Spanton (1743) - Vladislav Oreshkin (1916)
English Symmetrical
1.g3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Bg2 c5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.0-0 Qc7 6.Nc3 a6 7.b3 Rb8 8.a4!?
Somewhat surprisingly, at least to me, this move not appear in ChessBase's 2024 Mega database. Known moves are 8.Bb2 and 8.d4.
8...d6 9.d4 cxd4 10.Nxd4 Be7 11.Bb2 0-0
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| Now both sides have castled, how would you assess the position? |
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Black has a central pawn-majority, but White has more space on the central-queenside, and the white bishops are more active than their Black counterparts. Stockfish16 and Komodo14.1 give White a slight edge.
12.Rc1 Rd8
If Black had seen what was coming, he might have preferred the engines' 12...Nxd4 13.Qxd4 b6, with a Hedgehog position that the engines reckon slightly favours White.
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| How should White proceed? |
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13.Nd5! Qd7!?
This is best. Black certainly should not play 13...Qa5?? as that loses a piece to 14.Nxc6 bxc6 15.Nxe7+. Also bad is 13...exd5?, eg 14.cxd5 Bd7 15.dxc6 bxc6 16.Bxc6, after which White is a pawn up and has targets at d6 and a6. And if 13...Nxd5!? then 14.cxd5 exd5 15.Bxd5 Bd7 16.e3 with kingside play is very strong.
14.Nxc6 bxc6 15.Nxe7+ Qxe7 16.Bxc6
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| White is a pawn up and has the bishop-pair |
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16...Rb6 17.Bg2 e5 18.Qd3 Nd7 19.Ba3 Nc5 20.Bxc5 dxc5 21.Bd5 Bh3 22.Rfd1 Rdb8 23.Rb1 g6 24.Qf3 h5 25.Qd3 Kg7 26.Qc3 f6 27.Qd3 Bf5 28.e4 Bh3 29.Qe3 Bd7 30.Qd3 Bh3 31.Qe3 Bd7 32.Qd3 ½–½
I could see no way to make progress. After 32...Bh3 the engines give best-play as something like 33.a5!? Rb4 34.Rd2 Qc7 35.Ra2 Qd7 36.f3 Qe7 37.Qe3, claiming White has the upper hand, but not making progress, as far as I can tell.
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