Today was the first chance to take him up on the offer, and I played on top board in division four for Wessex C against Oxford 4 at the Holiday Inn in Maidenhead, Berkshire.
Spanton (1854/168) - A Philip Neatherway (1822/158)
French Exchange
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5
My 12th attempt at playing against the French Defence in the style of Paul Morphy.
3...exd5 4.Nf3 Bg4
An aggressive choice that has been tried by Fabiano Caruana and Alexei Shirov. It was also the move Nigel Short played when Mikhail Gurevich, needing a draw to become a world championship Candidate, switched from his habitual closed openings to 1.e4 so he could essay the French Exchange against Short (Short won).
5.h3
Massively more popular is 5.Be2, but the text has been played by Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik.
5...Bh5 6.Bd3
Kasparov and Kramnik preferred 6.Qe2+.
6...Bd6 7.0-0 Ne7 8.Re1 0-0?
This allows a Greek Gift sacrifice.
9.Bxh7+ Kxh7!?
Objectively better is 9...Kh8, but after 10.Bd3 Black was a clean pawn down and had a weakened king's position in Herbert Kiefer - Siegfried Schön, Regensburg 1997 (1-0, 41 moves).
10.Ng5+ Kg6
Hopeless is 10...Kh6 11.Ne6+ Kg6 (or 11...g5 12.Bxg5+ Kg6 13.Qd3+) 12.Qd3+.
11.Qd3+ f5 12.Ne6 Qe8 13.Nxf8+ Qxf8 14.g4 Bxg4 15.hxg4 Qh8 16.gxf5+
I rejected returning the exchange with 16.Re6+ Kf7 17.Rxe7+ because, after 17...Kxe7 18.Bg5+ Ke8 (forced) 19.f4, I felt White's advantage is not as big as in the game, although Black undoubtedly has less counterplay.
The engines point out an improved version of returning the exchange, namely 16.Rxe7!, the point being that 16...Bxe7 allows 17.Qxf5#.
16...Kf7 17.Qf3 Qh2+ 18.Kf1 Nbc6 19.Be3 Rh8
I have made quite a few sub-optimal moves, according to Stockfish10 and Komodo10, but have maintained a winning advantage. However, the problem with playing sub-optimally like this, apart from it being bad on principle, is that just one slip can turn a win into a draw or even a loss.
20.Nc3 Rh5 21.Qg2
Not 21.Nxd5?? Rxf5.
21...Qh4 22.Rad1 Rxf5 23.Ke2 Bf4 24.Rh1 Qf6 25.Rh3 Ng6 26.Nxd5!
This may look foolhardy, but was correctly calculated.
26...Qe6 27.c4
Not 27.Nc3?? Bxe3 28.Rxe3 (28.fxe3 Nf4+) Nf4+ 29.Kd2 Qxe3+ 30.fxe3 Nxg2.
27...Na5 28.Kd3?
I guess I was fixated on getting my king to queenside 'safety', whereas 28.Kf1 maintains White's winning advantage.
 |
| Black to play and equalise |
*****
*****
*****
*****
28...c6?
The engines reckon Black has equalised after 28...Nxc4 29.Kxc4 Ne7 or 29...Rxd5.
29.Nxf4 Qxc4+ 30.Kd2 Nxf4 31.Bxf4 Rxf4 32.Rf3 Qxd4+ 33.Kc1 Qc4+ 34.Rc3 Qe6
34...Qxa2 runs into 35.Rd7+, eg 35...Ke8 36.Rdd3 Kf7 37.Qh2 Qa1+ 38.Kc2 Qa4+ 39.Kb1. If in this line Black plays 35...Ke6, then 36.Qh3+ Kf6 37.Rd6+ Ke5 38.Qe3+ Kxd6 39.Qxf4+ Kd7 40.Rd3+ Ke7 41.Qd6+ and mates.
35.b3 Qf5
If 35...Qf6, then 36.Qg3 as 36...Rxf2 fails to 37.Qc7+.
36.Rcd3?
Again 36.Qg3 is good.
36...Rxf2 37.Rd7+
 |
| Black to play and draw |
*****
*****
*****
*****
37...Ke6?
Black draws with 37...Ke8 38.Rd8+ Kf7 39.R1d7+ Ke6 40.Rd6+ Kf7 41.R8d7+ Ke8 etc.
38.R1d6+ Ke5 39.Qxg7+ Ke4 40.Re7+ Kf4 41.Rf6 1-0
Wessex C won the match 4-2.
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