David Donici-Maier (1786) - Spanton (1889)
Scotch
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Qf6!?
An interesting wrinkle, played by Magnus Carlsen among others, that often transposes to a mainline, but can have independent significance.
5.Be3
Stockfish15 and Komodo13.02 suggest 5.Nf3!?
5...Bc5
There are 15,680 games with this position in ChessBase's 2022 Mega database. The usual move-order is 4...Bc5 5.Be3 Qf6.
6.c3 Nge7 7.g3
Garry Kasparov played this, as well as the commoner 7.Bc4.
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| How should Black respond? |
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7...d5
This is the chief continuation, but the engines like the aggressive 7...h5!?, which has been played by Alexei Shirov and - perhaps more surprisingly - Vladimir Kramnik.
8.Bg2
White has no way to exploit the looseness of the black king's knight after 8.exd5? Nxd5. Indeed the engines reckon Black is well on top.
8...dxe4 9.Nd2!?
Capturing with the knight on e4, in the process hitting the black queen and/or black king's bishop, is clearly preferable to making the white king's bishop a target on e4, especially as that bishop will probably have to spend a tempo returning to g2. Also possible is 9.Nxc6!? as 9...Bxe3?? loses to 10.Qd8#, but 9...Qxc6 10.Bxc5 Qxc5 11.Bxe4 Bh3 is slightly better for Black, according to the engines.
9...Nxd4?!
Almost certainly better is 9...Bxd4, one point being 10.Nxe4!? can be met by 10...Bxc3+, although after 11.Nxc3!? the engines reckon White has a fair bit of compensation for a pawn.
10.Nxe4 Qg6
Not 10...Qb6? 11.Nxc5 Qxc5 12.Bxd4 and 13.Bxg7.
11.Bxd4 Bxd4
Possibly better is the engines' 11...Bb6!?, which does not appear in Mega22.
12.Qxd4 Nc6 13.Qc5!?
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| How should Black react to not being able to immediately castle? |
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13...Bf5?
The engines' 13...Bh3!? may be best.
14.0-0-0!
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| The white knight does not need defending - Black is completely lost, according to the engines |
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14...Rd8!?
This seems the best move in a very difficult position.
15.Rhe1?!
White is still better after this but the simple 15.Rxd8+, and the more-subtle 15.Nd2!?, are stronger.
15...Rxd1+ 16.Rxd1?
Now Black is better. Correct is 16.Kxd1, when best play, according to the engines, runs 16...Kd8 17.Kc1 Kc8 18.Nd2!, after which White threatens to win the a7 pawn. Black can prevent this with 18...Kb8?!, but then 19.Bxc6 bxc6 leaves White with excellent middlegame attacking chances, and if these do not succeed then almost certainly the better endgame.
16...Bxe4 17.Re1?
Better is 17.Qe3, preventing a check on the h6-c1 diagonal.
17...f5 18.f3
The engines prefer 18.Bxe4!?, which only goes to show how bad White's position is.
18...Qg5+?
Black has a winning advantage after 18...Qh6+, eg if, as in the game, 19.Qe3, then simply 19...Qxh2, and if 19.Kd1 then 19...Kf7 etc.
19.Qe3
Possibly better is 19.Kd1!?, when 19...Kf7 20.fxe4 Rd8+ 21.Ke2 looks unclear but the engines call it dead-equal.
19...Qxe3+ 20.Rxe3 0-0 21.fxe4 fxe4?
Better is 21...f4 22.gxf4 Rxf4. I feared White's passed pawn after 23.e5, but the engines reckon Black is at least equal.
22.Bxe4?
White has the upper hand - possibly even a winning advantage - after 22.Rxe4, eg 22...Rf2 23.Re8+ Kf7 (not 23...Rf8?? 24.Bd5+ Kh8 25.Rxf8#) 24.Bxc6+ bxc6 25.Rc8.
22...Rf1+ 23.Kd2 Rf2+ 24.Re2 Rxe2+ 25.Kxe2
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| How would you assess this bishop-v-knight ending? |
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The bishop is better than the knight on a relatively open board, even though there are not rival pawn-majorities. Adding to White's advantage is that Black probably has to spend a tempo retreating the knight to avoid a very unpleasant pawn ending,
25...Nd8 26.Kd3 Kf7 27.h4
Not 27.Bxh7? g6, although the engines, somewhat surprisingly, reckon White has good drawing chances after 28.Ke4 Kg7 29.Bxg6
27...h6 28.b4 Ke6 29.Kd4 c6 30.a4 Kd6 31.Bf5 b6 32.a5?!
The engines are not overly unhappy with this, although after ...
32...bxa5 33.bxa5 Nb7 34.a6
... the a6 pawn will be a constant worry for White.
34...Nd8
Or 34...Nc5 35.Bc8, after which the knight is somewhat sidelined.
35.c4!?
The engines are fine with this although it lets Black complete the fixing of the queenside pawns, with none of the black ones on the same colour complex as the bishop.
35...c5+ 36.Ke4 Nc6 37.Bc8?
But this is definitely a mistake. Moves such as 37.Bh7 and 37.Bh3 keep the game dead-equal, according to the engines.
37...g6?
Safety first is the wrong policy here. Winning is 37...Ne5. I was worried about 38.Kf5 Nxc4 39.Kg6, but the engines reckon 39...Ne3 wins easily, eg 40.Bb7 Ke5 41.Bc6 Nf5.
38.Bb7 Ne7 39.g4 Ng8 40.Kf4 Ne7 41.h5!?
Spurning a repetition.
41...gxh5 42.gxh5 Ke6 43.Kf4 Kf6 44.Bd5 Nf5
Not 44...Nxd5?? 45.Kxd5 etc.
45.Bg8 Ne7 46.Bd5 Nc8 47.Bg8 Nd6+?!
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| 47...Nd6?! looks horrible, but is it losing? |
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48.Kd5
48.Kd5
Stockfish15 reckons the position remains dead-equal, whereas Komodo13.02 gives White the upper hand.
48...Ke7?
This is hopeless. Correct is 48...Ne8 49.Kxc5 Nc7, eg 50.Kd6 Nxa6 51.c5 Nxc5!, when White has the wrong bishop for promoting the white h pawn. Also seemingly drawing is 48...Nf5, eg 49.Kxc5 Ke5, when 50.Kc6!? is a clever try as 50...Ne7+? loses to 51.Kb7 Nxg8 52.Kxa7 etc, but the engines' 50.Nd4 seems to hold.
49.Kxc5 Kd7 50.Kd5 Ne8 51.Be6+?
51.Ke5 wins.
51...Ke7 52.Ke5 Nf6 53.c5 Nxh5 54.c6
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| Black to play and draw |
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54...Kd8?
Stockfish15 points out that 54...Nf6 55.c7 Nd7+ 56.Kf5 Nb6 57.c8=Q Nxc8 58.Bxc8 is a draw, although Komodo13.02 (wrongly, as the Nalimov tablebase shows) insists White is winning.
55.Kd6 1-0
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