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| The playing hall |
David Patrick (1831 ECF/1803 Fide) - Spanton (1949 ECF/1852 Fide)
Spanish Berlin
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.0-0 Nd4 6.Nxd4
The main move. My round-one game, N1, featured the suddenly fashionable 6.Bc4!?
6...Bxd4 7.c3 Bb6 8.a4!?
Unusual. The normal continuations are 8.Nd2 and 8.Bg5.
8...c6 9.Bc4 0-0 10.h3!?
This may be a novelty. Aleksandra Maltsevskaya (2382) - Jung Min Seo (2453), Chess.com Blitz 2021, saw 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bh4 g5!? 12.Bg3 d5 13.exd5 cxd5 14.Bb3 with approximate equality, according to Stockfish15 and Komodo13.02 (but 1-0, 31 moves).
10...d5 11.exd5 Nxd5!?
Hoping to pressurise the semi-backward d pawn.
12.Kh2?
Spending time to make the king more vulnerable.
12...Qd6 13.Bxd5?
Giving up the bishop-pair and removing a defender from the d pawn. I expected 13.g3, which comes to be Stockfish15's choice, at least for a while, although it also suggests 13.Kh1 and 13.Nd2. Komodo13.02 likes 13.a5!? Bc7 14.g3, but in any case the engines agree Black has a large advantage.
13...Qxd5 14.f4
The engines prefer 14.Be3 but reckon Black is on top after 14...Bc7 or my planned 14...Bf5.
14...Bf5 15.fxe5 Bxd3 16.Rf3 Rad8 17.Bf4 Bc7 18.Qe1 Rfe8 19.Qg3
If 19.Re3 then 19...f6.
19...Be4 20.Rf2 Bxe5 21.Nd2 Bxf4 22.Qxf4 Bg6
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| White has no compensation for being a pawn down |
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23.Nf3 Qd6 24.Qxd6 Rxd6 25.a5 c5 26.Ra3!?
White's pieces lack coordination, and the text does not help. Stockfish15 reckons Black's advantage is worth about three pawns; Komodo13.02 reckons about 1.3 pawns.
26...h6 27.Rb3 b6 28.axb6 axb6 29.Ra3 Rde6 30.Rb3 Bh5 31.Kg3 Rg6+ 32.Kh2
White gets mated after 32.Kh4? Bxf3 33.Rxf3? Rxg2.
32...Bxf3!?
A bishop is usually better than a knight at working with rooks, but here simplification may be the most pragmatic choice.
33.Rxf3
The engines slightly prefer 33.gxf3!?
33...Re2 34.Rg3 Rge6 35.Rb5 Rc2 36.Rb3
White really cannot do much more than wait for Black to come up with a winning plan.
36...g6 37.h4 h5 38.Kh3 Kf8 39.Rb5 Ke7 40.Rd3 Rce2 41.Rf3 Re3!?
A rule of thumb in this type of ending is the side pushing for a win should prefer two rooks for each side or none at all. The text breaks that rule but I felt my advantage was large enough to again not fear simplification.
42.Kg3 Rxf3+ 43.Kxf3 Kd7 44.b4?!
If White can swop off the queenside pawns, White's drawing chances increase immensely, but trying to implement such a plan is not practical here and probably makes matters worse.
44...Kc6 45.c4 cxb4 46.g4!?
This is Stockfish15's top choice, which shows what a bad way White is in. If 46.Rxb4 then 46...Kc5 47.Ra4 f5 and ...Re4.
The game finished:
46...hxg4+ 47.Kg3 f5 48.h5 Re3+ 49.Kf4 Re4+ 50.Kg5 Rxc4 51.Re5 gxh5 0-1
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