Tushar Roul (1494 Fide/1597 ECF) - Spanton (1858 Fide/1919 ECF)
Spanish Berlin
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5
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| Magnus Carlsen has played seven different moves in this position - can you guess them all? |
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Carlsen has played 5.c3, 5.Bxc6!?, 5.Nbd2, 5.Nc3, 5.Bg5, 5.Ba4!? and:
5.0-0
Most popular in ChessBase's 2023 Mega database is 5.c3.
5...Nd4 6.Nxd4 Bxd4 7.Re1?!
This may be a novelty. Carlsen seems to have only played the mainline 7.c3.
7...c6 8.Ba4 d6
This may be enough for a tiny pull, but probably better is 8...Qb6!? with a double-attack on f2 and b2. Best-play, according to Stockfish16 and Komodo14.1, continues 9.Qd2!? and either 9...Bxb2 10.Bxb2 Qxb2 11.Bb3!?, with a sharp position that seems to favour Black, or 9...Ng4!? 10.Rf1 Bxb2 11.Bxb2 Qxb2 and 12.Bb3!? or 12.Nc3, again with a sharp position that seems to favour Black.
9.h3!?
The engines give 9.c3 Bb6 10.Be3.
9...Be6
Stockfish16 suggests 9...g5!?, while Komodo14.1 again likes ...Qb6!?
10.c3 Bb6 11.d4 0-0 12.Bg5 h6 13.Bh4 Qe7 14.dxe5 dxe5 15.Nd2 Rad8 16.Qe2 Rd7 17.Bb3 Rfd8 18.Red1 Rd3 19.Bc2 R3d7 20.Bg3 Bc7 21.Nf3 Qc5 22.Rxd7 Rxd7 23.Bb3 Bxb3 24.axb3 a6 25.b4 Qe7
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| How would you assess this late-middlegame position? |
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White has pressure against e5, while Black occupies the open file. The engines reckon the position is completely equal.
26.Qe3 Nh5 27.Kf1?!
Bishops are not particularly powerful in this position as there are so many pawns on the board and the centre is fixed, but White probably should not allow his kingside pawn-formation to be damaged, although he does end up with knight against bad-ish bishop.
27...Nxg3 28.fxg3 Qd8 29.Ke2?
Better is 29.Qe2.
29...Bb6 30.Qc1 Qf6?
Strong is 30...Rd3, eg 31.Qc2 Re3+ 32.Kf1 Qf6 33.Rd1 (the engines reckon either this or 33.Ra3!? is best) 33...Rxf3+! 34.gxf3 Qxf3+ 35.Ke1 Qxg3+ with Black getting much more than enough for the exchange.
31.Qc2 Qe6 32.b3 Qe7 33.Rd1 Rxd1 34.Qxd1 c5 35.c4!? cxb4 36.Qd5 Qc5 37.Qxc5 Bxc5 38.Nxe5
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| How would you assess this minor-piece ending? |
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Black has fewer pawn-islands and has hopes of creating a queenside passer, but White's knight will be able to use d5 as a strong outpost. The engines reckon Black has the better side of equality.
38...f6 39.Nd3 b6 40.Kf3 Bd6 41.g4!?
The engines prefer 41.Nf4 or 41.Ke3.
41...Kf7 42.Ke3 Ke6 43.Ne1
TR offered a draw.
43...Be5 44.Kd3 a5 45.Nc2 Bd6 46.Nd4 Ke5 47.g3
TR offered a draw.
47...g6 48.Nc6+ Ke6 49.Nd4+ Kd7 50.Ne2 Be5 51.Nf4 Bg5 52.Nd5
TR offered a draw in my time (just).
52...Kc6 53.Ne7+
Possibly better is the engines' 53.h4!? Kc5 54.h5.
53...Kc5 54.Nd5?!
Probably better is 54.h4, and if, as in the game, 54...b5, then 55.cxb5 Kxb5 56.Ng8 gives sufficient counterplay. However Black has 54...a4! 55.bxa4 b3 with promising play (Stockfish16 reckons White may be holding; Komodo14.1 gives Black the upper hand).
54...b5 55.cxb5 Kxb5 56.Kc2 a4 57.bxa4+ Kxa4 58.Nb6+ Kb5
The engines reckon 58...Ka3 wins, but I do not think it does.
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| Position after 58...Ka3 |
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The engines' mainline after 58...Ka3 runs 59.Nc4+ Ka2 60.Na5 Bc7 61.Nb3 Bxg3 62.Nc1+ Ka3 63.Nb3 Be5 64.Nd2 Ka2 65.Nb3, after which Komodo14.1 reckons Black's advantage is worth +2.04, while Stockfish16 reckons Black is about +6.00, but there seems no way for Black to make progress. But see Comments below.
Back to the game:
59.Nd5 Kc4 60.Ne3+ Kd4 61.Nf5+
TR offered a draw.
61...Kxe4 62.Kb3 Kf3
Or 62...h5 63.Kxb4 (63.gxh5?? Kxf5) hxg4 64.hxg4 Kf3 65.Nh6 Kxg3, reaching a position similar to what is reached in the game. Komodo14.1 suggests instead 65...Bd6+!?, but 66.Kc4 Bf8 67.Ng8 Bg7 68.Ne7 Kxg4, but 69.Kd5 is a tablebase draw, although this may have given better practical chances.
63.Kxb4 Bxg3 64.Kc4
TR offered a draw in my time (just).
64...Kg2 65.Nxh6 Kxh3 66.Kd5 Be5 67.Ke4 Kg3 68.Kf5 Kf3 69.Ng8 Bd4 70.Nh6 Ke3 71.Ng8 Be5 72.Nh6 Kf3 ½–½
Your analysis after 58... Ka3 instead of 58... Kb5.
ReplyDeleteAfter 58... Ka3 59.Nc4+ Ka2 60.Na5 Bc7 61.Nb3 Bxg3 62.Nc1+ Ka3 how will White draw if Black plays ...Bc3 to defend the b-pawn if necessary and moves his King round to the kingside to win White's pawns?
The way you played it in the game White still had the g3-pawn, which allowed him to draw. I think he's losing in similar positions to the game continuation, but without that pawn.
There's a mistake in your notation in this line "The engines' mainline after 58...Ka3 runs 59.Nc4+ Ka2 60.Na5 Bc7 61.Nb3 Bxg3 62.Nc1+ Ka3 63.Ne3 Be5 64.Nd2 Ka2 65.Nb3". 63.Ne3 is not possible.
*Re the mistake: rather than 63.Ne3 I should have written 63.Nb3, and I will correct the copy accordingly. Thanks.
DeleteAs for the first line, I guess you must be right, although playing it out with the engines seems to take for ever - perhaps they are just in no rush.