Jindrich Habada (1761) - Spanton (1923)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nf6 5.e5 Nc6 6.Qh4?!
This move probably deserves a straight question-mark, but there are 74 examples of it being played in ChessBase's 2018 Mega database, and White scores a not-so-dreadful 44 percent.
Black to play and win material |
Felipe de Cresce El Debs (2531) preferred 6...Nd5?!
7.Nxe5 Qa5+ 8.Nc3 Qxe5+ 9.Be2
How would you assess White's compensation? |
Perhaps it is not so surprising that the analysis engine Komodo9 reckons Black's advantage is not quite worth a third of a pawn. Stockfish9, on the other hand, has Black almost two-thirds of a pawn ahead.
9...Bg7 10.Bf4
Vogt (2515) - Markus Schaefer (2270), Bad Woerishofen 1992, saw 10.Bh6 0-0 11.Bxg7 Kxg7 12.0-0-0, with chances for both sides, but it is hard to believe Black is not better (½-½, 53 moves).
Also sensible looking is 10.0-0 0-0 11.Bg5 d6 12.Rfe1, and White went on to win in John Dodgson (2135) - Spanton (2010), Paignton 2008.
10...Qa5 11.0-0 0-0 12.Bh6
Viktor Ianov (2360) - Alexander Vaulin (2510), Policka 1995, saw 12.Bf3 d6 13.Rfe1 Be6, when Black is clearly better, but the game was drawn in 47 moves.
12...d6 13.Rae1 Be6 14.Bd3?! Qh5 (0-1, 31 moves)
So, to get back to my original question, who is getting trapped? I guess the answer has to be White, but there is no doubt White gets some compensation, and practical chances, even if most Whites, I suspect, play 6.Qh4?! without realising it loses a pawn.
In conclusion, then, annotating White's sixth move as "dubious" rather than "bad" may well be right after all.
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