Matthew Payne (2182) - Spanton (1954)
Hastings Masters, Round Two
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Nxc6
White's second-most popular choice, behind 5.Be3.
5...Qf6
A well-known intermezzo based on the threat of mate at f2.
6.Qf3!? bxc6!?
The last two moves might need some explaining to anyone not familiar with the Scotch Opening.
As I understand it, White is arguing that doubled f pawns are a price worth paying for exchanging off Black's well-placed queen. In addition, White would get pressure down the half-open g file, and anyway maintains a central space advantage.
Black's most popular reply is, as I played, 6...bxc6!? but there is no consensus about this among top players. Carlsen, for example, has played the text and 6...dxc6, while Kramnik has played the text and 6...Qxf3.
7.Nd2
This was first played as recently as 1995, according to ChessBase's 2019 Mega database, but it has quickly become White's top choice.
The old move, 7.Nc3, still has its adherents, with attacking players such as Morozevich among them.
7...Rb8?!
MP in the post-mortem could not understand the point of this.
Most popular is 7...d6 but I, somewhat unrealistically, hoped to get in ...d5, and did not want to spend a tempo on moving the d pawn forward just one square. I could not see any other useful move for Black, and so played the text as a semi-useful waiting move.
Interestingly, 7...Qxf3 is usually answered by 8.gxf3!?
8.Nb3 Qxf3 9.gxf3 Bb6
The bishop looks aggressively posted here, but retreating along the other diagonal may have been more prudent. I seriously considered 9...Be7, while MP suggested 9...Bd6.
10.Rg1 g6 11.Be3
MP played this to enable quick castling, but the move is not liked by the analysis engines Stockfish10 and Komodo9, who give 11.a4.
11...Bxe3 12.fxe3 Ne7 13.0-0-0 0-0 14.h4
This looks natural, but the engines reckon White is much better after 14.Rg5!?, the idea being to pressure Black's weakened queenside.
14...d6
The move I had been trying to avoid, but it is hard to find a good alternative. 14...d5?!, for example, leaves Black very inflexible on the queenside.
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| Black's forces are confined to three ranks, and White now found an interesting way to use his extra mobility to exploit Black's weaknesses |
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15.e5!?
It takes the engines quite some time to see the force of this move.
15...dxe5?!
This greedy response seems to play into White's hands. The engines prefer 15...Nf5 or 15...Rd8, but in each case with White having the better game.
16.e4
The point of White's sacrifice. Black is in a bind with few prospects for active play.
16...f5?
A rash, and bad, bid for freedom.
I did not like 16...Be6 because of 17.Nc5, when Black will be hard-pressed to defend his numerous pawn weaknesses.
Stockfish10 suggests 16...Re8, but after 17.Nc5 Kf8 18.Rd3 White clearly has more than enough compensation for the pawn.
Komodo9's 16...Kg7 17.Nc5 Re8 is met by 18.Nd7, when White gets his pawn back and Black is still left with weaknesses.
17.Bc4+ Kg7 18.Nc5 fxe4 19.fxe4 Rf4 20.Rd8 Rf8?
Losing more-or-less instantly.
I had to try 20...Rxh4, when 21.Be6?? may even be better for Black after 21...Rb5. But White has several strong continuations, including 21.Rf1 Rf4 22.Rxf4 exf4 23.Re8 Kf6 24.Nd3 with the threat of e5+
21.Rxf8 Kxf8 22.Rf1+ Ke8 23.Bf7+ Kf8 24.Bxg6+ Kg7 25.Rf7+ Kg6 26.Rxe7
White has won his pawn back, and Black has even more weaknesses than earlier.
The game finished:
26...Rb5 27.Nd3 Bb7 28.Rxc7 a5 29.c4 Rb6 30.c5 1-0
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