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| A small surviving section of abbey wall with St Nicholas's Church in the background |
Spanton (1972 ECF/1860 Fide) - Ivan Myall (2032 ECF/2007 Fide)
Jobava-Prié
1.Nc3 d5 2.d4 Bf5!?
This Liberated Bishop-approach seems to be growing in popularity, although in ChessBase's 2022 Mega database it lags behind 2...e6!? and especially 2...Nf6 in popularity. One point about the text is it hampers any plans White might have for playing a Veresov, which would arise after 2...Nf6 3.Bg5.
3.Bf4
The main line in Mega22 runs 3.f3!? Nf6 (3...e6 is also very popular) 4.Bg5, a position that could arise from a Veresov. Komodo12.1.1 reckons the position is equal, but Stockfish14.1 favours Black.
3...c6 4.e3
The engines prefer 4.f3!?, which has been grandmaster Baadur Jobava's choice.
4...e6 5.Bd3 Bxd3 6.cxd3!?
More popular, but scoring a much lower percentage score in Mega22, is emphasising development with 6.Qxd3.
6...Nd7 7.Nf3 Ne7!?
This is the engines' top choice. The main idea is to harass the white dark-square bishop with ...Ng6.
8.e4
The engines reckon 8.Bd6!? is roughly equal after both 8...Nf5 9.Bxf8 Nxf8 and 8...Ng6 9.Bxf8 Ngxf8!?
8...Ng6 9.Bg3!?
Possibly better is 9.Be3, when the bishop is less actively placed but supports the d4 pawn and is not open to harassment down the h file.
9...h5 10.h4!?
This stops the black h pawn but leaves the white h pawn a long-term target.
10...Be7 11.Qd2 Qb6 12.a3 Bf6!?
As IM explained in the postmortem, the idea of this move is to provoke 13.e5, after which the white bishop would be a sorry sight.
13.Na4 Qa6
On 13...Qb3 White should probably play 14.Nc3, but 14.Qd1!? Qxd1+ 15.Rxd1 also seems reasonable as 15...c5 16.Nxc5 Nxc5 17.dxc5 Bxb2 can be met by 18.exd5, when 18...exd5?! 19.0-0 looks promising for White, and 18...Bxa3 may not be much of an improvement.
14.Nc3 c5!?
The engines prefer 14...0-0 or 14...dxe4.
15.exd5 cxd4 16.Ne4
IM said he had missed the strength of this move when playing 14...c5!?
16...Be5
The engines prefer 16...exd5!? 17.Nd6+ Kf8.
17.dxe6 Qxe6 18.Nxe5 Ngxe5!?
This is better than 18...Ndxe5, according to the engines.
19.0-0 0-0
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| How would you assess this middlegame position? |
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Black has more space, but White has the only long-range minor piece and a well-anchored knight. Stockfish14.1 gives White the upper hand; Komodo12.1.1 gives White a slight edge.
20.Rfe1 Qg3 21.Rac1 Rac8 22.Kh1!?
Avoiding a knight fork on f3 in some lines.
22...Rc6!?
The engines prefer 22...Rxc1 23.Rxc1 Re8.
23.Rxc6 bxc6?!
The engines prefer 23...Qxc6, but are not too unhappy about the text even though it creates a backward pawn on a half-open file.
24.Rc1!? Rc8?!
White's next move rules out any quick advance of the c pawn, thus prompting the rook to go to e8, so, as IM pointed out in the postmortem, 24...Re8 saves a tempo.
25.b4 Re8 26.Re1
But the white rook has also danced to the queenside and back to the kingside, so 24.Rc1 should probably have been replaced with 24.b4.
26...Nc4?!
Black is in difficulties anyway, according to the engines, but this 'clever' move does not help.
27.Qc1
This is much better than 27.dxc4? Rxe4, when the engines reckon Black has equalised.
27...Nce5?!
Probably better is 27...Ncb6, but after 28.Ng5 Rxe1+ 29.Qxe1 Black has problems with king safety and queenside pawn weaknesses.
28.Bxe5?
Much stronger is the engines' 28.Nc5, when 28...Nxc5 is virtually forced, but then Black has no satisfactory answer to 29.Qxc5.
28...Rxe5
On 28...Nxe5 my planned 29.Qc5? is great against 29...Nxd3?? as 30.Nf6+ wins, but the engines point out 29...Ng4, giving Black equality, one point being 30.Qxd4?! runs into 30...f5. Nevertheless the engines reckon a good reply to 28...Nxe5 is 29.Nc5.
29.Qc4 Kh8?!
The engines much prefer 29...Re7, when 30.Qxd4? is hit by 30...f5, but 30.f3!? leaves White on top, they reckon.
30.Qxd4 Qg4 31.g3
Even stronger seems to be 31.Kg1!?, when 31...Qxh4? is impossible because of 32.Qxd7.
31...Qf3+?!
Giving a check is no compensation for unprotecting d7 and leaving the queen open to being hit by Ng5. The engines suggest 31...f6 or 21...a5!?, albeit giving White a winning advantage.
32.Kg1 Rd5 33.Qe3
As IM pointed out in the postmortem, much stronger is 33.Ng5!, hitting the black queen and threatening mate.
33...Qxe3
Not 33...Rxd3? 34.Qxf3 Rxf3 35.Ng5 etc.
34.Rxe3
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| Black is 'only' a pawn down but the ending is very difficult as Black also has two isolanis |
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34...f6 35.f4 Rd4 36.Kf2 a5 37.bxa5 Ra4 38.Nd2 Rxa3?!
It was almost certainly better to capture the more-advanced pawn.
39.Nc4 Ra2+ 40.Re2 Ra1 41.Ke3 Nc5 42.Rb2 Na4 43.Rb8+ Kh7 44.Rc8 c5
One of Black's problems is any attempt to raid the white kingside is doomed to fail because the a pawn would be too quick.
45.Nd6 g6!?
Presumably fearing a mating net, but now a second pawn drops.
46.Ne4 Kg7 47.Nxc5 Nxc5 48.Rxc5
This is one rook-and-pawn ending that is most definitely not drawn.
The game finished:
48...Kf7 49.Kd4 Ke7 50.Kc4 Kd6 51.d4 Ra4+ 52.Kb5! Rad4 53.Rc6+ Ke7 54.a6 Rd1 55.a7 Rd8 56.Kb6 1-0
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