Tobias Smith (1648) - Spanton (1858)
QGD Exchange
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 Bd6!?
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| Clearly the black dark-square bishop is more actively placed on d6 than after the main move, 6...Be7, but the question is whether White can take advantage of the pin on the black king's knight |
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7.Qc2!?
This is much less popular than 7.Bd3, although the lines may easily transpose, but, for what it is worth, the text scores 64% in ChessBase's 2023 Mega database, while 7.Bd3 scores 58%.
7...h6!?
Perhaps Black should castle before playing this move, although it has been tried by players rated over 2400.
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| How should White respond? |
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8.Bh4
This is the commonest continuation in Mega23, and it has been played by Grigoriy Oparin (2683), albeit at blitz, but probably critical is 8.Bxf6, the point being 8...Qxf6 runs into 9.Nxd5! etc. That leaves 8...gxf6, after which it is doubtful if Black's bishop-pair makes up for having a smashed kingside and problems finding a safe haven for the king.
8...0-0 9.Nf3 Re8 10.Be2!?
In the postmortem TS said he rejected 10.Bd3 because of the reply 10...Bg4. But White can boldly meet this with 11.h3!?, when 11...Bxf3 12.gxf3, followed by castling long, gives White promising kingside attacking chances.
10...Be6 11.0-0 Nbd7 12.Rab1 a5 13.a3 Qe7!?
This may be a novelty. Pedro Ramón Martínez Reyes (2386) - Aryan Tari (2656), Chess.com Blitz 2022, went 13...Qb8 14.b4 axb4 15.axb4 b5!? with equality, according to Stockfish16 and Komodo14.1 (0-1, 44 moves).
14.Na4 g6 15.Rfc1 Bf5 16.Bd3 Be4!? 17.Bxf6!?
Opting for simplification. Certainly not 17.Nd2? Bxh2+! 18.Kxh2 Ng4+ 19.Kh3 Qe6 etc.
17...Nxf6 18.Bxe4 Nxe4 19.Nc5!? Bxc5!?
This seems best. After ...
20.dxc5 a4
... Black has strong pressure against c5.
21.Nd2
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| How should Black proceed? |
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21...Qf6
Probably not 21...Nxf2?! 22.Kxf2 Qx3+ 23.Kf1, even though Komodo14.1 reckons Black has sufficient compensation after 23...d4, 23...g5 and 23...Qf4+. However Stockfish16 disagrees, reckoning White is winning, and Komodo14.1 is not so keen on its suggestions once they have been inputted on the screen.
22.Nxe4 Rxe4 23.Qc3 Kg7 24.f3!?
This creates a new weakness, at e3, but relieves the pressure on c5.
24...Re5 25.b3
The engines prefer sitting tight with 25.Rc2, although they reckon 25...Rae8 may give an edge.
25...axb3
The engines give Black at least a slight edge after 25...Rae8!?
26.Rxb3 Ra7 27.Rcb1 Re7 28.Qd4 Qxd4 29.exd4 Re2
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| What should White play? |
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30.R1b2?!
The game is equal after 30.R3b2 or 30.Rxb7, according to the engines.
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| What should Black play? |
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30...Rxa3! 31.Rxb7?
White is a (backward) pawn down, but with drawing chances, after the engines' 31.h3. The problem with the text is that after ...
31...Ra1+ 32.Rb1 Raa2
... Black has unchallenged control of the seventh rank.
33.g4
The best try, according to the engines.
While I was thinking about my next move, TB offered a draw, but the engines reckon White is roughly the equivalent of a rook down.
33...Rxg2+ 34.Kh1
Even worse is 34.Kf1, when Black has a very pleasant choice between 34...Rxh2, forcing 35.Kg1, transposing to the game, and the even stronger 34...Raf2+ 35.Ke1 Rxh2, when the threat of ...Ra2 followed by mate cannot be reasonably met.
The game finished:
34...Rxh2+ 35.Kg1 Rhg2+ 36.Kh1 Rgd2 37.R7b6 Rxd4 38.Rxc6 Rc2 39.Rc7 Rd3 40.Rd7 Rxc5 41.Kg2 Rc2+ 42.Kg3 Rcc3 0-1
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