World Senior Teams Round Seven

Spanton (England 2 - 1850) - Ilija Stosevski (North Macedonia - 1968)

Board Three

Pirc

1.e4 g6 2.d4 d6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.f4 Nf6 5.Nf3 0-0

Via a Modern Defence move-order, the game has reached a mainline position in the Austrian Attack of the Pirc Defence, with 18,160 examples in ChessBase's 2023 Mega database

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6.Bd3 Na6!?

This and 6...Nc6 are almost equally popular in Mega23.

7.0-0 c5 8.d5 Qa5!?

A rare continuation. Normal are 8...Nc7, 8...Rb8 and especially 8...Bg4.

How should White respond?

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9.Bd2

Probably better is 9.Kh1!?, when Goran Čabrilo (2406) - Stosevski (2108), Skopje Karpoš (Former Yugoslav Rep of Macedonia) 2014, continued 9...b5 10.e5 dxe5 11.fxe5 Ng4 12.Nxb5 with a large advantage for White, according to Stockfish16 and Komodo14.1 (1-0, 24 moves).

9...c4! 10.Be2

Forced, as 10.Bxc4?? loses trivially to 10...Qc5+ etc.

10...Ng4!?

This may be a novelty. The engines prefer 10...b5 or a queen check (either on c5 or b6).

11.Qc1!?

The engines suggest 11.Qe1 or 11.Kh1.

11...Qc5+ 12.Kh1

How should Black continue?

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12...b5!?

Not 12...Nf2+? 13.Rxf2 Qxf2 14.Be3 as the black queen is trapped. Also bad is 12...Bxc3? 13.Bxc3 Nf2+? (13...Qe3 is a lesser evil) 14.Rxf2 Qxf2, when White has lots of compensation for the exchange, eg 15.f5! Qxe2 16.Qh6 f6 17.fxg6 hxg6 18.Qxg6+ Kh8 19.Ng5.

The engines agree the text is best.

13.e5!?

The engines reckon 13.a3 gives White at least a slight edge.

13...Bf5?!

Black is better after 13...b4, according to the engines.

If 13...dxe5, White has 14.h3 (other moves may also be good).

14.h3 Nf2+ 15.Kh2

Also interesting is the exchange sacrifice 15.Rxf2!? Qxf2 16.Be3 Qg3, when the engines continue 17.Bf1!? Bxh3 18.Ne2 Qg4 19.Ned4 with an unclear position (Stockfish16 reckons White is better, but Komodo14.1 fluctuates between agreeing with that evaluation and calling the game equal).

15...Ne4 16.Be3 Qc8 17.Nxb5 dxe5 18.fxe5 Nb4 19.Nbd4

The engines prefer going for a second pawn with 19.Nxa7!?

19...Nxd5 20.Nxf5?!

Black has the upper hand after 20.Bh6, according to the engines.

20...Qxf5?!

Probably better is 20...gxf5.

21.Bxc4 Nxe3 22.Qxe3 Bxe5+ 23.Nxe5 Qxe5+ 24.Rf4?

White is slightly better after 24.Qf4 or 24.Kg1.

24...g5 25.Qxe4?

Correct is 25.Raf1 gxf4 26.Rxf4, after which, for the exchange, White has a pawn, active bishop and the better pawn-structure.

25...Qxf4+ 26.Qxf4 gxf4 27.Re1 Rae8 28.Bb5 Rb8 29.Re5 e6 30.a4 Rfd8 31.b3 Rd8 32.Rg5+ Kf8 33.Bd3 h6 34.Rg4 f3 35.Kg1 Rxg2+ 36.Rxg2 fxg2 37.Kxg2 Ke7 (0-1, 50 moves)

FULL TEAM RESULT (England 2 had white on odd boards)
Geoffrey H James (2082) 0-1 Ljubomir Ilić (FM 2044)
Brian Valentine (1907) 0-1 Aleksander Kralevski (FM 2054)
Tim Spanton (1850) 0-1 Ilija Stosevski (1968)

Stewart Reuben (1912) 0-1 Mile Trajkovski (1947)
North Macedonia won 4-0.