Hull 4NCL U2000 Round Four
Veresov
1.d4 d5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bg5 Bf5 4.e3 e6 5.Bd3 Bg6
SC said in the postmortem he refrained from 5...Bxd3 because 6.cxd3 improved the position of the white queen's knight.
6.Nf3 Be7 7.Ne5 Bxd3
Played to avoid giving up the bishop-pair, but after ...
8.Qxd3
... White has a handy lead in development. Nevertheless, the position is relatively closed - no pawns have been exchanged - and the analysis engines Stockfish14 and Komodo12.1.1 reckon White should settle for positional play with 8.cxd3.
8...c6
Protecting against Qb5.
9.0-0 0-0 10.f4
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| Position after 10.f4 - how would you assess this position? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
White has a big lead in development and is setting up a kingside attack. I thought my prospects were good, but SC in the postmortem said he never felt he was in trouble, and the future course of the game suggests he was much closer to the truth.
10...Nfd7!? 11.Bxe7 Qxe7 12.Rf3 f5 13.Kh1 Nf6 14.Rg1 Nbd7 15.Rh3 Ne4
Black is better after 15...c5!?, according to the engines.
16.Nxe4 dxe4 17.Qe2 Nxe5 18.dxe5 g6 19.g4 Rf7 20.gxf5
As SC pointed out in the postmortem, 20.g5?! is probably too slow, allowing Black to dominate down the open d file.
20...exf5 21.Qh5?!
This is easily met.
21...Rg7
Not 21...Rd8? 22.Rxg6+!
22.Qe2
The black king's rook is not really worse off on g7 instead of f7, so the net effect of Qh5-e2 is that White has lost a tempo.
22...Rd8
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| If an attack fails to break through, it is easy for the attacker to find his pieces are offside |
The position is dead-equal, according to the engines - presumably White's protected passed pawn balances Black's pressure down the d file.
25.Qxb5 cxb5 26.h4 Rd2 27.R1g2 Rxg2 28.Rxg2 Rd7 29.Re2 Rd1+ 30.Kg2 Ra1 31.a3 Rd1 32.Rc2 a5
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| How should White proceed? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
33.Kf2
The winning-attempt 33.c4!? bxc4 34.Rxc4 is hard to believe, eg 34...Rd2+ 35.Kf1 Rxb2, when the engines reckon White is still equal, but the position looks, to me, easier to play for Black.
33...Rh1 34.Kg3?!
Better, according to the engines, is seeking counterplay with 34.Rd2, eg 34...Rxh4 35.Rd8+ Kf7 36.Rd7+ Ke6 37.Rd6+ Ke7 38.Rb6 with dead-equality.
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| How should Black proceed? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
34...Re1
The engines reckon 34...Rf1!? Kg2 35.Rf3 Re2 Kf7 possibly gives Black a tiny edge.
35.Kf2 Rh1 36.Kg3 ½–½
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