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| Round Two in progress |
Viola Ruby Pejřimovská (1596) - Spanton (1831)
Sicilian Wing Gambit
1.e4 c5 2.b4!? cxb4 3.a3 e5!?
Most popular in ChessBase's 2020 mega database is 3...d5, while after the principled 3...bxa3 my main analysis engines Stockfish11 and Komodo11.01 like 4.d4, which they reckon gives full compensation for the pawn.
4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bc4 Nf6 6.d3
Unclear is 6.Ng5 d5, eg 7.Nxf7!? Kxf7 8.Qf3+ Ke6, when the engines suggest the apparent novelty 9.Bb2!? [see correction to this note in the comments]
6...Be7 7.0-0 0-0 8.axb4 Bxb4 9.c3!?
The engines reckon this is an improvement over Srdjan Sale (2402) - Paul Morant (2149), EU Seniors Team Tournament (Šibenik, Croatia) 2014, which saw 9.Bg5, which the engines reckon leaves Black with the better game after 9...h6.
9...Be7 10.Re1 d6 11.Nbd2 Qc7 12.Bb2 Bg4 13.Nf1 d5?
Lack of concentration. The move ...d5 had been playable earlier but I somehow forgot I had made it unplayable by moving my queen to c7.
14.Bxd5!?
This seems better than 14.exd5 as then Black has 14...Bxf3 15.Qxf3 e4! 16.Qe2 exd3 17.Bxd3 Nxd5, after which 18.Bxh7+ Kxh7 19.Qe4+ Kg8 20.Qxd5 Rad8 is fine for Black. However White can improve with 15.gxf3! Na5 16.Ba2 with what the engines reckon is a slight edge.
14...Nxd5
The engines prefer 14...Bc5!? 15.Ne3 Bh5.
15.exd5 Nb8 16.h3 Bxf3
This is the only way to save the e pawn.
17.Qxf3
Material is level but White has a sizeable lead in development and is much more active.
17...Nd7 18.c4 a6 19.Ne3 g6 20.Ng4 f6 21.Qe2
The engines give 21.d4 Bb4 22.Re4! f5 23.Qb3, when 23...fxe4 24.c5 Kg7 25.Qxb4 gives White massive compensation for the exchange, which is why the engines prefer 23...fxg4 24.Qxb4, but agree White has a great position.
21...Bb4 22.Reb1 a5 23.d4 Rae8!?
Possibly better is 23...exd4. I rejected it because I feared the consequences of 24.Qe6+?, but concrete analysis would have shown 24...Kg7 leaves the white queen precariously placed.
24.dxe5 Nxe5 25.Nxe5 fxe5 26.Ba3!
A wise precaution, bearing in mind the weakness of f2, but getting bishops off also helps accentuate the weakness of the black queenside pawns.
26...Bxa3 27.Rxa3 Rf4 28.Qa2
Setting a trap, which I promptly walk into.
28...Rxc4?
Black probably holds after 28...Qxc4.
29.d6 Qf7 30.Rxb7
Maybe even stronger (the engines disagree) is 30.Rxa5 Rc6 31.Qxf7+ Kxf7 32.Rxb7+ Ke6 33.Rxh7.
30...Qxb7?
There are more drawing chances after 30...Rc1+ 31.Kh2 Qxa2 32.Rxa2 Rd1 33.Rxa5 Rd6 34.Raa7 h6 35.Rg7+ Kh8 (35...Kf8?? 36.Raf7#) 36.Rh7+ Kg8 37.Rxh6, although the position is almost certainly winning for White.
31.Qxc4+ Qf7
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| White to play and win |
32.d7??
White wins easily after 32.Qc6 or 32.Qc5, when the d pawn is too powerful for Black to handle. After the text, the pawn drops trivially.
32...Rd8 33.Qxf7+ Kxf7 34.Rxa5 Ke6 35.Ra6+ Ke7 36.Kf1 Rxd7
The position is drawn but VP kept pushing determinedly to the end (I was sat beside her in the next round, when she had White again and blew a 1768 off the board with the Sicilian Wing Gambit).
37.Ke2 Rd6 38.Ra7+ Rd7 39.Rxd7+ Kxd7 40.Kf3 Ke6 41.Ke4 h6 42.h4 h5 43.f3 Kd6 44.Kd3!? Kd5 45.g3 Kd6 46.Ke4 Ke6 47.g4 hxg4 48.fxg4 Kd6 49.h5 hxg5 50.gxh5 Ke6 51.h6 ½–½
On move 6, don't you mean the usual Fried Liver idea 7 exd5 Nxd5 and now 8. Nxf7
ReplyDeleteI nearly had this position back in February in the 4NCL. Instead of Bc4, my opponent took on b4, which allows .. Bxb4 and Black can castle. In practice I wasn't sure about playing ,, Nf6 after Bc4 given the Ng5 reply. I might have conceded a tempo with ..Be7 to avoid it.
I think playing an early .. e5 is good though. It was recommended to me in a bar at a Guernsey Congress long ago, although that was the sequence 1. e4 c5 2. b4 e5 .
Thanks Roger - yes you are right re the missing moves 7.exd5 Nxd5.
ReplyDeleteI knew my opponent played the Wing Gambit, so I had prepared the 3...e5!? line. My engines like Black after 6.Ng5 etc, but whether it is a practical choice against a tactically-minded junior is another matter.
By the way, I play her twin brother (I think - at least they were born in the same year) this afternoon.