Czech 65+ Round Four

Water-feature in the municipal botanic garden

Vladimír Hadraba (1978) - Spanton (2003)

Sicilian Accelerated Dragon

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nb3!?

7.Nb3!? is sixth-most popular in ChessBase's 2026 Mega database, but scores a higher percentage than the more common moves, including the mainline 7.Bc4

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The move is also liked by Stockfish18 and Dragon1, although they come to marginally prefer 7.Bc4. The idea of the text is to prevent ...d5, while also avoiding an exchange of pieces.

7...0-0 8.Be2 a5 9.a4 d5!?

But it seems Black's thematic move in the Accelerated Dragon is possible anyway, albeit as a sacrifice. More usual are 9...d6 and especially 9...Nb4!?

10.exd5 Nb4

How should White proceed?

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11.0-0!?

Getting on with development, rather than trying to hold on to the pawn. The main line in Mega26 runs 11.Bf3 Bf5 12.Rc1 Rc8 13.0-0, when Xavier Montheard (2220) - Claude Adrian (2335), Clichy (France) 1998, continued 13...Rxc3!? 14.bxc3 Na2 15.c4!? (15.Ra1 Nxc3 and 16...Nfxd5 gives Black good compensation for the exchange, according to the engines) Nxc1 16.Qxc1, with the upper hand for White, according to the engines, although the game was drawn.

11...Nfxd5 12.Nxd5 Nxd5

This is an improvement on Ted van Eck (2033) - Spanton (2017), Oberjoch (Bavaria) 2017, which saw 12...Qxd5? 13.c3 Qxd1 14.Rad1 Nc6, when several moves give White a positionally won game, according to the engines, including 15.Rd5 and 15.Bb6, but not after the game's 15.Nd4?, when 15...Nxd4 16.Bxd4 Be6 more-or-less equalised (0-1, 66 moves).

13.Bd4 Bxd4!?

The most common continuation in Mega26 is 13...e5?!, but 14.Bc5 Re8 15.Bb5 almost certainly favours White.

14.Nxd4

This seems to be a novelty. The engines marginally prefer the known 14.Qxd4.

14...e5 15.Nb5 Bf5  16.Bd3!?

The engines reckon the text or 16.Bg4 is best, but White has to be careful, eg 16.Bf3 e4 17.Be2 Nf4 is good for Black, as 18.Bg4?? loses to 18...Qg5.

16...Bxd3 17.Qxd3 Nb4 18.Qe2 Qf6

Perhaps 18...Qe7 is marginally better.

19.Rad1

VH offered a draw.

How would you assess the position?

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Black has the only pawn on the two centre files, but White has a farside pawn-majority that might prove useful in an ending. The engines reckon chances are equal.

19...Rfd8!?

Wrong rook? The engines are unsure.

20.c3 Nc6

On 20...Nd5, the engines suggest 21.g3!? White can also temporarily sacrifice the exchange with 21.Rxd5, recovering the material after 21...Rxd5 22.Nc7 etc.

21.g3!?

Preventing the possibility of ...Qh4 or ...Qf4 (both moves target a4), as well as ruling out a back-rank mate by Black.

21...Qe7!?

Preparing ...f5 and ...e4, with hopes of transferring the black knight to f3 or d3.

22.Rxd8+ Rxd8 23.Rd1 Kg7 24.Na3!?

While the b5 outpost looks good, the white knight will be more active on c4.

24...f5!?

But this is possibly more loosening than effective.

25.Nc4 e4 26.Kg2 Rd7!?

Hoping to win the open file with ...Qd8.

27.Nb6 Rd8 28.Nc4 Rd7 ½–½

Czech 65+ Round Three

Mausoleum built by the Czechoslovak-Yugoslav League to honour soldiers from what would become Yugoslavia who were killed in WW1

The second of today's double-round games.

Spanton (2003) - Jindřich Papay (1945)

French Winawer

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.Bd2 Bd7!?

Several other continuations are more common, including 5...cxd4 and especially 5...Ne7, but the text has been played by grandmasters.

6.a3!?

The engines agree this is stronger than the more popular moves 6.Qg4 and 6.Nb5.

6...cxd4?!

Black should probably prefer 6...Bxc3.

7.axb4 dxc3 8.Bxc3

Black has ceded the bishop-pair and given White a useful half-open a file, factors which add up to White having a positionally won game, according to Stockfish18 and Dragon1

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8...Ne7 9.Bd3 Ng6 10.Nf3 Nf4!? 11.Bf1!? g5?!

This type of thrust is rarely good, and this position is almost certainly not an exception.

12.Qd2 Rg8 13.h4 h6 14.h5 d4!?

Giving up a pawn, so the king's knight has a retreat square in the event of White playing g3.

15.Bxd4 Bc6!?

The engines agree this active move is the best chance in a bad position.

16.b5!? Be4 17.c4!? Kf8?

The engines reckon Black should play 17...Bxf3!? 18.gxf3 Nd7, or 17...a6, with ...Nd7 to come.

18.Bc5+

Even stronger are 18.Rd1, 18.Qe3 and 18.0-0-0.

18...Kg7 19.Bd6 Nd7?!

Exchanging on f3 is probably better.

20.Qe3 f5?!

And here the engines reckon Black should settle for 20...Bxf3 21.Qxf3 a6!?, despite White having 22.g3.

21.exf6+ Nxf6 22.Be5 Nd3+ 23.Bxd3 Qxd3

How should White proceed?

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24.Qxd3

Even stronger is the engines' 24.Qc5!, when Qe7+ and Rd1 cannot both be met.

24...Bxd3 25.0-0-0 Rgd8

Not 25...Bxc4?? 26.Rd7+.

26.b3 Kf7 27.Bc7!? Rdc8

Not 27...Rd7?? 28.Ne5+.

28.Ne5+ Ke8 29.Rxd3 Rxc7 30.f3!?

Restricting the black knight.

30...Nd7 31.Nxd7 Rxd7 32.Rhd1 Rxd3 33.Rxd3

How would you assess this rook-and-pawn ending?

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White is a pawn up, has the open file, and has fewer pawn-islands, advantages worth more than +4.00, according to the engines.

33...Ke7 34.Kc2 a6!?

This lets White undouble the b pawns, but activating the black rook is the engines' top choice.

35.bxa6 Rxa6 36.Kc3 Rc6 37.b4 Ra6 38.c5 b5 39.Kd4

The engines agree with not taking en passant.

39...Ra4 40.Rb3 Ra1 41.Rd3 Rb1 42.Kc3 Rc1+ 43.Kb2 Rg1

What should White play?

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44.c6?

Impatience, throwing away nearly all of White's advantage. Best is 44.Rd2, but 44.g4 also wins.

44...Rxg2+ 45.Kb3 Rg1 46.c7!?

There is no longer any win, whatever White plays.

46...Rc1 47.Rc3 Rxc3+ 48.Kxc3 Kd7 49.Kd4 Kxc7 50.Ke5!?

Or 50.Kc5 e5!, when 51.Kxb5? loses to 51...e4!, so White has to play 51.Kd5 Kd7 52.Kxe5, but 52...Kd7 draws.

50...Kd7 51.Kf6 Kd6 52.Kg6 Ke5

This draws easily enough, but the engines reckon Black has at least a slight edge after 52...e5!? 53.Kxh6 e4!? 54.Kxg5 (54.fxe4? g4 wins for Black) exf3 55.h6 f2 57.h7 f1=Q, although 58.h8=Q gives White a tablebase draw.

53.Kxh6 Kf6 54.Kh7 Kf7 55.Kh6

Not 55.h6? e5 etc, eg 56.Kh8 e4! 57.fxe4 g4 58.e5 g3 59.e6+ Kxe6 60.Kg8 g2 61.h7 g1=Q 62.Kh8 (hoping for stalemate) Qa7 63.Kg8 Qf7+ 64.Kh8 Qf8#.

55...Kf6 ½–½

Czech 65+ Round Two

Sand sculpture of Mozart, who apparently composed his sixth symphony while visiting Olomouc as an 11-year-old

I faced a Swede in the first of today's two rounds.

Jan Bohlin (1928) - Spanton (2003)

Catalan

1.c4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7

The point of Black's well-known bishop manoeuvre is to misplace White's dark-square bishop, the argument being that the bishop is best-placed on b2, with the white queen's knight going to d2. That being the case, it might be thought White should play 5.Nbd2, but then 5...dxc4, among other moves, is considered fine for Black.

6.Bg2 0-0 7.0-0

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

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Dragon1 gives White a slight edge, presumably based on White's pressure against Black's centre from the pawn on c4 and the fianchettoed bishop, but Stockfish18 is less sure. In ChessBase's 2026 Mega database, White scores 52% from the diagram.

7...c6 8.Qc2 Nbd7 9.Rd1

This is second in popularity to 9.Bf4.

9...b6 10.b3

Again Bf4 is more common, but the text is also popular.

10...Bb7

And this is second in popularity to 10...Ba6.

11.Bf4

But here 11.Nc3 is much more popular, taking advantage of Black not having put pressure on c4.

11...Rc8 12.Nbd2!?

The engines prefer 12.Nc3, although only Dragon1 gives White any advantage. Stockfish18 calls the game completely equal.

12...c5 13.dxc5!?

More prudent is 13.Qb2.

13...Bxc5

White to play and lose

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14.Ne5??

Better are the known-move 14.Qb2 and the engines' suggestion, 14.h3, but in each case the engines award Black the upper hand.

14...Nxe5 15.Bxe5 Ng4 0-1

White can save the bishop, eg with 16.Bc3, but 16...Nxf2 17.Rf1 Ng4+ 18.Kh1 Ne3 is devastating, eg 19.Qb2 Nxg2!? 20.Kxg2 d4+.

Three's A Charm

LATE yesterday Beau Chess passed the three-million hits mark, the total now standing at 3,007,310.

No doubt many of these views are by bots, although it is interesting that my other main blog, 10mm and all that!, which has been running slightly longer, has 'only' 198,377 hits, while Chess Tip Of The Day, which is a feeder blog for the web version of Beau Chess, has 20,254 hits, albeit over a much shorter period of time.

Czech 65+ Round One

Playing hall

Spanton (2003) - Jiří Žítek (1793)

King's Pawn Irregular

1.d4 d6 2.e4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nbd7

ChessBase calls this a Pirc, but to me a Pirc requires the move ...g6

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The position is most commonly reached via the move-order 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nbd7, which is why I am calling it an irregular system within the king's pawn complex, but that does not feel very satisfactory either.

4.f4

The main move in ChessBase's 2026 Mega database is 4.Nf3, when 4...e5 makes the opening a Philidor.

4...e5 5.Nf3 exd4 6.Qxd4

The queen cannot be sensibly challenged on this square, at least in the short run.

6...c5?!

Much more common is 6...c6, when the opening has transposed to a Pribyl, with Stockfish18 and Dragon1 giving White at least a slight edge.

7.Qd2!?

There are five more-popular destinations for the queen in Mega26, albeit in what is an obscure position, but the engines agree either the text or 7.Qd3 is best.

7...Be7!?

Seemingly a novelty, and it may be an improvement on the known moves 7...a6 and 7...Qe7.

8.e5 dxe5 9.fxe5 Ng4

This is almost certainly best, but after ...

10.Qf4

... White has a won game, according to the engines.

10...h5!?

Again this may be the best move, but in a bad position.

11.h3 g5!?

The engines suggest giving up the knight with 11...Ngxe5!?

12.Qe4!?

This seems even stronger than 12.Nxg5 Ngxe5.

12...Nh6 13.Bd3 Nf8

The engines suggest 13...Nb6 or 13...c4!?

14.Be3 g4!? 15.hxg4 Nxg4!?

The engines agree this is best.

16.Bb5+ Bd7 17.0-0-0 a6

Perhaps best is 17...Nxe3 18.Qxe3 Qb6, but 19.Bxd7+ Nxd7 20.Nd5 leaves White the equivalent of more than a rook up, according to the engines.

18.Bxd7+ Nxd7 19.e6 fxe6 20.Qg6+ Kf8 21.Qxe6

The engines point out that the quickest win starts with 21.Rhf1!?

21...Nxe3 22.Rxd7 Qxd7!?

I expected 22...Qe8, but the engines reckon that is marginally worse after 23.Ne5.

23.Qxd7 Rd8 24.Qe6 Ng4 25.Ne5 Nxe5 26.Rf1+ Ke8 27.Qxe5 Rh6

The game finished:

28.Nd5 Rd7 29.Nxe7 Rxe7 30.Qb8+ Kd7 31.Qxb7+ Kd8 32.Rf8+ 1-0

English Update

ENTRIES for the English championships, to be held at Peterborough at the end of October, have been updated. The most popular sections so far are the 50+ and the rapid.

Getting There (Olomouc)

CAUGHT British Airways' 10:20 from Heathrow to Prague, then the Airport Express shuttle to Prague's main rail station, followed by a train to Olomouc, arriving at the venue-hotel at about 18:20 central European time.

Tricky Tube Puzzle

HERE is a carriage serial number from a Northern Line train that makes an interesting Tube Puzzle: 52572.
As usual, each number should be used once, and once only, and must be added, subtracted, multiplied or divided to make a balanced equation.
There is a perfect solution, ie one that uses the digits in the order printed.
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My solution: 5 x 2 (- 5) = 7 - 2

Czeching In

AM making final preparations for flying to Prague tomorrow, from where I will be heading for the Czech 65+ championship, which is being held in Olomouc as part of the CzechTour's summer festival.

There are 102 entries in the 65+ event, which is open to foreigners, of whom there are 42.

The time control is 40 moves in 90 minutes, with 30 minutes to finish, and a 30-second increment throughout, and there are nine mostly-afternoon rounds over eight days.

Olomouc's city walls are well-preserved

Miniatures 46

IN this occasional series I am going through my decisive games of 20 moves or fewer.

J Gorgol (178 BCF) - Spanton (164 BCF)

Islington 1992

Spanish Berlin

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.Qe2!?

This is fourth-most popular in ChessBase's 2026 Mega database, behind 4.Nc3, 4.d3 and especially 4.0-0.

How should Black respond?

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4...Bc5

This is the commonest continuation.

5.c3 Qe7!?

The main move is 5...0-0.

6.d3 a6 7.Ba4 0-0 8.Bg5 d6 9.Nbd2 b5 10.Bb3 Be6?

The game is equal after 10...h6 or 10...Nd8, according to Stockfish18 and Dragon1.

How can White exploit Black's last move?

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11.Bd5!

Not an easy move to spot, as is evidenced by the fact grandmasters have missed its strength. However, it dates back to at least a game of Howard Staunton's in his 1853 match against Tassilo von der Lasa.

11...Bxd5?

Better is von der Lasa's 11...Bd7, but then 12.Nh4 Rab8 13.Nf5 Qd8 (this is better than 13...Bxf5?!, according to the engines) 14.b4 Bb6 15.Qf3 gave Staunton the better game, according to the engines (1-0, 75 moves).

12.exd5 Nd8?

The knight has few prospects here. Better is 12...Nb8.

13.Ne4 c6

There is no good move for Black.

14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.Nh4 Kh8 16.Nf5 Qa7 17.Nxf6 cxd5 18.Qh5 1-0

LESSON: Black's position in the second diagram could easily pass at a glance as a routine one from the Spanish, but closer examination reveals both black knights are awkwardly placed, despite being on 'normal' squares, and two weaknesses can often prove fatal.