ANOTHER attempt to play against the French Defence in the style of Paul Morphy.
Spanton (1793) - Juan Ramon Galiana Salom (2248)
Calvià U2350 Round 6
French Exchange
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Bd6
This is Black's most-popular reply in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database.
5.Bd3 Bg4 6.0-0 Nc6 7.Re1+ Nge7 8.c3!?
The type of move Morphy seemed to avoid, but 8.Be3 is no improvement, according to the analysis engines Stockfish13 and Komodo12.1.1. One point about the text is that as well as protecting d4 it prepares the thrust b4 in the likely case of Black castling long.
8...Qd7 9.Nbd2 0-0-0!?
Easily the most-popular move in the position, but the engines do no like it, preferring short castling.
10.b4 Ng6
Spanton (1855) - Leopold Adrian (2061), Biel Corona (Switzerland) 2020, went 10...Rde8 11.Nb3 Nf5 12.Be3 with an unclear but roughly equal position (0-1, 81 moves): https://beauchess.blogspot.com/2020/07/morphing-french-xv.html
11.b5 Nce7 12.Qa4 Kb8 13.Ba3
A possible improvement is the more-popular 13.Ne5.
13...Bxf3!?
An apparent-novelty that is quite liked by Komodo12.1.1 but not by Stockfish13, which much prefers 13...Bxa3. Commonest in Mega21 is 13..Nf4.
14.Nxf3 Nf4 15.Bf1
The engines give 15.Bxd6 cxd6!? 16.Bf1 h5, preferring White.
15...Nc8 16.Ne5 Bxe5 17.dxe5
The game has transposed into a known position in which a 2420 played 17...g5, but the engines prefer:
17...Qg4!?
I replied:
18.Kh1
Probably better is the engines' 18.Qc2!? The text overlooks a tactical shot.
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| Black to play and win a pawn |
18...Nd3!? 19.Qxg4 Nxf2+ 20.Kg1 Nxg4
Black has won a pawn but, according to the engines, the bishop-pair gives White more than enough compensation after 21.h3 Nh6 22.Bd3.
Going back to the diagram, the engines reckon best-play runs 18...Nb6 19.Qd1 Qxd1 20.Raxd1 with a slight edge for White.
21.Rad1? Nb6?
Black consolidates his advantage, according to the engines, after 21...Rhe8 22.c4 Nxe5 23.cxd5 Nd6 24.Bb2 f6.
22.Rd4 h5 23.Bc1?
Still the way to go was h3.
23...Rhe8 24.Bf4 f6 25.e6 g5 26.h3
At last, but the knight will not be so awkwardly placed on h6 as it would have been earlier.
26...Nh6 27.Bh2 Nf5 28.Rd2 Ng7
The engines prefer 28...Nd6!?, the idea being that if, as in the game, White replies 29.Rf2, Black has 29...Ne4.
29.Rf2 f5 30.Bd3 f4?!
Better, according to the engines, is 30...Rxe6 31.Rxe6 Nxe6 although White still has good compensation for a pawn after 32.Rxf5.
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31.g3?
This loses a second pawn, whereas after 31.e7! Re7 32.Re5 Rdxe7 33.Rxg5 Black cannot defend all his pawn weaknesses.
31...fxg3 32.Bxg3 Rxe6 33.Rxe6 Nxe6 34.Rf6 Nc5 35.Rf7 Nbd7
White's bishop-pair gives a lot of compensation, but not enough for two pawns, according to the engines.
36.Bf5?!
This is probably wrong because it lets Black activate his passive rook..
36...Rf8! 37.Rxf8 Nxf8 38.Be5 Nce6 39.Kf2 b6 40.Ke3 Kb7 41.Kd3 a6 42.c4 dxc4+ 43.Kxc4 axb5+ 44.Kd5!?
44.Kxb5 may be objectively better, but I felt it made Black's task easier.
44...Nc5 45.Bf6 g4 46.hxg4 hxg4 47.Bxg4 Nfd7?!
Probably better is 47...c6+ 48.Kd4 (48.Kd6? Ne4+) Nfe6+ 49.Ke5 Nc7.
48.Bd8?!
Probably better is 48.Bd4, and if 48...c6+ then 49.Kd6 gives White full compensation for being two pawns down, according to the engines.
48...Nb8 49.Be7 Nba6 50.a3 Na4 51.Bd7 Nb8 52.Be8
52.Bxb5!? c6+ 53.Kc4 cxb5+ 54.Kxb5 Nc3+ gives a position in which, according to the endgame tablebase Syzygy, Black has a win but cannot achieve it in under 50 moves. However Black would have good practical chances.
52...c6+ 53.Ke5 Nb2 54.Kd4 Kc7 55.Ke5 Nd7+ 56.Kd4 Na4 57.Bg6 Nac5 58.Bf7 Nb7 59.Bb3 Nd6 60.Kc3?!
This eases Black's task, according to the engines, who prefer 60.Be6 or 60.Bg5.
60...Nc5 61.Bc2 Nde4+ 62.Kd4 Nd6 63.Kc3 Kd7?!
Simpler seems to be the engines' 63...Nc4.
64.Bh4 Ne6 65.a4?!
The engines do not like this exchange, preferring a non-committal bishop move such as 65.Bg3.
65...bxa4 66.Bxa4
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| Position after 66.Bxa4 |
66...b5 67.Bc2 c5 68.Bf2 Kc6 69.Bd3 c4 70.Bc2 Nc5 71.Bg1 Nde4+ 72.Kd4 Nd2
This is Komodo12.1.1's choice at first, but both engines come to prefer 72...Ng5!?, after which 73.Be3 Nge6+ 74.Kc3 Nc7 75.Kd4 leaves the engines disagreeing as to whether Black's advantage is winning (Komodo12.1.1) or merely gives the upper hand (Stockfish13).
73.Be3 Nf3+ 74.Kc3 Ne1 75.Bg6 Ned3 76.Be8+ Kb6 77.Bg6 Ne5 78.Be8 Ned3 79.Bg6?!
Simpler is 79.Bf7 Ne5 (prevents 80...Bxc4) 80.Bd5, when it is hard to see how Black can prevent a draw.
79...Ka5 80.Bf7?!
But now Bf7 makes life difficult for White. Best probably is 80.Bf5, with good drawing chances.
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80...Na4+
The engines are very keen on 80...Ne5!?, which is winning (Komodo12.1.) or at least gives Black the upper hand (Stockfish13). But the Syzygy tablebase shows the position to be drawn after 81.Bxc5, although Black would retain practical chances.
81.Kd4 Nac5?!
81.Nab2 keeps the game going.
82.Bxc4 bxc4 83.Kxc4 Ka4 84.Bxc5 Nxc5 85.Kxc5 ½–½
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