I WAS upfloated against a player on one point.
Todor Đaković (1818) - Spanton (1831)
34th Belgrade Trophy International
Sicilian Accelerated Dragon
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nxc6!?
This move goes back to at least 1851. It is positionally suspect because White strengthens Black's centre, but White gets an initiative.
5...bxc6
5...dxc6!? 6.Qxd8+ Kxd8 is slightly better for White, but certainly playable.
6.Qxd4 Nf6 7.e5 Ng8!?
The main line runs 7...Nd5 8.e6 f6 9.exd7+ Bxd7 10.Bc4 e5 with equality, according to the analysis engines Stockfish12 and Komodo11.01.
8.e6 Nf6 9.exf7+ Kxf7 10.Be2!?
Lots of moves have been tried here by White. The text is Komodo11.01's choice.
10...Bg7 11.0-0 Qc7!?
Probably a novelty. The engines prefer 11...d5 or 11...Qb6.
12.c3 d5?!
12...e5 makes more sense.
13.Bf4 Qb6 14.Qxb6?!
White should probably keep queens on the board, not least because he has the safer king, and anyway the text improves the black pawn-structure.
14...axb6 15.Nd2 Rf8 16.Rfe1 Kg8?!
I rejected the engines' choice 16...Nd7 because of 17.Nf3 e5 18.Ng5+ Kg8 19.Ne6??, missing that Black has 19...Rxf4 or 19...exf4.
17.Be5 Ra7 18.Bf3 e6?!
This is probably too passive. It does nothing about White's strongly-placed dark-square bishop and it blocks in Black's light-square bishop. The engines reckons the game is equal after 18...Ne8.
19.a3 Raf7?!
Hoping for pressure down the f file, but the rook's absence from the queenside will be felt. The engines want something solid such as 19...Re8.
20.Nb3 c5 21.a4!?
Trying to exploit the fact that the black queenside pawn-formation is a little brittle.
21...Ra7
The engines prefer 21...Ne4!? I rejected it because of 22.Bxg7 Kxg7 23.Bxe4 dxe4 24.Re2??, assuming Black's pawn-weaknesses would tell in the long run. But Re2 is a blunder because of 24...Ba6 25.Rd2 e3, winning. The engines reckon White should prefer 24.a5 bxa5 25.Nxa5 Rxf2 26.Nc4 with an equal game. And earlier in these lines they give 23.a5! bxa5 24.Rxa5 with an unclear but roughly level position.
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| How should White proceed? |
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22.a5!
The a pawn proves not to be weak.
22...c4 23.axb6
The point of White's previous move.
23...Rb7
Not 23...Rxa1? 24.Nxa1, when White has a very good game, eg 24...Bb7 25.Nc2 Nd7 26.Bc7. White could also try 24.Rxa1?! but it is only good enough for a draw after 24...cxb3 25.Ra7 Rf7 26.Ra8 Rf8 27.Ra7 Rf7 etc.
24.Nc5 Rxb6 25.Rab1!?
This seemed unnecessarily passive to me, but the engines are OK with it, the idea being to get rid of the backward b pawn.
25...Kf7 26.b4 cxb3 27.Rxb3 Rxb3 28.Nxb3 Rd8
The engines prefer a move that did not cross my mind, 28...Ng8.
29.Nd4 Bf8 30.Nc6 Rd7
White wins the bishop-pair after this, but Black should still be all right.
31.Bd4 Bd6
This is probably a little better than allowing White to establish the knight on e5 with 31...Rc7 32.Ne5+.
32.Ne5+ Bxe5 33.Bxe5 Ra7 34.h4 Bd7 35.Bd4 Ra5 36.Rb1 Ne4!?
Stockfish12's choice. The idea is to accept damaged pawns in return for getting rid of the bishop-pair and securing opposite-coloured bishops.
37.Rb7 Ke7 38.Bxe4 dxe4 39.c4 Ra4 40.Bc5+ Kd8 41.Bb6+ Kc8?
Unnecessarily complicating matters. 41...Ke7 holds.
42.Rc7+ Kd8 43.c5
I was right in calculating that White had no devastating discovered check, but the text is strong.
43...Rc4??
I had to play 43...Rb4 44.c6 Rxb6 45.Rxd7+ Ke8 46.Rxh7 Rxc6, although the rook-and-pawn ending is good for White.
44.c6 Be8 45.Ra7+ 1-0
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