Spanton (1889) - Luke Jones
French Alekhine-Chatard.
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.h4!?
This pawn offer scores an excellent 61% in ChessBase's 2022 Mega database, while the main move, 6.Bxe7, scores a still-very-good 59%.
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| Black has a huge choice of replies |
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6...0-0!?
Most popular in Mega22 is 6...a6 7.Qg4 Bxg5 8.hxg5 c5, although Stockfish15 and Komodo13.02 reckon White is better. Second-most popular in Mega22 is accepting the sacrifice with 6...Bxg5 7.hxg5 Qxg5, when 8.Nh3 Qh4!? 9.g3 Qe7 10.Qg4 is roughly equal, according to the engines.
The text looks like a case of castling into it but is reasonably popular and has been tried by strong grandmasters. Part of the thinking behind the move is that the black king is unlikely to make it to the queenside so might as well try to find safety on the kingside while making Black's pieces a little easier to coordinate.
7.Qg4
Somewhat more popular is 7.Bd3, which is preferred by Stockfish15 although not by Komodo13.02.
7...Kh8!?
The commonest move in Mega22 is 7...f5, when the engines reckon 8.Bxe7!? Qxe7 9.Qg5 is good for White.
8.Nf3 c5 9.Bd3 f5
On 9...c4 I planned 10.Bxh7! Kxh7 111.Bxe7 Qxe7 12.Qh5+ with mate to follow.
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| How should White proceed? |
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10.Qf4!?
Three of six games in Mega22, including ones featuring white players rated 2424 and 2330, saw 10.exf6?!, but the engines agree Black is fine after 10...Nxf6. Stockfish15, but not Komodo13.02, prefers over the text10.Qh5!?, which does not appear in Mega22.
10...Nc6 11.0-0-0
Herman van Riemsdijk (2420) - Alfeu Bueno (2200), Festa da Uva Rapid (Caxias do Sul, Brazil) 2010, saw 11.g4? cxd4 12.Nxd4 Ndxe5 13.Nxc6 Nxd3+ 14.cxd3 bxc6 (0-1, 40 moves).
11...a6 12.dxc5!? Nxc5 13.Kb1?!
White keeps a slight edge after 13.Ne2 or 13...Bxe7, according to the engines.
13...Nxd3+?!
Probably better is the engines' 13...Ne4, which they reckon gives Black a slight edge. The text gains the bishop-pair, but Black cannot keep it as White can exchange dark-square bishops at will.
14.Rxd3 Rb8 15.Nd4 Nxd4!?
This is the engines' choice, ahead of 15...Bd7, but now Black faces the prospect of a bad bishop-v-good knight middlegame and ending.
16.Rxd4 Qc7 17.Bxe7 Qxe7 18.Ne2
Both d4 and f4 are good squares for the knight.
18...Bd7 19.Qe3 Qc5 20.Nf4
The engines reckon 20.c4!? is even stronger, thanks to the pin on the d pawn.
20...Rbc8 21.c3
Again the engines prefer c4!?
21...a5?
Missing White's threat. Possibly best is 21...Qe7, although White has the upper hand, according to the engines.
22.h5 b5
Black can prevent the coming fork with 22...Kg8!? but both 23.c4!? and 23.h6 are strong.
23.Ng6+! hxg6?
Disastrous, but 23...Kg8 24.Nxf8 also wins for White.
24.hxg6+ Kg8 25.Qh3 1-0
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