Sourav Bhattacharjee (2165) - Spanton (2016)
Board One (of eight)
Giuoco Piano
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 Nf6 5.c3 0-0
The main move is 5...d6, but the text, 5...a6 and 5...h6 are also popular.
6.Bg5
White can hardly try to win a pawn by 6.b4 Bb6 7.b5?! Na5 8.Nxe5?!, although there are 35 examples of the sequence in ChessBase's 2022 Mega database, as Black has 8...Qe7 (8...d6 is also good). Boris Nikolaev - Gersz Salwe, All-Russian Championship (Kiev) 1903, continued 9.Bxf7+ (this is White's best chance, according to Stockfish14.1 and Komodo12.1.1) Kh8!? 10.d4 d6 11.Ba3 Rxf7 12.Nxf7+ Qxf7, when materially Black only has bishop and knight for rook and two pawns, but also has the bishop-pair and a lead in development (0-1, 27 moves).
6...h6 7.Bh4 Be7
This is easily the commonest move in the position, but strong players have also tried 7...d6!? and 7...g5!?, both of which are preferred over the text by the engines.
8.Bb3
This is a typical retreat in the Giuoco Piano, but much more popular in this position is 8.Nbd2.
8...Nh5!?
Anatoly Karpov is among those who have played the normal 8...d6, but the text is narrowly preferred by Stockfish14.1. Komodo12.1.1 suggests the apparent-novelty 8...Na5!?, meeting 9.Nxe5 with 9...Nxb3 10.axb3 Nxe4 11.Bxe7 Qxe7 12.dxe4 Qxe5, claiming equality. The engines reckon White should meet 8...Na5!? with 9.Bc2, again with equality.
9.Bg3 Nf4!?
Medina Aulia (2417) - Natallia Kusenkova (2155), World Girls' U20 Championship (Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia) 2015, continued 9...Nxg3 10.hxg3 d6 11.Nbd2 Na5 12.Bc2, when the engines reckon White has a slight edge but the game was drawn in 33 moves. The text, which prepares to offer a pawn, is not liked by the engines.
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| How should White proceed? |
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10.Bxf4
The engines agree this is best, slightly ahead of 10.0-0. If 10.Nxe5 Black has 10...Nxg2+, and if 11.Kf1 then 11...Nh4.
10...exf4 11.h4!?
This discourages ...g5, but the pawn becomes weak, The engines reckon White is better after 11.d4.
11...Re8 12.Qc1 Bf6 13.Qxf4 d5 14.0-0 dxe4 15.dxe4 Be6 16.Bxe6 Rxe6 17.Na3!?
There seems nothing wrong with the natural-looking 17.Nbd2.
17...Qe7 18.Rfe1
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| How should Black proceed? |
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18...Ne5
18...Bxc3!? 19.bxc3 Qxa3 is dead-equal, according to the engines, who reckon best-play runs 20.Rab1 b6 21.Qxc7, when Black can either grab the a2 pawn or put more pressure on e4 by 21...Qa4 or 21...Rae8.
19.Rad1!
Development is best, according to the engines. Not 19.Nd4? Nd3, but reasonable is 19.Nxe5 Bxe5 20.Qf3 Qxh4 21.g3.
19...Nxf3+ 20.Qxf3 Bxh4 21.g3 Bf6 22.e5!? c6
Other continuations are also possible, eg 22...Bxe5 23.Qxb7 Re8, when 24.Qxa7? loses to 24...Bxg3! 25.Rxe6 Qxe6 26.fxg3 Qg4!, eg 27.Rd3 Re1+ 28.Kg2 Qh5 etc or 27.Qd4 Qxg3+ 28.Kf1 Qf3+ 29.Kg1 Re3 etc. However the engines reckon 24.Qf3 is equal.
23.Nc4 b5 24.Re4!?
Or 24.Na5 Qc7 25.Nxc6! Qxc6 26.Qxc6 Rxc6 27.exf6 Rxf6 with an equal game.
24...Bg5!?
Or 24...Bxe5 25.Nxe5 Rxe5 26.Rxe5 Qxe5 27.Qxc6 Re8, when the engines reckon White is a bit better.
25.Nd6 Rxe5 26.Rxe5 Qxe5 27.Nxf7
27.Qxf7+ Kh7 (27...Kh8?? 28.Qb7 sets up the fork Nf7+) seems equal.
27...Qe6 28.Nxg5 hxg5
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| White's superior pawn-structure would seem to give an edge but the engines reckon the position is equal |
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29.b3 Rf8 30.Qd3 Qf6
Possibly better is 30...g4, making it difficult for White to make progress on the kingside without allowing Black to exchange a doubled pawn.
31.Qe3 Qf3 32.Rd3 Qxe3 33.Rxe3
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| Should Black develop the king, reposition the rook or move a pawn? |
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33...Kf7?!
The engines reckon Black is equal after 33...Rf5, and possibly 33...Rd8!? But 33...a5?! and 33...g4?! are probably mistakes.
34.Re5
34.Rf3+ Ke7 35.Rxf8 Kxf8 is dead-equal, according to the engines.
34...Re8
Almost certainly hopelessly passive is 34...Kf6?! 35.Rc5 Rc8, but 34...Rd8!? may be an improvement.
35.Rf5+ Kg6 36.Rc5 Re6
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| How would you assess the state of this ending? |
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Black has weak pawns, and the black pieces are restricted to shuffling on the third rank. It may not be immediately clear how White makes progress, but Stockfish14.1 reckons White is winning, although Komodo12.1.1 'only' gives White the upper hand.
37.g4 Kf6 38.Kg2 Kg6 39.Kf3 Kf6 40.a4
The engines reckon best is 40.c4!? a6 41.a4
40...a6
The engines prefer 40...bxa4!?, but the position still looks very tricky for Black.
41.a5
41.c4!? transposes to the note after White's last move, and is probably stronger.
41...Kg6 42.c4 b4?!
The engines prefer more shuffling with 42...Kf6.
43.Rf5
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| Black to play and draw (probably) |
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43...Kh6?
Not 43...Rf6? 44.Ke4, but 43...Re8 stops the white rook penetrating, after which White may have nothing better than 44.Rc5. However White could try 44.Kg3, albeit this does not seem to be winning.
44.Rf7 Re5 45.Rc7 Rxa5
45...Rc5 fails to 46.Ke4 etc.
46.Rxc6+ g6 47.Rb6 Kg7 48.Ke4 Kf7 49.Rxb4
White has won a pawn, has the more-active king and has a (protected) passed pawn. SB was in mild time trouble, but successfully handled the game's 15-second increment (1-0, 67 moves).
The result of the match has not been published at the London League website, but then neither has the result of Tuesday's match. I suspect both were won by Imperial College.
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