There are those who wrongly think engines are banned, and that such a ban cannot be enforced.
The latter would be correct, except that engines are allowed in most forms of correspondence chess, for example at the Fide-recognised International Correspondence Chess Federation.
The second group is composed of people who know engines are allowed, but think their use makes the whole exercise boring and pointless
The third group is those who play the game, engines and all, and this group includes me as I play at the ICCF, mainly for various England teams.
It is true that the vast majority of games finish as draws, and I rarely post them on this blog.
But occasionally a game avoids such a fate, or has some other point of interest.
Juan Borges Medina (Cuba - 2246) - Spanton (England - 2280)
Carlos Flores Gutiérrez Team Tournament FinalBoard Five
Spanish Berlin
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.0-0 Nd4 6.Nxd4 Bxd4 7.c3 Bb6 8.d4!?
The main moves in ChessBase's 2023 Mega database are 8.Nd2 and 8.Bg5, which are almost exactly equally popular although the former scores 13 percentage points higher. The text has been played by grandmasters, but is roughly half as popular as the mainlines, although its score of 60% is 10 percentage points better than 8.Nd2.
8...0-0
White has a large advantage after 8...Nxe4? 9.Re1, according to Stockfish15 and Komodo13.02.
9.a4!?
The engines like this obscure move - only one example in Mega23 - and 9.dxe5.
9...a6 10.Bd3 d6 11.a5 Ba7 12.Bc2 Re8
 |
| How should White proceed? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
13.d5!?
This may be an improvement on Ghazal Hakimifard (2296) - Frank Satzberger (2131), Swiss Championship (Samnaun) 2022, which saw 13.Re1, when the engines reckon 13...d5 may give Black a slight edge.
13...c6 14.h3 Bd7 15.c4 cxd5 16.cxd5 Rc8 17.Nc3 h6 18.Bd2 Nh7!? 19.Ba4 Rf8 20.Rc1 f5 21.Bxd7 Qxd7 22.Be3!? Bxe3 23.fxe3
 |
| Now all bishops have been exchanged, how would you assess the position? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
White has more space on the queenside but Black has a slight kingside initiative. The position is completely equal, according to the engines.
23...f4 24.exf4 Rxf4 25.Rxf4 exf4 26.Qf3?!
The engines prefer 26.Ne2, continuing 26...Rf8 27.Nd4 Ng5 28.h4!? Nxe4 29.Qf3, claiming White has full compensation for a pawn.
26..Rf8 27.h4!?
Not so much preventing 27...g5, rather 27...Ng5. However, better may be 27.Rf1, and if 27...Ng5 the engines reckon 28.Qh5!? (threatening 29.h4 Nh7 30.e5 with an initiative) Qc7 29.Qg4 Qxa5 30.h4 Qb6+ 31.Rf2 Nh7 32.Qe6+ Kh8 33.e5 again gives White good compensation for a pawn.
27...Qd8 28.Qg4 Qxa5 29.Qe6+ Rf7 30.Qxd6
 |
| How would you assess this position? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
White has equalised material and has a pair of dangerous-looking passed pawns. On top of this, the black king seems a little vulnerable, but the key to the position is the white king, which really is vulnerable.
30...Rf6 31.Qb8+ Nf8 32.Rf1!?
Not 32,Qxb7? as Black has 32...Qc5+ with a big attack after both 32.Kh2 Qf2 and 32.Kf1 f3. However perhaps better is 32.Qa7, although 32...Rb6 followed by ...Rxb2 is good for Black, and if 33.e5 then 33...Qc5+, eg 34.Kf1 (best, according to the engines) f3! 35.gxf3 Qe3 36.Rc2 Ng6 gives a strong attack, one line running 37.e6 Nf4 38.e7 Kf7 39.Qb8 Qxf3+ 40.Ke1 Qh1+ 41.Kd2 Qh2+ 42.Kd1 Qg1+ 43.Kd2 Qd4+ 44.Ke1 Kxe7, after which the black king can escape checks from the white queen, but the white king has no shelter.
32...Qb6+ 33.Rf2 Qe3 33.h5 b5 34.Qe5
 |
| How should Black proceed? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
34...f3!
A pawn sacrifice that gives the black rook a half-open f file and the knight a fine square at f4, while also reducing the white king's cover.
35.gxf3 Ng6! 36. Qb8+
Even worse is 36.hxg6 Qe1+ 37.Kg2 Rxg6+ etc. Best, but losing, may be the engines' 36.Qxf6!? gxf6 37.hxg6.
36...Rf8 37.Qg3 Nf4 38.d6 b4 39.d7?!
This is hopeless, but 39.Nd5 Qe1+ 40.Kh2 Nxd5 41.exd5 Rf5 also wins easily for Black.
39...bxc3 0-1
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