I suspect my opponent was thinking along those lines last night when already-promoted Batersea 2 took on a much-strengthened British Bangla in division three of the London League.
Adam Bukojemski (214) - Spanton (171)
Sicilian Defence
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Bc4!?
4.d4 would transpose to normal Accelerated Dragon lines, and 4.Bb5 to a Rossolimo, but the text has been tried by many strong players and is a favourite of Swedish grandmaster Jonny Hector.
4....Bg7 5.d3 e6!?
AB after the game pointed to this as a big mistake, but it has been chosen by at least one 2600+ player and is a normal reaction to White parking a bishop on c4 in the Sicilian.
6.Bg5 f6?
This is the real lulu. I rejected the natural 6...Nge7 on the vague ground of not wanting to set up a pin, but specific analysis would have shown there was no way for White to exploit the pin.
 |
| White to make his seventh move and claim a big advantage |
*****
*****
*****
*****
7.Be3
Of course. White redeploys his dark-square bishop without loss of tempo.
7...d6?
Mistakes quite often come in bunches. I think this is because the first mistake makes a position difficult, and it is easy to find mistakes in difficult positions. Also, a player who knows he has made a mistake is at a big psychological disadvantage.
One of the problems with the text is that it weakens e6, something that 7...b6 would have avoided.
8.d4
8.Qd2 was played by a 1749 at the Bad Wildungen Seniors 2006, but it makes complete sense for White with his lead in development to open the game. Just because you have started with a Closed Sicilian, it does not follow you have to keep the position closed!
8...cxd4
My main analysis engines Stockfish10 and Komodo9 suggest giving up a pawn by 8...f5 9.d5 Nd4, which at least guarantees Black survives into the middlegame.
9.Nxd4 Nxd4
Hard to avoid in view of Black's weak e and d pawns.
10.Qxd4
Material is level but White's massive lead in development, which will only get bigger after he castles long, combined with Black's weak d pawn means White is already winning (1-0, 33 moves)
Battersea 2 have lost the match (2-7 with one adjournment), which makes Beckenham & Charlton favourites for the title, although both clubs have already clinched promotion.
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
LL............B.........171................139..................W
LL...….….B...…..171...…….….214...……....….L
Overall this season for Battersea I have scored +6=12-11 for a grading performance of 165.
In season 2017-18 I scored +10=8-9 for a grading performance of 175.
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