When It Is Easy To Go Wrong

A PERHAPS rather obvious, but nevertheless important, rule-of-thumb has it that the sooner you get opponents out of book - or, at least, out of their known book - the sooner they are likely to make a mistake.

I believe this is well-illustrated by my round-two game from Alicante, the full moves of which can be seen at https://beauchess.blogspot.com/2021/12/alicante-round-two.html.

Here I want to concentrate on the opening.

Spanton (1829) - Luis Maria Campos Gambuti (IM 2306)

English Opening

1.c4 b6

LC has 290 games in ChessBase's 2022 Mega database, including 16 in which he faced 1.c4. In 10 of those he replied 1...c5, but he is also recorded as having played 1...e5, 1...c6, 1...e6 and 1...g6. So why 1...b6 now? Almost certainly because he wanted to get an opponent rated 477 points lower out of book as soon as possible.

2.Nf3 Bb7 3.g3

I played this fully expecting Black's next move, which is easily the commonest continuation in Mega22, although it is not much liked by the analysis engines Stockfish14.1 and Komodo12.1.1.

3...Bxf3!? 4.exf3

How should Black proceed?

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****
4...e6!?

This has been tried by Eduardas Rozentalis and other strong players, but much more-popular is 4...c5. The idea is to clamp down on the d4 square. I faced it in Spanton (1977) - Christopher Archer-Lock (2053), Paignton 2012, which continued 5.d4!? - it probably makes sense to get rid of the hole at d4, even though Black usually gets to develop the queen's knight with tempo - Nc6!? 6.d5 Nd4 7.Be3 Nf5 8.Bg2 g6 9.Nc3 Bg7 10.Qd2 d6 11.h4!? Nxe3 12.fxe3, when White's extra space and development give an advantage (1-0, 63 moves). More logical, perhaps, is 5...cxd4 6.Qxd4 Nc6, when the main line in Mega22 continues 6.Qd1!? e6!? (6...g6 is also popular) 7.Bg2 with an advantage for White, according to the engines.

5.d4

Marginally more popular in Mega22, albeit from a small sub-set, is 5.Bg2. But there is no need for White to commit to fianchettoing the king's bishop as the weakness at h3 will hardly be felt since Black no longer has a light-square bishop.

5...c6!?

This has been played by Hikaru Nakamura and Chao B Li but is arguably premature as White is not committed to playing Bg2. Most popular in Mega22 is 5...d5, while the engines prefer 5...Bb4+, continuing 6.Nc3 Nc6!?, when one line they like runs 7.Be2 Nge7 8.0-0 0-0 with what they reckon is at least a slight edge for White.

6.Nc3

Both Nakamura and Li's opponents tried 6.d5!? The engines much prefer the text.

6...d5!?

A natural-looking continuation, but it seems to leave Black in serious difficulties. The engines suggest 6...Nf6 or 6...Bb4, albeit giving White the upper hand.

7.cxd5 cxd5?

Better is 7...exd5, when Ulf Andersson (2655) - Ljubomir Ljubojević (2570), Amber Rapid Blindfold (Monte Carlo) 1997, continued: 8.Bd3 Be7 9.0-0 Bf6!? 10.Bc2 Ne7 11.Qc2, giving White a large advantage, according to the engines (1-0, 56 moves).

Position after 7...cxd5?

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****
8.Bb5+?!

This gives a large advantage, but even stronger is 8.Qa4+ Nd7 (8...Qd7?? 9.Bb5) 9.Ba6!, the point being the king's bishop controls c8 - and threatens Bb7 in some lines - while leaving b5 free for the queen's knight. Black is lost, according to the engines, eg Stockfish14.1 continues 9...Be7 10.Nb5 Nh6 11.Bf4 0-0 12.Bc7 Qe8 13.Nd6, while Komodo12.1.1 gives 9...Nh6 10.Nb5 Be7, which is merely a transposition.

CONCLUSION: Even international masters can quickly go wrong once they run out of theory.