Cornelius Renk (1758) - Spanton (1837)
London System
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Bf4 e6 4.e3 Bd6 5.Bd3
This move has attracted strong grandmasters and scores an excellent 62% in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database.
5...Bxf4 6.exf4 0-0
Castling early can be a mistake in closed games. That does not come into play here, but 6...Qd6 was 'natural'.
7.0-0
CR said he spent a lot of time considering 7.g4!? It is not liked by Stockfish10 or Komodo10, but play would be tricky.
7...b6 8.Re1
If White tries to prevent ...Ba6 by playing 8.Qe2, Black can reply 8...a5.
8...Ba6 9.Nbd2!?
Komodo10 quite likes this. CR said his idea is to develop quickly, and he liked the way a pawn on d3 would cover the e4 square.
9...Bxd3 10.cxd3 Qd6 11.Ne5 c5 12.Ndf3 cxd4?! 13.Qa4
My idea was to meet 13.Nxd4 with 13...Qb4, hitting the pawn on b2, the knight on d4 and, latently, the pawn on f4.
Best, according to the engines, is 13.Rc1 Nfd7 14.a3 Nxe5 15.fxe5 Qd7 16.Nxd4 with a small edge for White.
13...Nbd7?
Good is 13...Nh5 as 14.g3 runs into 14...f6 15.Ng4 Nxf4!
14.Rac1
White is temporarily a pawn down but has a big lead in development.
14...Nc5 15.Qa3 a5
The engines prefer 15...Nfd7 16.b4 f6!? 17.bxc5 Nxc5 18.g3 (doubtful is 18.Ng4?! Qxf4 19.h3 e5) fxe5 19.Rxe5 Qd7 20.Nxd4, but give White the upper hand.
16.Nxd4 Rfc8 17.Nb5 Qf8
I rejected 17...Qd8? because of 18.d4 Na6 19.Nc6 with Ne7+ to follow. Even stronger, according to the engines, is 19.Nd6 Rxc1 20.Rxc1 and Ndxf7.
18.Rc3?!
White has a large advantage, according to the engines, after, for example, 18.d4 Ncd7 19.Nc6 Qxa3 20.bxa3 Kf8 21.Nd6 Rc7 22.f5 Nb8 23.Ne5 Rxc1 24.Rxc1.
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| How should Black proceed? |
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18...Ncd7?
I missed that after 18...d4! 19.Nxd4, Black has 19...Nd5 20.Rc2 Nxf4 with much the better game. So White should play 19.Rc4, when 19...Nd5 20.Rxd4 Nb4 21.Rc4 f6 22.d4 fxe5 23.dxc5 Rxc5 24.Rxc5 Qxc5 25.Nc3 is equal, according to the engines.
Stockfish10 also quite likes 18...Ne8 19.d4 Ne4 20.Qxf8+ Kxf8 21.Nd7+ Ke7 22.Nxb6 Rxc3 23.Nxc3 Rb8 24.Nbxd5+ exd5 25.f3 Kd7 26.fxe4 dxe4 27.Re2 f5, when White is a pawn up but Black's pieces are more active.
19.Rec1?
19.Qxf8+ Kxf8 20.Nc7 is strong.
19...Qxa3?!
Better, according to the engines, is 19...Rc5, but with White keeping an edge.
20.Rxc8+?!
20.Nxa3 Rxc3 21.Rxc3 may be enough for a slight edge.
20...Rxc8 21.Rxc8+ Qf8 22.Rxf8+ Kxf8 23.Nd6 Nxe5 24.fxe5 Nd7 25.d4 f5?!
Gaining space, but weakening e6. It was probably better to immediately seek counterplay with 25...Nb8.
26.f4 Nb8
The knight starts a powerful journey, but Black can hardly sit still as the white king will invade the queenside on the light squares.
27.Kf2 Nc6 28.Ke3 Nb4 29.a3 Nc2+ 30.Kd2
30.Kd3?! Ne1+ looks difficult for White, but may be holdable.
30...Nxd4 31.Kd3
Simpler equality is to be had by 31.Nc8 b5 32.Na7 b4 33.axb4 axb4 34.Kd3 Nb3 (only move) 35.Nc6 Nc5+ 36.Kd4 Na6 37.Nd8
31...Nc6
31...Nb3 32.Nc8 Nc5+ 33.Kd4 Nd7 seems equal.
32.Nc8 b5 33.Nd6 b4 34.a4 Ke7 35.b3 g5 36.g3 g4 37.Nb7 h6 38.Nc5
White offered a draw.
38...h5 39.Nb7 Kf7 40.Nc5 Ne7 41.Nb7 Nc6 ½–½
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