Spanton (1743) - Pridhish Kumar (1241)
French Burn
1.Nc3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.Bg5 e6 4.e4 dxe4
Via an unconventional move-order the game has reached the starting point of the Burn Variation of the French Defence.
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| There are 15,256 examples of this position in ChessBase's 2024 Mega database |
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5.Nxe4 Be7 6.Bxf6!?
Giving up the bishop-pair is slightly anti-intuitive, but is easily the most popular continuation in Mega24.
6...Bxf6 7.Nf3
White argues that the well-placed knight on e4, and an advantage in central space, outweigh Black's bishops.
7...Nd7 8.Qd2 0-0 9.Bd3 Qe7!?
This is a slightly awkward placing for the queen as it obstructs the black dark-square bishop. Stockfish16 and Komodo14.1 like the relatively rare 9...e5!?
10.g4!?
Stockfish16 suggests castling long; Komodo14.1 suggests castling short.
10...g6 11.Nxf6+ Qxf6 12.Be4
The engines give White a slight edge after 12.Qe3.
12...e5 13.g5 Qd6 14.0-0-0 exd4 15.Nxd4
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| Now both sides have castled, and the centre has been cleared of pawns, how would you assess the position? |
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White is ahead on development, and Black has weak kingside dark squares. But it is not clear White can exploit these, and meanwhile White's kingside pawns are ragged. The engines reckon the position is equal.
15...Nc5 16.Bg2 c6?!
This may be too slow. The engines prefer 16...Bg4.
17.h4!?
White's attack will turn out to be less threatening than it may look. Instead White would get an initiative after the engines' 17.Qe3.
17...Bg4 18.f3 Bh5!?
The engines are happy with this side-lining of the bishop.
19.Ne2 Qxd2+ 20.Rxd2 Rfd8 21.Rhd1 Rxd2 22.Rxd2 Re8 23.Ng3 Rd1+ 24.Rd1 Rxd1+ 25.Kxd1
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| Very quickly the game has reached a minor-piece ending that the engines reckon slightly favours White |
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25...Ne6 26.Nxh5?!
Almost certainly a positional misjudgment, as will be seen. The engines give 26.Kd2 with a slight edge for White.
26...gxh5
Black's kingside pawns are smashed, but White cannot save the h4 pawn.
27.Bh3 Nf4 28.Bc8 b6 29.Bb7 c5 30.Kd2 Ng6 31.Ke3 Nxh4 32.f4?!
This probably makes matters worse by creating another target for the black knight. Better is 32.Ke4.
32...Nf5+ 33.Kf2
Not 33.Ke4?? Nd6+ etc.
33...Kg7 34.Be4 Nd6 35.Bf3 Kg6 36.Be2 h6
Undoubling the black h pawns. Black is winning (Stockfish16) or at least has the upper hand (Komodo14.1).
37.Bd3+ Kg7 38.b3?!
Probably better is capturing on h6 as a white pawn on f4 will be easier to defend than one on g5.
38...hxg5 39.fxg5 f6
A simple solution to clearing a path for the black king. White is more-or-less forced to exchange.
40.gxf6+ Kxf6 41.Kf3 Kg5 42.c3 Nf5 43.a3 Nd6 44.b4 c4 45.Bf1 Nb5!?
The engines prefer 45...Kf5 or 45...h4.
46.Bxc4 Nxc3 47.Kg3 Ne4+ 48.Kg2
Not 48.Kf3?? Nd2+ etc.
48...Kf4 49.Be2 Nf6 50.a4 Ke3?
Komodo14.1 quite likes this, although it seems to throw away the win; both engines prefer 50...Nd5.
51.Bf1 Nd5 52.a5 Nxb4 53.axb6 axb6
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| Is Black winning? |
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Yes, says Komodo14.1; no, says Stockfish16. More importantly, Syzygy, the endgame tablebase, shows the position is drawn.
54.Kg3 Nd5 55.Kh4 Nf6 56.Bb5 Kf4 57.Bd3 Ke5 58.Bc4 Kd4 59.Bf1 Nd5 60.Kxh5 Nf4+ 61.Kg5 Nd3 62.Bh3 b5 63.Be6 b4 64.Kf5 Ne5 65.Ba2 Nc4 66.Ke6 Kc5 67.Kf5 Kd4 68.Ke6 Kc3 69.Kd5 Na3 70.Kc5 Nc2 71.Bg8
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| PK played on to move 84, but then conceded the draw |
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