This rule applies at all levels.
Today is the double-round day in the Mariánské Lázně 50+ seniors.
This morning, in round four, I faced an Austrian.
Manfred Sonntagbauer (1431) - Spanton (1854)
London System
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 Bd6 4.Bxd6
Much more popular, and scoring a much better percentage in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database, is 4.Bg3.
4...cxd6
And here the queen recapture is massively more popular.
5.e3 Nc6 6.Be2 e5!?
Arguably premature - Stockfish10 and Komodo10 do not like it - but this advance is one of the points of Black's fourth move.
7.dxe5
The engines give 7.c4, when Stockfish10 continues 7...dxc4 8.dxe5 Nxe5 9.Nc3 Nf6 10.Qd4 0-0 11.Nxe5 dxe5 12.Qxe5 Be6 13.0-0 with equality, although Komodo10 reckons White has a slight edge.
Komodo10 continues 7...Nf6 8.Nc3 Be6 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.a3 Nxc3 11.bxc3 Bf5 12.Qb3 Qc7 13.0-0 with equality, although Stockfish10 prefers White.
Neither of these lines should be taken too seriously - there are plenty of alternatives along the way for both sides.
7...dxe5 8.0-0 e4?
This is definitely premature. I intended following up with ...Qg5, threatening ...Bh3. It was only after White played …
9.Nd4
...that I saw 9...Qg5 could be met by 10.f4 If I had looked further, I would have seen that 10...exf3 forces 11.Rxf3 with an unclear position, and so 9...Qg5 was playable.
Generally speaking, I was approaching this game as one I ought to win without expending too much energy. That may not be the right attitude, but it has practical advantages on a double-round day.
9...Nf6 10.c3?
White should be challenging Black's centre before Black consolidates. That calls for 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.c4, when Black will likely end up with a backward d pawn on a half-open file.
10...0-0 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Nd2?!
12.c4 was probably still the way to go, although the addition of the moves c3 and 0-0 clearly favours Black, who has counterplay against the white queenside, eg 12...Rb8 13.cxd5!? Nxd5!?
12...Rb8 13.b3 Qd6 14.c4 d4 15.exd4 Qxd4 16.Re1 e3 17.fxe3 Qxe3+ 18.Kh1 Rd8 19.Nf1
The only saving move, but good enough.
19...Rxd1 20.Nxe3
MS offered a draw in my time.
20...Rxa1 21.Rxa1 Be6 22.Bf3!?
The engines' choice, but it encourages Black to play a move he wants to play anyway. Nevertheless, the bishop is more active on f3 than on e2.
22...c5 23.Rd1 Kf8 24.Kg1
24.Rd6 is met by 24...Rb6.
24...Ke7 25.Nd5+!?
This move may be objectively fine, but it gives the higher-rated player a chance to unbalance the position.
25...Bxd5!? 26.Bxd5 Rd8 27.Re1+ Kf8 28.Bf3 Rd2 29.Re2
MS offered a draw in my time
29...Rxe2!? 30.Bxe2
A bishop is usually superior when there are rival pawn-majorities, but I felt the minor-piece ending gave me my best chance, and anyway White's queenside pawns are more-or-less fixed on the same-coloured squares as his bishop, which makes his dark squares weak.
30...Ne4 31.Bd3 Nd6
Not 31...Nc3? 32.a3 a5 (to stop the pawns rolling) 33.Kf2, when the knight is in danger of getting trapped. The engines continue 33...a4 34.bxa4 Nxa4, when White has a passed pawn. White is only slightly better, according to the engines, but Black has practically zero winning chances.
32.g4?!
Not 32.Bxh7?? g6 etc, but advancing pawns where you are weaker is dubious, especially here as the square g4 is a light one.
32...h6 33.Kf2 Ke7 34.Kf3 Kf6?
Better is 34...Ke6, keeping a watch on the queenside.
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| Can you find a good continuation for White? |
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35.h4?
The engines give 35.b4! cxb4 36.c5 Ne8 37.Ke4 Nc7 38.Kd4, when they reckon White has full compensation for the pawn - a line that illustrates the power of a bishop versus a knight with rival pawn-majorities.
Another move better than the text is 35.Kf4, when I intended 35...g5+!? 36.Ke3 Ke5 with a slight edge.
35...Ke5 36.Ke3 Nc8?!
I planned to continue ...Ne7-c6 and, depending on circumstances. ...Nd4 or ...Nb4, but the engines much prefer getting on with it on the kingside with ...f5 or, first, ...g6.
37.a3 a5 38.a4?
White has ensured he cannot get a passed pawn on the queenside without giving Black a protected passed pawn in return.
38...Ne7 39.Bc2 f5 40.Kf3
I felt his best chance was 40.g5, but after, say, 40...f4+ 41.Kf3 h5 42.Kg2 Nf5 43.Kh3 f3, Black has an easy win.
40...fxg4+ 41.Kxg4 Nc6 42.Kh5 Ne7
I was fairly sure 42...Nd4 also won, but there seemed more chances for Black to go wrong, and anyway it required energy-sapping calculation.
43.Kg4 g6 44.h5?
This does not help, but White's position is beyond saving.
44...g5 45.Bb1 Nc6 0-1
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