Chess Scalps

MOST players will never gain a master title, whether grand, international or Fide.

But most players can aspire to collecting the scalps of such masters in classical over-the-board games.

I like to think of there being six categories of such scalps - one for drawing with an FM, one for beating an FM, one for drawing with an IM, one for beating an IM, one for drawing with a GM and one for beating a GM.

You can think of yourself as having a full set if you have a scalp in all six categories.

My collection is not quite complete - I have five of the six categories - but I hope to get there one day.

In this series I will be showing how I completed each of the five categories I have.

Spanton (*)  - Claude Adrian (FM 2275)

Lloyds Bank (London) 1993

French Winawer

1.e4 e5 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 Ne7

A popular alternative to the most-common continuation, 4...c5, but it was the first time I had faced it.

5.Bd2 c5 6.a3 Bxc3 7.Bxc3

White has won the bishop-pair, but White's unopposed dark-square bishop is not, at least at present, a great piece, and Black with his next move prepares to deprive White of the bishop-pairing.

7...b6 8.Qg4!?

More popular are 8.Bb5+ and 8.b4, but the text is a typical white idea in the Winawer.

8...Ba6?!

Consistent but probably wrong, as is evidenced by the fact that ...Ba6 does not appear in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database. Of the 33 games that reach the position after 8.Qg4!? in Mega21, more than half see 8...0-0.

9.Qxg7 Rg8 10.Qxh7 Bxf1 11.Kxf1

Position after 11.Kxf1

It is common for Black to give up the kingside in the Winawer, but here it is far from clear there is enough compensation.

11...Nbc6 12.Nf3 Qc7 13.Re1 0-0-0!?

Black offers a third pawn to speedily get a position with opposite-side castling, when dynamic factors can easily trump purely material considerations.

14.Qxf7 Qd7 15.h4 Rdf8 16.Qh7 Rg4 17.Qd3 c4 18.Qd1 Nf5

Black's open lines on the kingside mean his attack on the white king is much more advanced than the white attack on Black's king. But three pawns are three pawns.

19.b3?!

This is strongly disliked by my main analysis engines, Stockfish13 and Komodo12.1.1, which reckon 19.Bd2!? gives White a winning advantage. One point is that the reply 19...Ncxd4 can be met by 20.Ng5 (threatening the rook at g4) Rxh4 21.Rxh4 Nxh4 22.Bb4.

19...b5?!

The engines reckon 19...Qg7 20.Rh2 Rg8 21.Ng5 Rxh4 22.Rxh4 Nxh4 gives Black a lot of compensation, and Black would certainly have practical chances.

20.bxc4 bxc4 21.Bb2?

Too defensive. I guess I was wanting to strengthen my centre by playing c3, but it is slow. The engines like occupying the newly opened file with 21.Qb1.

21...Qg7 22.Rh2 Qh6?

Better is 22...Rh8. The text also puts pressure on h4, but gives White a tempo for redeploying the bishop.

23.Bc1 Qh5 24.c3 Kd7

Not 24...Nxh4? 25.Nxh4 Rxh4? 26.Qxh5.

25.Re2?

White had many better moves than this, including the solidifying 25.Bg5.

25...Re4?

Missing 25...Rxg2!, when 26.Kxg2?! Qg4+ 27.Kf1 Qxf3 is very dangerous for White, but even 26.Rxg2 Qxf3 is problematic.

26.Rxe4 dxe4 27.d5!

Perhaps CA missed this.

27...exf3

CA offered a draw.

28.dxc6+ Kxc6 29.Qxf3+

Even stronger, according to the engines, is 29.Qa4+.

29...Qxf3 30.gxf3 Kd5

White remains three pawns up but has many weaknesses, and Black's pieces are much more active.

31.f4 Rb8 32.Ke2 Rb1 33.Kd2 Ke4 34.h5 Rb7

The passed pawn must be stopped.

35.h6?

Now the pawn is doomed. Much better is 35.Ke2, allowing the bishop to protect f4.

35...Rh7 36.Ke2 Rxh6 37.Rxh6 Nxh6 38.f3+ Kd5 39.Be3 a6

White is two pawns up but it is hard to see how progress can be made.

40.Bf2 Nf5 41.Kd2 Kc6 42.a4 Kd5 43.Kc2 Kc6 44.Kb2 Ne7 45.Bg3 ½–½

*I did not have a Fide rating but my BCF grade was 161. My opponent, who is French, became an IM in 2001.