Tim Villiers (2304 ECF) - Spanton (2019 ECF)
Chigorin
1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3
White has a huge choice on move three in the Chigorin, with radically different styles of play possible. The text, which scores an impressive 61% in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database, is second in popularity to 3.Nf3, which scores 56%.
3...Nf6
The main line in Mega21 runs 3...dxc4 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.e4, favouring White, according to the analysis engines Stockfish14 and Komodo12.1.1.
4.Bg5!?
More popular are 4.Nf3 and 4.cxd5, but the text is also played by grandmasters.
4...Ne4
 |
| How should White proceed? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
5.Nxe4
The engines like Serbian international master Marko Nenezic's 5.e3!?, which he used in 2016 to beat Chigorin specialist Igor Miladinović. The point is that 5...Nxg5?! (Miladinović preferred 5...Nxc3 6.bxc3 g6, but was already worse, according to the engines) runs into 6.cxd5, eg 6...Nb8 7.h4 etc. The engines suggest meeting 5.e3!? with 5...f6 6.Bh4 and either 6...e5 or 6...Nxc3, although they again prefer White.
5...dxe4 6.e3?!
The engines give another remarkable-looking line: 6.d5 e6!? 7.Bxd8 Bb4+ 8.Qd2 Bxd2+ 9.Kxd2 Nxd8, which was played as long ago as the 1928 olympiad. The position is dead-equal, according to the engines, although in practice White scores very well (63%) with 10.e3.
6...f6 7.Bh4
TV said in the postmortem he was thinking of playing 7.Bf4? until he saw ...e5 would come with tempo.
7...e5 8.d5
 |
| How should Black proceed? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
8...Ne7
8....Bb4+? is not as bad as we both thought, eg 9.Ke2 Nb8 10.Qa4+ Qd7 11.Qxb4 Qg4+ etc. Nevertheless the text is much better.
9.Qc2!?
Playing to win a pawn looks critical, but the engines prefer 9.Bg3 or 9.Ne2.
9...Nf5 10.Qxe4 Bb4+ 11.Ke2
TV rejected 11.Kd1 because of 11...c6.
11...Nxh4?!
TV's 11...0-0 and the engines' 11...c6 are almost certainly better. I also strongly considered 11...Nd6!?, intending ...Bf5, but rejected it because of 12.Qc2 (the engines also point out the possibility of 12.Qxe5+!?).
12.Qxh4 Bd7!?
Hoping to get in a quick ...b5, and keeping the option of castling long, but Stockfish14 prefers 12...c6, while Komodo12.1.1 likes 12...0-0 or 12...Bf5.
13.f3?!
Creating a hole for the king, and a possible retreat route for the white queen, but the engines prefer 13.a3 Be7 14.Ke1!?
13...0-0 14.Kf2
TV was strongly critical of this in the postmortem, saying he should have played 14.a3 Be7 15.Qe1, but the engines prefer - marginally in the case of Komodo12.1.1 - the text.
14...Be7
Ironically the bishop falls back without being forced to. The idea is to push black kingside pawns to open lines to the white king.
15.Qe4 f5!?
Offering a second pawn. Also strong, according to the engines, is 15...Bc5.
16.Qc2
16.Qxe5? Bf6 17.Qf4 (17.Qg3? Bh4) g5! (stronger than 17...Bxb2) 18.Qg3 f4 19.exf4 g4! is horrific for White.
16...f4
The engines prefer 16...Bc5!?
17.e4?!
The engines reckon 17.g3 or 17.Bd3 is better, but give Black an edge.
17...Bc5+ 18.Ke2?!
Probably better is 18.Ke1.
18...Qh4?!
This is strong, but the engines' 18...c6, seeking to open more lines, is probably even stronger.
19.Kd3?!
This looks like trying to jump into the flames, but 19.Kd1 c6 is also good for Black, according to the engines.
19...b5
Not 19...Bxg1? 20.Rxg1 Qxh2 as White is probably slightly better after 21.Qf2.
20.Nh3 bxc4+ 21.Qxc4
21.Kxc4 can be met by 21...Rab8! as 22.Kxc5 runs into a mating sequence starting with 22...Qe7+.
21...Bd4!
This is the best square for the bishop. It cannot be challenged (except by sacrificing the exchange) and menaces much of the white position.
22.d6+ Kh8 23.dxc7 Bxh3 24.gxh3 Qf2 25.Be2 Bb6?
Black is winning easily after 25...Rac8, one threat being 25...Rxc7!? But even worse than the text is 25...Bxb2,when 26.Rab1 starts to bring the white position to life.
26.Raf1 Qe3+
Even better, according to the engines, is a move neither of us considered, namely 26...Qg2!? The idea is to avoid an exchange of queens, while maintaining an attack.
27.Kc2 Rac8 28.Kb1 Rxc7 29.Qd3 Rfc8 30.Qxe3 Bxe3 31.Rd1 Bd4
The engines prefer getting rid of Black's bank-rank mating problems with, for example, 31...h6.
32.Ba6?!
Safest is 32.Rc1, but presumably our large rating difference came into consideration.
32...Rb8 33.b3 Rb6?
The engines reckon Black still has a sizeable advantage after 33...Rc3, eg 34.Rhf1 Rc6! 35.Bd3 Rh6.
34.Rc1 Rbc6 35.Rc4 Kg8 36.Rhc1 Rxc4 37.Bxc4+ Kf8
 |
| How would you assess this ending? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
White is a pawn up and has a 2-1 queenside majority. True, White has a smashed kingside, but even if Black were to win the h3 pawn, for example, there would still be difficulties in creating a black passer. Nevertheless the engines reckon the ending is dead-equal.
38.a3 a5!?
TV said he was surprised by this, thinking it better for Black to leave the pawn where it is and wait for White to advance. But after I played the move he came to think it might be best. The engines at first agree with TV's original assessment, but also come to be happy with the text.
39.Ka2 Ke7 40.b4 axb4 41.axb4 Kd6
The engines prefer going after the white kingside pawns, starting with 41...Kf6!?
42.Kb3 Rb7 43.Rd1 Ra7 44.Rd2 Ra1 45.Rg2 Rc1 46.Be2
47.Rxg7?? loses the bishop to 47...Rc3+ etc.
46...g6 47.Ka4 Kc6 48.Bb5+ Kb6 49.Bd3 Rc3 50.Be2 Rc1 51.Kb3 Rg1
The engines reckon White has a slight edge after this, but of course the game should be drawn.
52.Rxg1 Bxg1 53.Kc4 Kc6 54.Bd1 Bb6 55.Ba4+ Kd6 56.Kb5 Kc7 57.Bb3 Bg1 58.Bc4 Bf2 59.h4!? h6 60.h3 Be3 61.Bf7 g5 62.Kc4 Kd6 63.h5 ½–½
HMC won the match 3.5-1.5.
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