Northumbria Summing-Up

BY my calculations my final score in the Challengers (U2000) of +4=1-4 saw me lose 52.6 Fide elo and about 49.8 ECF elo (one Scottish opponent had an online ECF rating but not an over-the-board rating, so I am not sure how many points - if any - I gained beating him).

Northumbria - Final Round

Can you find a desirable little combination here for Black in Spanton (1808 Fide/1998 ECF) - Cameron Davis (1488 ECF), Northumbria Challengers Round 9?

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No, but CD thought he could, and played 23...a4? 24.Bxa4 Be2, but was a pawn down after 25.Rd4 (1-0, 48 moves).

Calamity Carries On

Black to play and lose in Robert A Dean (1724 Fide/1861 ECF) - Spanton (1808 Fide/1998 ECF), Northumbria Challengers Round 8

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White is a pawn up but only slightly better after 40...Qd2 or 40...a5!?, according to the analysis engines Stockfish14 and Komodo12.1.1. I played 40...Qc1+??

More Calamity!

REACHED the following position with the white pieces against English junior Adam Faulkner (1628 Fide/1819 ECF) in round seven of the Northumbria Challengers (U2000) this afternoon.

Black has just played 15...Nc7-e6

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The analysis engines Stockfish14 and Komodo12.1.1  reckon White is better after either 16.Nxe6 Bxe6 17.Nd5!? Bxb2 18.Nb6 Qe8 19.Rb1 Bg7 20.f5 or simply 16.Nde2!?

Instead I played 16.Nd5?? Nexd4 17.Nxe7+ Nxe7, only to realise I would be a piece down after 18.Bxd4 (0-1, 29 moves).

Calamity!

REACHED the following position this morning with the black pieces against Ned Carmichael (1664 Fide/1833 ECF), who has just castled.

Black to play and lose

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Black has lost castling rights, but is only slightly worse after the sensible 13...Qxd1 14.Rxd1 Bg4.

Instead I went for it on the kingside with 13...Qh4?? and had to resign after the reply 14.Qd8+.

Northumbria Rounds Four & Five

FACED Sam Coates (1589 Fide), my second Scot of the tournament, in round four of the Northumbria Challengers (U2000) yesterday morning.

I won in 68 moves, and I am fairly sure it was the last Challengers game to finish.

In the afternoon I lost horribly in 32 moves to English junior Edward Jackson (1435 Fide/1893 ECF).

Northumbria Round Three

FACED a Scot in this afternoon's third round of the Northumbria Challengers (U2000).

Spanton (1808 Fide) - Adam Walkowiak (1595 Fide)

Sicilian ...e6

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 Nc6 4.Bg2 g6?!

I explained in https://beauchess.blogspot.com/2021/07/basel-round-four.html why I believe this move, although it has been played by strong grandmasters, is probably a mistake.

5.d4 Bg7!?

For the most-popular move, 5...cxd4, see the above link.

6.d5!?

The analysis engines Stockfish14 and Komodo12.1.1 prefer this to the commoner 6.dxc5.

6...exd5

The engines suggest 6...Nd4 7.Nfd2!? exd5 8.c3 Nc6 9.exd5 Qe7+ 10.Qe2 Qxe2 11.Kxe2 Ne5, but claim a large advantage for White.

7.exd5 Qe7+ 8.Be3!

This offer of a pawn and the exchange is strong, even though I did not realise how strong at the time.

8...Bxb2

The engines agree this is best, but reckon White is already winning.

9.Nbd2 Bxa1

The engines give best-play as 9...Nf6 10.0-0 Nxd5 11.Bg5 Nc3 12.Bxe7 Nxd1 13.Bd6 Bxa1, at which point Black is a rook and two pawns up but seems completely lost after 14.Re1+ Kd8 15.Ng5.

10.Qxa1 Nd4 11.Nxd4 cxd4 12.Qxd4 Qf6

Or 12...f6 13.Ne4 with a huge attack for the exchange.

13.Qxf6 Nxf6 14.Bd4 Ke7 15.0-0

The immediate 15.d6+ is also good.

15...Re8 16.d6+

Nor 16.Re1? Kf8 as 17.Bxf6?? loses to 17...Rxe1+.

16...Kxd6 17.Bxf6

Position after 17.Bxf6

Materially, White only has two pieces for rook and pawn, but White also has the bishop-pair and a lead in development, while Black will have problems developing his queenside and keeping the king out of trouble. Stockfish14 has White at +5.92; Komodo12.1.1 has White at +2.67.

1-0 (37 moves)

Should I Play On?

MY game in this morning's second round of the Northumbria Challengers reached a critical moment in the following position:

White has just played 24.Ra1-e1 in Mark Waterfield (1609 Fide/1718 ECF) - Spanton (1808 Fide/1998 ECF)

As I thought about my reply, MW offered a draw.

What should I have done (apart from complain to an arbiter)?

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I took the draw.

MW thought Black should play on with 24...Qxb2, meeting 25.Qd8+ Be8 26.Nf6+! with 26...Bxf6, hitting the queen.

I thought White would then win with 27.Rxe6?, missing that after 27...Qb1+ 28.Kf2 Black wins with 28...Qxa2+ 29.Re2 Qxe2+ etc.

The analysis engines Stockfish14 and Komodo12.1.1 point out White does have a win after 26...Bxf6, namely 27.Qxe8+! Rxe8 28.Rxe8#.

Ilkley Round Five

Spanton (1998) - Andrew Wainwright (2030)

Sicilian Bb5(+)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.0-0 Nc6 6.Qe2!?

There are five more-popular moves in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database, headed by 6.c3.

6...e5!?
The analysis engines Stockfish14 and Komodo12.1.1 quite like this committal move, although it is much less successful percentage-wise than 6...Nf6, 6...g6 and 6...e6 in Mega21.

7.c3 Nf6 8.Rd1 Be7

8...Qg4!? 9.d3 is slightly better for White, according to the engines.

9.d4 cxd4 10.cxd4 Qc7?!

Putting the queen on an open file like this is not often a good idea. The engines give 10...exd4 11.Nxd4 d5!? 12.Nb5, but with advantage to White.

11.Nc3 a6?!

This is probably too slow. The engines give 12...0-0, but much prefer White.

12.Bg5 b5?

Black is too far behind in development to try this. However after 12...0-0 13.Rac1 White is clearly much better.

13.Rac1 Qb7 14.Bxf6 Bxf6 15.Nd5 Be7?!

There are better moves than this natural-looking one, but Black is in big trouble whatever he plays.

White to play and win

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16.dxe5 dxe5 17.Nxe5! Rc8

Or 17...Nxe5 18.Rc7 Qb8 19.Rxe7+ Kf8 20.Qh5 f6 21.Rc1 with a huge attack.

18.Qg4! 0-0 19.Nxc6 1-0

My final score of +3=2-0 was a 2087 rating performance in my four games against ECF-rated players. Assuming my k factor is 20, I gained 9.2 elo in those four games.

Here are the final standings:

1= Tim R Spanton & Joe Varley 4pts

3. Kevin Winter 3pts

4= Tom Hobbs & Sam Davies 2pts

6= Andrew Wainwright & Gawain Ako 1pt (neither played in the first three rounds)

8. Jacob Smith 0pts

There was no prize money, but there were trophies for the first two places, so Joe Varley and I had an armageddon play-off. I had five minutes, while JV had four minutes and the draw, but I played so badly he won without any trouble.

Northumbria Round One

The main playing area before the start of this evening's first round

Spanton (1808 Fide/1998 ECF) - Anuurai Sainbayar (1561 Fide/1547 ECF)

Challengers (U2000)

French Irregular

1.e4 e6 2.d4 a6!?

An anti-theoretical continuation that was a favourite of Michael Basman, but has also been tried by other strong players, including Veselin Topalov ... and Northumbria congress organiser Tim Wall.

3.c4 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4

This is not in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database but is a typical move in positions like this.

5.Bd3 dxc4 6.Bxc4

We have reached a known position - there are seven games in Mega21, but in each it is White to move. So Black has gained a tempo on those games, but the engines Stockfish14 and Komodo12.1.1 still slightly prefer White.

6...b5 7.Bb3

Also playable is 7.Bd3 as 7...Qxd4?? loses to 8.Bxb5+ etc.

7...Bb7 8.f3 Qh4+!?

This is easily countered, but it does slightly inconvenience White.

9.g3

The engines prefer 9.Kf1!?

9...Qh5

And they reckon the black queen should stay on the h4-d8 diagonal with 9...Qe7 or 9...Qf6.

10.Bf4 c5

Stockfish14 wants to offer the c pawn with 10...Nc6!?

11.a3 Ba5 12.g4 Qh4+ 13.Bg3 Qg5 14.Ne2 cxd4

14...Qe3?! is met by 15.Rf1, after which the black queen is in danger of getting trapped.

15.Qxd4 Nc6 16.Qd2?!

The engines prefer 16.Qf2 Rd8 17.0-0.

16...Qxd2+ 17.Kxd2 Rd8+

Queens have come off, but the white king is still in danger.

Where should the white king go?

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18.Ke1?

I thought the queenside was dangerous for the king, but the engines like 18.Kc2, when 18...Bxc3 can be met by 19.Kxc3 or 19.bxc3 (but not 19.Nxc3?? Nd4+), and 18...b4 19.axb4 Nxb4+ 20.Kb1 also seems fine for White.

18...Nge7 19.Kf2?

White had to challenge on the d file with 19.Rd1, when Black is better but the white position is probably defendable.

19...Bb6+

This is good but the immediate 19...Rd2!? is stronger, according to the engines.

20.Kg2

The engines slightly prefer 10.Ke1!?, but White still has a horrible game. Their main line continues 10...Ng6 11.f4!? h5 12.gxh5 Rxh5 13.Rd1 Rxd1+ 14.Kxd1 Nh4, when Black has continuing pressure against a loose white position. If in this line White tries 11.Rd1, the engines give 11...Rxd1+ 12.Kxd1 Nge5 13.Rf1 Ke7, again with pressure.

20...Rd2 21.Rab1 Nd4 22.Bd1 Ng6

Even better, according to the engines, is to start opening the kingside with 22...f5!?

23.Be1 Nf4+ 24.Kf1

How should Black convert her advantage?

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24...Rd3??

Black has an edge, according to the engines, after 24...Nxf3 25.Nxf4 (not 25.Bxd2?? Nxd2+ 26.Ke1 Nxb1 27.Nxf4 Nxc3 28.bxc3 Bxe4) Nxh2+ 26.Rxh2 Rxh2, when Black has a rook and two pawns for a pair of knights, and White's pieces remain uncoordinated.

By no means so clear is 24...Rxd1 25.Rxd1 Nfxe2 26.Nxe2 Nxf3, although Black does have a pawn and the bishop-pair for an exchange.

25.Nxf4 1-0

Northumbria Day One

THE venue for the congress is the four-star Marriott on the outskirts of Gateshead.

The hotel's official name, Newcastle Gateshead Marriott Hotel MetroCentre, is the type of cumbersome mouthful that usually hints at a not-so-splendid isolation.

This is indeed the case - the hotel is a long walk from Gateshead town centre and even further from Newcastle.

But it is on the doorstep of the amazing MetroCentre shopping mall, which included Europe's largest indoor theme park until the park closed 13 years ago.

The mall is really five connected malls, called Red, Blue, Green, Yellow and Platinum.

It has the largest Boots and the largest Costa I have ever seen, and this morning I counted at least two other Costas, maybe three - it is hard to be sure.

There is also a Wetherspoon and a Marks & Spencer - I came across the latter yesterday afternoon but struggled to find it again this morning.

The centre is a tourist attraction in its own right, which is presumably why it has its own train and bus stations.

The Village, Gateshead MetroCentre

It even has its own JobCentre Plus and police station, albeit the latter is called a Northumbria Police Neighbourhood Office.

Back at the Marriott, the congress starts this evening at 6.30.

Entries (and withdrawals) appear to be still coming in, eg the Challengers, which I am playing in, went down from 59 entries to 58 yesterday, but is now showing 60.

The playing area is still being set up, but looks excellent.

Ilkley Round Four

Kevin Winter (1782) - Spanton (1998)

Sicilian Hyper-Accelerated Dragon

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4!?

This is much less common than 4.Nxd4 but scores 56% compared with 51% for the latter in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database.

4...Nf6 5.e5 Nc6 6.Qa4 Nd5 7.Qe4 Nb6!?

Marginally more popular in Mega21 is 7...Nc7. Trailing both moves in popularity is 7...Ndb4!?, but it is much more successful percentage-wise (44% for ...Ndb4, 38% for ...Nb6 and 35% for ...Nc7).

8.Nc3 d5!?

The main line runs 8...Bg7 9.Bf4 d5!? 10.exd6 Bf5 11.Qe3 0-0 12.0-0-0!? with chances for both sides.

9.exd6 Bf5 10.dxe7!?

More popular are 10.Qh4 and 10.Qe2.

10...Qxe7?!

Almost certainly better is 10...Bxe7.

11.Qxe7+ Bxe7

Position after 11...Bxe7

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12.Bb5!?

Stockfish14 and Komodo12.1.1 reckon this apparent novelty is an improvement over the known move 12.Be3.

12...0-0 13.0-0 Rfd8

I rejected 13...Bxc2!? because of 14.Bxc6 bxc6 15.Nd4, but the engines reckon 15...Ba4 16.Nxa4 Nxa4 17.Nxc6 Bf6 equalises, and Black certainly gets a lot of activity for being a pawn down.

14.Be3

Stronger, according to the engines, is 14.Re1!?, eg 14...Bb4 15.Bg5 Rdc8 16.Bd3 Bxd3 17.cxd3, when White's extra pawn is isolated but is passed and not particularly weak.

14...Bf6 15.Bxc6 bxc6 16.Bg5 Bxg5!?

The engines prefer this to 16...Kg7.

17.Nxg5 Bxc2 18.Rac1

KW offered a draw.

18...Bf5

I played on even though I thought White must be better. However the engines reckon the game is equal, presumably regarding the black bishop in an open position as sufficient compensation for Black's isolanis.

19.Rfd1 Kg7 20.h3 Rac8 21.Nf3 Kf6

The engines prefer 21...c5!?

22.Rxd8 Rxd8 23.Ne2 Be4 24.Ned4 Bxf3?!

Now Black has no compensation for the queenside pawn weaknesses. The engines reckon 24...Rd6 maintains equality.

25.Nxf3 Rd6 26.Kf1 h5 27.h4 Nd5 28.Rc4 Nb6 29.Rc1 Ke6 30.Ng5+ Kf6??
White is only slightly better after 30...Ke7, according to the engines.

31.Ne4+  Ke5 32.Nxd6 Kxd6 33.Rc3 Na4 34.Rd3+ Ke6 35.b3 Nb6 36.Ke2 Nd5 37.g3 Ke5 38.a3 c5 39.f3 Ke6 40.Kd2 Ke5 41.Kc2 Ke6 42.Kd2 Ke5 43.Kc2 Ke6 44.Kd2??

White wins easily by activating the rook, eg 44.f4 Kd6 45.Rd2 Ke6 46.Re2+ Kd7 47.Re5 Kd6 48.Kd3 Nb6 49.Re8 Kd7 50.Rb8 Kc6 51.Rf8 f5 52.Rf6+ etc.

After the text I announced I was claiming a draw by repetition as my next move would be 44...Ke5.

½–½

Northumbria

ARRIVED in Gateshead for Tim Wall's Northumbria congress, which starts tomorrow, split into four sections.

In the Masters there are 81 entries, including four grandmasters: Daniel Gormally, Marian Petrov, Keith Arkell and Peter Wells. Among the other titled players is international master Michael Basman.

In the Challengers (U2000), which I have entered, there are 59 players, the Major (U1750) has 19 players and the Minor (U1500) has 33 players.

The format is one game tomorrow and then two a day for four days. The time control is 90 minutes with a 30-second increment.

There are apparently also two all-play-all invitationals, but I cannot find information about them at the official site: https://northumbriamasters.com/

Ilkley Round Three

Joe Varley (1830) - Spanton (1998)

Sicilian Maróczy Bind

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.c4

There are 21,016 games with this move in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database, and 28,965 examples of 5.Nc3. The former, which is preferred by the engines Stockfish14 and Komodo12.1.1, scores 57%; the latter 50%.

5...Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nc3 d6 8.f3!?

The main move is 8.Be2, but Nimzowitsch, Rubinstein, Topalov and Howell are among those who have played the text.

8...0-0 9.Qd2

Position after 9.Qd2

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9...Nxd4!?

More popular is 9...Bd7, when the main line continues 10.Be2 Nxd4, but I felt the light-square bishop is better placed on e6 as there is no need to play ...Bc6 to induce White to play the defensive f3.

10.Bxd4 Be6 11.g4!?

Aggressive, but arguably premature. The main line in Mega21 runs 11.Be2 Qa5 12.0-0 Rfc8 13.b3, when the engines reckon Black equalises with 13...b5!, the point being 14.cxb5?! Nxe4! 15.fxe4 Bxd4+ 16.Qxd4 Rxc3 favours Black, according to the engines.

11...Qa5 12.0-0-0!?

This is consistent with White's last move, but the engines prefer a more-cautious approach with 12.Be2 or 12.b3.

12...Rfc8 13.g5 Nd7 14.Bxg7 Kxg7 15.Kb1 Ne4!?

This seems better than 15...Bxc4 16.Qd4+ e5 17.Qxd6.

16.b3?!

The engines reckon White should go for it on the kingside with 16.h4!?, eg 16...Nxf3 17.Qf2 Ne5 18.h5 or 16...Nxc4 17.Bxc4 Rxc4 18.h5, in each case with an unclear position.

16...Nxf3 17.Qe3 Ne5

The knight is well-placed for attack and defence.

18.h4 Qb4 19.Nd5 Bxd5 20.exd5 a5 21.h5 a4 22.hxg6 hxg6 23.Bh3?!

The engines reckon White should offer an exchange of queens with 23.Qd2!?, but Black would be much better.

23...Rh8?!

I have no idea why I did not play 23...Rxc4. I suspect I saw ...Nxc4 but somehow missed ...Rxc4. Even so, Black is also winning after the text.

24.Qe1 Qa3 25.Qc3 axb3 26.Qxb3 Qc5 27.Bg2

White loses a piece after 27.Rc1? Ra3.

The game continued:

27...Qxc4 28.Rxh8 Qxb3+ 29.axb3 Rxh8 30.Rc1 Rh2 31.Be4 Re2 32.Bc2 Rg2 33.Bd1 Rg1 34.Kc2 Rxg5 35.Kd2 Rg2+ 36.Ke3 Rg1 37.Ke4 f5+ 38.Ke3 Kf6 39.Ke2 b5 40.Rc8 Rg4 41.Rb8 b4 42.Rf8+ Nf7 43.Ke3 Re4+ 44.Kd3 Kg7 45.Re8 Ne5+ 46.Kc2 Kf7 47.Rb8 Rd4 48.Be2 Ng4 49.Bb5 Ne3+ 50.Kb2 Nxd5 51.Bc4 Ke6 52.Rxb4 Ke5 53.Rb5 g5 54.Rb7 e6 55.Rg7 g4 56.Ba6 Kf4 57.Bc8

My scoresheet ends here as my clock had fallen below five minutes (the time control was all moves in an hour).

0-1

Morphing The French XXI

MY latest attempt to play against the French Defence in the style of Paul Morphy.

Spanton (1998) - Sam Davies (1944)

Ilkley Round 2

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, and also the most-successful of the popular moves, scoring an excellent 58%.

5.Bd3 Ne7!?

Position after 5...Ne7!?

One rule-of-thumb for creating winning chances in the Exchange Variation of the French Defence is to develop the king's knight in a different way, eg if the white king's knight goes to e2, the black king's knight should go to f6, and if, as in this game, the white king's knight goes to f3, the black king's knight can go to e7.

6.0-0 Bg4 7.Re1 Qd7 8.Nbd2 Nbc6 9.c3 0-0

Another rule-of-thumb for creating winning chances is to castle on the opposite flank, and 9...0-0-0 is easily the commonest move in Mega21. It also scores eight percentage points better than  the text.

10.Nf1 Rfe8 11.Ng3!?

This has been played by a 2512, but 11.Ne3, immediately hitting the light-square bishop, may be better. My idea with the text was to follow up with h3, but I never get the chance to effectively play this.

11...Nf5 12.Nxf5 Bxf5 13.Be3 Ne7 14.Bg5!?

Stockfish14 flips between the text and 14.Ne5. Komodo12.1.1 marginally prefers 14.Nh4 over 14.Ne5.

14...f6 15.Be3!?

The engines prefer 15.Bh4.

The question after the text is whether giving Black the free move 14...f6 has weakened the black position or surrendered a useful tempo; I suspect the latter is more likely to be correct.

15...Bxd3

Stockfish14 prefers attacking on the kingside with 15...g5!? Komodo12.1.1 suggests consolidation with 15...c6.

16.Qxd3 Nf5 17.Re2 Bf8!?

Part of a plan to reroute the knight to e4. The downside is that the manoeuvre, including reactivating the bishop, takes a lot of time.

18.Rae1 Nd6 19.Bf4 Ne4 20.Nd2

An interesting alternative to immediately challenging the black knight is 20.c4 c6 21.c5!?

20...Nxd2 21.Qxd2 c6 22.f3!?

I cannot recall my thinking here, but the text may have been to stop Black putting pieces on the g4 and e4 squares (as well as eliminating back-rank mating threats).

22...Rxe2 23.Qxe2 Kf7 24.Qd3 Re8 25.Rxe8 Qxe8 26.Kf2

26.Qxh7?? would demonstrate that not all back-rank mating threats were eliminated by 22.f3!?

26...g6 27.h4 Qe6 28.h5 Bd6 29.hxg6+ hxg6 30.Qd2 Qd7 31.Bxd6 Qxd6 32.Qh6

White gets a slight initiative, but against careful defence it is not enough to upset the balance.

32...Qf8 33.Qh7+ Qg7 34.Qh2 Qf8 35.Qf4

35.Qc7+ Qe7 36.Qb8 a6 is nothing for White.

35...Kg7

SD offered a draw.

36.g4 Qe7 37.Qe3 ½–½

Ilkley Round One

Spanton (1998) - Tom Hobbs (-)

Sicilian Bb5(+)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.Bxc6

If White intends disrupting Black's queenside pawn-formation, this is the time to do it as otherwise Black can cover the queen's knight with 4...Nge7, 4...Qc7 or 4...Qb6.

4...bxc6 5.d3

This may look wimpy, or at least passive, but putting pawns on light squares makes sense after giving up the light-square bishop, and White does not want to open the position for Black's bishop-pair.

5...d5!?

This is a popular alternative to the mainline 5...Ne7, but White scores 63% against it - compared with 53% for 5...Ne7 - in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database.

6.0-0 Qc7

The simplifying 6...dxe4?! 7.dxe4 Ba6! 8.Re1 Qxd1 9.Rxd1 leaves Black with a weak queenside.

7.Re1 Ne7!?

This is the most-popular and most-successful move in Mega21, albeit from a small sample. It is also the top choice of Stockfish14, but Black faces difficulties completing his development. Komodo12.1.1 suggests 7...Nf6.

8.c4 g6?!

This is strongly disliked by the engines, but they reckon their eventual choice of 8...f6!? is also better for White.

9.Bg5 Bg7 10.e5 Ng8?!

A retrograde move early-ish in the opening is risky. However Stockfish14 suggests 10...h6 11.Be3 (11.Bf6!?) d4 12.Bf4, claiming a positionally-won game for White, while Komodo12.1.1 prefers 10...0-0 11.Nbd2 Nf5 12.Nb3, giving White the upper hand.

11.Nc3 Bb7 12.Rc1

Possibly even stronger is 12.cxd5, when 12...cxd5 13.Nb5 and 14.Nd6+ is clearly good for White, while 12...exd5 13.Na4 either wins a pawn or induces 13...c4!? 14.dxc4 dxc4, when 15.Nc5 is again very good for White.

12...h6 13.Bh4 g5 14.Bg3 Ne7 15.cxd5 cxd5

If 15...exd5?!, White has 16.e6, while 15...Nxd5 can be met by 16.Ne4.

16.Nb5 Qb6 17.Nd6+ Kf8 18.Nxb7!?

Of course I knew the white knight is better than the black bishop, but I liked the initiative White gets after the text. However the engines prefer a steadier approach, eg Stockfish14 gives 18.d4 c4 19.b3.

18...Qxb7 19.Rxc5 Qxb2 20.Qa4 Kg8 21.Rc7

The engines prefer attacking on the kingside with 21.h4!?

21...Nf5 22.Qd7 Rb8??

The engines give Black plenty of compensation for a pawn after 22...Rf8 23.Rxa7 g4 24.Nh4 Qd2. Instead they suggest 23.h3 with what they reckon is a game with equal chances, although to me White's position looks easier to play.

23.Qxf7+ Kh7 24.Qxe6 Rhf8 25.Qxd5 g4 26.Nh4 Nxg3

White to play and win

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27.Rxg7+!

27.hxg3 is only good enough for a draw after 27...Qxf2+ 28.Kh2 Qxe1 29.Qd6! Rg8! 30.Rxg7+ Rxg7 31.Qxb8 Rf7, according to the engines.

27...Kxg7 28.Qd7+ Rf7

Black is too far behind on pawns after both 28...Kh8 29.Ng6+ Kg8 30.Nxf8 Rxf8 31.Qxg4+ etc and 28...Kg8 29.Qxg4+ Kh7 30.Qg6+ Kh8 31.Qxh6+ Kg8 32.Qg6+ Kh8 33.Qxg3.

29.Qxg4+ Kh7?

Better is 29...Kh8, but 30.Qxg3 leaves White with four pawns for the exchange.

30.Qg6+ Kh8 31.Qxf7 Ne2+ 32.Kf1 1-0

Ilkley Day Two

THE two players who withdrew shortly before the start of the tournament re-entered today, bringing the participants to eight.

This meant what had become an all-play-all reverted to a swiss with the following players:

Andrew Wainwright 2010*
Timothy Spanton 1998
Sam Davies 1944
Gawain Ako 1942*
Joe Varley 1830
Kevin Winter 1782
Jacob Smith 1577
Tom Hobbs (unrated)

*Missed first three rounds

Ilkley Day One

THE Ilkley tournament is being held at the town's dedicated chess centre.

Ilkley Chess Centre is up the stairs on the first floor

World champions overlook the main playing room

Games are shown live in the refreshment area

A well-stocked bar

The centre currently has a maximum capacity of  18 players, which was not a problem for this weekend as there were eight entries.

This was reduced to seven by a late withdrawal, so one of the organisers, who had also entered, stepped aside to make a more-manageable field of six players:

Timothy Spanton 1998
Sam "Son of Nigel" Davies 1944
Joe Varley 1830
Kevin Winter 1782
Jacob Smith 1577

Tom Hobbs (unrated - this is apparently his first over-the-board event)

I do not want to tire myself out analysing games while the tournament is running, but results should eventually appear at https://ecflms.org.uk/lms/node/71675/rounds and I intend to publish my games asap.

Brits Abroad

I HAVE entered the Calvià congress in Mallorca - and so have quite a few others from the British Isles.

It is being held from Saturday October 9 to Sunday October 17, with a time limit of 40 moves in 90 minutes, a 15-minute 'windback' and a 30-second increment from move one.

I played last year, staying in Magaluf, which felt deserted thanks to covid restrictions. It will be interesting to see how things have changed in 12 months.

Naturally the largest number of entrants is from Spain, although making up less than a third of the total, but for some reason the second-highest contingent is from Czechia.

No.		FED	Federation	Count
1		ARG	Argentina	1
2		CZE	Czech Republic	9
3		DEN	Denmark	1
4		ENG	England	6
5		ESP	Spain	20
6		FRA	France	2
7		GER	Germany	6
8		IRL	Ireland	4
9		LAT	Latvia	4
10		NED	Netherlands	2
11		WLS	Wales	1
12		YEM	Yemen	1
Total				57

The full list can be seen at http://chess-results.com/tnr560234.aspx?lan=1&art=0&flag=30

Ilkley More Expensive

AM catching a train to Leeds today, where I will stay while playing in this weekend's congress at Ilkley Chess Centre.

The tournament consists of three rounds tomorrow and two on Sunday, but the time limit of one hour for each player for all moves means there should be plenty of time to relax on Saturday evening.

The games will be ECF rated, and there are seven entries:

Andrew Wainwright 2010

Timothy Spanton 1998

Sam Davies 1944

Gawain Ako 1942

Joe Varley 1830

Kevin Winter 1782

Jacob Smith 1577

I am planning to commute by train from Leeds as hotels are considerably cheaper there than in Ilkley, which turns out to be a spa town.

Opening Lessons From Wrocław IX

IN round nine I had white against Kinga Marczyk (1271)

English Botvinnik

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.e4

More popular are 5.d3 and 5.e3, but there are 2,207 examples of the text in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database. It received a major boost with publication of The Dynamic English by Tony Kosten (Gambit 1999).

5...d6 6.Nge2

The game has reached the basic set-up recommended by Kosten. As he points out, the pawn-formation with a hole at d4 was pioneered by Aron Nimzowitsch and refined by Mikhail Botvinnik, who developed the king's knight to e2 rather than Nimzowitsch's preferred f3.

6...Nge7

Kosten says this is "considered Black's best," and it is the main move in Mega21.

7.0-0 0-0 8.f4!?

There are lines in the Botvinnik system where a quick f4 can inconvenience Black, but that is usually when White threatens to continue with an immediate f5. That is not the case here, so 8.d3 is more flexible, and is very much the main move in Mega21. Basically in the Botvinnik system of the English, White has three possible plans: break on the kingside with f4; break on the queenside by pushing the b pawn; advance in the centre with d4. The last is not often on as Black can drop a knight into d4 at will, and it is probably too early to decide whether to go for a kingside or queenside break, hence 8.d3 is probably better than my choice.

8...exf4!?

Probably a novelty. A 2527 in Mega21 played the standard-type move 8...Be6, while Stockfish14 and Komodo12.1.1 like 8...Bg4. The text makes the f4 square a good post for a white knight, while it is not clear a black piece could remain for long on e5.

9.Nxf4

Stockfish14 narrowly prefers 9.gxf4. My other main analysis engine, Komodo12..1.1 prefers the text, which seems to fit in more with Kosten's general advice.

9...Nd4

Thanks to 8...exf4!?, Black has occupied d4 with  aknight at a moment when White cannot simply swop it off, and the knight is in White's half of the board. On the other hand the white knight is also well-posted, and the half-open f file looks more useful for White than the half-open e file is for Black.

10.d3 Bd7

This is an uninspiring post for the bishop, but the bishop will have to be developed somewhere at some point and it is far from obvious Black will find it a better square.

11.Be3 Nec6 12.Qd2

White has connected rooks in just 12 moves

Komodo12.1.1 at first assesses this position as slightly better for White, while Stockfish14 reckons the position is more-or-less equal. Given more time, the engines swop assessments, and generally fluctuate between having White slightly better or effectively equal. The full game can be seen at https://beauchess.blogspot.com/2021/08/wrocaw-round-nine.html

Opening Lessons From Wrocław VIII

IN round eight I had Black against Konrad Kokurewicz (1715).

Scotch

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5

White scores 54% against this move in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database, but only 52% against the main alternative 4...Nf6.

5.Nxc6

This move trails a long way behind 5.Be3 in popularity, but is ahead of the old club-favourite 5.Nb3.

5...Qf6

A well-known intermezzo, although both it and the less-popular alternative 5...bxc6 score 46%.

6.Qf3!?

Magnus Carlsen's choice; Garry Kasparov preferred the awkward-looking 6.Qd2. Vishy Anand and Vasyl Ivanchuk have played both moves.

Black has four ways of meeting the text (discounting a 2002 game in Mega21 where 6...Qd4?? was played).

Least popular is 6...Qxc6?!, which John Emms in Starting Out: The Scotch Game (Everyman 2005) says "loses time and White can gain a further tempo with Nc3 followed by Bb5."

Natural-looking is 6...Qxf3, which has been played by Kramnik, but Emms says that although "compromising White's pawn-structure on the kingside ... certainly looks sensible," adds that White "still managed to achieve an advantage" in a high-level game in 2004, ie the year before his book came out.

Black's most-popular reply - just - is 6...bxc6, which Emms does not mention. Black's queenside is compromised and the queens remain in tension, but Black avoids the Spanish Exchange formation arising after:

6...dxc6

I call this the Spanish Exchange formation because it best-known from the sequence 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 (the black a pawn being on a6 is a minor difference). Black's 4-3 queenside majority will not produce a passed pawn unless White is careless, so endings, particularly pawn-endings, often favour White. Giving up the bishop-pair is the price White pays in the Spanish Exchange for achieving this set-up. In the version of the Scotch seen in this game, White keeps both bishops but Black hopes for compensation from active piece-play.

7.Nc3

This is the normal move, although 7.Bc4!? scores nine percentage points better in Mega21. 7.Qxf6!? has been played by grandmasters, but after 7...Nxf6 Black's development advantage is starting to look significant.

7...Be6 8.Be3 Qxf3!?

This is Komodo12.1.1's choice, but it scores just 20% in Mega21, albeit from a small sample. Stockfish14 prefers 8...Bb6!?, which has been played by a 2520.

9.gxf3 Bxe3 10.fxe3

White has an extra pawn-island, and it will not be easy to create a kingside passed pawn, but the engines are divided in their assessment of the position. Komodo12.1.1 reckons Black has equalised, while Stockfish14 gives White the upper hand.

10...0-0-0 11.Rg1 g6 12.Na4!?

An interesting novelty, or at least a move not in Mega21. The engines like repositioning the white knight via e2 to f4 or d4.

12...b6 13.b3

White's main idea behind 12.Na4!? becomes clear - he plans Nb2 followed by developing the bishop with Bc4.

13...Ne7!?

If Black does nothing in particular, White will catch up in development and start to try to exploit his kingside majority. The text prepares an attack on the white centre with ...f5.

Black has connected rooks and the position is ripe for an interesting middlegame.

The position is not easy to assess. Komodo12.1.1 reckons the game is dead-equal, but Stockfish14 gives an edge of about half a pawn to White. The full game can be seen at https://beauchess.blogspot.com/2021/08/wrocaw-round-eight.html

Opening Lessons From Wrocław VII

IN round seven I had white against Mateusz Ambrosiak (1441).

Benoni

1.d4 c5 2.d5

This 'automatic' reply is not the only choice of strong players, who have also tried e3, c3, Nf3, dxc5, e4, c4 and even Nc3.

2...g6 3.e4 d6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.Nf3 Bg4?!

This seems a little strange in that after 6.h3 Black either gives up a tempo with 5...Bd7 or, as in the game, the bishop-pair. Normal is 5...Nf6, but the text has been played by grandmasters.

6.h3 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 Nf6 8.Bg5!?

Usual is 8.Be2. The text is not much liked by the analysis engines Stockfish14 and Komdo12.1.1.

8...0-0 9.Be2 Na6

The knight is headed for c7 to support the queenside thrust ...b5.

10.0-0

White has connected rooks in just 10 moves, and the opening can be thought of as over

White has the bishop-pair and more central space, but Black is well-placed for action on the queenside. The engines give White the upper hand. The full game can be seen at https://beauchess.blogspot.com/2021/08/wrocaw-round-seven.html

Opening Lessons From Wrocław VI

IN round six I had Black against Mikołaj Grobelny (1461).

Sicilian Hyper-Accelerated Dragon

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4

For what it is worth, this scores 56% in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database, while 4.Nxd4 scores a disappointing 51%.

4...Nf6 5.Nc3

Naturally 5.e5 is the most-popular move in Mega21; grandmasters have also played 5.Bb5!?

5...Nc6 6.Qa4 Bg7?!

Almost certainly too provocative. The main line runs 6...d6 7.e5!? dxe5 8.Nxe5 Bd7 9.Nxd7 Qxd7 10.Be3, which scores 63% for White in Mega21. The analysis engines Stockfish14 and Komodo12.1.1 reckon White's bishop-pair outweighs Black having the only pawn on the central-two files.

7.e5 Ng8

Forced.

8.Bf4 f6!?

Slightly more popular in Mega21 is 8...Nh6, but the text is preferred by the engines and has been played by Ruslan Ponomariov and other grandmasters.

9.exf6 Nxf6 10.0-0-0!?

There are 21 examples of this move in Mega21, which is preferred by the engines over 10.Bc4, which occurs 22 times in Mega21. Sergei Rublevsky (2667) - Ponomariov (2721), Izmailov Memorial Rapid (Tomsk, Russia) 2006, saw 10.Bc4 Qa5 11.Qb3 d5 12.Bb5 0-0 with an unclear position (0-1, 63 moves).

10...a6?

A poor novelty, which does not even prevent 11.Nb5 as the a pawn is pinned against the queen's rook. Normal, but also not very nice for Black, is 10...0-0 11.Bc4+.

11.Ng5

This is even stronger than 11.Nb5, according to the engines.

11...Qa5

Not 11...0-0? 12.Bc4+ Kh8 13.Ne6.

12.Qb3

Keeping queens on looks natural, considering the state of the black king, but after 12.Qxa5! Nxa5 the engines point out 13.Na4!? is very hard to meet. Their main line continues 13...h6 14.Nf3 d6 15.Nb6 with what they reckon is large advantage.

12...e6 13.Nge4

The engines prefer activating the king's rook with 13.h4!?

13...0-0 14.Bd6 Nxe4 15.Nxe4

15.Bxf8?? loses material, eg 15...Nxc3 16.bxc3 Bxf8.

15...Nd4 16.Qb4!

The dark-square bishop is slightly sidelined after 16.Qa3 Qxa3 17.Bxa3.

16...Qxb4 17.Bxb4 Rf4 18.f3 d5 19.Bd6 Rf7 20.Nf2?!

Almost certainly too passive; probably best is 20.Ng5.

20...Nf5 21.Bc5?!

The bishop is vulnerable here to pressure down the c file. Probably better is 21.Bb4 or 21.Bf4.

21...Bh6+

The engines much prefer 21...Rc7, keeping the bishop on g7 to support ...d4, which creates a knight outpost at e3.

21.Kb1 Rc7 22.Nd3 Bd7

Position after Black gets his last minor piece off the back rank

White has fewer pawn-islands but Black's pieces are more active. The engines reckon the position is dead-equal. The full game can be seen at https://beauchess.blogspot.com/2021/08/wrocaw-round-six.html

Opening Lessons From Wrocław V

IN round five I had white against Adam Stefański (1447).

Nimzo-Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Bd2

John Emms in Easy Guide To The Nimzo-Indian (Cadogan, 1998) wrote: "Despite over 15 years' experience of playing the Nimzo-Indian, I cannot remember ever facing 4.Bd2. Indeed, all I can remember is that it has been heavily slagged off in the popular [chess] press. The criticism runs along the lines of 'this move is just too passive'. My opinion is that any move which serves a useful purpose (in this case unpinning) must be treated with some respect. In fact I'd go as far to say that this move is quite deceptive: it looks worse than it is."

Time moves on, and so does opening theory; there are 5,301 examples of 4.Bd2 in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database, with 4,920 having been played in 1999 or later. On the other hand, White scores a miserable 39%

4...0-0

Emms recommended 4...c5 or 4...d5, while acknowledging "Black has many playable replies."

5.Nf3 b6 6.e3 Bb7 7.Bd3 0-0 8.0-0

The game had been following the main line for 4.Bd2 in Mega21, but here 8.cxd5 is more popular.

8...Nbd7?!

There are 112 examples of this natural-looking move in Mega21 - just two shy of the most-popular move, 8...dxc4 - but it is probably a mistake, despite having been played by a host of grandmasters, including one John Emms (his game reached the position after 8.0-0 by transposition).

Position after 8...Nbd7?!

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

The problem with Black's last is White has 9.Nxd5!?, when 9...Bxd2 10.Nxf6+ wins a pawn. So Black more-or-less has to play 9...Nxd5, when 10.cxd5 Bxd2 11.dxe6 means White again will emerge a pawn up, eg 11...Bxf3 12.gxf3 fxe6 13.Qxd2 (13...Rxf3?? 14.Be4).

In the game, 9.Rc1 was played, but in view of the above there seems little point, from a theoretical view, of continuing with the moves. However the full game can be seen at https://beauchess.blogspot.com/2021/08/the-most-extraordinary-finish-to-game.html

Masterful Performance?

CORRESPNDENCE chess, or at least those versions that allow engine-use, records a high percentage of draws, certainly when compared to over-the-board chess.

I have just drawn all 14 games on board two for Valleys Nomads in division two of the 2021 States & Regions championship at the Fide-recognised ICCF.

While this is nothing to shout about, it is fair to say all 14 opponents were higher-rated than I am, and the result was enough to score a norm for the title of correspondence chess master.

The updated cross-table can be seen at https://www.iccf.com/event?id=90603

Opening Lessons From Wrocław IV

IN round four I had black against Maciej Nowak (1483).

Albin Countergambit

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.g3

This move, which seems to have been first played by Chigorin against Albin in 1896, is the main line in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database, ahead of 5.a3 and 5.Nbd2.

5...Nge7

Morozevich is credited with popularising this reply in modern practice.

6.Bg2 Ng6 7.0-0 Ngxe5

Black has won the sacrificed pawn back by fairly unsubtle means and now threatens to go a pawn up by snaffling the c4 pawn.

8.Nxe5 Nxe5 9.Qb3!?

The c4 pawn was not hanging after the exchange of knights as ...Nxc4?? loses the knight to Qa4+ etc, but now it is directly defended and White puts pressure on b7.

The main move in Mega21 is 9.b3, after which 9...Bc5 10.Bb2 0-0 11.Nd2 is the most-popular continuation, slightly favouring White, according to Stockfish14 and Komodo12.1.1.

9...c6

9...Be7 has been played by English grandmaster Simon Williams and future Russian GM Sergei Zablotsky, although both played ...c6 a few moves later.

10.Rd1 Qf6?!

Indirectly defending d4 thanks to the threat of ...Nf3+. The engines much prefer 10...Bc5, although they like White after 11.Nc3!? (but not 11.e3? Bg4, when Black is very active).

11.Nd2 Qe6!?

This apparent-novelty does not solve Black's problems, but is preferred by the engines to the known move 11...Bc5, when 12.Ne4 is strong, eg 12...Qe7 13.Nxc5 Qxc5 14.e3!? Qxc4 15.exd4 Qxb3 16.axb3 Ng6, with White having a large advantage after both 17.Re1+ and 17.d5, according to the engines.

12.Ne4 f5?

Better is 12...Qxc4, but both 13.Qxc4 and 13.Bf4!? are strong, according to the engines.

13.Rxd4! fxe4?

Again Black has a better alternative, this time in 13...Be7, but the engines much prefer White after 14.Ng5 or 14.Bf4.

14.Rxe4 Bd6 15.f4 0-0 16.fxe5 Bc5+ 17.Be3

Position after 17.Be3

White's extra two pawns are doubled and isolated, but even if one falls, White will still be a sound pawn up. The engines agree White is winning.

The full game can be seen at https://beauchess.blogspot.com/2021/08/wrocaw-round-four.html

Gateway To Chess

EXTRA capacity has been announced for the Northumbria Masters in Gateshead later this month:

Thanks to the kind cooperation of the Marriott MetroCentre, we are happy to announce that there are now extra places available in the Masters (Open), Challengers (Under 2000), Major (Under 1750) and Minor (Under 1500) tournaments at the Northumbria Masters Congress, to be held 26-30 August.
This will enable a combined total of 192 players to compete in these tournaments.
We have taken the step to add more boards to the Northumbria Masters Congress due to the unprecedented demand for places in the various tournaments.
These additional places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. To avoid disappointment, do not delay sending in your entry, as the final places are likely to be taken up quickly.

More information at https://northumbriamasters.com/

Opening Lessons from Wrocław III

IN round three I had white against Aleksander Kędzierski (1540).

Caro-Kann Fantasy

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.f3

The Fantasy Variation scores 58% for White in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database, which is higher than the more-popular alternatives.

3...e6

This passive-looking move is Black's commonest reply, introducing the threat of ...Qh4+.

4.Nc3

In the early days of the variation, whites often stayed away from, or at least delayed, this move in favour of 4.Be3 or 4.Bd3, one point being to avoid Black's reply in this game.

4...Bb4 5.Bd2!?

Breaking the pin, and so supporting e4. The main line runs 5.Bf4 Ne7 (5...Ng6 is almost as popular in Mega21, but scores seven percentage points fewer, while 5...dxe4 6.fxe4 Qh4+?! is simply met by 7.g3) 7.Qd3 b6 8.Ne2 Ba6 9.Qe3 with what the analysis engines Stockfish14 and Komodo12.1.1 reckon is a level position.

5...dxe4

More popular is 5...Ne7, when the main continuation 6.a3 Ba5 7.Bd3 is equal, according to the engines.

6.Nxe4 Bxd2+ 7.Qxd2

White's lead in development and possession of the better bishop must be worth an edge.

7...Nf6 8.0-0-0 0-0 9.Nh3!?

This has been played by a 2436, but the engines are not keen, preferring 9.Kb1 (Komodo12.1.1) or 9.h4 (Stockfish14). Note that 9.Bd3?! can be met by 9...Qxd4 as 10.Nxf6+ is answered by 10...Qxf6.

9...Nbd7 10.Bd3

Maxim Lugovskoy (2436) - Aleksey Ivlev (2296), Russian Rapid Championship (Sochi) 2019, continued 10.Nhf2 Qe7 11.Bd3 c5 12.Nxf6+ Nxf6 13.dxc5 Qxc5 14.Ne4 Nxe4 15.Bxe4, when White's lead in development made him better (1-0, 47 moves).

Position after 10.Bd3

With White having connected rooks, the opening can be thought of as over.

White has a large lead in development, more central space and the better bishop. However Black has no weaknesses, and while Stockfish14 gives White a slight edge, Komodo12.1.1 reckons the position is almost equal.

The full game can be seen at https://beauchess.blogspot.com/2021/08/wrocaw-round-three.html

Opening Lessons From Wrocław II

IN round two I had Black against Igor Vanduyfhuys (1605)

Sicilian  Hyper-Accelerated Dragon

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6!?

There are 1,220 examples of this move in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database, far fewer than for 4...Nc6 and 4...Bg7. The main idea is to induce White to play 5.Nc3, ruling out a Maróczy Bind. After 5.Nc3, which is the main reply, White is threatening to push the e pawn and thus evict the black knight from f6. Commonest is 5...d6, transposing to a normal Dragon. That can be avoided with 5...Nc6!?, when 6.Be3 transposes to a main line of the Accelerated Dragon. But White can put a spoke in Black's plans with 6.Nxc6, when the main line continues 6...bxc6 7.e5 Ng8 (not 7...Nd5? 8.Nxd5 cxd5 9.Qxd5 Rb8 10.e6!, when White's threat of a rook fork on e5 gives a large advantage) 8.Bc4 Bg7 9.Qf3, which the engines reckon is very good for White.

The above proved academic in this game as White played ...

5.e5?!

... which allows ...

5...Qa5+ 6.Nc3 Qxe5

Black is a pawn up and is winning, according to Stockfish14. However, the more positionally sensitive Komodo12.1.1 reckons Black only has a slight edge. Certainly, after ....

7.Be2

... White is going to gain a lead in development thanks to the possibility of harassing the black queen.

7...Nc6 8.Be3 Bg7 9.0-0!?

A combative-looking alternative is 9.Qd2 0-0 10.0-0-0.

9...0-0 10.Re1 d6?!

Stockfish14 suggests this is a good time to withdraw the queen, with 10...Qc7. One problem with the text is that it cuts off a retreat for the queen, but ...Qa5 is still available.

11.Bf3 Nxd4?

The engines reckon Black should play 11...Bd7 or 11.d5!?

12.Bxd4

White is getting his pawn back, while keeping the initiative.

12...Qg5!?

Maybe slightly better is 12...Qa5, but White has the upper hand after 13.Rxe7.

13.Rxe7 Nh5?

This makes matters worse. Probably best is the engines' depressingly passive 13...Rd8.

14.Bxg7

Even stronger seems to be 14.Nd5.

14...Nxg7 15.Re1 Bf5!?

Striving for activity.

Position after 16...Bf5!?

White is winning after 16.g3!? or 16.Qxd6, according to Stockfish14. Komodo12.1.1 also likes those moves, while reckoning Black 'only' has the upper hand. In the game, 16.Nd5 was played, which also leaves White much better.

The full game can be seen at https://beauchess.blogspot.com/2021/08/wrocaw-round-two.html

Opening Lessons From Wrocław

IN round one I had white against Justyna Łochina (1526).

Sicilian ...e6

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3!?

This somewhat unusual move scores 54% in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database, which is better than the more-popular alternatives. One of the ideas is, rather as in the Chameleon Sicilian, to hold off on whether to play an open Sicilian with d4 or a closed variation with d3.

3...Nc6 4.Bg2 Nf6

This is easily the commonest reaction, although grandmasters have also played several other moves, including central expansion with 4...d5.

5.Nc3

The main line in Mega21 runs 5.Qe2 d5 6.exd5 Nxd5 7.0-0 Be7 8.Rd1 Bf6!? 9.Nc3 0-0 10.Ne4, when Stockfish14 gives White the upper hand but Komodo12.1.1 reckons White has just a slight edge.

5...d6

The engines' choice 5...d5 is slightly more popular in Mega21.

6.0-0

This is a good time to open the position with 6.d4, according to the engines, although they are also happy with the text.

6...Be7 7.d3

Here the engines again prefer d4. My choice gives the position more of  a King's Indian Attack feel, except in the KIA the white queen's knight is usually less-actively posted on d2.

7...0-0 8.h3!?

Covering the g4 square to allow for Be3 without fearing harassment from a knight on g4. This is the most-popular plan in Mega21, but is arguably a little slow.

8...Rb8!?

As I mentioned in my notes to the game, one of the rules-of-thumb put forward by first world correspondence champion Cecil Purdy is to never place a rook behind an unmoved pawn, even if you intend soon moving the pawn. I suspect there are many cases when this rule should be ignored, and perhaps it suffices to point out in this instance that the text has been played by Alexander Morozevich, Loek van Wely, other strong grandmasters ... and 13-year-old Garry Kasparov.

9.a4 a6 10.Be3 Qc7!?

The immediate ...b5 is consistent and about equally good, according to the engines.

11.Nh4!?

This apparent-novelty is not liked by the engines, who again prefer d4.

11...Rd8

Black anticipates 12.f4 by preparing central counterplay. Queenside expansion with 11...b5 is also sound.

12.f4 d5 13.e5 Ne8

The engines give 13...d4!?, the point being 14.exf6 is simply answered by 14...Bxf6, when Black picks up the white queen's knight (or queen's bishop) and effectively stops White's kingside attack before it properly stars.

14.Bf2

Not 14.d4?? cxd4 15.Bxd4 as 15...Nxd4 16.Qxd4 loses the queen to 16...Bc5.

14...f6

This is Stockfish14's choice, just. Komodo12.1.1 marginally prefers 14...Bxh4!? After 15.gxh4 the question is whether White's attacking chances down the half-open g file outweigh the downside of having a smashed king's position. During the game I felt Black was not well-placed to exploit White's weaknesses, and presumably JŁ felt the same. The engines reckon the game is roughly level after both 14th moves.

15.exf6 Nxf6 16.Re1

A kingside attack no longer has much prospect of success, but Black has a backward e pawn that can be targeted.

16...Nd4!?

The engines strongly dislike this, preferring 16...Re8, 16...Bd6 or 16...Rf8.

17.Nf3

The engines want White to take advantage of Black's last move by pushing the a pawn. After 17.a5!? Nc6 they give 18.Nf3, reckoning 18...Nxa5?! 19.Ng5 is good for White. One line they give instead of 18...Nxa5?! is 18...h6 19.Qd2 d4 20.Ne4 with what they reckon is a slight edge for White.

17...Nxf3+

This is best, according to the engines, because it allows Black to follow-up with ...b6, when a5 is no longer effective.

18.Qxf3

White has connected rooks, and the opening can be thought of as over.

Position after 18.Qxf3

White has a target in the shape of black's backward e pawn, has more space on the kingside and has the more-active pieces, but Black has more space in the centre and on the queenside. The engines reckon the position is equal.

The full game can be seen at https://beauchess.blogspot.com/2021/08/wrocaw-round-one.html

Wrocław Pointers

IF anyone is inspired by my trip to the Polish city of Wrocław to give it a try next year, here are pointers for getting the best out of the experience (hopefully not all these will be relevant in 12 months' time).

1. Wrocław has its own international airport and so is easy to get to.

2. Take the 106 bus from the airport (the fare is about 70p), the last stop being in Centrum (Centre) near the main rail station.

3. The last stop turned out to be even nearer to my hotel, the Ibis Styles. Centrum seems a good location as it is roughly halfway between the venue (Sports Club AZS) and Rynek (Market Square) in Stare Miasto (Old Town).

4. I strongly recommend getting a room with airconditioning. The weather was not particularly hot during my stay. There was lots of cloud and quite a bit of rain, but it was still sultry.

5. The chess festival is very popular with juniors and with young people in general.

6. Mask-wearing is followed fairly strictly on public transport and especially in supermarkets (by customers, rather than staff), but not in most other shops or elsewhere. I saw no one at the chess festival wearing a mask, except for one player in the first-day rapid.

7. Announcements at the festival are only in Polish.

8. Polish prices are very low compared with the UK - an espresso in a smart cafe is about £1.55, and a half-litre of upmarket beer in a bar is about £1.95. Supermarket prices seem, if anything, even cheaper compared with Britain.

9. The Old Town has masses of restaurants, which also serve as bars. However the rest of the city has very few local bars of the type typically found in neighbouring countries such as Germany and Czechia or, for that matter, in Britain. However, the lazy pub-crawler should check out a street called Świdnicka, which is crossed by railtracks. Under the arches are 18 bars side-by-side, interrupted only by a sex shop (closed whenever I visited) and a cosmetic salon (also shut).

10. Getting a covid antigen test before my return flight was easy. I just turned up at a clinic at Powstańców Śląskich 60 (no appointment necessary), paid about £31 for the test, and returned an hour later to collect my certificate.

Wrocław Summary

MY final score of +4=1-4 saw me lose 60.8 Fide elo - quite possibly probably my worst ever tournament performance.

Just as I had finished typing the above last night, and while I wallowed listening to "Greatest Songs of 1950s" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bds9jpIgIKc I received the following email from Joe Skielnik:

I think we have all suffered to some extent from what I believe is a serious fault in the rating system. I found that this had been raised on the ECF forum 

https://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=11811 

with the most interesting comments as follows:-

by Roger de Coverly » Fri Jun 11, 2021 12:40 pm

JustinHorton wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 11, 2021 12:26 pm

I did raise the question of underrated juniors on here once before (albeit in the particular context of the effect of playing them on one's own rating) and my recollection is that I was informed that it was a non-issue.

FIDE weren't minded to do anything about it.

It's an underlying assumption in the mathematics underpinning Elo methods of rating that there's an underlying concept called "strength" which only changes slowly, also that the method gives a reliable estimate of the same. In the case of players, mostly juniors, whose standard of play improves rapidly, most rating systems struggle to cope. The FIDE system relies almost wholly on variable K factors, rather than the more radical ideas used in other adaptations of Elo methods.

Pitching more adults against juniors with outdated ratings would have the likely effect of deflating adult ratings. That can be seen in Senior events where those players who continue to play in Congresses and 4NCL can have lower ratings than those solely playing other veterans.

by NickFaulks » Fri Jun 11, 2021 8:07 pm

Wadih Khoury wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 11, 2021 11:40 am

The solution is something we all know: organise more FIDE rated tournaments, with loads of adults.

Well, yes, but how many times is there any point in contunuing to state the obvious? If half of the victories scored by juniors over adults around the world were rated, the problem we keep discussing would not exist. Unfortunately, my guess is that for whatever reason 90 per cent go unreported.

FIDE is constantly being pressed to give juniors bonus rating points to compensate for the fact that most of their good results don't count, but surely the better solution is to report them and make them count.

I think the problem is that federations are generally funded by adults who prefer not to see their ratings damaged by losses, but in that case they should stop complaining about the inevitable consequence.

If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — forever.

What is interesting is that Nick Foulks is the chairman of the FIDE Commission that deals with ratings and he sounds like he is admitting that there is a problem which is unlikely to be corrected. I am not sure why he is quoting George Orwell unless his rating is 1984?

Joe