Spanton (1855) - Or Shatil (1530)
Sicilian Bb5(+)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Na5!?
There are more than 800 games with this move in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database, although the oldest is only from 45 years ago.
4.c3
Part of the idea of this, the most-popular reply, is to give White's light-square bishop a retreat route to c2.
4...a6 5.Ba4 b5 6.Bc2 e6 7.d4 cxd4 8.cxd4 Bb7 9.0-0 Nf6 10.Qe2 Be7 11.a4!?
This may be a novelty, and it is one that is not liked by Stockfish11 or Komodo11.01. The highest-rated player to reach this position in Mega20, Ivan Jakić (2419), preferred 11.Nc3.
11...b4
The engines reckon 11...bxa4 12.Rxa4 Bc6 13.Ra1 Bb5 14.Bd3 is fine for White, although I would probably have played 12.Nc3.
12.Nbd2 0-0!?
This seemed rather risky to me, but the engines are happy enough with it.
13.e5 Nd5 14.Ne4 b3 15.Bb1 h6?
A natural-looking defensive move, but the engines give 15...Nb4, and if 16.Neg5 then 16...h6 17.Nh7 Re8 with an unclear position. The point of the engines' move is that the white queen has no access to the b1-h7 diagonal.
16.Bd2?
This is good enough for a large advantage, but only after moving did I see the strength of 16.Qd3. I rejected it because of 16...Nb4? but that loses on the spot to 17.Nf6+! So Black has nothing better than giving up material (and position) by 16...g6.
16...f6 17.exf6 Nxf6 18.Nxf6+ Rxf6?
White is better after 18...Bxf6 but Black is still very much in the game.
19.Ne5 Nc6 20.Ng4?
Materialism - White has a big advantage after 20.Qd3 (or 20.Qe4).
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| How should Black proceed? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
20...Nxd4!
This exchange sacrifice may not be enough for equality, but it is Black's only hope and gives him active play.
21.Nxf6+ Bxf6 22.Qd3 Nf5 23.Bc3??
This turns a win into a loss. I was worried about ...Bxb2 and felt that 23.Qxb3 Bd5 gave Black a lot of activity. It does, but it was the best line, eg 24.Qd3! Bxb2 25.Ba2 Bxa1 26.Bxd5 exd5 27.Qxd5+ Kh8 28.Rxa1, when material equality has been restored but White's more-active pieces, safer king and fewer pawn-islands give him the upper hand, according to the engines.
23...Bxc3 24.Qxc3 Nh4!
Much stronger than the arguably more-obvious 24...Qg5, according to the engines.
25.Qd3?
The engines give 25.Re1 Rc8 26.Qg3 Nxg2 with a winning advantage for Black (Stockfish11) or at least much the better game (Komodo11.01).
25...Bxg2 26.Qh7+?!
This does not help, but White is lost anyway.
26...Kf7 27.Bg6+ Nxg6 28.Kxg2 Qg5+ 29.Kh1 Rh8 30.f4 Qd5+ 0-1
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