PLAYED for Kent against Surrey in the U2050 section of the Southern Counties Chess Union's championships yesterday at Kent's new home venue, a spacious Catholic church-hall in St Mary Cray, near Orpington
Philip M Stimpson (2021) - Spanton (2040)
Board Three (of 16)
Jobava-Prié
1.d4 d5 2.Nc3 e6
Offering a French but ruling out, at least for the moment, a Veresov. PM chooses to make the opening a Jobava-Prié.
3.Bf4 Bd6 4.e3 Nf6 5.Nf3 Nbd7!?
The most-popular continuations in ChessBase's 2022 Mega database are 5...0-0 and 5...Bxf4 6.exf4 0-0.
6.Ne5!?
Played at a time when Black can hardly reply ...Bxe5.
6...Bb4!?
Moving the bishop for a second time, but the white king's knight has also moved twice and can now be captured by the black queen's knight.
7.a3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 Ne4 9.Qd3
Komodo12.1.1 suggests sacrificing a pawn by 9.f3!?, meeting 9...Nxc3 by 10.Qd2 Na4 11.c4, gaining an initiative.
9...Nxe5
9...Qh4 10.Bg3 Nxg3 possibly favours Black, but 10.g3 Qe7 11.Nxd7 Bxd7 12.c4 is equal, according to Komodo12.1.1 and Stockfish14.1.
10.Bxe5 f6 11.Bg3 h5
The engines prefer 11...c5!?, claiming a slight edge for Black.
12.f3 Nd6
Also possible is 12...h4, when White has several roughly-equal responses including 13.fxe4, 13.Bxh4 and 13.Bxf4, the last coming to be the engines' favourite, albeit by a small margin.
13.Qg6+ Kf8 14.Bf4 Qe7
Black has lost castling rights, but it is not easy for White to get at the black king.
15.Rb1 b6 16.h4 Bd7 17.Bd3 e5 18.dxe5 fxe5 19.Bg5 Qf7 20.Rf1?!
The engines reckon White should castle or exchange queens.
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| How should Black proceed? |
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20...Qxg6
I looked at, but not well enough, 20...Qg8!, the idea being to trap the white queen. I cannot recall why I rejected it, but the engines reckon best-play runs 21.f4 e4 22.f5 exd3 23.f6 Nf7 24.Rb4 gxf6 25.Qxf6 Qg7 26.Qe7+ Kg8 27.Qxd7 Qxc3+ 28.Kf2 dxc2, which they calculate gives Black the upper hand, albeit in a messy position. White looks to have no reasonable alternative to giving up the light-square bishop, so ...Qg8 seems strong.
21.Bxg6 Bf5?!
Almost certainly better is 21...Be8, with at least equality.
22.Bxf5 Nxf5
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| How should White proceed? |
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23.g4
23.g4
I had spent a lot of time, at move 21, looking at 23.e4 Ng3 24.Rf2 dxe4 25.fxe4+, concluding Black has nothing to fear. That seems correct, but the engines give 23.Rd1 c6 24.e4, when 24...Ng3 25.Rg1! dxe4 26.Kf2 Nf5 27.fxe4 leaves Black badly uncoordinated and with White poised to invade the seventh rank.
23...Nd6 24.Rd1
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| What should Black play? |
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24...Nb5?
The engines reckon Black is equal after both 24...c6 and 24...Kf7!?, eg 24...c6 25.e4 Kf7 26.exd5 cxd5, when the natural-looking 27.Rxd5?! runs into 27...Ke6 28.Rd3 hxg4 29.fxg4 Rac8, after which White is a pawn up but has more weaknesses and it is Black who is better coordinated. The engines reckon that for equality White needs to play 27.f4, eg 27...Ne4 28.fxe5+ Ke6 29.c4 dxc4 30.Bf4 Rad8 31.Rxd8 Rxd8 32.gxh5, when White is nominally a pawn up but Black has lots of activity.
The somewhat surprising 24...Kf7!? also seems fine for Black, one point being 25.Rxd5?! probably favours Black, eg 25..Ke6 26.e4 hxg4 etc.
After the text White invades the black position, and the black pieces lack almost any coordination.
25.Rxd5 Nxa3 26.Rxe5 Re8
Certainly not 26...Nxc2+?? 27.Kd2 Na3 28.Be7+ and 28.Bxa3.
27.Rxe8+?!
Almost certainly better is setting up an invasion of the seventh rank after 27.Rd5, eg 27...Nc4 28.Ke2, after which it seems impossible to find a good move for Black.
27...Kxe8 28.Kd2
The engines prefer 28.Ke2!, one point being 28...Nxc2? is met by 29.Rd1.
The problem with the text is that after ...
28...hxg4 29.fxg4 Nc4+
... White is more-or-less obliged anyway to play:
30.Ke2
White may well still be better as rook and bishop usually outplay rook and knight, especially with rival pawn-majorities. White also has an extra pawn, but it is doubled and Black's passed pawn is dangerous. Stockfish14.1 reckons White is winning, but Komodo12.1.1 gives White only a slight edge.
30...Rf8?!
Probably better is 30...a5.
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| What should White play? |
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31.Bf4
31.Rxf8+!? gives up the advantage of rook-and-bishop v rook-and-knight, but gains a different advantage, that of a minor-piece ending in which the bishop is better than the knight thanks to there being rival pawn-majorities. However Black's ability to create a protected passed pawn makes the position less clear.
Best seems to be 31.Rd1!? Ne5 32.Rd4, when the engines reckon Black needs to play 32...Kf7 33.Rf4+ Kg8, but then White has 34.Ra4 with very good chances.
31...Rf7
Komodo12.1.1 reckons 31...Kd7!? equalises; Stockfish14.1. disagrees.
32.h5 Rd7 33.Rd1
Also good is 33.g5!? as 33...Rd2+ is not to be feared since, after 34.Kf3, Black can hardly play 34...Rxc2? in view of 35.h6 etc.
33...Rxd1 34.Kxd1 a5
White seems to be winning whatever is played, but at least the a pawn gives counterplay.
35.Kc1 c6 36.g5 a4 37.h6 gxh6 38.gxh6 Kf7
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| White to play and win |
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39.Kb1?
White wins easily with 39.e4 as Black cannot stop both white passed pawns.
39...Nd2+ 40.Ka2 Ne4?!
This may draw, but simplest is 40...b5, and if 41.Ka3 then 41...Nc4+ forces 42.Ka2 Nd2 etc as 42.Kb4? loses to 42...c5+!
41.Ka3 b5 42.c4 Nf6?
42...Nd2 43.cxb5 cxb5 44.Kb4 Kg6 holds the balance, according to Stockfish14.1 although Komodo12.1.1 gives White the upper hand. The same position is reached after 42...Kg6 43.Kb4 Nd2 44.cxb5 cxb5.
43.cxb5 cxb5 44.c4?
Black still faces a tricky defence after the text, but much better is 44.Be5.
44...bxc4 45.Kxa4
More challenging is 45.Be5! Nh7 46.Kxa4, although 46...Ke6 gives a tablebase draw.
45...Nd5 46.Bg5
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| Black to play and draw |
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46....Kg6!
The endgame tablebase Syzygy shows the plausible 46...Nc3+ 47.Kb4 Ne4 loses to 48.Be7!, eg 48...Nd2 49.Kc3 Ne4+ 50.Kd4! (50.Kxc4 Kxe7=) Nd2 51.Bb4 Nf3+ 52.Kc3! (52.Kxc4 Ne5+ and 53...Ng4=) Ne5 53.Bd6 Ng4 54.Bf4, when the c pawn finally falls.
47.Ka3 Nc7
47...Nc3 also draws, but not 47...Kxg6?? 48.h7 etc.
48.e4 Nb5+ 49.Kb4 Nd6 50.e5 Nf7
Not 50...Ne4?, eg 51.Bf4 c3 (51...Nf2 52.Kxc4) 52.e6 etc.
51.h7
If 51.Bf4 then simply 51...Nxe5.
51...Kxh7 52.e6 Nd6 53.Kc5 Nf5 54.Kxc4 Kg8 55.Kd5 Kf8 56.Ke5 Ne7
Not 56...Ng7?? 57.Bh6 Kg8 58.Bxg7 Kxg7 59.Kd6 etc.
57.Kd6 Nf5+
An amusing finish is 57...Ke8 58.Bxe7 stalemate. After the text Komodo12.1.1 rather bizarrely gives White the upper hand.
58.Kd7 Kg7 59.Bc1 Kf8 60.Ba3+ Kg7 61.Be7
Hoping for 61...Nd4?? 62.Bf8+ etc.
61...Kf6 ½–½
Surrey won the match 8.5-7.5.
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