English Symmetrical
1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3 g6 4.e3!?
White so often fianchettoes the king's bishop in the English that it can come as a surprise when White goes for central play instead.
4...Nf6
Most popular is 4...Bg7, one idea being to meet 5.d4 with 5...d6!?, and if 6.dxc5 then 6...Bxc3+!? 7.bxc3 dxc5.
5.d4 cxd4 6.exd4 d5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Bc4
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| How should Black meet this double-attack on d5? |
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8...Nxc3
This is the commonest continuation in ChessBase's 2023 Mega database, but Stockfish15 and Komodo13.02 narrowly prefer 8...Nb6!? 9.Bb3 Bg7, and if 10.d5 then 10...Na5, but probably not 10...Ne5?! as 11.Nxe5 Bxe5 12.0-0 gives White an initiative.
9.Qb3!? Nd5!? 10.Bxd5 e6 11.Bxc6+
White can also gambit the d pawn, although Black should probably not accept.
11...bxc6 12.0-0
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| How should Black proceed? |
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12...Ba6!?
The main move in Mega23 is 12...Qd5, which is also the engines' choice. They reply 13.Qc2, but without agreement on how Black should continue. Stockfish15 suggesting 13...f6!? or 13...Ba6, and Komodo13.02 liking 13...Be7 or 13...Bb7.
13.Re1 Rb8?!
Again the engines prefer...Qd5.
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| MS spent ages over his next move - what do you suppose he was thinking about? |
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14.Qc3
MS explained in the postmortem he found it difficult to decide between the text and 14.Qc2. What he should have been mainly thinking about is 14.Rxe6!?, when 14...fxe6 15.Qxe6+ Be7 16.Qxc6+ Qd7 17.Qxa6 gives White three pawns (and the safer king) for the exchange. Black cannot play 14...Be7? as 15.Rxe7+ has to be met by 15...Kxe7, when 16.Bg5+ f6 17.Rd1+ gives a huge attack.
14...Qd5 15.Bf4 Rb7?!
Probably better is 15...Bb4, although the engines reckon 16.Qc2 leaves White with a large advantage.
16.Rec1 Bg7!?
Giving up the c pawn while defending the king's rook in case of a check along the back rank seems to be Black's best option.
17.Qa3?!
Probably over-elaborating. The simple 17.Qxc6+ Qxc6 18.Rxc6 wins a pawn, for which the bishop-pair is not sufficient compensation. The engines also like 17.Qd2.
17...Bb5?!
I thought 17...Bd2 might be too loosening, but the engines reckon it equalises.
18.Be5?! ½–½
A strange end to the game. White is positionally winning, according to the engines, after 18.Rc5, eg 18...Qd7 19.Qc3 0-0 20.a4 with strong pressure against the black queenside. After the text, according to the engines, Black has to play 18...f6, but 19.Bd6 leaves White with an edge.
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