Division Four: Wessex Some Stars A v MASCeteers
Board Six (of six)
Sicilian Bb5(+)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.0-0 Nc6 6.c3 Nf6 7.Qe2 e5!?
The same move as I faced earlier this month at Fagernes, Norway, in round seven.
8.d4!?
Most popular in ChessBase's 2023 Mega database is 8.Rd1, but the aggressive reply 8...Qg4!? seems to produce an unclear position.
8...cxd4 9.cxd4 exd4 10.Rd1
 |
| How should Black continue? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
10...Be7
My Norwegian game saw the trappy 10...Rc8, when 11.Nxd4?? would have lost to 11...Nxd4 12.Rxd4 Rxc1+. Instead I replied 11.Na3, which may be enough for a tiny edge, but Stockfish15.1 and Komodo14.1 reckon 11.Bg5 gives White much the better game. They suggest meeting 10.Rd1 with 10...Qg4!?, when Sergey Zhurov (2240) - Piotr Dukaczewski (2220), Warsaw 1993, continued 11.Nbd2 0-0-0?! 12.h3 with what the engines reckon is a strong position for White (1-0, 49 moves). However they give 11...Be7 as a major improvement.
11.Nxd4 0-0 12.Nc3
Also interesting is 12.Nf5!?
12...Nxd4
Mustafa Yilmaz (2626) - Aydın Süleymanlı (2541), Chess.com Blitz 2021, went 12...Rfe8 13.Nf5 Bf8, after which the engines reckon 14.f3 would have left White well on top (Yilmaz played 14.Qf3 and won quickly anyway).
13.Rxd4 Qg4!?
This may be a novelty. Black has tried five other moves in Mega23, but none seems to solve the problem of Black's weak d pawn.
14.Qd3 a6??
Rook moves are preferable, but leave White with at least the upper hand, according to the engines.
15.e5 Qe6 16.exf6
There is no back-rank mate (1-0, 60 moves).
Wessex won the match 4-2.
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