THIS is my other game against Croatia from the International Correspondence Chess Federation's World Team Cup.
Zdenko Barbalić (1934) - Spanton (2277)
Croatia v England, Board 18 (of 20) 2021
Sicilian Closed
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 g6 3.a3!?
With my next move I sent the message: "3.a3!?" ZB: "Yea, I agree! But I find this move somewhere in an autobiography (third book) of GM Bora Ivkov."
3...Bg7 4.Bc4 Nc6 5.Nf3
Magnus Carlsen played 5.d3 on reaching the position after 4...Nc6 in a 2017 online game.
5...e6
Playing ...e6, with ...d5 to come, is a standard response to White playing Bc4 in closed lines of the Sicilian even when, as here, Black has played ...g6 (the point of mentioning this being that ...e6 and ...g6 do not always go well together as Black can become weak on the dark squares).
6.Rb1!?
A new move - normal are 6.d3 and 6.0-0 - that presumably tries to justify 3.a3!? by supporting the thrust b4.
6...Nge7 7.0-0 0-0
The game had transposed to a known position in which a 2240 played 7...d5.
8.d3 b6!?
Here the normal move, albeit from a small number of games, is 8...d5.
9.Bf4 d5 10.Ba2 h6 11.h3 Bb7 12.exd5 Nd4!?
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13.Re1
White can temporarily go two pawns up by 15.dxe6?! Nxf3+ 16.gxf3 fxe6 17.Bxe6+ Kh7 18.Bg3, but 18...Bxf3 wins back one of the pawns and gives Black strong play against the white king.
13...Nxd5 14.Bxd5 Bxd5 15.Nxd5 Qxd5 16.Nxe5
The flurry of exchanges has left Black with a slight edge, according to Stockfish14.1, but Komodo12.1.1 reckons the game is even.
16...Rfd8 17.a4
This may have been a good time for b4, although the situation is not clear.
17...Kh7 18.Nc4 Nc6!
Preventing 19.Be5 and preparing 19...e5.
19.Qe2 e5 20.Bh2
Not 20.Nxe5?? Nxe5 21.Bxe5 Re8 22.f4 f6.
20...Nd4 21.Qd1 f6
The Black bishop is bad, but Black's gain of space seems more important.
22.b3 Re8 23.c3!?
Kicking the black knight is a useful achievement, but the weakening of d3 seems a relatively high price to pay.
23...Ne6 24.Qc2 Rad8 25.Rbd1 h5 26.f3 Bh6 27.Qb2
The engines prefer 27.Nd2!?, although that gives Black the option of swopping off the bad (but active) dark-square bishop. But note that the continuation 27...Qd3? 28.Qxd3 Rxd3 29.Ne4 favours White thanks to the threat of 30.Nxf6+.
27...Rd7 28.Bg3 Red8 29.Qb1 Qc6
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| What should White play? |
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30.Bxe5?!
This wins rook and two pawns for bishop and knight, but the engines prefer 30.Qc2 or 30.Nb2.
30...fxe5 31.Nxe5 Qd6 32.Nxd7 Rxd7
White's slight material advantage is more than offset by Black's piece-activity and White's weaknesses, particularly the king's position and the d pawn.
White's slight material advantage is more than offset by Black's piece-activity and White's weaknesses, particularly the king's position and the d pawn.
33.d4!?
This pawn sac to gain activity is White's best chance, according to the engines.
33...cxd4 34.Qe4 Ng5 35.Qd3
Not 35.Qxd4 Nxf3+ 36.gxf3 Qg3+ with ...Rxd4 to come.
Objectively best, according to the engines, is 35.Qe5!?, but 35...d3 36.Qxd6 Rxd6 37.Re7+ Kg8 38.Rxa7 Ne6 is good for Black because of the strength of the passed d pawn, eg 39.Ra6 Nc5 40.Ra8+ Kf7 41.b4 Nb3 42.a5 bxa5 43.bxa5 Be3+ 44.Kh2 Nc5 45.Rb8 d2 is the beginning of the end.
35...Nxh3+ 36.gxh3 Qg3+ 37.Kh1 Qxh3+ 38.Kg1 Qg3+ 0-1
Black has no defence to 39.Kh1 Bf4 40.Re2 Rd5 41.Rg2 Qh4+ 42.Kg1 Be3+ 43.Kf1 Qh1+ 44.Ke2 Qxg2+ 45.Ke1 Qf2#.
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