It is one thing knowing this, by which I mean nodding with enthusiasm when you read such an insight, but it is another matter applying such knowledge over the board.
Last night I played on board four (of five) for Hastings & St Leonards' second team away to table-topping Horsham in division one of the Mid-Sussex League.
Anthony Higgs (180) - Spanton (168)
'Barry Attack'
1.d4 d5 2.Nc3 e6 3.Bf4 Bd6 4.e3!?
If White can get away with this, then, from a purely theoretical view, it surely must be better than losing a tempo with 4.Bg3 or 4.Bxd6 Qxd6.
4...Nf6
Critical is 4...Bxf4, but you can understand why Blacks are reluctant to play this way - it is what White wants, isn't it?
5.Nf3 b6
This was the last chance for 5...Bxf4.
6.Ne5!? Bb7
Black can play for an exchange of bad bishop for good bishop, but after 6...Ba6?! 7.Bxa6 Nxa6 8.Qe2 Nb8 is seriously behind in development.
7.Bd3
7.Bb5+ was played in René Letelier Martner - Carlos Enrique Guimard, Eighth Olympiad (Buenos Aires 1939), but after 7...c6 8.Bd3 the game reached the same position as in last night's game, except with the black c pawn on c6 instead of c7. It is hard to say whom this favours.
7...Qe7?!
Stockfish10 and Komodo10 like, among other moves, ...a6 ,which is what Guimard played at the Olympiad. The problem with the text will soon become apparent.
8.0-0 0-0?!
Played automatically. I soon regretted not interpolating 8...h6.
9.Bg5! h6 10.Bh4 g5?
AH in the postmortem pointed out 10...Qd8!? with the idea of ...Be7, preventing doubling of the black f pawns, but this never crossed my mind. He said it is not clear if 11.f4 is good, but the engines are sure 11.f4 is good. Nevertheless, ...Qd8!? is better than ...g5?
11.Bg3
Material is level, but Black has a positionally won game, according to Stockfish10.
11...Kg7 12.f4 Nbd7 13.Qf3 Rac8 14.h4
Desperate positions call for desperate measures.
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| Black to make his 14th move |
*****
*****
*****
*****
14...Ne4!?
The engines slightly prefer 14...g4, but I rejected it because after 15.Nxg4 Nxg4 16.Qxg4+, Black is a clear pawn down and with a weakened king's position.
Trying to hold the g5 square with 14...Nh7 is doomed to failure, eg 15.fxg5 hxg5 16.Nxd7 Qxd7 17.hxg5, and if 17...Nxg5??, White mates with 18.Qf6+ Kg8 19.Qxg5+ Kh8 20.Qh6+ Kg8 21.Qh7#.
15.Nxd7
The engines agree this is best.
15...Qxd7
Not 15...Nd2?? 16.Qh5 Nxf1 17.fxg5.
16.Nxe4?!
AH rejected 16.fxg5 because of 16...f5, when he thought Black has some compensation for the pawn as he did not like 17.gxf6+ Rxf6, but the engines sac the queen with 18.Bxd6!? Rxf3 19.Be5+ Kg8 20.Rxf3, when they reckon White is winning despite the approximate material balance.
16...dxe4 17.Bxe4 Bxe4 18.Qxe4 f5 19.Qd3
AH originally intended 19.Qb7, but changed his mind when he saw his queen has no retreat square after 19...g4 20.Qxa7?? Ra8.
19...c5!?
19...g4 emphasises the badness of White's bishop, but gives White time to consolidate, when his extra pawn should tell in the long run.
The text is aimed at maximising piece-activity, but is not liked by the engines. They give 19...Qc6, but White is clearly better and under little pressure.
20.Rad1
The engines for a while prefer 20.dxc5 Rxc5 21.fxg5 Rd5 22.Qc3+ with a substantial advantage for White, but, given enough time, Stockfish10 opts for the text, at least temporarily.
20...c4 21.Qc3 Kg6 22.Kh2?
White defends his bishop, but a much better way to do this was 22.e4! as 22...fxe4 23.fxg5 hxg5 24.Qe3 is strong for White.
22...Qc7?!
AH suggested 22...Qe7, pressurising h4 and threatening to trap the queen with ...Bb4. I thought 23.d5 might be a good answer, but AH's 23.Qe1 seems better.
The engines much prefer 22...Qc6, which is logical in that Black tries to create problems on White's weakened light squares.
23.Qe1
Now 23.d5, trying to open lines to the draughty black king, may be better.
23...Rh8?!
Preventing 24.fxg5??, which can be met with 24...hxg5. The engines prefer centralisation with 23...Rce8, reckoning 24.fxg5 hxg5 25.Bxd6 Qxd6+ 26.Qg3 Qxg3+ 27.Kxg3 gxh4+ 28.Kxh4 is better for White, but not winning.
24.d5 e5 25.fxe5 Bxe5 26.Bxe5?
Much stronger is 26.d6.
26...Qxe5+ 27.Qg3 Rhe8
AH pointed out that 27...Qxb2?? is strongly met by 28.h5+!, when the f pawn falls one way or another and White's heavy pieces swarm around the black king.
28.Rfe1
The engines' 28.Qxe5 Rxe5 29.d6 Rd8 30.d7 may give White more chances of converting his material advantage.
28...Rcd8 29.d6 Qxg3+ 30.Kxg3 Re6 31.d7 Kf6
The engines, once shown it, come to like 31...Re7!?, but 32.Rd6+ looks promising for White.
32.hxg5+ hxg5 33.Kf2?!
Too passive, according to the engines. They give 33.Kf3, and if 33...g4+, now 34.Kf2 (but not 34.Kf4? Re4+ 35.Kg3 Ke6), when Black's kingside set-up is devalued (the move ...f4, for instance, is less of a threat).
33...Ke5
AH thought better was 33...Ke7? 34.Rh1 Rf6, but the d pawn remains immune, eg 35.Rd4 Rf7 36.Rhd1!
34.Rh1?!
AH's postmortem suggestion of 34.Rd4 is better, but 34...Rd6 35.Rxc4 Rd2+ 36.Re2 R8xd7 leaves Black active and with decent drawing chances.
34...Re7 35.Rh6 Rexd7 36.Rxd7 Rxd7 37.Ke2 Rd6 38.Rh7
Black is better in the pawn-ending after 38.Rxd6? Kxd6.
38...a6 39.Re7+ Kf6 40.Ra7 ½–½
Despite Horsham having an average grading-advantage of 191-172, all five games were drawn.
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