Tuesday, 6 March 2018

Good Wörishofen (part three)

IN round two I misplayed an IQP position as Black, and felt obliged to take a draw against a much lower-rated opponent.
White has just played 18.Na4-c5 and offered a draw in Dietmar Redemann (1778) - Spanton (1901). Could I have reasonably played on?
My main analysis engines (Stockfish9 and Komodo9) agree with my in-game assessment that White has a substantial advantage (0.6 of a pawn, according to S9; 0.86, according to K9).
I thought Black's best try was 18...Qc6, but I rejected it because after 19.Nxe6 Qxc1 20.Rxc1 Rxc1+ 21.Bf1 Rxe6 22.Qxb5, Black's pieces are uncoordinated, he has weak pawns and a back-rank problem, and anyway a queen and a pawn are worth more than two rooks.
The analysis engines disagree, reckoning the position is dead equal after 22...g6 23.Qxd5 Rxe2 24.Kg2 and now 24...Re7 or 24...Re5.
So perhaps I should have played on.
But objectively I should not as, after 18...Qc6, Stockfish and Komodo give 19.e4!, continuing 19...Qb6 20.Nxe6 Rxc1 21.Rxc1 dxe4 22.Bxe4 Qxe6 23.Bxh7+, when Black is simply a pawn down.

No comments:

Post a Comment