Nick Faulks (172) - Spanton (171)
King's Gambit Declined
1.e4 e5 2.f4 Bc5 3.Nc3!?
Automatic for many players is 3.Nf3, but the position after the text was reached as White by many of the old masters including Steinitz, Chigorin, Paulsen, Blackburne, Zukertort, Pillsbury and Schlechter.
3...d6
3...Bxg1 4.Rxg1 Qh4+?! 5.g3 Qxh2 looks too greedy. White in ChessBase's 2019 Mega database scores 90% with 6.Rg2.
4.Bc4!?
4.Nf3 would transpose to one of the main lines of the King's Gambit Declined. The text is an aggressive attempt to keep the game on independent tracks. Another interesting try is 4.fxe5!?, a favourite of French grandmaster Christian Bauer.
4...Bxg1
The critical line, but Black can play more calmly with 4...Nf6, reaching a position that occurred three times in the Zukertort - Anderssen match of 1871 (Zukertort, as White, won all three games).
5.Rxg1 Qh4+ 6.Kf1 Bg4?!
This may be a novelty. I rejected the most popular move, 6...Qxf4, because of 7.Qf3 Qxf3 (7...Qxh2?? 8.Qxf7+) 8.gxf3, when White's king is no longer in danger and he has a lead in development and the bishop-pair for his pawn. My main analysis engines, Stockfish10 and Komodo9, like 6...Nf6,
7.Qe1
Retreating the king's bishop or the knight is the wrong idea in this type of position.
7...Qxh2
Exchanging queens slightly favours White, according to the engines.
8.d4?!
It is natural to get on with development and to not want to move a piece for the second time so early, but 8.Nd5! was hard to meet. Black could save the exchange by playing 8...Kd7, but White can reply 9.d4, when the interpolation of Nd5 and ...Kd7 can only help White.
Black has alternatives, including sacing the exchange for two pawns by 8...Na6!? 9.Bxa6 bxa6 10.Nxc7+ Kf8!? (the choice of Stockfish10 and Komodo9) 11.Nxa8 Qxf4+ 12.Qf2 Qxd4, followed by picking up the knight with a murky position.
8...Nc6 9.Bb5?!
On this occasion moving a piece for a second time is almost certainly wrong, but it is hard to come up with a good move for White. Stockfish10 suggests 9.Nd5, but Black is clearly better after 9...0-0-0. Komodo9 likes White's compensation for the pawn after 9.fxe5 dxe5 10.d5 Nd4, but I find it hard not to agree with Stockfish10's assessment that Black is well on top.
9...exd4 10.Nd5 Kd7?
I rejected the very strong 10...0-0-0 because of 11.Bxc6 bxc6 12.Qa5??, somehow missing the winning 12...cxd5.
11.Qa5
Turning the tables - suddenly Black's king is the one in more danger.
11...Rc8 12.Qxa7
 |
| Black to play and save the game |
*****
*****
*****
*****
12...Be2+! 13.Kxe2 Qxg1 14.Qxb7 Qxg2+ 15.Kd1 Qf3+ 16.Kd2 Qf2+
The queen cannot mate by itself, so the try 16...Nge7?! is very risky, eg 17.Nxe7 (this seems better than 17...Nb6?! 18.Ke6) Kxe7 18.Qxc6 Qe3+ 19.Kd1, when the perpetual is no longer on. The resulting position is unclear - the engines at first tend to favour White, but come to rate the chances as equal.
17.Kd1 Qf3+ ½–½
My updated Battersea statistics for 2018-19
Event...Colour...Grade...Opponent's Grade...Result
CLL........B..........167...….........196...............…D
LL...…….B...…...167...………..159...………….D
CLL...…..B...…...167...………..161...………….W
CLL...…..B...…...167...………..190...………….D
LL...…….W...…..167...………..161...….………W
CLL...…..W...…..167...………..148...………….D
CLL...…..W...…..167...………..165...………….W
CLL...…..W...…..167...………..160...………….D
CLL...…..W...…..167...………..159...………….D
LL...…….B...…...167...………..168...………….D
LL...…….W...…..171...………..159...………….W
CLL...…..B...…...171...………..198...……….….L
CLL...…..B...…...171...………..169...…………..L
CLL...…..B...…...171...………..196...…………..L
LL...…….B...…...171...………..182...…………..D
CLL...…..W...…..171...………..189...…………..L
LL...…….B...…...171...………..178...…………..L
CLL...…..B...…...171...………..164...…………..D
LL...…….B...…...171...………..188...………….W
CLL...…..B...…...171...………..200...…………..L
LL...…….B...…...171...………..169...…………..L
CLL...…..W...…..171...………..186...…………..D
CLL...…..B...…...171...………..153...…………..D
LL...……W...…...171...………..188...…………..L
LL...……W...…...171...………..159...…………..L
LL...……W...…...171...………..153...…………..L
CLL...…..B...……171...……….172...…………...D
Overall this season for Battersea I have scored +5=12-10 for a grading performance of 164.
In season 2017-18 I scored +10=8-9 for a grading performance of 175.
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