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

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

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).

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