Menorca Round Seven

Coastal view

FACED a junior in the final round.

Spanton (1915) - Núria Martí Torrent (1680)

U2000

Sicilian Accelerated Dragon

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6

A Hyper-Accelerated move-order, but the game soon transposes into a regular Accelerated Dragon.

3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Bg7 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Nxc6!?

The main move is 6.Be3.

6...bxc6 7.Bc4 d6

Black needs to be careful, eg 7...Nf6?! looks silly after 8.e5.

8.0-0 Nf6 9.e5!?

A pawn sac for the initiative.

9...dxe5 10.Qxd8+ Kxd8 11.Re1

Not 11.Bxf7? as 11...e6 traps the bishop.

11...e6

This is the main move in ChessBase's 2022 Mega database, but 11...Bf5!? is slightly preferred by Stockfish14.1, although not by Komodo12.1.1.

12.Rxe5!?

This may seem naive but has a sting in the tail.

12...Nd5 13.Re1!?

The engines prefer 13.Re2, when they reckon 13...Nxc3 14.bxc3 Bxc3 15.Rb1 gives White good compensation for a pawn.

13...Nxc3 14.bxc3 Bxc3 15.Rd1+ Ke7!?

Stockfish14.1 prefers 15...Kc7 but Komodo12.1.1 values the two moves equally.

16.Ba3+ Kf6!?

This is almost certainly better than 16...Ke8.

17.Rab1 Be5(?)

This is a mistake, although a far-from-obvious one. The engines give best as 17...Kg7, but reckon White has decent compensation for a pawn.

How should White proceed?

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18.f4! Bc7

Probably worse is 18...Bxf4?! 19.Rf1, eg 19...Kg5 20.h4+ Kg4 21.Be2+ Kg3 22.Rb3+ Kxh4 23.Be7+ f6 24.Bxf6+ Bg5 25.Rh3#.

19.Bb2+ e5 20.fxe5+ Ke7 21.e6 Bb6+ 22.Kh1 Bxe6 23.Bxe6 Kxe6?!

Creating a passed pawn with 23...fxe6 is probably better.

24.Re1+ Kd5

Not 24...Kd7? 25.Rbd1+ Kc7 26.Re7+ and 27.Bxh8, winning a rook rather than just the exchange.

25.Bxh8 Rxh8 26.Re7 f5 27.g3 Kc4 28.Rd1 Kc3 29.Rd7?

White is still better after 29.Re2.

29...Kxc2 30.Rxh7?

Now White is lost. The engines reckon 30.Kg2 and 30.Re2+ keep the balance.

30...Rxh7!

Usually the player an exchange down wants to avoid allowing his remaining rook to be exchanged, but here the text wins.
31.Rxh7

How should Black proceed?

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31...Kb2?

Black wins easily after 31...c5, according to the engines, eg 32.a4 (the best answer to the text, as is shown in the next note) c4 33.a5 is met by 33...Bd4 - the bishop maintain defence of the a7 pawn makes all the difference.

32.Rg7?

As Ray Kearsley pointed out after the game, best is 32.a4, eg 32...Kb3 33.a5 Bxa5 34.Rxa7 Bb4 35.Rc7 c5 36.Kg2 c4 37.Kf3 c3 38.Ke3, which the engines reckon is dead-equal. Black could try 32...c5 but 33.a5 Bxa5 34.Rxa7 Bb4 35.Rc7 Kb3 is a transposition to the previous line.

32...c5 33.Rxg6 c4 34.Rc6 c3 35.Kg2 c2 36.Kf3 c1=Q 37.Rxc1 Kxc1 38.Kf4 Bd4?

Unnecessary. Black wins easily after 38...a5 or 38...Kb2.

39.Kxf5 Kb2 40.Ke4?

It was tempting but wrong to gain a tempo on the bishop. Instead, pushing the kingside pawns draws, eg 40.g4 Kxa2 41.h4 a5 42.g5 a4 43.g6 a3 44.h5 Kb2 (44...Bg7 45.Kg5) 45.h6 a2 47.g7 a1=Q 48.g8=Q is a tablebase draw.

40...Bc3 41.Kd3 Bf6?

41...a5 wins.

42.Kc4 Kxa2 43.h4 a5 44.Kb5 Bc3 45.Ka4

Not 45.g4?? Kb3 etc.

45...Be1 46.h5 Bxg3 ½–½