U2000
Modern Defence
1.e4 g6 2.Nf3 Bg7 3.d4 d6 4.Nc3 Nbd7
4...Nf6 would be a transposition to the Pirc; the text keeps the game in independent lines.
5.Be2 c6 6.a4 Qc7 7.a5!?
Castling is normal.
7...Ngf6 8.h3 0-0 9.Be3
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| The moves may have appeared somewhat random, or perhaps lacking planning, but the game has reached a position occurring 163 times in ChessBase's 2022 Mega database |
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9...h6!?
The mainline runs 9...e5 10.dxe5 dxe5, when Stockfish15 and Komodo13.02 reckon 11.Bc4!? or 11.0-0 gives White at least a slight edge. One point of the text is to prevent 10.Qd2 followed by 11.Bh6.
10.Qd2 Kh7 11.0-0 a6 12.Rfd1 Ng8?!
The engines strongly dislike this retreat.
13.d5 c5 14.Qc1!?
Planning to re-route the king's knight to c4.
14...Rb8 15.Nd2 Ndf6 16.Nc4 Ne8?!
Another retreat strongly disliked by the engines.
17.Qd2 f5 18.Bd3 fxe4 19.Bxe4 Ngf6 20.Bd3 e5 21.Rf1
21.dxe6 Bxe6 22.Nb6 also leaves White on top, according to the engines.
21...Qe7 22.Rae1 Bf5 23.f4 Bxd3 24.Qxd3
The engines slightly prefer 24.cxd3!? to prevent Black's next move.
24...e4 25.Qd2 Rd8 26.g4 Nc7 27.Rd1 Nb5!? 28.Nxb5?!
The engines reckon much better is 28.Ne2, in effect asking Black what the knight is doing out on a limb on the queenside. Stockfish15 reckons 28.Ne2 gives White a won game, but Komodo13.02 allows White only a slight edge, suggesting the game is hard to evaluate, with positional factors dominating over the engines' strongpoint of tactics.
28...axb5 29.Na3 Qd7 30.Qe2 b4
The engines' 30...h5! initiates immediate kingside counterplay.
31.Nc4 Qf7 32.Qd2
Even stronger, according to the engines, is 32.f5 g5 33.Qd2.
32...h5 33.g5!?
The engines prefer 33.f5 hxg4 34.Qg2, claiming a slight edge for White.
33...Ng8 34.f5!? gxf5 35.Bf4 Qg6 36.Qh2 Rf7 37.h4?
Better is 37.Qg3, or even Komodo13.02's 37.Bxd6!?, the point of the latter being 37...Qxg5+ 38.Kh1 seems to leave White better coordinated.
37...Ne7?!
Almost certainly stronger is 37...Nf6 (or 37...Nh6) with ...Ng4 to come.
38.Bxd6 Bd4+ 39.Kh1 Nxd5 40.Bxc5!? Bxc5 41.Ne5 Bd6 42.Rxd5 Bxe5 43.Qxe5 Rxd5 44.Qxd5 f4
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| After a brief flurry of tactics we have a late-middlegame in which White has the better overall pawn-structure, but Black has a dangerous pair of passed pawns |
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45.Qe5?
Both 45.Kg2 and 45.c4 are much better, according to the engines.
45...f3 46.Kg1 Qf5 47.Qxf5+ Rxf5 48.Kf2
There is nothing better.
48...Rxa5?
White is reduced to losing passivity after 48...Rf4.
49.Ke3 Re5 50.Rd1 Kg6 51.Kf4?!
White seems to have a comfortable draw after 51.Rd8 or 51.Rd7.
51...Re6 52.Re1??
Pushing the c pawn one or two squares holds, according to the engines.
52...f2 53.Rf1 e3 0-1
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