Captain Ahoy

PLAYED on board six (of 10), and was stand-in captain, for Battersea against Richmond & Twickenham in division one of the London League last night.
John Burke (159) - Spanton (170)
New London
1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 e6 3.e3 Bd6 4.Bg3 Nf6 5.c3
Much more popular is 5.Nd2.
5...Nc6
And here the normal move is 5...0-0.
6.Nf3 0-0 7.Nbd2 Ne4!?
Provocatively unbalancing. 7...Re8 was played by Blackburne in 1882.
8.Nxe4 dxe4 9.Nd2 f5 10.Bxd6!?
Stockfish10 and Komodo10 prefer 10.Nc4, with what they reckon is a slight edge for White.
10...cxd6 11.f3

How should Black proceed?

*****
*****
*****
*****
*****
11...exf3
The engines give 11...e5!, the point being 12.fxe4 fxe4 13.d5 (better than immediately capturing on e4) Ne7 14.Nxe4 runs into 14...Nf5 15.Qd3 Qb6.
12.Qxf3 Qf6 13.Be2 e5 14.0-0 e4 15.Qg3 d5 16.b4 Kh8 17.b5 Nd8?!
Almost certainly better is 17...Ne7 to support to d5.
18.c4 dxc4?
The engines give 18...Ne6, which threatens ...Nxd4, eg 19.Rad1 f4 20.Qe1 with an unclear position.
19.Nxe4 Qb6?
The engines give 19...Qe7 20.Nd6 Be6 21.e4 Nf7 22.Nxf5 Bxf5 23.Rxf5 Qxe4 24.Qf2 g6 25.Rf4, but with much the better game for White.
20.Bxc4 Ne6 21.Qd6 Rd8
There seems to be nothing better.
22.Qxb6 axb6 23.Nc3
White is a clear pawn up and has the better pawn-structure (1-0, 36 moves).
Battersea won the match 6-4.
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.........170...………172...…………..L
LL...…….W...…..170...………183...…………..D
LL............W........170...…........180......……......L
LL....…….B...…..170....……...182...………….W
CLL...…...B...…..170...………183...……….….D
LL...……..B...…..170...………162...…………..W
LL...…….W...…..170...………172...…………..W
LL...…….W...…..170...………152...…………..L
CLL...…...B.........170..............194...................L
LL...…….W...…..170...….…...187...………….W
LL...……..B...…..170...………159...…………..L
Overall this season for Battersea I have scored +5=5-9 for a grading performance of 166.
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.