Lessons From Tegernsee VIII

IN round eight my higher-rated opponent, with white, offered a draw after six innocuous moves.

There were many reasons in favour of me accepting, including: he was higher rated, I was tired, I had black, and I was having a good tournament andso  did not need to chase lost rating points.

But I played on, losing a very interesting game in 57 moves.

I did not, and do not, regret my decision, not least because I travel hundreds of miles to play chess, not to not-play chess.

CONCLUSION; such decisions come down to personal choice. I have no doubt which way my decision will almost certainly go in such cases, but I would suggest it is a good idea to come to the board having decided beforehand what to do if an early draw offer is made.

Central London League

PLAYED on board three (of five) for Battersea against Pimlico Knights in division one last night.

Spanton (1924) - David J Wilson (1987)

Sicilian Nimzowitsch

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 2.e5

More popular in ChessBase's 2024 Mega database is 3.Nc3, but the text is preferred by Stockfish16 and Komodo14.1.

3...Nd5 4.d4

Here Nc3 is much more popular.

4...cxd4 5.c4!? Nc7

This may look less active than 5...Nc6, but the knight is destined for e6.

6.Nxd4 g6 7.Nc3 Bg7 8.Bf4 Nc6 9.Nxc6

Spanton (2051) - Damir Vrban (2130), Hastings 2006-7, went 9.Nf3!? Ne6 10.Bg3 0-0 11.Bd3 Qa5 12.0-0!? Nxe5? (better is 12...d6) 13.Nxe5 Bxe5, when 14.b4! Qc7 15.Nd5 Qd6 16.Nxe7+ would have been very good for White. Instead the game saw 14.Nd5 Bxb2 15.Nxe7+ Kg7 16.Bd6? (the simple 16.Rb1 is strong) Be5 17.c5 Bxd6 18.cxd6, when White has reasonable compensation for a pawn (0-1, 31 moves).

9...bxc6 10.Be2 Ne6 11.Bg3 Qa5!?

This may be a novelty. Known are11...Rb8 and 11...0-0.

How should White respond?

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12.f4

Possibly better is sacrificing the pawn with 12.0-0!? Bxe5 13.Bxe5 Qxe5 14.Re1, although the engines give Black a slight edge.

12...0-0 13.Qa4

Again it was possible to sacrifice. The engines reckon 13.0-0!? Qb6+ 14.Kh1 Qxb2 15.Rf3! is completely equal.

13...Qb6 14.b4?

Too loosening. After 14.Qb3 Qxb3 15.axb3 Nd4 16.Bd1 White is embarrassed, but still in the game.

14...Qd4

This wins two pawns.

15.Qc2 Nxf4 16.Bxf4 Qxf4 17.Rd1 Qxe5 18.Ne4 d5 19.Ng3 Qc3+!?

Getting queens off the board is a well-known recipe for greatly reducing the chances of an accident.

20.Qxc3 Bxc3+ 21.Kf2 Bxb4 22.cxd5 cxd5 23.Rxd5 Be6 (0-1, 28 moves).

Battersea defaulted on board five, losing the match 1-4.

MY BATTERSEA SEASON 2023-4

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

24/10/23 London League               B      1870         2102                   =            2102

26/10/23 Central London League  W     1870         2118                    =            2110

21/11/23 Eastman Cup                  W     1882         2118                    =            2113

14/12/23 Central London League  B      1882         2152                    0            2023

10/1/24   London League               B      1884         2130                    0           1964

11/1/24   Central London League   B      1884        2278                    1            2083

25/1/24   Central London League  W      1884        2205                    =            2100

30/1/24   Club Championship         B      1884        1809                    1            2114

1/2/24     Central London League  W      1916        2072                    0            2065

7/2/24     London League               B       1916        2298                    0            2048

8/2/24     Central London League  B       1916        1960                    0            2004

15/2/24   Central London League  B       1916        1951                    =            1999

29/2/24   Central London League  B       1916        2014                    0            1970

5/3/24     Club Championship        W      1910        1990                    1            2000

2/4/24     Club Championship        B       1924        1927                    0            1968

4/4/24     Central London League  B       1924        2123                    =            1978

16/4/24   London League               B       1924        2393                    0            1979

18/4/24   Central London League  B       1924        2329                    0            1976

23/4/24   London League               B       1924        2118                    =            1984

25/4/24   Central London League  W      1924        1997                    0            1964

Lessons From Tegernsee VII

THE following position arose in my round-seven game in which I had white against a 2068.

Black has just castled - how would you assess the position?

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It arose from a Veresov, and is fairly typical of that opening in that Black has pressure on the queenside, while White seems well-placed in the centre and on the kingside.

Indeed, I felt I had promising chances against Black's king, not least thanks to Black having played ...h6.

Accordingly, having moved the white king to the corner, I continued 14.Rg1?!, but that is disliked by Stockfish16 and Komodo14.1.

They reckon Black's queenside attack is coming first, and so Stockfish16 suggests 14.Nd1, meeting 14...c5 with 15.c3.

Komodo14.1 is, if anything, even more defensive with its recommendation of 14.Rac1!?

I discussed the position later with someone who gave up the Veresov in favour of the Jobava-Prié (3.Bf4 instead of 3.Bg5).

He reckoned a main reason he gave up the former was because of the type of position I got, he having learnt by bitter experience that such positions tend to favour Black.

CONCLUSION: visually it is still not obvious to me that Black has a slight edge in the diagram, but such is the engines' verdict. Opposite-flank play is rarely easy to judge 100% correctly, but experience seems to show that in the Veresov, at least, Black is often ahead of White in terms of making an attack count.

London League

PLAYED on board six (of eight) for Battersea against Richmond & Twickenham in division one last night.

Liam Varnam (2118) - Spanton (1924)

Spanish Berlin/Open

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 a6!?

There are 437 examples of this move in ChessBase's 2024 Mega database, but 10,760 of 5...Nd6.

6.Ba4

The game has transposed from the Berlin Variation of the Spanish to the Open, with 12,915 examples in Mega24 of the continuation 6...b5

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6...exd4!?

I believe this pawn-grab is better than its reputation, especially if White cannot remember the theory (unfortunately my opponent could).

7.Re1 d5 8.Nxd4 Bd6!?

Stockfish16 and Komodo14.1 agree this is best.

9.Nxc6 Bxh2+ 10.Kh1!

Black has a draw by repetition after 10.Kxh2 Qh4+ 11.Kg1 Qxf2+ 12.Kh1 (or 12.Kh2) Qh4+ etc, but can also consider playing on with 12...0-0!?, while 10.Kf1?! Qh4 almost certainly favours Black.

10...Qh4

White has to find, or more likely recall, two only-moves

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11.Rxe4+! dxe4 12.Qd8+! Qxd8 13.Nxd8+ Kxd8 14.Kxh2

Now the smoke has cleared, how would you assess the position?

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Black has rook and two pawns for bishop and knight - an approximate material balance. But White also has the bishop-pair and the safer king, and there is only one open file for rooks to operate on. Stockfish16 gives White the upper hand; Komodo14.1 reckon White has 'only' a slight edge. Nevertheless a few modern grandmasters have been willing to uphold the black cause.

14...Be6 15.c3!?

Preserving the bishop-pair, and covering the d1 square. The main move in Mega24 is 15.Be3 (narrowly ahead of 15.Nc3), the engines assessing 15...b5 16.Bb3 Bxb3 17.axb3 as increasing White's advantage.

15...Ke7

This is the commonest move in Mega24, but the engines prefer 15...f5!? (or 15...Kc8!?), when Tibor Tolnai (2514) - Zoltán Varga (2530), Budapest 2000, continued 16.Bg5+!? Kc8 17.Nd2 h6 18.Be3 Rg8 19.g3 g5 20.f4?! exf3 21.Nxf3 Bd5, at which point a draw was agreed. The engines reckon White would have been at least slightly better after 20.g4!? f4 21.Bd4.

16.Be3 f5 17.Nd2 h6 18.f3 exf3 19.Nxf3 g5 20.Bc5+ Kf7 21.Nd4!?

The engines reckon this is an improvement over the known 21.Ne5.

21...b5 22.Bc2 Rhd8 23.Re1 Bxa2!?

Desperation, but the engines' 23...Re8!? loses to 24.Nxe6 Rxe6 25.Bb3.

24.Re7+ Kf6 25.Bxf5?

LV said afterwards he realised his mistake as soon as he let go of the bishop.

25...Rxd4! 26.cxd4 Kxf5 27.Rxc7

How would you assess this ending?

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Black's extra pawn and more-active king give the upper hand, according to the engines, but it should be remembered that, in my experience at least, engines can have trouble evaluating positions with opposite-coloured bishops.

27...Re8 28.Re7?!

The engines reckon the position is more difficult for White with rooks off. Instead they suggest 28.b4, restraining Black's queenside majority.

28...Rxe7 29.Bxe7 Kxe4?!

Much better, according to the engines, is getting on with it on the queenside with 29...a5.

30.Bf8?!

The engines prefer 30.b4, which Stockfish16 reckons gives equality, but Komodo14.1 assesses as winning for Black.

30...h5

Black is better after this, according to the engines, but they reckon even stronger is 30...a5!?

31.Be7

The engines still want to prevent ...a5, but this time with 31...Bb4!?

31...g4

Again they prefer pushing the a pawn.

32.Bc5?!

The engines suggest 32.b4 or 32.Bd8.

32...a5 33.Kg3 b4?

Winning, according to the engines, are 33...Kd3, 33...Bd5 and 33...a4.

34.Kh4?

White holds with 34.Bb6.

34...Kf4?

Several moves win, including 34...Bd5 and 34...Kd3.

The game finished:

35.Bb6 a4 36.Ba5 Bd5 37.g3+ Ke4 38.Bxb4 Kxd4 39.Kxh5 Bf3 ½–½
Richmond & Twickenham won the match 7.5-0.5.

MY BATTERSEA SEASON 2023-4

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

24/10/23 London League               B      1870         2102                   =            2102

26/10/23 Central London League  W     1870         2118                    =            2110

21/11/23 Eastman Cup                  W     1882         2118                    =            2113

14/12/23 Central London League  B      1882         2152                    0            2023

10/1/24   London League               B      1884         2130                    0           1964

11/1/24   Central London League   B      1884        2278                    1            2083

25/1/24   Central London League  W      1884        2205                    =            2100

30/1/24   Club Championship         B      1884        1809                    1            2114

1/2/24     Central London League  W      1916        2072                    0            2065

7/2/24     London League               B       1916        2298                    0            2048

8/2/24     Central London League  B       1916        1960                    0            2004

15/2/24   Central London League  B       1916        1951                    =            1999

29/2/24   Central London League  B       1916        2014                    0            1970

5/3/24     Club Championship        W      1910        1990                    1            2000

2/4/24     Club Championship        B       1924        1927                    0            1968

4/4/24     Central London League  B       1924        2123                    =            1978

16/4/24   London League               B       1924        2393                    0            1979

18/4/24   Central London League  B       1924        2329                    0            1976

23/4/24   London League               B       1924        2118                    =            1984

Lessons From Tegernsee VI

THE following position arose in my round-six game.

I have just played 25...h4!?

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At first glance 25...h4!? may look strange as, after 26.gxh4, the pawn cannot be recaptured.

Not only that but the game continuation, 26.g4?, threatens to fork Black's queen and bishop.

My 1982-rated opponent presumably thought I had blundered, or at least had been careless.

But it rarely pays to regard the opponent as an idiot, and here White should have realised that since, on the surface, ...h4 was senseless, there had to be something more that he was missing.

Indeed, I met g4 with 26...Bxf4!, and White compounded matters by continuing 27.e4.

However, even after the main variation, 27.exf4 Rxe1+ 28.Rxe1 Rxe1+ 29.Qxe1 Qxd4+, followed by 30...Qxd3, White is the equivalent of almost a rook down, according to Stockfish16 and Komodo14.1 

CONCLUSION: David Bronstein pointed out that (I paraphrase) "losing your objective attitude to a position nearly always means ruining your game," and that is the case whether you treat an opponent with contempt or exaggerated respect.

Lessons From Tegernsee V

IN my round-five game I reached the following position with white against a 2061.

Position after my opponent found the best continuation in a tricky situation, 8...Nf6-g4!

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I saw that after 9.Qxg4!? Black does not lose a piece as he has 9...d5.

Instead our game went 9.Bxf7+ Kxf7 10.Qxg4 Bxe5, when Stockfish16 and Komodo14.1 reckon Black's bishop-pair and central pawn-majority compensate for having a weakened king's position.

The engines reckon 9.Qxg4!? is the stronger option, eg 9...d5 10.Qe2 dxc4 11.f4, claiming a slight edge for White.

Also interesting is 10.Qf3 dxc4 11.Qxc6+ Bd7 12.Qxc4 Bxe5 13.0-0, when Black may not have enough compensation for a pawn.

CONCLUSION: it is easy to let excitement at a 'spectacular' or 'clever' continuation override the fact that a mundane move may be better.

Lessons From Tegernsee IV

IN my round-four game my opponent, rated 2001, was clearly dissatisfied with his position out of the opening.

Here he played 16.d4 and offered a draw

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After the further moves 16...e4 17.Bg2 Re8 18.Bg5 h6 19.Bxf6 Qxf6 20.d5? cxd5 21.Qxd5 he had apparently missed that I had a strong backward-bishop move.

Position after 21...Be6

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White promptly resigned.

If he had thought for a while, he would surely have realised that after 22.Qxb7 Bxb3 23.axb3 the game is far from over.

True, Black is the exchange and a pawn up, but White has assets too, including a protected passed pawn and the only light-square bishop (not to mention being the higher-rated player).

CONCLUSION: it is important to keep a cool head. Many positions have hidden resources, but emotion can get in the way of clear thinking, so it is vital to give oneself time to calm down after encountering an unexpected setback.

Lessons From Tegernsee III

THERE is a well-known equalising combination in chess when Black uses the king's knight to capture a protected pawn on e4.

The point is that when White recaptures with the queen's knight, Black plays ...d5, forking the white knight and a white bishop on c4.

Here is a simple example arising after 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Bc4.

Black's best continuation is the equalising combination that starts with 4...Nxe4!

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There are 8,357 examples of 4...Nxe4! being played in this position in ChessBase's 2024 Mega database.

After 5.Nxe4 d5 Black has equalised, and is at least slightly better if White continues with the most popular move in Mega24, 6.Bxd5?!

Trying to avoid this sequence with 5.Bxf7+?! Kxf7 6.Nxe4 leaves Black with the centre and the bishop-pair after 6...d5 7.Neg5+ Kg8.

Now consider the following position, which arose in my round-three game in the Senioren Cup after I played 8.a4.

There are 8,540 examples of this position from the Philidor in Mega24

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My 2159-rated opponent played 8...Nxe4?

This has has been played by people rated 2200+, but is a mistake, as our game continuation of 9.Rxe4 d5 10.Bxd5 showed.

As a matter of fact even 9.Nxe4?! is good enough for the upper hand, according to Stockfish16 and Komodo14.1, after 9...d5 10.Bxd5 cxd5 11.Nc3, eg 11...e4 12.Nxd5!

CONCLUSION: chess cannot be played on general principles and famous motifs alone - no matter how familiar a position may seem, calculation is required.

Central London League

FACED a junior (born 2009) on board one (of five) for Battersea against HMC in division one last night.

Stanley Badacsonyi (2329) - Spanton (1924)

Jobava-Prié

1.d4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bf4 Bd6 4.Bxd6!?

More popular is 4.e3.

4...cxd6

And here blacks have generally preferred to recapture with the queen.

5.e3 Nc6 6.Nf3 Nf6 7.Bd3 0-0 8.0-0

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

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White has developed one more piece and has the better bishop. But Black has a pawn-majority on the central two files and is about to solve the problem of the bad bishop in a way that menaces White's setup. Stockfish16 gives Black a slight edge; Komodo14.1 reckons Black has the upper hand.

8...e5 9.dxe5!?

This may be a novelty. Known moves are 9.Be2 and 9.Re1?? The engines suggest 9.Nd2.
9...dxe5 10.e4 d4 11.Nd5!?

Perhaps White should have settled for 11.Ne2.

How should Black proceed?

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11...Nxe4!

The engines agree this is best, but also good is 11...Nxd5 12.exd5 Qxd5 as 13.Bxh7+?? fails to 13...Kxh7 14.Ng5+ Kg8 15.Qh5 Bf5.

12.Bxe4 f5 13.Nc3 fxe4 14.Nxe4 Bg4 15.Qd3 Bxf3 16.gxf3 Rf4 17.Qb3+ Kh8 18.Kh1

The engines reckon White should plunge in with 18.Qxb7!?, although after 18...Rc8 they agree Black's development and safer king more than compensate for being a pawn down.

18...Ne7 19.Rg1 Qd5?!

Black probably should not be encouraging an exchange of queens. The engines give 19...Qd7, claiming Black has the upper hand.

20.Nd2?

White should exchange queens.

20...Qxb3?

Black shouldn't! After 20...Qc6 the engines give Black at least the upper hand, eg 21.Rg5 Ng6 22.Rag1 Rc8 with what they reckon is a positionally won game.

21.axb3 Ng6 22.Rg4 a6 23.Rxf4 Nxf4 24.Re1?!

This may look natural but the engines much prefer 24.c4 or 24.Ne4.

What should Black play?

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24...Re8?!

What could be more natural than developing the rook and protecting the attacked pawn? But the move is passive, and what can be thought of as a golden rule in endings is to avoid passive rook moves. That is why the engines give 24...Rc8!, eg 25.Rxe5 h6, after which Black penetrates down the c file, and White's pawn-structure is further damaged.

25.Re4?!

Probably better is immediately activating the knight with 25.Nc4.

25...Kg8

The engines suggest 25...b5.

26.Nc4 d3

Black has a slight edge after 26...Ng6, according to the engines.

27.cxd3 Nxd3 28.Re3 e4!? 29.Kg1 b5 30.Nd6 Re6

The engines reckon Black is a tad better after 30...Rd8.

31.Nxe4 Nxb2 32.Rc3

Threatens 33.Rc8+ Kf7 34.Ng5+ etc.

32...h6 33.Kf1 b4?

The game is completely equal after 33...a5 or 33...Re8, according to the engines.

34.Rc8+ Kh7 35.Ke2

The black knight cannot be saved.

The game finished:

35...Re5 36.Rc2 Rh5 37.Rxb2 Rxh2 38.Ra2 Rh5 39.Rxa6 Rb5 40.f4 g5 41.fxg5 hxg5 42.Rc6 Re5 43.Ke3 1-0

HMC won the match 4-1.

MY BATTERSEA SEASON 2023-4

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

24/10/23 London League               B      1870         2102                   =            2102

26/10/23 Central London League  W     1870         2118                    =            2110

21/11/23 Eastman Cup                  W     1882         2118                    =            2113

14/12/23 Central London League  B      1882         2152                    0            2023

10/1/24   London League               B      1884         2130                    0           1964

11/1/24   Central London League   B      1884        2278                    1            2083

25/1/24   Central London League  W      1884        2205                    =            2100

30/1/24   Club Championship         B      1884        1809                    1            2114

1/2/24     Central London League  W      1916        2072                    0            2065

7/2/24     London League               B       1916        2298                    0            2048

8/2/24     Central London League  B       1916        1960                    0            2004

15/2/24   Central London League  B       1916        1951                    =            1999

29/2/24   Central London League  B       1916        2014                    0            1970

5/3/24     Club Championship        W      1910        1990                    1            2000

2/4/24     Club Championship        B       1924        1927                    0            1968

4/4/24     Central London League  B       1924        2123                    =            1978

16/4/24   London League               B       1924        2393                    0            1979

18/4/24   Central London League  B       1924        2329                    0            1976

Lessons From Tegernsee II

THERE are two types of 'automatic' move in chess.

One comes in the opening, when following theory and/or preparation.

I know there are some players who, even when they have the white pieces, like to spend a minute or two getting themselves into the right mood before starting the game (why they cannot do this before the clock starts, rather than afterwards, I do not understand).

The other kind of 'automatic' move comes when a move is forced, eg a recapture.

But be sure the move really is forced.

James Mason, who was the strongest player in the world for part of the 1880s, according to Chessmetrics, wisely stated: "Never make a good move too soon."

My opponent in round two would have done well to bear that in mind when the following position arose in our game.

I have just captured a pawn on c6

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Almost without pausing my opponent replied 19...Qxe3+?, but after 20.Kd1 he was completely lost.

The a8 rook is hanging, and White threatens 21.Re1 with 22.Re8# to come.

Black should have played 19...Rb8, after which White is well on top, but the game goes on.

CONCLUSION: before playing an 'automatic' move, make sure it really is forced. It might be a mistake, or, as Mason pointed out, even if it is a good move, there might be a better one.