Lessons From The 4NCL II

THE only junior I faced was in round two.

Spanton (1965 ECF/1747 Fide) - Gautham Shenbagakumar (1866 ECF/1688 Fide)

26th 4NCL Weekend Congress (Woodland Grange, Warwickshire) U2000

Sicilian Bb5(+)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.0-0 Nc6 6.Qe2 e6 7.c4

There is a rule-of-thumb in the Moscow Variation of the Sicilian that when Black fianchettoes the dark-square bishop, White should build a centre with c3 and d4, but when Black plays ...e6, with ...Be7 likely to come, White should set up a Maróczy Bind.

7...Nge7 8.Rd1

Position after 8.Rd1

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8...e5!?

Black moves the e pawn for the second time, but stops White setting up a bind with d4, and leaves the white king's rook misplaced. However, Black's sole bishop is now very restricted.

9.Nc3 g6 10.d3 Bg7 11.Nd5 0-0 12.Rb1 f5 13.a3 Nxd5 14.cxd5 Nd4 15.Nxd4 cxd4

Interesting is 15...exd4!?, giving the dark-square bishop a little more scope.

16.Bd2 f4 17.Rdc1?

White should play f3 to stop Black playing ...f3.

17...Rac8?

Missing a chance to gain an edge with 17...f3 18.gxf3 Qh3.

18.f3 Rxc1+ 19.Rxc1 Rc8 20.Qd1 h5 21.Bb4 Rc7 22.Rc4!? b5

22...Rxc4 23.dxc4 gives White a 4-3 queenside majority, but Black gets a protected passed pawn on d4. The analysis engines Stockfish14 and Komodo12.1.1 reckon the position is equal.

23.Rxc7 Qxc7 24.Kf2 Bf6 25.Qd2 Bd8 26.Qd1

Black threatened to win the white bishop with ...a5.

26...Kf7 27.Bd2 Ke7 28.Ke2 Kd7 29.g3 g5?

Black should play 29...fxg3 30.hxg3, when the engines reckon White is slightly better.

30.gxf4 exf4

Or 30...gxf4 31.Qf1, when White is much better.

31.Qb3?

White has an advantage after this, but not as great as after 31.h4.

31...a6 32.h4

This is still good.

32...g4 33.Bxf4!?

Possibly stronger is 33.fxg4 hxg4 34.Bxf4, when 34...Bxh4 transposes to the game, but with Black having fewer options along the way.

33...Bxh4

The engines suggest 33...Ke8!?, one point being that attempting to save the h4 pawn with 34.Bg5?? loses to 34...Bxg5 35.hxg5 Qc1 etc.

34.fxg4 hxg4 35.a4

The engines prefer playing on the kingside with 35.Kf1 or 35.Qd1.

35...Qa5 36.Bd2

And here they reckon 35.Qd1 is slightly better.

36...Qxa4 37.Qxa4 bxa4 38.Bh6 Bf6 39.Bf4 Bd8 40.Kf2 Bb6

The engines point out that 40...Bh4+!? sets a trap in that 41.Bg3? loses to 41...Bg5 and ...Bc1.

41.Kg3 Bc5 42.Bc1 Kc7 43.Kxg4 Kb6?

Black needs to defend the centre with, say, 43...Kd7.

44.Kf5 Kb5 45.Bd2

Stronger is 45.Bh6!, the point being 45...Kb4 46.Bf8 Kb3 47.e5. After the text the game should be drawn.

45...a5 46.e5 dxe5 47.Kxe5 a3 48.bxa3 Bxa3 49.Ke6 a4 50.d6 Bc5 51.d7 Bb6 52.Ke7 a3 53.Bc1 Kb4 54.Kd6 Kb3 55.Kc6 Bd8 56.Bxa3 Kxa3 57.Kc5 Bf6 58.d8=Q ½–½