Spanton (1927) - Jan Maarten van den Boogaart (2039)
Bb5(+) Sicilian
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.d4!?
More popular are 4.0-0 and 4.Bxc6+, but the text is also frequently seen.
4...cxd4 5.Qxd4 Bd7 6.Bxc6 Bxc6 7.Nc3
Black has the bishops but White has speedy development - similar to what happened in yesterday's game, albeit in a totally different position.
7...Nf6 8.Bg5 e6 9.0-0-0 Be7 10.Rhe1 Qc7!?
Normal is 10...0-0, but JB goes for a line in which Black saves a tempo for queenside play by leaving his king in the centre.
11.Kb1
A known line goes 11.Bxf6 Bxf6!? 12.Qxd6 Qxd6 13.Rxd6 Bxc3 14.bxc3 Ke7, when Stockfish10 much prefers White, but Komodo10 reckons Black has decent compensation for the pawn. I was more concerned about 12...Qa5, which is not in ChessBase's 2019 Mega database, and there is also 12...Qb6 to consider. In practice Black usually plays 11...gxf6, although then the engines give White the upper hand.
11...a6 12.Qd3
Again Bxf6 was possible. Generally in these lines the engines prefer White but recognise that Black has quite a bit of compensation. More popular than 12.Bxf6 is 12.Qd2, which, as with the text, is generally a prelude to bringing the king's knight to d4.
12...b5 13.Bxf6
At last I felt the time was right.
13...gxf6
13...Bxf6 14.Qxd6 Qxd6 15.Rxd6 looked strong for White to me; Stockfish10 agrees but Komodo10 reckons White only has a small edge.
14.Nd4
The engines prefer 14.a3!?, which I did not seriously consider.
14...Bb7 15.f3?!
Again the engines reckon a3!? is the way to go. I guess their point is that an exchange of pawns on the b4 square will not massively weaken the white king's position, but would more or less rule out queenside castling for Black. The black king would therefore have to go to the kingside, which does not look safe, or stay in the centre, where it would also be at risk and might get in the way of Black's manoeuvring.
The specific problem with the text is it reduces White's ability to get pieces quickly to the kingside.
15...Rc8
15...b4 16.Nce2 is roughly equal after 16...0-0 (Komodo10) or 16...d5 17.exd5 Bxd5 (Stockfish10).
16.Rd2
Again the engines like a3!?
16....b4
Komodo10's choice for quite some time, but eventually both engines see a problem with the text and so prefer a move such as 16...Rd8 or 16...Qc4.
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| White to make his 17th move |
*****
*****
*****
*****
17.Nce2
I looked at 17.Nd5! exd5 18.exd5, but did not think it worked. However, 18...0-0? loses to 19.Nf5, eg 19...Bd8 (19...Rfe8 20.Rde2) 20.f4 mating; 18...Bxd5 19.Rde2 0-0 20.Rxe7 is clearly good for White; 18...Kd8 (the engines' choice) 19.Rde2 Re8 20.Nf5 is also clearly good for White. So the knight on d5 cannot be taken; instead the engines give 17...Qc4 18.Qxc4 Rxc4 19.b3 Rc8 20.Nxb4, when White is a pawn up, although the game is opening up for Black's bishops.
17...Rg8
Hitting g2 and possibly threatening to swing across to the queenside.
18.e5??
Overambitious and badly calculated.
The engines give 18.g4, and if 18...Rg5, then 19.Ng3 or 19.h4 as neither 19...Ra5 nor 19...Rc5 seems dangerous.
18...fxe5 19.Qxh7 Rg6 20.Nb3
White has not lost material - at least not immediately - but White's king is more in danger than Black's, which is the complete opposite of the intent behind my combination.
20...Bf8
This is not in Stockfish10's top-three choices but is nevertheless considered by the engines as winning for Black - a sign of just how bad the white position is.
21.f4
This is best, according to the engines - the idea is to block, at least temporarily, the h6-c1 diagonal.
21...Be4 22.Ka1 d5 23.Qh8 exf4 24.g3 fxg3 25.Nxg3 Qb6
The engines prefer 25...a5 or 25...Rh6, one point being that White cannot double-capture on e4 after 25...a5 as Black has a back-rank mate starting with ...Rg1+. However the text is also good.
26.Nxe4 dxe4 27.Qe5 e3 28.Rde2 Bg7 29.Qe4 a5 30.Kb1
Possible is 30.Rxe3, but after 30...a4 31.Nc1 a3 32.Kb1 (32.Nd3 Rxc2) Qc7, Black is well on top.
30...a4 31.Nc1 Qd4
This forces queens off, after which the win is easy.The remaining moves were:
32.Qxd4 Bxd4 33.Nd3 Rb8 34.Nf4 Rh6 35.Nd3 f5 36.Rg1 Kf7 37.Reg2 Rh7 38.Nf4 e5 39.Ne2 Bc5 40.Rg5 Kf6 41.Rg6+ Kf7 42.Rc6 Rxh2 43.Rxc5 Rxe2 44.Rxe5 Kf6 45.Rd5 Rf2 46.Rdd1 f6 47.Rgf1 Rxf1 48.Rxf1 e2 0-1
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