PLAYED this evening.
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| St Illtyd's Church seen through the gateway of Bridgend's Newcastle |
Spanton (1889) - Alex Bullen (2106)
Caro-Kann Classical
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nf3 Nd7 7.h4 h6 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Ngf6!?
This has been played by grandmasters but the mainline in ChessBase's 2022 Mega database runs 9...Bxd3 10.Qxd3 e6 11.Bd2 Ngf6 12.0-0-0 Be7, which Stockfish15 and Komodo13.02 reckon gives equal play.
10.Bxh7 Nxh7 11.Bf4
11.Qd3!? and especially 11.Qe2 are popular alternatives, the former offering the chance to return to the mainlines after 11...Nhf6.
11...e6 12.Ne4!?
The engines reckon White is slightly better after 12.Qe2 or 12.0-0.
12...Ndf6 13.Qe2
Not 13.Nc5? Bxc5 14.dxc5 Qa5+ and 15...Qxc5.
13...Nxe4 14.Qxe4 Nf6 15.Qe2 Bb4+!?
Weakening the white queenside in anticipation of White castling long.
16.c3 Be7 17.Ne5 Nd5
Gevorg Harutjunyan (2417) - Alexandr Kharitonov (2523), Ilyumzhinov Cup (internet) 2006, saw 17...0-0 18.0-0-0 Qd5 19.Kb1 Qe4+ 20.Qxe4 Nxe4 21.Nd3 with a slight edge for White, according to the engines (1-0, 52 moves).18.Bd2 a5 19.a3
Preparing c4, but Komodo13.02 wants the immediate 19.c4, and if 19...Nb4 then 20.0-0 or 20.Bc3.
19...Bg5 20.Rd1
The engines prefer 20.0-0-0!?
20...Bxd2+ 21.Rxd2 0-0 22.c4 Nb6!?
The engines prefer 22...Nf6 or 22...Ne7.
23.Rh3 Nd7 24.Rg3
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| How should Black defend against White's kimgside pressure? |
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24...f5?!
Probably better is 24...Nf6, the point being 25.Ng4 can be met by 25...Nxg4 (not 25...Nxh5? 26.Nxh6+ Kh7 27.Qxh5 gxh6 28.Rdd3 with a winning attack) 26.Qxg4 Qf6 27.Rdd3 R(either)d8 with equality.
25.Nxd7?!
Almost certainly better is 25.Ng6 Re8 26.Re3.
25...Qxd7 26.Rg6 Rae8
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| How should White proceed? |
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27.Qe5?!
This allows dangerous counterplay, whereas 27.f4 ties Black down, albeit Black is holding, according to the engines.
27...f4 28.Qe4!?
Not 28.Qxa5? Rf5 29.Qc3 Rxh5 as Black gets a strong attack.
28...Rf5 29.Rg4?!
Probably better is 29.f3 or 29.Re2.
29...e5
Possibly stronger is 29...f3!? 30.gxf3 Rxh5.
30.d5 Rxh5 31.f3?
The engines reckon 31.Rg6 gives enough compensation for the pawn.
31...Rd8?
Black has a large advantage, according to the engines, after 31...Rh1+, eg 32.Ke2 g5 or 32.Kf2 Qd6.
32.Rg6 Qe7 33.dxc6 Rh1+ 34.Ke2 Rxd2+ 35.Kxd2 bxc6 36.Rxc6 Qd7+
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| How should White respond? |
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37.Qd5+
Immediately losing is 37.Kc3?? Rc1+ 38.Kb3 Qd1+ 39.Ka2 Ra1#, while 37.Kc2? Qd1+ 38.Kc3 Qc1+ 39.Kb3 (39.Qc2?? Qe3+ 40.Qc3 Rc1+ etc) Qe3+ 40.Ka4 (best) Qxe4 41.fxe4 Rg1 gives Black a better rook-and-pawn ending than in the game.
37...Qxd5+ 38.cxd5 Rg1 39.Kd3 Rxg2 40.b4 axb4 41.axb4 Rb2
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| What should White play? |
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42.Ke4!
This seems the best try as both 42.Kc4 e4 43.fxe4 f3 44.Kd3 f2 45.Rc1 and 42.Kc3 Rf2 43.b5 Rxf3+ are dead-equal, according to the engines.
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| Black to play and draw (probably) |
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42...Rxb4+?
This loses whereas 42...Re2+ 43.Kf5 e4 seems to hold, eg 44.fxe4 f3 45.Rc1 f2 46.Rf1 g5!, or 44.d6!? Kf7 45.Rc7+ Kf8 46.Re7+ Kd8 47.Rxe4 g6+!? 48.Kxf4 Rb2, although neither line is simple to see over-the-board.
43.Kxe5?
This may look natural but it allows Black to draw. Winning is 43.Kf5, after which the d pawn races through to queen, helped by the white king using the e pawn as a shield from checks. If 43...Kf7 then 44.Rc7+ is very strong.
43...Rb8?
Passive. The rook should stay active, so the engines reckon most moves along the b file are good enough, but easiest is 43...Rb3, eg 44.d6 Kf7 45.d7 Re3+ 46.Kxf4 Rd3 etc. Indeed White could carelessly lose in this line, ie 46.Kd6?! Rd3+ 47.Kc7?? (47.Ke5 probably holds) Ke7 etc. Another try after 43...Rb3 is 44.Kxf4 but simply 44...Kf7 is dead-equal.
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| White to play and win |
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44.d6
Other moves draw, but now the position is hopeless for Black.
44..Re8+ 45.Kd5 Kf7 46.d7 Re3 47.Rd6 Rd3+ 48.Ke5 1-0
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