Menorca Round Six

Windmill in Ciutadella

MY round-six opponent was a junior with whom I drew in Calvià (Mallorca) in October when he was rated 1308. That game, in which I was white, can be seen at TTV.

Toni Tomás Viver (1440) - Spanton (1915)

U2000

Colle

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.e3 Bg4 4.c3!?

Whites have tried many different fourth moves, with 4.Be2, 4.c4, 4.Bb5, 4.Nbd2 and 4.h3 all popular with grandmasters.

4...e5!?

This involves giving up the bishop-pair but gains the lion's share of the centre.

5.h3 Bxf3 6.Qxf3 e4 7.Qd1 f5

Stockfish14.1 and Komodo12.1.1 prefer 7...Qg5!?

8.c4 Nf6 9.Nc3 Bb4 10.a3 Bxc3+ 11.bxc3

How would you assess this position?

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Black has more space in the centre and on the kingside; White has, or will have, more space on the queenside. White also has the bishop-pair, albeit in a position yet to open up. Komodo12.1.1 gives White the upper hand; Stockfish14.1 reckons White has a positionally won game. I strongly suspect the former is closer to the truth.

11...0-0 12.cxd5 Nxd5 13.Bc4!?

The engines prefer gaining space with 13.c4.

13...Kh8 14.Bxd5?

A fairly reliable rule-of-thumb has it that a player with a bad bishop should not give up a good one. Here the dark-square bishop is badly boxed in by white pawns, so giving up the light-square bishop almost guarantees that the theme of the rest of the game will be a battle between a good knight and a bad bishop,

14...Qxd5 15.0-0 Na5 16.Rb1 Nc4 17.Qb3 b6 18.Qb5 c6 19.Qxd5?!

The engines are not especially unhappy with this move, but it means the knight will have an unassailable outpost at c4.

19...cxd5 20.f3?!

Another move the engines are not greatly fussed about, but now e3 is a permanent weakness.

20...a6 21.fxe4 fxe4 22.Rf2 Kg8 23.a4 Rf7 24.Rxf7 Kxf7 25.Kf2 Ke6 26.Ke2 Rf8 27.Bd2 Rf6 28.Be1 Rg6 29.Kf2 h5 30.Kg1 Kd7 31.Bf2 Rc6 32.Kh1?!

A strange move, but White is reduced to waiting to see if Black can come up with a winning plan.

32...g5 33.Kh2 Rf6 34.Kg1 Kc6 35.h4!?

This is Stockfish14.1's top choice, and Komodo12.1.1's too until it switches to 35.Rb3.

35...g4 36.Rb3 g3!?

The engines prefer more manoeuvring with, say, 36...Rg6 or 36...Rf8, but I can find nothing wrong with the text.

37.Bxg3 Nxe3 38.Bf2 Nc4 39.Rb1 Rg6

Even stronger, according to the engines, is the more-direct 39...e3 40.Be1 e2, eg 41.Bf2 a5 42.Re1 Re6 43.Rb1 Na3 44.Ra1 Nc2 followed by queening.

40.Be1 Ne3 41.Kf2?

A mistake, but White is lost anyway.

41...Nxg2 42.Bd2 Nxh4 43.Rh1 Nf3 0-1