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| Salt flats, possibly first worked commercially on behalf of Phoenician traders more than 2,700 years ago |
Dieter Bauer (1717) - Spanton (1861)
English
1.c4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.b3!?
This is a popular alternative to the main move 3.g3 and to 3.d4, which is the choice of Stockfish15 and Komodo13.02.
3...Nf6 4.g3!?
Naturally 4.Bb2 is the main continuation, but both moves have been played by Vladimir Kramnik and Fabiano Caruana.
4...Bd6!?
The more-modest 4...Be7 is massively more popular in ChessBase's 2022 Mega database, but the text has been tried by grandmasters.
5.Bb2 0-0 6.Bg2 c5
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| Black threatens to gain space with 7...d4 - how should White respond? |
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7.cxd5
The commonest move in Mega22, albeit from a small sample size, is to get on with development by castling, one point being 7...d4 - the engines' choice - can be met by 8.b4!?
7...exd5
Black can avoid contracting an isolated queen's pawn by recapturing with the knight, but White is slightly better, according to the engines.
8.d4
This is the consistent follow up to White's seventh move, the idea being at some point to leave Black with an IQP.
8...Nc6
8...c4?! 9.bxc4 dxc4 almost certainly leaves White with too much of a free hand in the centre, while 8...b6!? 9.dxc5 bxc5 leaves Black with hanging pawns, the engines agreeing White is at least slightly better.
However, in preference to the text the engines give 8...cxd4!?, claiming that after 9.Nxd4 Nc6 10.0-0 Re8 Black is close to equality.
9.0-0 Re8 10.e3!?
This may be a novelty. The engines give 10.dxc5 Bxc5 11.Nc3, reaching a position with 90 games in Mega22 with White having a slight edge, according to the engines.
10...Bg4
As a general rule, Black is better served with the light-square bishop actively placed on g4 rather than defensively placed on e6. Similarly, when White is playing with an IQP, the white queen's bishop is usually better on g5 than on e3, despite Aron Nimzowitsch recommending the latter.
11.h3!?
The engines prefer capturing on c5 and then playing h3.
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| How should Black proceed? |
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11...Bxf3
The engines give 11...cxd4!, the idea being 12.hxg4 dxe3 gives Black huge compensation for a piece after 13.fxe3 Nxg4, while 13.g5?? loses to 13...e2. White should therefore play 12.exd4, but 12...Bf5 leaves Black with the more-active pieces.
12.Bxf3 cxd4 13.exd4!?
Keeping the bishop-pair like this, despite the enforced passivity of the white dark-square bishop, is better, according to the engines, than 13.Bxd4 Nxd4 14.exd4 (14.Qxd4?? Be5), after which Black's lead in development and the presence of opposite-coloured bishops give good attacking chances in the middlegame.
13...Qb6
Putting pressure on d4 and seeking to make it difficult for White to develop his queenside. 13...Ne4 is a major alternative.
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| How should White react? |
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14.Nc3!
White's counter-pressure on d5 is at least as effective as Black's pressure on d4.
14...Nxd4 15.Bxd5
The engines reckon White may have an edge after 15.Bg2!?
15...Nxd5 16.Nxd5 Ne2+ 17.Kh2!?
Also equal, according to the engines, is 17.Qxe2 Rxe2 18.Nxb6 axb6 19.Bd4 Bc5. The text leads to trickier play as the black knight is in danger of being trapped.
17...Qa6!?
The engines agree this is best, one answer to 17...Qc5 being 18.b4.
18.Qd2?
Missing Black's reply.
After the 'natural' 18.Re1, both 18...Rad8 and 18...Re6 are equal, according to the engines.
18...Nxg3! 0-1
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| Is White's resignation premature? |
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Yes, and No. Objectively, White is lost, but there are tricks in the position.
The straightforward 19.fxg3 Re2+ 20.Rf2 Rxd2 21.Rxd2 leaves Black with queen and pawn for rook and knight, and with the safer king. The engines reckon Black's position is overwhelming.
19.Nf6+!? gxf6 20.Rg1 Re2 21.Qd4 Kf8 22.Rxg3 Be5 is good enough for Black, but even stronger is 19...Kh8!
19.Qg5? loses trivially to 19...Ne4+.
But worth a punt is 19.Rg1!?, the point being 19...Ne4+ 20.f4 Nxd2? loses to 21.Rxg7+ Kf8 22.Rg8+! Kxf8 23.Rg1+ Kf8 24.Bg7+ Kg8 25.Nf6#. Black can avoid this catastrophe with 20...f6, but the game continues. However, after 19.Rg1!? Black wins with 19...Nf1+ (other moves also win) as 20.Kh1 Nxd2 21.Rxg7+ Kf8 22.Rg8+ Kxf8 23.Rg1+ fails to 23...Bg3! 24.Rxg3+ Qg6! 25.Rxg6+ fxg6 26.Nf6+ Kf7 27.Nxe8 Rxe8, when Black emerges from the largely forced complications a rook up.
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