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| Bridgend's Old Bridge, parts of which go back to the early 1400s |
Roger de Coverly (1914) - Spanton (1889)
QGD Dutch Gambit
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 c5!? 5.cxd5 cxd4
5...Qb6!? is the Peruvian Gambit.
6.Qa4+!?
This has been played by grandmasters but the mainline in ChessBase's 2022 Mega database runs 6.Qxd4 Be7 7.e4 Nc6 8.Qd2, when almost equally popular are 8...Nxe4!?, 8...Nxd5!? and 8...exd5.
6...Qd7
6...Bxd7? 7.Qxd4 costs Black a pawn.
7.Qxd4
White loses a piece after 7.dxe6? Qxa4 8.exf7+ Kxf7 9.Nxa4 b5.
7...Nc6 8.Qd1!?
The main move in Mega22 is 8.Qd2 but Stockfish15 for quite some time prefers the text, before switching to 8.Qh4 or 8.Qd3. Komodo13.02 at first likes 8.Qd2 but later switches to 8.Qh4 or 8.Qa4.
8...Nxd5 9.Nxd5 Qxd5 10.Qxd5 exd5
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| How would you assess this queenless middlegame? |
*****
*****
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Black has an isolated queen's pawn but has easy development for the pieces. The engines reckon the position is equal.
11.0-0-0?!
This leads to sharp play that probably favours Black.
11...Be6
I tried to make 11...Nb4 12.a3 Bf5!? work. After 13.axb4 Rc8+ 14.Kd2 Bxb4+ 15.Ke3 Black, for a knight, has a pawn, a large lead in development and the safer king. Komodo13.02 reckons that is enough for at least equal chances, while Stockfish15 gives Black the upper hand. However even better may be the engines' 11...Bf5!?, eg 12.Rxd5 Be4 13.Rd2 Rc8 with a ferocious attack.
12.e3 Rc8 13.Bb5?!
Probably better is sidestepping with 13.Kb1, when the engines reckon Black is slightly better.
13...Be7!?
Speeding development but allowing Black's good bishop to be exchanged. The engines prefer going after the white dark-square bishop with 13...f6 or 13...h5!? and then challenging the white light-square bishop with ...a6.
14.Bxe7 Kxe7 15.Bxc6?
Better is again sidestepping, 15.Kb1, and if 15...Nb4 then simply 16.a3, while 15...Bf5+ is neutralised by 16.Bd3.
15...Rxc6+ 16.Kb1 Rhc8?
This 'automatic' move throws away most of Black's advantage, whereas 16...Bf5+ 17.Ka1 Rc2 gives Black at least the upper hand.
17.Ne2
Now White can hold along the second rank.
17...Rc2 18.Rhe1 Bf5 19.Ka1
As RdC pointed out in the postmortem, 19.Nd4?? loses instantly to 19...Rc1#, as does 19.Rxd4??.
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| How should Black proceed? |
*****
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19...Be6
The engines give 19...d4!?, and if 20.exd4 then 20...Kd7, threatening 21...Re8.
20.f3 g5 21.g4 h6 22.Kb1 R2c4 23.a3 a5 24.Nd4
This will prove a great outpost for the knight for the rest of the game.
24...Rb8 25.Rc1 Rc8 26.b3 Rxc1+ 27.Rxc1 Rxc1+ 28.Kxc1
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| How would you assess this minor-piece ending? |
*****
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White has a good knight and Black a semi-bad bishop (only the d pawn cannot occupy a dark square). Black also has an IQP, but it will be difficult for the white king to cross the halfway line, and the engines reckon the ending is equal.
28...Kd6 29.Kd2 Ke5 30.Kc3 Bd7 31.a4!?
Putting white pawns on light squares restricts the black bishop but creates potential targets. The engines are OK with the move, and certainly 31.b4 axb4+ 32.Kxb4 b6 leaves the white king in its own side of the board.
31...b6 32.h3!? f6 33.Ne2!? b5 34.axb5 Bxb5 35.Nd4 Bd7 36.Kd3
The white king can advance after 36.b4 axb4+ 37.Kxb4 but the position remains dead-equal, according to the engines.
36...Kd6 37.f4 Kc5 38.Kc3 Bc8 39.fxg5
Not 39.f5? as Black has 39...Ba6 followed by ...Bf1 etc.
39...hxg5 40.Kd2 Bd7 41.Kc3 Bc8
RdC offered a draw as he played ...
42.Kd2
... but I felt it was worth playing on to see what the bishop could achieve.
42...Ba6 43.Ke1 Bd3 44.Kf2 Kd6 45.Kg3 Bg6 46.h4 gxh4+ 47.Kxh4 Ke5 48.Kg3
The engines reckon also dead-equal is 48.Nc6+!? Ke4 49.Nxa5 Kxe3, although it is probably easier for Black to play.
48...Ke4 49.Kf2 Be8 50.Ne6 Kd3
Not 50...Bd7?? 51.Nc5+.
51.Kf3 Kc3 52.Nd4 Bg6 53.Nc6 Kxb3 ½–½
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