Tobias Thommen (1306) - Spanton (1855)
Queen's Gambit Declined Exchange
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5
The Exchange Variation of the QGD has largely disappeared among elite grandmasters, but a move that scores 65% in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database is always likely to be popular at lower levels.
4...exd5 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 0-0 7.Bd3 Nbd7 8.Nge2
White's score in Mega20 rises to 68% with this move.
8...Re8 9.0-0 Nf8 10.f3!?
The main move in Mega20 is 10.Qc2, while Kasparov famously played 10.b4!? to beat Short in their 1993 world championship match. The analysis engine Stockfish11 flicks back and forth between the text and Qc2, while Komodo11.01 likes 10.Rc1!? or 10.a3!? But the engines are not consistent - give them the position again and they come up with different suggestions.
10...Ne6 11.Bh4 c5!?
Active, but not necessarily good.
12.Qb1!?
Nana Ioseliani (2495) - Gennadij Ginsburg (2495), Bundesliga 1999, went 12.Rc1 cxd4 13.Nxd4 Nxd4 14.exd4 Nh5 15.Bxe7 Rxe7, when White's better bishop maybe helped give her a small edge (the game is recorded in Mega20 as a win for White, although Black is a piece up in the final position). The text puts the queen on a square where it obstructs the white queen's rook and has less central influence, but there is a threat to h7.
12...g6?!
The engines do not like this move, mainly because of the reply seen in the game. The obvious alternative is 12...h6, but the engines also like 12...cxd4 as 13.Bxf6? Bxf6 14.Bxh7+ runs into 14...Kh8, when White can hardly meet all the threats to his pieces.
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| How should White proceed? |
*****
*****
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13.Bb5!
I had not considered this moving of a piece in the opening for a second time (perhaps it is no wonder that TT's tournament performance before this game was 1946).
13...Bd7
The engines prefer the abject 13...Rf8!?, albeit liking White.
14.Bxd7 Qxd7
And here they prefer giving up a pawn by 14...Nxd7!? 15.Bxe7 Qxe7 16.Nxd5.
15.dxc5 g5!?
This is horribly weakening but I felt it gave better practical chances than giving up a pawn by 15...Nxc5 16.Rd1 etc.
16.Bf2 Bxc5 17.Rd1?!
This looks reasonable but the move I feared is 17.Qf5, when Black's position is very loose.
17...Nc7
The engines prefer 17...Ng7, giving added protection to the f5 square rather than the d pawn.
18.Nd4 Bxd4 19.Rxd4 Qe6 20.e4?!
This seems to largely let Black off the hook. The engines like 20.Qd3.
20...Rad8?
Rather than defending the d pawn, this sets up a white pin. Better was 20...dxe4 21.Nxe4 Nxe4 22.Rxe4, when White's edge is probably manageable.
21.exd5?
White has a large advantage after 21.Qd1 (but less so after 21.Qd3?! dxe4).
21...Ncxd5 22.Ne4!?
White still has an edge after 22.Qd3, according to the engines.
22...Qf5 23.Nxf6+?!
And here the engines reckon 23.Ng3 is better.
23...Qxf6 24.Qc2 Nf4
The g5 pawn looks silly, but suddenly Black has counterplay.
25.Rxd8 Rxd8 26.Re1
Risky looking is 26.Bxa7!?, when I think I intended 26...Re8 with active play.
26...b6
The engines very slightly prefer 26...Nd3, intending ...Nxf2, but I felt my knight is at least equal to White's bishop.
27.Bg3 Qd4+
Not leading anywhere, and perhaps even slightly better for White, is 27...Nd3 28.Rd1 Qd4+ 29.Bf2.
28.Kf1!?
This seems a smidgen better than 28.Kh1, after which the engines reckon 28...Qd2 may give Black a tiny pull.
28...h6
I felt consolidation was in order as it was not clear, to me at any rate, what White could play to improve his position.
29.Bxf4
The engines suggest 29.Re4 Qd3+ 30.Qxd3 Nxd3 with an equal position after 31.Re7 or 31.Re2.
29...Qxf4 30.Rd1?
This loses a pawn. White seems to be equal after, for example, 30.Kg1 Rd2 31.Qc3.
30...Rxd1+ 31.Qxd1 Qc4+
Stockfish11 prefers 31...Qxh2!? but I felt, and Komodo11.01 agrees, it is better to create a queenside pawn-majority.
32.Qe2 Qxa2
Black is a pawn up but the airy black queen makes the position tricky to play.
33.Qe8+ Kg7 34.Qe5+ f6 35.Qb5 Qb1+ 36.Kf2 Qc2+ 37.Kg3 Qc7+ 38.Kh3 Qe5 39.Qd7+ Kg6 40.g4!
I had not considered this. It is Black's best chance, according to the engines.
40...a5 41.Qd8
Threatening mate, but the engines reckon 41.Qc8!, which also threatens mate, is close to equalising, eg 41...Qd5 42.Kg2 b5 43.Qb8, although the position seems unclear to me.
41...Qe6 42.Qc7 h5 43.Qc3 h4
Even stronger, according to the engines, is 43...Qe2.
44.Qc2+ Kh6 45.Qd2 Qc6 46.Qd1 a4 47.f4!?
This is best, according to the engines, presumably because otherwise White just loses on the queenside.
47...gxf4 48.Qf1 Qe4 49.Kxh4 Qe5 50.Qc1 b5
The engines reckon 50...Qg5+ and 50...Kg7 are stronger, but the text seems strong enough.
51.Qd2 Qe3?
But this is definitely a mistake. Black has several paths to victory, including 51...Qg5+ 52.Kh3 f3.
52.Qd6?
White seems to be equal after the engines' 52.Qd8, eg 52...Qe6 53.Qh8+ Kg6 54.Qh5+ Kg7 and now the moved I missed: 55.Qxb5.
52...Kg6?
Both 52...Qf2+ and 52...Qe1+ win, eg 52...Qf2+ 53.Kh3 Qf3+ 54.Kh4 Kg6 55.Qd8 Qf2+ 56.Kh3 Qf1+ 57.Kh4 Qe1+ 58.Kh3 Qe6, when there is no perpetual.
53.Qf8?
White appears to draw after 53.Qd5.
53...Qe6 54.Qb4
There is no perpetual after 54.Qh8.
54...Qe5 55.Qd2?
This loses almost immediately, but Stockfish11 reckons Black has a mate-in-20 in any case.
55...Qg5+ 56.Kh3 Qh6+ 57.Kg2 0-1
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