In 19th-Century Style

PLAYED on board eight (of 10) for Battersea away to Cavendish in division one of the London League last night.
Spanton (168) - Daire McMahon (193*)
Spanish Berlin/Classical
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Bc5
Much less popular than 4...Nxe4, but there are more than 3,600 examples of this move in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database. The position also arises from a Classical move order, ie 3...Bc5 4.0-0 Nf6.
5.Nxe5
The main line, which seeks another way of taking advantage of the placing of Black's dark-square bishop on c5, runs 5.c3 0-0 6.d4 Bb6 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 with a position Stockfish10 and Komodo10 assess as equal.
5...Nxe5 6.d4 a6
Mikhail Yudovich in Spanish Without ...a6 (Batsford, 1986) says Boris Spassky "recently revived" this move.
7.Ba4
Yudovich treats 7.Be2 as the main move.
7...Nxe4 8.dxc5?!
The text involves a pawn sacrifice that is not liked by the engines. The main move is 8.Qe2, which Alekhine used to meet with 8...Be7 9.Qxe4 Ng6.
White can get an edge with 8.Re1 Be7 9.dxe5 Nc5 10.Nc3, according to Stockfish10.
 8...Nxc5 9.Qd5
9.Qd4 is more commonly seen.
9...Qe7 10.Bf4
Not 10.Re1?? Nf3+ 11.gxf3 Qxe1+ 12.Kg2 Nxa4.
10...f6
If 10...Nxa4, then 11.Bxe5, and White recovers his pawn.
11.Nc3 c6 12.Qd2
12.Qd4 Ne6 is good for Black.
12...0-0!?
The a2-g8 diagonal looks to be a weakness for Black, but it is hard for White to exploit it.
13.Rfe1 d6 14.Rad1 Rd8?!

How can White take advantage of Black's last move?

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Black's last move allows a combination. The engines prefer 14...d5, when White's compensation for his pawn-minus looks insufficient.
15.Rxe5! fxe5 16.Bg5 Qf8 17.Bxd8 Qxd8 18.Qxd6 Qxd6 19.Rxd6 Bf5 20.Rd2 Kf7 21.f3 Ke7 ½–½
Black can get an ending of rook-and-bishop versus rook-and-knight (plus pawns) at his choosing, but any theoretical advantage is unlikely to be significant.
*Last published grade from January 2018.
Cavendish won the match 7-3.
My updated Battersea statistics for 2019-20
Event*..Colour...Grade...Opponent's Grade...Result
CLL..…...B....…..168...………169...……….....W
CLL...…..B...…...168...………196...…………..D
CLL...…..W...…..168...………176...…………..L
LL....……W...…..168...…....…175...………….D
CLL...…..B...…...168...………192...…………..D
CLL...…..W...…..168...………181...…………..L
LL...…….W...…..168...………168...…………..L
EC...…….B...…..168...………175...……….….L
CLL...…...B.........168...………170...…………..L
LL...…….W...…..168...………193...…………..D
Overall this season for Battersea I have scored +1=4-5 for a grading performance of 160.
In season 2018-19 I scored +12=12-13 for a grading performance of 169.
In season 2017-18 I scored +10=8-9 for a grading performance of 175.
*CLL: Central London League; LL: London League; EC: Eastman Cup.