RK and I have played nine times before, with me having the white pieces in eight of the games.
I have six wins to RK's three - we may not play good chess, but it is fighting chess.
Kearsley (1624/128) - Spanton (1951/168)
Hastings Round 3
Sicilian Hyper-Accelerated Dragon
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bh6!?
There are just four examples of this move in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database. The idea is that with White committing central pawns to light squares, it should benefit Black to engineer an exchange of dark-square bishops in order to leave White with a bad light-square bishop. However, the move is not liked by Stockfish10 or Komodo10, and American IM John Watson has written - I cannot recall where - that the earlier a player contracts a 'weakness', the more manageable it becomes, and it may not prove a weakness at all (his specific example, I believe, was Black's bad light-square bishop in the French).
4.Bd3!?
When players leave book early, unusual moves often quickly follow. The engines like 4.Nc3 followed by d4, or the immediate 4.d4.
4...Nc6 5.a3 d6 6.0-0 Ne5!?
Strongly disliked by the engines.
7.Nxe5 dxe5 8.Be2 Nf6 9.Nc3 0-0 10.Qc2 b6 11.d3 Bxc1 12.Raxc1 Bb7 13.Qd2 Kg7
I rejected 13...Nxe4!? 14.Nxe4 Bxe4 because of 15.Qe3, but the engines reckon Black has an edge.
14.Qe3 e6 15.Kh1 Qe7 16.f4 exf4 17.Qxf4 e5 18.Qg3 Rad8 19.Rf2 Ne8 20.Rcf1 f6 21.Qh4
The engines reckon White has an edge after 21.h4 Nc7 22.Bg4.
21...Nc7 22.Rf3 Ne6 23.g3?
This keeps the black knight out of f4, but there is a tactical flaw. Best, according to the engines, was 23.R3f2 with a small edge for Black.
23...Nd4 24.Re3
White loses a pawn after 24.R3f2 Nxe2 25.Rxe2 Rxd3.
24...g5?
Missing the forking 24...Nf5.
25.Qh3 Nxe2?!
Played as the result of faulty calculation. Black has a very good game after 25...f5.
26.Nxe2
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| How should Black proceed? |
*****
*****
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26...Bc8
My original intent was 26...Rxd3!? 27.Rxd3, but I gave it up when I saw 27...Bxe4+ 28.Rff3 Qb7?? 29.Rd7+. However the engines give 28...f5 29.g4 (the only move) 29...Qb7 30.Kg1 (another only move) 30...fxg4 31.Qxg4 Bxf3 32.Qxg5+ Kh8 33.Qxe5+ Qg7+ 34.Qxg7+ Kxg7 with an equal position.
In the diagram position, the immediate 26...f5 is also good.
27.g4?
Missing Black's reply, but Black is also better after 27.Qh5 or 27.Qg2.
27...h5 28.Nc3
This seems best as 28.Ng3?! hxg4 29.Nh5+?? loses to 29...Kg6.
28...Bxg4
The engines prefer 28...hxg4.
29.Qg2 Be6 30.Nd5 Bxd5 31.cxd5 Kg6
Black is a pawn up, but White has good compensation in having a protected passed pawn, a hole at f5 for a rook, and play against Black's backward f pawn.
32.Ref3 Rf7 33.Rf5 Rdf8?
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| White to play and win |
*****
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34.R1f3?
It seems I should have taken the chance on the previous move to push my h pawn to prevent White playing the winning 34.h4 g4 35.Rxh5!, eg 35...Kxh5 36.Rf5+ Kh6 37.Qxg4 and 38.Rh5#.
If 34...Kh6, then 35.d6! Qxd6 37.hxg5+ etc, and if 34...Kh7, then 35.hxg5 fxg5 (or 35...Rg8 36.gxf6 Rxg2 37.fxe7) 36.d6! Qd7 37.Qxg5 etc.
34...b5?
Again ...h4 is better.
35.Qc2?
Still winning is h4.
35...a5 36.Rh3 Qc7 37.Qe2 Rh8 38.Rhf3 a4 39.Qf2 Rhf8 40.Rh3
Still playable is h4, but it is not lethal without the white queen on g2.
40...b4 41.Qe2 Rh8 42.Rhf3 bxa3 43.bxa3 Qb6 44.Qf2 Rhf8
44...Qb1+ 45.Kg2 Rhf8 gives Black an edge, according to Stockfish10, but Komodo10 rates the position as dead equal.
45.Rh3? Rb8?
Black has a winning advantage after 45...Qb1+ 46.Kg2 h4 eg 47.Qxc5 Qd1 48.Qe3 Rb8.
46.Qe2 Rh8 47.Rhf3 Qb1+ 48.Rf1 Qb3?
The queen should go back to b6 or b7.
49.R5f3?
49.Qf3 Rhf8 50.Rg1 threatens h4 with a winning attack similar to earlier in the game, so Black has to play 50...h4, when 51.Qg4 wins Black's h pawn, as breaking the pin on the g pawn, eg by 51...Kh6??, loses to 52.Rxg5 fxg5 53.Qxg5+ Kh7 54.Qh5#
49...g4 50.Rg3 f5?
I should have retreated the queen by 50...Qb7 as 51.Rxg4+ only draws after 51...hxg4 52.Qxg4+ Kh7 eg 53.Rg1 Rg7 54.Qh5+ Kg8 55.Qe8+.
51.exf5+?
Winning is 51.d4 eg 51...Qb8 52.exf5+ Rxf5 53.Rxf5 Kxf5 54.Rg1! with a huge attack.
51...Rxf5?
Correct is 51...Kf6 as 52.d4? loses to 52...Qxd5+.
52.Qe4!?
White has 52.Rxf5 Kxf5 53.Qe4+ Kf6 54.Rg1! with a very strong attack, but the text may be even better.
52...Rhf8 53.Rfg1?
Stockfish10's 53.Rg2 wins as 53...Qb8 54.Rgf2 Qc8 loses to 55.Rxf5 Rxf5 56.d6 Qd7 57.Qxf5+ Qxf5 58.Rxf5 Kxf5 59.d7.
Komodo10's 53.Rgg1 also wins eg 53...Kg5 54.h4+ Kg6 55.Rxf5 Rxf5 56.Rf1. The best try in this line seems to be 53...c4, but White has 54.Rf3! Qb7 55.dxc4 Qd7 56.c5 etc.
53...Kf6 54.d4
Best, according to the engines, but now Black gets a promising double-rook-and-pawn-ending. 54...Qb2! 55.dxc5 Qd4 56.Qxd4 exd4 57.Rd3 Rxd5 58.c6?
Better was 58.Rf1+ Kg7 (58...Ke7 59.Re1+ Kd7 60.Re4 gives good drawing chances) 59.Rc1 with an improved version of the game as the black king is a long way from White's passer. The engines continue 59...Rb8 60.Rcd1 Rxc5 61.Rxd4, when Black is better, but may not be winning.
After the text, the rest is fairly simple technique:
58...Rc8 59.Rc1 Ke5 60.Rc4 Ke4 61.Rd1 Ke3 62.c7 Rd7 63.Rxa4 Rcxc7 64.Rb4 d3 65.Kg2 Rc2+ 66.Kg3 d2 67.Rbb1 Rdc7 0-1
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