OK, the streak only covered eight games, but it was disappointing to lose it the way I did.
Spanton (171) - Andrew Waters (168)
English v Dutch
1.c4 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.d3
This may look unambitious, and is not liked by my main analysis engines Stockfish10 and Komodo9, but it is the most popular move in the position and has been played by Kasparov, Grischuk and Adams.
5...0-0 6.e4 d6 7.Nge2 c6 8.0-0 Na6 9.d4?!
A novelty, it seems, and probably not a good one. It would have been better to have gone with my original thought of 9.h3.
9...e5
The engines reckon Black should exchange knights on e4, getting a (temporarily) backward e pawn but with pressure down the f file.
10.exf5 gxf5
10...Bxf5 was also possible as the isolani Black gets after 11.dxe5 dxe5 is not easy for White to attack and gives Black active play for his pieces.
11.dxe5?!
It was better to maintain the tension, eg by 11.Bg5, as the hanging pawns Black now gets are not weak and have a Nimzowitschean lust to expand.
11...dxe5 12.Bg5 Nc5 13.Qc2
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| AW came up with a somewhat counter-intuitive choice here |
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13...Qd3!?
Normally the player with hanging pawns wants to keep queens on the board as they help his attacking chances, but here exchanging them gets Black's knight to the sixth rank. The question then becomes whether the knight can maintain its position or will be forced to retreat or be exchanged (or, worse, trapped).
Note that 13...Nd3?? would be a blunder due to the pinning reply 14.Rad1.
14.Qxd3 Nxd3 15.b3 Be6 16.Rad1 Rad8 17.Rd2 h6?!
This natural-looking move drives the bishop to a good square. The engines reckon Black should play 17...Nc5, with equal chances.
18.Be3 Ng4?!
A pawn sac that should not work. The engines suggest 18...Nb4 or 18...f4, with an edge for White in either case.
19.Bxa7 f4?
This is definitely a mistake. Best, according to the engines, was 19...e4, with White better after 20.Bb6, 20.f3 (the move I had been planning if Black supported his d3 knight with the e pawn) or 20.Rdd1.
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| White to play and win |
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20.Be4??
White is winning easily after 20.Bb6, eg 20...f3 21.Bxf3! or 20...Rd7 21.Rfd1 f3 22.Rxd3 Rxd3 23.Rxd3.
20...Ndxf2 21.Rxd8 Nh3+ 22.Kg2?
White is still very much in the game after 22.Kh1.
22...Rxd8 23.Rd1 Rxd1?!
The engines reckon Black gets a bigger advantage by keeping rooks on, eg by 23...Ra8 or 23...Rf8.
24.Nxd1 Ng5 25.Ndc3??
The final blunder, losing a piece. Correct was 25.Nec3, avoiding a fork at f3. Black then has maybe a tiny edge.
25...Nf6 (0-1, 50 moves)
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