FACED today the Iranian whom I was paired against yesterday evening but who arrived after the default time - we were both repaired last night and won our games.
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| Queen Street |
Spanton (1949 ECF/1852 Fide) - Mohammad Hossein Mozaffari (2013 ECF/1622 Fide)
Modern Defence
1.Nc3 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.d4 b6!?
There are in ChessBase's 2022 Mega database 241 examples of this move, which was a favourite of grandmaster Gata Kamsky.
4.f4 Bb7 5.Nf3 d6
Kamsky has three games in Mega22 with 5...e6.
6.Be2 Nd7 7.Be3 Ngf6 8.e5 Ng4 9.Qd2 c6?!
Probably better is 9...e6, although Stockfish15 and Komodo13.02 prefer White after 10.0-0-0 or 10.h3.
10.e6!?
Also strong, according to the engines, is 10.0-0-0.
10...fxe6 11.Ng5 Nxe3
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| What should White play? |
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12.Qxe3
This obvious move is also probably best. After 12.Nxe6?! Nxc2? 13.Qxc2 Qc8 14.Nxg7+ Kf7 both 15.Nh5 and 15.Ne6!? are strong, eg 15.Ne6!? Kxe6 16.f5+!? with a powerful attack. But instead of capturing on c2, Black should capture on g2, eg 12...Nxg2+ 13.Kf2 Qb8 14.Kxg2 Bf6, when the engines reckon White does not have enough for a pawn.
12...Nf8 13.0-0-0
Developing the queen's rook and getting the king to safety while at the same time protecting d4.
13...Bc8 14.Bg4 Bh6?!
If 14...e5?! then 15.Bxc8 exd4 16.Rxd4! Rxc8 (not 16...Bxd4? 17.Qxd4 Rg8 18.Bb7) 17.Rdd1 gives White more than enough for a pawn, according to the engines. But they reckon even better for White is 15.Bf3!?, eg 15...exd4 16.Rxd4! bb7 17.Rhd1! However the engines reckon 14...d5 and 14...h6 give Black better chances than the text.
15.Nxe6?
This swops the f4 pawn for the e6 pawn, which is a bad bargain in itself, but the error is compounded by letting Black exchange two back-row pieces for two active White ones. Better moves include 15.h4, 15.Rde1!? and 15.Kb1.
15...Nxe6 16.Bxe6 Bxe6 17.Qxe6 Bxf4+ 18.Kb1 Qd7 19.Qe4 0-0 20.g3?!
The engines strongly dislike this, preferring 20.d5, when 20...c5 21.Qe6+ Qxe6 22.dxe6 gives White a great square at d5 for the knight. If 20...cxd5 then 21.Nxd5 more or less equalises, according to the engines.
20...Bh6
Even stronger, according to the engines, is 20...d5.
21.Rde1!?
The wrong rook? Maybe - the engines disagree, but they do agree that slightly better is 21.d5.
21...Rae8 22.d5 c5 23.Ref1?!
I was worried about lines with ...Bd2, eg 23.Rhf1? Bd2 forces 24.Rxf8+ as 24.Rd1?? loses to 24...Rxf1 25.Rxf1 Bxc3 26.bxc3 Qb5+ etc, but almost certainly better is 23.Qe6+ Qxe6 24.Rxe6, albeit Black's long-term chances must be promising.
23...Bg7 24.Ne2!?
Maybe better is 24.Qe2, but Black is well on top.
24...Be5
Even stronger seems to be 24...Qb5, and the engines suggest meeting 25.b3 with 25...Qb4!?, eg 26.Qxb4 Rxf1+ 27.Rxf1 cxb4, although there is a long way to go before Black can realise his pawn advantage.
25.h4
The engines prefer 25.Nf4!?, although the simplification arising from 25...Bxf4 26.Rxf4 Rxf4 leaves White facing a long struggle for a half-point.
25...e6?!
Probably better is simplification through 25...Rxf1+ 26.Rxf1 Rf8.
26.dxe6
26.h5!? may be better.
26...Qxe6 27.Rxf8+ Kxf8 28.Rf1+
'Obvious', but 28.h5!? may be slightly more promising.
28...Kg7 29.c4 h6 30.Rd1
The engines suggest 30.Kc2!?, 30.b3 or 30.Nf4, albeit in each case having Black winning.
30...Re7 31.Rf1 Qh3!? 32.Qf3 Qf5+!? 33.Qxf5 gxf5 34.Rxf5 Bxb2 35.Nf4 Be5 36.Nd5
The engines like 36.Kc2!?, and if 36...Bxf4 then 37.gxf4!?, but that leaves White not just a pawn down but with four isolanis.
36...Rf7 37.g4?
This makes it too easy.
37...Kg6?
Throwing away Black's advantage. Winning is 37...Rxf5 38.gxf5 h5 as the h4 pawn must fall.
38.h5+ Kg7 39.a4
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| White remains a pawn down but the position is equal, according to the engines |
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39...Rb7
Black's king is trapped in its own half of the board after 39...Rxf5 40.gxf5.
40.Rf3 Rf7 41.Rxf7+ Kxf7 42.Kc2 Ke6 43.Kd3 Bf6 44.Ke4 Bd8 45.Nf4+ Kd7?!
Ceding space can be dangerous. The engines give 45...Kf6 46.Kd5 Be7 (not 46...Kg5?? 47.Ne6+).
46.Kd5 Bf6 47.Ne6
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| How should Black proceed? |
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47...Be5?
47...Be7 and 47...a6 seem to hold.
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48.Nf8+?
Missing a win with 48.g5 hxg5 49.Nxg5, eg 49...Bf4 50.Nf7 Ke7 51.Nxd6! Bxd6 52.h6 Kf7 53.Kxd6 etc.
48...Ke7 49.Ne6 Kf6 50.Nd8 Kg5
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| White to play and draw |
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51.Nc6?
51.Nf7+ Kxg4 52.Nxh6+ draws.
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| Black to play and win |
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51...Kxg4
This looks natural but the engines' 51...a5! seems the only way to win, the point being White has not enough time to create a dangerous queenside passer before Black's h pawn queens.
52.Nxa7 Kxh5 53.Nc8 Kg4 54.Nxb6 Bc3
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| White to play and draw |
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55.Kxd6?
There seem to be two drawing moves.
A: 55.Ke4, eg 55...h5 56.Nd5 Ba5 57.Nf6 Kg5 58.Nxh5!? Kxh5 59.Kd5 etc.
B: 55.Kc6!?, eg 55....h5 56.Nd5 h4 57.Nxc3 h3 58.Nd5 h2 59.a5 h1=Q 60.a6 Qa1 61.Kb7 Qb2+ with complete equality, according to the engines, although hair-raising to play over the board.
55...h5 56.Nd5 h4 57.Ne3+
Or 57.Nxc3 h3 58.Kxc5 h2 59.a5 h1=Q 60.Nd5 Qg1+ 61.Kb5 Qa7, when the black queen has got in front of the white pawns and, unlike example B in the previous note, the white pieces are not well-enough placed to support them.
The game finished:
57...Kf3 58.Nf1 Kg2 59.Ne3+ Kf3 60.Nf1 h3 61.Kxc5 Kf2 62.Nh2 Be5!? 63.Ng4+ Kg3 64.Ne3 Bf4 65.Nf5+ Kg4 0-1
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