Kraków Round Six

FACED a Norwegian junior (born 2006) rated 1785 yesterday.

Barbican, built in the late 1400s to protect the main entrance to Kraków old town

Spanton (1861) - Amadeus Hestvik Evenshaug (1785)

U2200

1.Nc3

1.Nc3 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.e4!?

The mainline in ChessBase's 2022 Mega database runs 5.Bg5 Bb4 6.Nc6 bxc6 7.Qd4, which the analysis engines Stockfish15 and Komodo13.02 reckon may favour White by a very small margin.

5...Bb4 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 d5

Does this position look familiar - and in any case what should White play?

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

It should be familiar - there are 11,101 examples of the position in Mega22, a much more-common move-order being 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 d5, as in the 1886 world championship between Wilhelm Steinitz and Johannes Zukertort.

8.0-0!?

This has been played by grandmasters, but far-the-most-common continuation is 8.exd5 cxd5 9.0-0 0-0 10.Bg5 c6 with a roughly level position.

8...Bxc3!?

Accepting the challenge, which means every move for the foreseeable future will be critical.

9.bxc3 dxe4 10.Qe2

Not 10.Re1 0-0 11.Bxe4?? Qxd1 etc.

10...0-0 11.Bc4

11.Be4!? Re8 12.f3 Nxe4 13.fxe4 restores material equality but leaves White with the more-serious weaknesses. Perhaps slightly better is 12.Bg5, but 12...Bf5 looks good for Black.

11...Bg4 12.Qe3 Re8 13.Ba3?!

This may be a novelty. The known continuation in Mega22 is 13.Qg3, although the engines reckon Black is better after 13...Qd6.

13...Nd5 14.Qg3 Bh5 15.Bc5

Perhaps Stockfish15's 15.Rfe1 is slightly better, but Komodo13.02 narrowly prefers the text.

15...Re6 16.Bxd5?!

Giving up the bishop-pair when a pawn down is rarely a good sign. The engines suggest 16.Kh1!?, but reckon Black has the upper hand.

16...Qxd5!

Straightening the pawn formation with 16...cxd5 is also good for Black, but the engines prefer the aggressive text.

17.Qe3 Rg6 18.Kh1

This is best, according to the engines.

How should Black proceed?

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****
18...Qf5

This is good enough for a pleasant advantage, but winning is 18...Rxg2! 19.Kxg2 Bf3+ 20.Kg1 Qf5.

19.Rae1?

19.Rg1 keeps the game going.

19...Rxg2! 20.Qxe4 Qxe4 21.Rxe4 Bf3 0-1