Spanton (Battersea 2 - 1952) - Jack Virgin (HMC 3 - 1881)
Central London League Division Two
Board Two
Benoni
1.Nc3 Nf6 2.d4 c5 3.d5
There are 3,193 games with this position in ChessBase's 2022 Mega database, the normal move-order being 1.d4 c5 2.d5 Nf6 3.Nc3.
3...g6 4.e4 d6 5.f4!?
Much more popular, and preferred by Stockfish15 and Komodo13.02, is 5.Nf3, one idea being to route the knight to c4. However Alexander Alekhine played the text in the 1912 stem game (a 19-move win against Grigory Levenfish).
5...Bg7
Levenfish played 5...Nbd7, but the text is the chief continuation today.
6.e5!?
The mainline in Mega22 runs 6.Bb5+ Nfd7!? 7.a4!? 0-0 8.Nf3 with advantage to White, according to the engines.
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| How should Black respond to White's pawn thrust? |
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6...dxe5
This is most popular, but 6...Nfd7, suggested by Battersea player Victor Rumsey in the postmortem, is preferred by the engines. After 7.e6 fxe6 8.dxe6 my suggestion of 8.Bc4 is probably better than the known continuation 8.Bb5+?!, but the engines reckon Black has the upper hand. Whites have also also tried 7.exd6, when 7...exd6 is equal, according to the engines, but they reckon the pawn sac 7...0-0!? is strong. Interesting is the engines' top choice of 7.Be2!?, intending to continue in gambit style with 7...dxe5 8.Nf3. The position seems unclear but the engines have a slight preference for Black.
7.fxe5 Ng4?
This is the commonest continuation (just) in Mega22, but is a mistake. Black should play 7...Nfd7, when 8.e6.fxe6 9.dxe6 gives White a much- improved version of the first line in the previous note.
8.Bb5+ Kf8
Forced, as 8...Bd7?? loses a piece to 9.Qxg4.
9.e6 Bxe6?
This initiates a forcing sequence that wins material in the short term but gives White an overwhelming position. The engines suggest 9...Nf6 10.exf7 a6 11.Be8!? Nxe8 12.fxe8=Q+ Kxe8 13.Nf3, when material is level and Black has the bishop-pair, but the engines reckon White is positionally winning.
10.dxe6 Bxc3+ 11.bxc3 Qxd1+ 12.Kxd1 Nf2+ 13.Ke2 Nxh1
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| Black is the exchange and a pawn up, but the king's knight is doomed, and anyway White has a mate-in-five |
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14.Bh6+ Kg8 15.exf7+!?
This is plenty good enough to win but Johann Blum - Heinrich Bruckhaus, German Championship Qualifier (Gelsenkirchen) 1947, saw the superior 15.Rf1, when Black resigned as mate cannot be avoided, eg 15...f5 is met by 16.Be8 etc (15.Be8 also mates).
15...Kxf7 16.Bc4+ e6
If 16...Ke8 then 17.Bg7, and if 16...Kf6 then 17.Rf1+ Ke5 18.Bg7.
17.Nf3 Nd7 18.Nf3 Rhe8 19.Rf1 Nb6 20.Ne5+ Kg8!?
This allows checkmate, but 20...Ke7 21.Rf7+ Kd6 22.Bf4 is also horrific, and 21...Kd8 is no improvement, even if White does not find the engines' long mating sequence starting with 22.Rxb7.
21.Rf7! Rf8
The point is 21...Nxc4 runs into 22.Rg7+ Kh8 23.Nf7# or 22...Kf8 23.Nd7#. The text is as good as any other try, according to the engines.
22.Rxf8+
The engines give a mate-in-seven starting with 22.Rg7+.
22...Rxf8 23.Bxe6+ 1-0
The bad news is we lost the match:
BATTERSEA 2...........................................................HMC 3
Philipp Even (1992).....................0-1..........................Julian Morrison (2006)
Tim Spanton (1952).....................1-0..........................Jack Virgin (1881)
Victor Rumsey (1802)...................½...........................Martin G Baker (1841)
Hendrik Wessels (1726)................½...........................Stephen Berkley (1761)
Stephen Welch (1460)..................0-1..........................Igor Naumov (1804)
.....................................................2-3................................................................
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