Jeremias Stark (1599) - Spanton (1814)
Sicilian Accelerated Dragon
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nxc6!? bxc6 6.Nc3!?
There are more than 1,400 games in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database with the move 6.Qd4, but the little-played text is preferred by the analysis engines Stockfish13 and Komodo12.1.1.
6...Bg7 7.f3?!
This seems to be more weakening than anything.
7...d6
I rejected 7...Nf6!? because of 8.e5, but the engines reckon Black is better after 8...Ng8.
8.Bf4 Qb6 9.Na4
This looks awkward, but the engines only marginally prefer 9.Rb1.
9...Qa5+ 10.c3 Be6 11.Bd3 Nf6 12.0-0 0-0 13.c4!?
The engines prefer 13.Be3, although then Komodo12.1.1 continues 13...c5 14.c4.
13...Nd7 14.Bd2 Qc7
I seriously considered the pinning 14...Qa6, but rejected it because of the reply 15.Qc2?!, missing that 15...Nb6 costs White a pawn after 16.Nxb6 Qxb6+ or 16.Nc3 Bxc4. I think I somehow thought White could meet 15...Nb6 with 16.c5?, but then very good for Black is 16...Qxa4 17.cxb6 Qxc2 18.Bxc2 Bxb2.
15.Bc3?!
Black is only slightly better, according to the engines, after a move such as 15.Qe2.
15...Rab8?!
Strong is 15...Bxc3 16.Nxc3 Qb6+ 17.Rf2 Ne5 as 18.b3? fails to 18...Qe3.
16.b3 Ne5?!
The engines prefer 16...Nc5 17.Bxg7 Kxg7 18.Nxc5 Qb6, although they reckon it is at best a small edge for Black. In this line 17.Nxc5 Bxc3 18.Nxe6 fxe6 is better for Black, according to the engines, presumably because, although there are opposite-coloured bishops, the black bishop has much more freedom.
17.f4
Now White is better, according to the engines.
17...Nxd3 18.Qxd3 Bxc3 19.Nxc3 f5!?
Trying to open lines for the bishop, but Black's pawn-structure becomes compromised.
20.Rad1 fxe4 21.Qxe4 Bf5 22.Qe3!?
Komodo12.1.1 quite likes this move, but I felt the coming exchange of queens favours Black as a knight and queen often combine well in the middlegame while, after the queens come off, Black is left with the only piece (apart from the kings) that can move diagonally.
22...Qb6 23.Qxb6?!
Improving the black pawn-structure seems unnecessary, although at first the engines are happy with this capture.
23..axb6 24.Rde1 Rfe8 25.Ne4 Ra8 26.Rf2 h6 27.h3 Kf7 28.Ng3!?
A strange move, at least to me, but the position remains equal, according to the engines.
28...Bd7 29.f5 g5 30.Nh5 Ra5 31.g4 b5!?
White gets an outside passed pawn after this but it is a long way from the queening square and meanwhile an exchange of pawns gives Black's bishop more scope.
32.cxb5 Rxb5 33.Ng3 Rd5 34.Rb2?!
A puzzling move. Almost any other reasonable move keeps the position equal.
34...Rd3 35.Kh2 c5 36.Ne4?!
White is very close to equal after 36.Rf2, according to the engines.
36...Bc6?!
Missing the chance to get rid of the backward e pawn with 36...e6 or 36...e5.
37.Nf2 Rf3 38.Ne4?!
Probably better is 38.Re6 although Black is fine after 38...h5.
38...Rb8 39.Ree2?
Black is better after 39.Rbe2 Rb7, according to the engines, but the text runs into big trouble.
39...Rb4 40.Nd2 Rff4
Even better, according to the engines, is 40...Rc3!?, when the white king is suddenly looking rather vulnerable, eg 41.Nf1 h5 42.gxh5 Rh4 43.Re3 Rc1 44.Rf2 Rxh5 with continuing pressure.
41.Nc4?!
Better, according to the engines, is 41.Kg3 or 41.Rc2, although they much prefer Black.
41...Bb5
41...Rf1?! looks vaguely threatening but is harmless.
42.Rbc2
The engines reckon slightly better is 42.Rbd2!?, but Black still wins a pawn and is much better.
42...Bxd4 43.Rxc4 Rbxc4 44.bxc4 Rxc4 45.a3 h5?!
This is OK but unnecessarily complicating.
46.gxh5 Rf4?
Much better is 46...Rh4 with a large advantage.
47.Kg3?!
Objectively better is 47.h6 Rh4 48.Re6, although Black still has an advantage after 48...c4.
47...Rxf5?
...Rh4 is still much better.
48.Rf2 e6
 |
| How should White proceed? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
49.Rxf5+?
The pawn-ending is lost for White, despite having passed pawns on the a and h files, so something else should have been tried, eg 49.a4, but then 49...c4 is very good for Black.
49...exf5 50.h4?!
A better try is 50.a4 but 50...c4 51.Kf2 c3 52.Ke2 f4 etc wins. Also losing in this variation is 51.a5 c3 52.a6 c2 53.a7 c1=Q 54.a8=Q Qg1+ 55.Kf3 Qh1+.
The game finished:
50...gxh4+ 51.Kxh4 c4 52.a4 c3 53.a5 c2 54.a6 c1=Q 55.a7 Qf4+ 56.Kh3 Qe3+ 57.Kh4 Qf2+ 58.Kh3 Qxa7 0-1
You’d be happy here in Rhodes Tim. The Sheraton doesn’t have the same range of food as the Fodele in Crete, but you can get an Expresso at breakfast and there are big spoons for cereal amongst the cutlery arrangement on the table. Playing conditions are excellent, with loads of space between tables. Getting into Greece is a little more difficult than a month ago. All adults on the flight from Heathrow were tested for COVID (families got away with one parent tested). So there were three queues: passport control, PLF (they weren’t really interested in my double vaccination certificate) and testing (almost poked my eye out!). It took more than an hour to clear.
ReplyDeleteHmm! Sorry to hear about the border-control problems, but I guess they're worth it once you get to your destination.
ReplyDeleteI fear travel is going to get more difficult as long as the infection rates keep increasing in the UK. The skill/luck consists of picking somewhere that, unlike Bulgaria, for example, isn't going to suddenly put Brits on a red list.