King's Gambit
1.e4 e5 2.f4 Bc5 3.Nf3 d5!? 4.d4?
ALH spent about 24 minutes on this move, confirming grandmaster John Nunn's rule that players who take more than 20 minutes over a move often come up with a howler. The commonest continuations in ChessBase's 2022 Mega database are 4.Nxe5 and especially 4.exd5.
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| How should Black respond? |
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4...dxe4?!
This is good enough for an advantage, but almost certainly better is 4...exd4, eg 5.Nxd4 dxe4 5.Be3 Nf6, when Black is a pawn up and ready to castle. Stockfish15 and Komodo13.02 suggest 5.e5 or 5.Nbd2, but give Black at least the upper hand.
5.dxc5
5.dxc5
Probably not 5.Nxe5?! Qxd4.
5...Qxd1+ 6.Kxd1 exf3 7.gxf3 Nc6 8.Bb5
The engines prefer 8.fxe5, claiming 8...Nxe5 9.Bf4 is equal. They reckon Black should instead continue developing with 8...Bf5 or 8...Nge7.
8...Bd7 9.fxe5 Nxe5
Again, continued development may be better, eg 9...0-0-0!? 10.Bg5 Nge7.
10.Bxd7+ Kxd7 11.Ke2 Re8 12.Kf2 Nf6 13.Nc3 Kc6?!
The engines reckon this is too ambitious, preferring 13...Kc8.
14.Rg1 Rhg8 15.Bg5 Nd5 16.Nxd5 Kxd5 17.Be3 g6 18.Rad1+ Kc6
Not 18...Kc4?, eg 19.Rd4+ Kxc5 20.b4+ Kb6 21.Rc4+ Ka6 22.Rc3 b6 23.f4 Nd7 24.Rxc7 etc.
19.b4 Re6 20.a4 a6 21.Rb1 Kd7 22.Rgd1+ Kc8 23.Rd4
The engines slightly prefer 23.Rb3 or 23.Bf4.
23...Rge8 24.Bf4 Nc6 25.Rd2 Rd8 26.Rxd8+ Kxd8 27.b5
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| How should Black meet this pawn thrust? |
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27...Na5?
The game is equal after 27...Ne5 or 27...Ne7, according to the engines.
28.c6?
White has a large advantage after both 28.Rd1+ and 28.Rb4, according to the engines, eg 28.Rd1+ Kc8 29.Rd4 (keeping the knight offside) f6 (best, according to the engines) 30.Bd2 b6 31.cxb6 cxb6 32.bxa6 Rc6 33.Bf4!? Rxc2+ 34.Kg3, after which White's pieces are much better coordinated.
28...axb5
Not 28...bxc6?? 29.bxa6 etc.
29.Rxb5!?
Possibly better are 29.cxb7 Nxb7 30.axb5 and 29.Rd1+ Kc8 30.cxb7+ Nxb7 31.axb5.
29...b6 30.Rd5+ Kc8 31.Rd7 Rxc6 32.Rxf7 Rxc2+ 33.Kg3 h5
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| How would you assess this ending? |
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Black is a pawn up and White has three isolanis, but the knight is out of play and White has strong pressure against c7, and also has the more-active king. The engines give Black a tiny pull.
34.Rg7 Rc6 35.Kh4 Nb3
From here the knight has the choice of ...Nd4, attacking the f pawn, and ...Nc5, attacking the a pawn.
36.Kg5 Nd4 37.Rxg6 Nxf3+ 38.Kxh5 Rc4 39.Bg3 Rxa4 40.Rc6 Ra5+ 41.Kg5 Ne5+ 42.Bxe5 Rxe5
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| How would you assess this rook-and-pawn ending? |
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The engines reckon it is completely equal, and the Syzygy endgame tablebase confirms their verdict by giving seven moves that hold the draw.
The game finished 'correctly':
43.h4 Kd7 44.Rc1 c5 45.h5 Ke7 46.Rf1 Re2 47.Rb1 Re4+ 48.Kg5 Re5+ 49.Kg6 c4!? 50.Rxb6 ½–½
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