Bregenz Round Five

WAS upfloated against a Swiss this afternoon.

A Ukrainian flag can just be seen flying above Kornmarktplatz

Spanton (1860) - Heinz Härdi (1653)

Spanish Cozio

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nge7 4.Nc3!?

Efim Bogoljubow beat Alexander Alekhine with this move in their 1921 'secret' training match, and Alekhine subsequently adopted it.

4...a6!?

The mainline in ChessBase's 2022 Mega database runs 4...g6 5.d4 exd4 6.Nd5!? Bg7 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bf6 Bxf6 9.Nxf6 Kf8, when White is better, according to Stockfish14.1 and Komodo12.1.1.

5.Bc4!?

Eyeing f7.

5...Ng6

Also quite popular is 5...h6!?, but it looks slow.

6.d4 Be7!?

The engines prefer 6...exd4 7.Nxd4, and either 7...Bb4 or 7...Bc5.

7.d5!?

Only one game in Mega22 saw this continuation, but it featured the highest-rated player to reach the position after 6...Be7!?

7...Na5 8.Bd3

Erik van den Doel (2591) - Frank Erwich (2333), Leiden (Netherlands) 2010, saw 8.Bf1!? b5 9.g3 with advantage to White, according to the engines (1-0, 84 moves)

8...b5 9.Be3 0-0 10.h4!?

How should Black proceed?

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10...d6

Not 10...Nxh4? 11.Nxh4 Bxh4 12.Qh5 etc.

11.h5 Nf4 12.Bxf4 exf4 13.Qd2 h6 14.Qxf4 Bf6 15.e5?!

Almost certainly an unnecessary extravagance. White has at least the upper hand after castling (either side).

15...Bxe5 16.Nxe5

Not 15...dxe5?? 16.Qe4.

16.Nxe5 dxe5 17.Qb4

17.Qe4 is met by 17...f5.

17...Nb7 18.0-0-0 Nd6 19.Nd4 f5 20.Nc5 Qg5+ 21.Kb1 e4

21...Qxg2!? is probably a playable win-of-a-pawn, but looks risky.

22.Be2 a5 23.Qd4 Qe7 25.Rde1 Qg5 26.Ne6?

Better is 26.fxe4, when the engines' mainline runs 26...fxe4 27.Nxe4 Nxe4 28.Qxe4 with advantage to White.

26...Bxe6 27.dxe6 Qe7 28.fxe4 fxe4 29.Qd5 Rad8

White to play and lose

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30.Bxb5??

The game is level after 30.a3 or 20.Rhf1, according to Stockfish14.1, although Komodo12.1.1 gives White a slight edge.

30...Rf5 31.Qf5 Nxf5 32.Rxe4? Ng3 0-1