Yesterday: 80.4kg (177lb)
Today: 80.7kg (178lb)
THE Amateur Chess Organization's world senior championship has been split into three sections, and I am in group C, along with six others.
Our group will be an all-play-all for the first seven rounds, with one player getting a bye each round, followed, presumably, by two rounds with swiss pairings.
One advantage of this format is everyone is much of a muchness rating-wise, so there should be no mismatches.
The last two rounds will involve playing previous opponents, which should make for some interesting games.
The big drawback is the possibility of a player or players dropping out - not a rare occurrence at senior events.
One interesting point: masks do not have to be worn at the board, but must be if moving around the playing hall.
Today I faced a Belgian.
Rudy Van de Wynkele (1908 Fide) - Spanton (1998 ECF*)
Sicilian 2.b3
1.e4 c5 2.b3!? Nc6 3.Bb2 e5!?
Blocking the fianchettoed bishop but leaving a hole at d5.
4.Nc3!?
Spassky is among those who played this, but more popular in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database are 4.Bc4, 4.f4, 4.Nf3 and 4.Bb5.
4...Nf6 5.Bc4
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| Position after 5.Bc4 - how should Black proceed? |
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5...Na5?!
Driving the light-square bishop off its good diagonal (or threatening to exchange it) and hoping to follow up with the freeing ...d5. But the latter does not prove immediately practical, and the loss of time is almost certainly more significant.
The text does not appear in Mega21, players usually choosing 5...Be7 or 5...d6.
Shirov is among those who have played 5...Nxe4!? 6.Nxe4 d5. I rejected it because of 7.Bb5 dxe4 8.Bxc6+ bxc6 9.Bxe5, but the analysis engines Stockfish13 and Komodo12.1.1 reckon Black is better after 9...Qd5.
6.Be2
The engines like leaving the bishop to be exchanged, preferring White after 6.d3!? or 6.f4!?
6...Be7
It was only after RVW played 6.Be2 that I realised the black position would almost certainly be too loose after 6...d5?! 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.Bb5+.
7.Nf3 d6 8.h3!?
Hinting at long castling. White's play is slow but the position is not open to tactical thrusts so the text seems reasonable.
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8...0-0!?
I could have delayed this, but I was pretty sure I was going to castle kingside anyway, so I decided to get on with it and prepare queenside counterplay.
9.d3 Nc6
We left theory, at least in Mega21, with 5...Na5?!, but now we have returned to a known position, albeit all five games in the database to reach this position did so with Black to move.
10.g3?!
Preparing to fianchetto his light-square bishop, but now Black's loss of time at move five becomes completely irrelevant. The engines suggest 10.a4 or kingside castling.
10...Nd4 11.Bf1
This is best, according to the engines, but they give Black a slight edge.
11...b5 12.Bg2
Not 12.Nxd4 cxd4 13.Nxb5?? Qa5+.
12...b4 13.Ne2 a5 14.a4 Ra7!?
Black's a pawn is weak after 14...bxa3?! The text gets the queen's rook off the long light-square diagonal and prepares for possible doubling on the f file.
15.Nd2!?
This is liked by the engines, whereas 15.Qd2, with thoughts of 0-0-0, is problematic because the white queenside would be susceptible to combinations if the white king were to take up residence there.
15...Be6 16.Nc4 Qc7!?
Covering e5 so that ...d5 is possible, but White counters this.
I strongly considered 16...Bxc4!?, but felt Black would be too weak on the light squares. Stockfish13 agrees, or at least gives White a large advantage after 17.dxc4, but Komodo12.1.1 reckons the position would be equal.
17.Ne3 Qd7!?
This prevents kingside castling by White, at least for now, but leaves the black light-square bishop short of squares.
18.g4!?
18.f4 g6 slightly favours Black, according to the engines.
18...h6!?
Giving White a target for kingside play, but again preparing ...d5.
19.Ng3 g6?!
Protecting the f5 square, but the engines like the immediate 19...d5!?, and if 20.Ngf5 then 20...dxe4 21.dxe4 Rd8 with a large advantage (winning, according to Stockfish13).
20.Qd2 d5 21.Rd1?!
I guess we both missed that White can drop a knight into f5 anyway, eg 21.Nef5!? gxf5 22.exf5 Kh7 23.0-0-0!? with fxe6 to follow.
But not 21.exd5 Nxd5 22.Nxd5 Bxd5 23.Bxd5 Bg5! 24.Qd1 (24.Bxf7+?? Qxf7 is curtains for White) Qxd5 with a strong attack for Black.
Even worse is 21.0-0-0?, when 21...dxe4 is good enough for a large advantage thanks to the threat of ...Bxb3! but even stronger is the engines' 21...c4!
21...Kh7 22.0-0 Rd8 23.f4
The engines give 23.Nef5!?, albeit preferring Black.
23...exf4 24.Rxf4 dxe4
Not 24...Bd6? 25.Rxf6 Bxg3 26.exd5.
25.Nxe4 Nxe4 26.Rxe4
Not 26.Bxe4? Bg5 27.Rf2 f5 28.gxf5 gxf5 29.Bg2 Nxc2! nor 26.dxe4? Nf3+!? (26...Bg5!? may be even stronger) 27.Rxf3 Qxd2 28.Qxd2 Rxd2.
26...Bg5
I was not confident 26...f5!? 27.gxf5 gxf5 was good for Black after 28.Re5. Stockfish13 gives Black the upper hand but Komodo12.1.1's evaluation changes, although finally settling on a slight edge for Black. However neither engine is sure how Black should proceed.
27.Qf2 Qe7!?
Again ...f5!? seemed unclear to me. It is the engines' top choice, but they also like my self-pin, the point of which is to control the h4 square.
28.Rf1 Bh4 29.Qd2
Not 29.Qf4?? Ne2+.
29...Qg5 30.Qd1?!
White keeps his disadvantage to a minimum, according to the engines, by giving up the bishop-pair with 30.Bxd4.
30...Rad7?
Again I was not sure pushing the f pawn worked, but here the engines give 30...f5!? 31.gxf5 Bxf5! 32.Nxf5 gxf5, when it seems the rook on e4 cannot be saved, eg 33.Bc1 Qg3! 34.Re3 Qg6, when 35.Re5? is met by 35...Rg8 36.Qd2 Rag7.
The text not only misses this but hands over the initiative to White.
31.Bc1 Qe7 32.Nc4
The engines give 32.Nf5! gxf5 33.gxf5 Nxf5 34.Rxf5 with sharp but unclear play.
32...Ra7
Again ...f5!? seems to be good, but is less clear than before.
33.Bf4 Ra6 34.Kh1!?
I thought this was a strange time to be repositioning the king, but the text is Komodo12.1.1's top choice at first, albeit later being supplanted by 34.Ne3. Stockfish13 also quite likes 34.Kh1!? but prefers 34.Re3.
34...Qf8
The move ...f5!? still favours Black, according to the engines.
35.Ne3 Re8 36.Be5 Bg5 37.Bg3 Ra7 38.Be5 Qe7
Declining the tacit draw offer (but White would anyway not have to repeat moves after 38...Ra6).
39.Bxd4!?
Giving up the bishop-pair (at least temporarily) is both engines' top choice.
39...cxd4 40.Nd5
The engines reckon Black has good compensation for a pawn, but no more, after 40.Nf5!? Qd8!? (40...gxf5? 41.gxf5 is good for White) 41.Nxd4 (41.Rxd4? Qf6) Bd5 42.Rxe8 Bxg2+ 43.Kxg2 Qxe8.
40...Qc5 41.Nf6+ Bxf6 42.Rxf6
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| Position after 42.Rxf6 - the game has entered a new phase in which heavy pieces will dominate |
42...Rc8 43.Re2?!
Almost certainly better is 43.Rf2.
43...Rac7?!
Missing the strength of 43...Qg5, the point being 44.Rff2 runs into 44...Bxb3! White can play 44.Rf1, but then 44...Rac7 increases the pressure. The engines reckon White should then continue with 45.Rd2!?, but it is very passive.
44.Qf1?!
Here 44.Rff2 looks best, although Black has an edge.
44...Qg5 45.Rff2
The engines reckon White should try 45.Qf2!? Kg7 46.Rf3 or 45.Kh2!? Kg7 46.Rff2, but in each case Black is more active and has the safer king. Note that in the latter line 45...Rxc2? allows a draw after 46.Rxf7+!
45...Kg7
Missing 45...Bxb3! 46.cxb3 Rc1 47.Re1 Rxe1 48.Qxe1 Rc1.
46.Kh2?!
The engines' peculiar-looking 46.Bf3 may be best.
46...Rc5 47.Qa1?!
Again shoring up the king's defences with Bf3 may be best.
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47...Qd8!
This retreat is much better than defending the d4 pawn with 47...Rd8.
48.Be4?
Missing the danger to his king.
The engines give 48.Qg1!? Qd6+ 49.Kh2 h5, but with a strong attack for Black.
Note that 48.Re4? Rxc2 49.Rxd4 fails to 49...Qc7+! 50.Rdf4+ Kg8, when White is losing a massive amount of material.
48...Qd6+ 49.Kg2 h5 50.Qf1
This loses, but so does everything else, eg 50.Bf3 Bxb3! (other moves also give an advantage) 51.cxb3 Rc1 52.Qb2 h4.
The game finished:
50...hxg4 51.hxg4 Rh8 52.Kg1 Rg5 53.Rg2 Rxg4 54.Rxg4 Bxg4 55.Rf2 f5 56.Rf4 fxe4 57.Rf7+ Kg8 0-1
*Players were asked to provide a national as well as an international rating, with the higher being used for seeding purposes.
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