PLAYED today.
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| The Holy Name Roman Catholic church, Jesmond |
Robert R Sanders (2010 ECF/1937 Fide) - Spanton (1949 ECF/1852 Fide)
Spanish Berlin
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8
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| The main tabiya of the Berlin Wall - how would you proceed? |
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9.Bg5+!?
Developing a piece with tempo is something beginners' books tend to stress, but for the most part here strong players here have tended to choose something else. The mainline in ChessBase's Mega 2022 database runs 9.Nc3 Ke8 10.h3 h5 11.Bf4 Be7 12.Rad1 Be6 13.Ng5 Rh6!?, when Stockfish15 and Komodo13.02 reckon White is slightly better.
9...Ke8 10.Rd1 Be6 11.b3!?
Preparing to fianchetto the light-square bishop, which is very likely to be hit by ...h6, which generally is a useful move for Black in the Berlin Wall.
11...h6 12.Bc1 a5 13.a4 Be7 14.Ba3 Bxa3 15.Nxa3 Rd8 16.Rxd8+ Kxd8 17.Rd1+ Kc8 18.Kf1
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| Each side has fewer than 13 points in pieces, using the traditional system of Q=9/R=5/B=3/N=3, which I regard as making this an endgame - how would you assess it? |
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White has the superior pawn-majority and has more pieces in play, although the knight on a3 will require at least two tempi to redeploy somewhere useful. Black has the only bishop, and it might be able to usefully target White's queenside pawns. Meanwhile the e pawn could prove over-extended. Stockfish15 gives Black the upper hand; Komodo13.02 gives Black a slight edge.
18...Re8 19.Nb1 Ne7!?
White's knight retreat is aimed at getting the knight into a generally more useful position; Black's knight retreat has a more-aggressive aim.
20.Nc3?!
I was expecting the knight to go to d2 to support the f3 knight in defending e5. On c3 it is almost as irrelevant to the critical point of the battle as it was on a3.
20...Bg4 21.Rg3 Ng6
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| Without making an obvious error, but by probably playing a series of slightly sub-optimal moves, White faces losing the e pawn |
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22.h3!?
This is Komodo13.02's top choice. Stockfish15 gives best-play as 22.Re3 c5 23.Ke1!? Nf4 24.Kf1 Rd8, but reckons Black is positionally winning.
22...Bxf3 23.Rxf3 Nxe5 24.Re3 Re7 25.Ke2 Ng6 26.g3 Rxe3+ 27.Kxe3 Kd7 28.f4
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| As I was thinking about my next move, RS offered a draw |
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Clearly, barring blunders, there are only two possible outcomes - a draw or a black win. Stockfish15 reckons Black is winning, but Komodo13.02 gives Black 'only' the upper hand.
28...Ne7 29.Ke4 Ke6 30.Ne2 f5+ 31.Kd3 b6 32.Nd4+ Kd5 33.c4+ Kd6 34.Kc3 c5 35.Nf3
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| Stockfish15 reckons Black is the equivalent of more than four pawns ahead, which I find hard to believe, but even the more-conservative Komodo13.02 reckons Black is winning (+1.8) |
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35...Nc6
The problem with such engine evaluations is that, in the absence of obvious positional compensation, engines tend to overvalue material considerations, not appreciating the difficulty of converting a material-plus well beyond their event horizons.
36.Kd3 Ke6 37.Kc3 Kf6 38.h4!?
The engines are OK with this, at least at first, but it creates a weakness at g4. However Black was threatening ...g5, which is also problematic for White.
38...Kg6 39.Kd3
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| How should Black proceed? |
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39...Kf6
This does not spoil anything, but 39...Kh5 40.Ke3 Nd4! wins. I rejected it because after 41.Nxd4 cxd4+ 42.Kxd4 Kg4 43.Kd5 Kxg3 44.Kc6 Kxf4 45.Kxc7 Ke5 46.Kxb6 f4 47.c5 f3 48.c6 f2 49.c7 f1=Q White also queens and is at least equal. I missed that Black has 45...g5!, which wins as 46.Kxb6 g4 47.c5 g3 48.c6 g2 49.c7 g1=Q+ prevents White usefully queening, eg 50.Kb7 Qg7+ 51.Kb8 Qe5 52.Qb7 Qd5+ etc.
40.Ke3
RS offered a draw.
40...Ke6 41.Kd3 Nd8 42.Ne5 Nb7
Not 42...Nf7? as 43.Nxf7 is surely a draw, as Stockfish15 agrees, although Komodo13.02 at first insists Black is winning, before eventually settling on giving Black the upper hand (+1.4).
43.Nf3 Nd6 44.Nd2 Kf6 45.Ke3 Kg6 46.Kf3 Kh5 47.Kg2 Ne4 48.Nxe4?
The engines reckon 48.Nf1 is better, and certainly Black would still have plenty of work to do.
48...fxe4 49.Kh3
Or 49.Kf2 Kg4 50.Ke3 Kxg3 etc.
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| Black to play and win ... or lose |
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49...g5??
Winning is 49...Kg6 as 50.g4 is met by 50...h5, and if 51.Kg3 then 51...Kf6.
50.g4+ Kg6 51.fxg5 hxg5 52.h5 (1-0, 58 moves).
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