My opponent dropped a pawn in the early middlegame, later blundered an exchange and eventually resigned.
This afternoon I was on the receiving end of another unmerited gift.
Spanton (167) - Ian Deswarte (166)
Sicilian Moscow
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7
This is one of those lines where I internally wince when the opponent plays it, and yet my record against it is pretty good: +8=5-4 (62%).
4.c4!?
This does poorly in ChessBase's 2018 Mega database - White scores just 38 percent - but it has been played by some strong players, including Kavalek and Kuzmin.
The idea, I believe, is to be ready to give up the bishop-pair but to get a Maroczy Bind in return.
White's most-popular move is 4.d4, but then Black can play 4...Nf6 before capturing on d4, the main line running 5.Nc3 cxd4 6.Qxd4, when 6...a6 is usually met by 7.Bxd7+ Bxd7. Black gains the bishop-pair without accepting a Maroczy Bind. But the whole line is controversial; after the continuation 8.Bg5, White scores 65 percent.
4...g6 5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 Bg7 7.Nc3 a6 8.Bxd7+ Bxd7
So we have a game of Black's bishops versus White's space advantage.
9.Be3 Nf6 10.f3
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| Has Black a move that immediately breaks the bind? |
****
****
****
****
****
****
****
****
The answer is: No.
ID played 10...b5? but after 11.cxb5 axb5 12.Ndxb5 Qa5 13.Nd4 he had inadequate compensation for the pawn. True, Black has the bishop-pair and Benko-style pressure against White's queenside, but White is very solid and his two passers did tell in the end (1-0, 53 moves).
Much better was 10...Rc8, putting strong pressure on White's impressive-looking but somewhat fragile structure. Stockfish9 reckons the position is roughly equal, while Komodo9 prefers Black.
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