speelman's 8...Qc7, or their suggested novelty of 8...Qe6!?

Instead the Brno game went 8.0-0 Nc6 9.b3 cxd4!? 10.Nxd4 Be7 11.Bb2 0-0, with an isolated queen's pawn position that the engines reckon slightly favours White (but ½–½, 24 moves).

In round eight at Bad Wörishofen I switched to 6...Nc6, meeting 7.0-0 with 7...a6!?, which the engines do not like.

However they are unsure as to what Black should play, fluctuating between 7...Be7, 7...Be6, 7...Bd7, 7...Bd6 and 7...cxd4!?, in each case giving White a slight edge.

So which move is better: 6...Bd7 or 6...Nc6?

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Actually, the question should be, which move is best?, for there is a third option, the rarely played 6...Nbd7!? (43 appearances in Mega25, against 275 for 6...Nc6 and 349 for 6...Bd7).

It scores much better percentagewise, and it is the top choice of the engines.

The main reply is 7.dxc5!?, when the engines like 7...a6!?

After 8.Bxd7+ Bxd7 White can try to hold on to the pawn with 8.b4 a5 9.Qd4, but Black has enough compensation, eg 9...axb4 10.Qxb4 Ra4!? 11.Qxb7 Bxc5, with the bishop-pair and more development.

Second-most popular in Mega25 is 7.0-0, when 7...c4!? is the engines' top suggestion, one line running 8.b3 a6 9.Bxd7+ Bxd7 10.bxc4 dxc4 11.e4 Bb4!?, with the engines preferring Black's queenside majority over White's centre.

A third choice is 7.Nc3, when Black has what seems a pleasant choice between 7...c4!? and 7...a6.

LESSON: there is a lot to think about in the position in the second diagram above, but it seems the slightly counterintuitive 6...Nbd7!? is worth a try. It could easily catch White unprepared, and comes with engine endorsement.

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WAS supposed to play on board one (of four) for Battersea against South Norwood in division three of the Croydon & District League last night, but my scheduled opponent, Paul Dupré (1911), failed to show. Battersea won the match 3.5-0.5.

Lessons From Bad Wörishofen II

MY round-two game featured a battle of structure against the bishop-pair, which is typical of the Rossolimo Variation in the Sicilian

That arises from the moves 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5, and in the game my opponent played the unusual 3...a6!?, strongly inviting the aforementioned battle.

After the further moves 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.d3 d5!? (marginally more popular in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database is 5...d6) 6.0-0 Black continued active play with 6...Bg4.

This position occurs 113 times in Mega25

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As I understand it, White's plan is to keep lines closed, and in particular to fix the central pawn-structure with a long-term view of exploiting the weakness of Black's queenside formation.

Black's plan, again as I understand it, is to remain flexible, looking for ways to exploit the striking power of the bishops.

Stockfish17 and Dragon1 reckon White in the diagram has the upper hand.

The game continued 7.Nbd2 e6 8.Re1 Nf6 9.b3 Be7 10.Bb2 0-0.

How should White continue?

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Two games reach this position in Mega25. A 2337 played 11.h3, which is the engines' top choice, and a 2181 chose 11.Nf1, which is the engines' second choice.

I preferred 11.c4?!, which in this specific position may be a mistake.

Often the move c4 is good in this structure as it helps fix the centre, but here what may be of more importance is that it takes the c4 square away from a white knight, which would be excellently placed on c4 in the event of Black grabbing space in the centre with ...d4.

The game saw 11...Nd7, which may be better than immediately pushing on.

The engines reckon White should reply 12.cxd5!? cxd5 13.exd5 exd5 14.d4, which dissolves the doubled pawns and opens lines, but to a certain extent fixes the centre, giving equal chances, according to the engines.

Instead the game continued 12.Qc2?! d4!, which closes the centre but gains space, and, as Black correctly reasons, it will be a relatively simple matter to open lines by pushing the f7 pawn.

After 13.e5 Qc7 14.h3 Bh5 15.Qd1?! (the engines suggest 15.Re4) Rae8 16.Qe2 Black was ready to play 16...f6.

How should White respond?

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The game went 17.g4 Bf7!? (17...Bg6 may be stronger) 18.Rad1 fxe5 19.Nxe5 Nxe5 20.Qxe5 Bd6 21.Qe2 Bg6, after which Black's active bishops, extra space in the centre and safer king give an advantage, although not as big a one as would be the case if the light-square bishop had gone straight to g6.

The engines reckon a slightly better approach from the diagram is 17.exf6 Rxf6 18.Rf1, but again lines have been opened, and Black's advantages in the centre and on the kingside massively outweigh White's potential on the queenside.

LESSON: imbalanced positions, such as the one in the first diagram, put a premium on understanding one's strengths, and playing to them, while understanding the opponent's weaknesses, and playing against them.

Lessons From Bad Wörishofen

MY round-one game featured a dilemma often facing Black in the London System.

White has just played 9.Nf3-e5!? as preparation for castling short (avoiding the reply ...Bxg3)

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Black's dilemma lies in deciding what to do about the white knight that has crossed the dividing line and is well-placed to menace the black king's position.

If Black does nothing immediately, White can reinforce the knight by 10.Ndf3, or by10.f4 with possibly Ndf3 to come.

I chose to nip these threats in the bud by 9...Bxe5?!, a move that is strongly disliked by Stockfish17 and Dragon1.

After 10.dxe5 Nd7 my opponent played 11.Nf3, the game continuing 11...f6 12.exf6 Nxf6 13.0-0 Qe7 14.Ne5 Nxe5 15.Bxe5, when White has the bishop-pair, and Black is left with a bad bishop.

Nevertheless, Black has more space and is only slightly worse, according to the engines.

However, after 10...Nd7 the strongest players have tended to prefer 11.f4, and this is also the choice of the engines.

If then, as in the game, 11...f6, White has 12.Qh5, when 12...f5 13.Bh4 gives White the upper hand, according to the engines.

Seemingly better is the immediate 11...f5, when the engines agree White has the upper hand, but differ on how to exploit it, Stockfish17 suggesting 12.Nf3 or 12.Qh5, Dragon1 12.exf6.

Going back to the diagram, it is clear the engines simply do not like capturing on e5.

Instead they suggest 9...Bb7, which is also the most popular continuation in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database.

White usually responds with 10.f4, but the engines reckon 10...Ne7!? gives Black at least equality.

Their idea is that after 11.Qf3, which is easily the commonest continuation, 11...Nf5 is good.

Alexei Shirov is among those who have tried 12.Bxf5?! exf5 13.Bh4, but the engines reckon it gives Black at least the upper hand after 13...cxd4!? (this seems to be a novelty), eg 14.exd4 Qe8!?

Probably better is 12.Bf2, but then 12...Be7!? clears the way for ...Nd6 and ...Nfe4.

White could instead give up any idea of castling long by playing 11.0-0, but then both 11...Ne4 and the commoner 11...Nf5 seem to give White a fine game.

LESSON: there is no need for panic stations just because a white knight has landed on e5.

Summing Up Bad Wörishofen

MY score in the seniors of +4=2-3 gained exactly 11 Fide elo.

Farewell gift, capturing a happy moment before the mistakes started coming