MY 26th attempt to play against the French Defence in the style of Paul Morphy.
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| A bronze statue of the Wawel dragon, which according to legend terrorised medieval Kraków until killed by a sulphur-filled decoy cow left as bait by the sons of King Krak |
Spanton (1861) - Mateusz Skomiał (2063)
Kraków U2200
Petrov/French Exchange
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d3!? Nf6 6.d4 d5
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| This position is normally reached in two fewer moves, viz 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Nf6 |
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7.Bd3 c5!?
An interesting way to unbalance the position. More common are 7...Bg4, 7...Be7 and especially 7...Bd6.
8.0-0 c4 9.Re1+ Be7 10.Bf1 0-0 11.b3
It is generally considered desirable to attack a centre such as Black's as quickly as possible before Black can consolidate his space advantage.
11...cxb3
There are five examples of 11...b5?! in ChessBase's 2022 Mega database, including three games where Black was rated over 2100, but 12.a4 is a strong answer.
12.axb3 Nc6 13.h3!?
This has been played by grandmasters, and is second in popularity to 13.Ne5!? in Mega22, but I suspect Morphy would have strived to find something more dynamic.
13...Ne4 14.Ba3 Bxa3 15.Nxa3 Qf6 16.c4 Bf5?!
Black should probably reinforce his isolani with 16...Be6, although the engines reckon White would be slightly better.
17.Nc2?!
Almost certainly too passive. I think I rejected 17.Nb5 because of 17...dxc4 18.bxc4 Rad8, but 19.d5 leaves White well on top.
17...Rad8 18.c5!?
The engines prefer 18.Bd3 or 18.Ne3.
18...Ng5 19.Nxg5 Qxg5 20.Bd3?
A simple oversight.
20...Bxh3 21.Qf3
Not 21.Bxh7+?? Kxh7 22.Qd3+ Bf5.
21...Be6 22.b4 a6 23.b5 axb5 24.Bxb5
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| Black is a pawn up but his weak queenside pawns mean White has drawing chances |
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24...Rb8!?
This may look horribly passive but the engines are OK with it.
25.Rab1 h6 26.Rb2 Bg4 27.Qg3 Rbe8 28.Reb1?!
This lets Black get rid of his somewhat bad bishop. White more-or-less has full compensation for a pawn after 28.Rxe8 Rxe8 29.Ne3, according to the engines.
28...Bf5! 29.Qxg5 hxg5 30.Rd1 Bxc2 31.Rxc2 Re4 32.Bxc6
Perhaps 32.Rcd2 is better, but Black has an advantage.
32...bxc6 33.Rb2 Rfe8 34.Kf1?
The engines prefer 24.f3!? even though this weakens e3. The text leaves the white king vulnerable to play down the h file
34...g4 35.Rb6?!
This may give the illusion of counterplay, but Black's reply is a move Black wants to play anyway. The white rook was almost certainly better left defending the kingside.
35...R8e6 36.Rb8+ Kh7 37.Rc8 Rh6 38.Kg1 Rf6 39.Rd2 g3 40.fxg3 Re1+ 0-1
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