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Pavel Stehlik (1456) - Spanton (1736)
Englund Gambit
1.d4 e5!?
After the self-inflicted misery of round four, I decided to cheer myself up by having some fun, rather than meeting yet another London System (my opponent's habitual choice, according to ChessBase's 2024 Mega database).
2.dxe5 Nc6 3.Nf3 Qe7 4.g3!?
The main move in Mega24 is 4.Nc3!? (well ahead of 4.Bf4), but the text has been played by grandmasters, including three times by Gata Kamsky, albeit in blitzes.
4...Nxe5
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| Black has regained the sacrificed pawn, but White is slightly better, according to Stockfish16 and Komodo14.1 |
*****
*****
*****
*****
5.Bg2 Nf6 6.0-0 d5 7.Nbd2 Bg4 8.Nxe5 Qxe5 9.Nf3 Qh5!?
The engines reckon this is an improvement on the known move 9...Qe6.
10.Re1!?
One of the 'rules' given by chess teacher, and first world correspondence champion, Cecil Purdy, is to not put a rook behind an unmoved pawn, even if you intend to quickly move the pawn. The engines suggest 10.Bf4, 10.Qd3!? or 10.c4!?
10...Bc5 11.Qd3 0-0
Interesting, but definitely double-edged, is castling long.
12.Be5 Bf5 13.Qb3 Bxe3 14.Bxe3 Rfe8 15.Qg5!?
This certainly relieves any lingering pressure on the white king's position, but after ...
15...Qxg5 16.Nxg5
... Black may be a tad better, even though the c2 pawn cannot be sensibly captured.
16...Re7 17.c3 Rae8 18.e3 h6 19.Nf3 c5 20.Rad1 Be4 21.Nd2!?
The engines are fine with this; indeed it is their first choice, along with 21.h3.
21...Bxg2 22.Kxg2 d4
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| How should White respond? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
23.Nf1!?
The engines are OK with this but prefer exchanging on d4 before dropping the knight back.
23...dxc3 24.bxc3 Ne4 25.Rc1?!
Passive. Probably better are 25.c4 and 25.Rd5!?
25...Rd7 26.Re2
The engines still like c4, and also suggest 26.f3.
26...Red8 27.Rc2 c4 28.f3 Nc5 29.Nd2?!
The engines give 29.e4, but seven so award Black the upper hand.
29...b5 30.Kf1?!
White had to play 30.Ne4!?, according to the engines, but it would be a tough position to defend.
30...Na4 31.Nb1 Rd3 32.f4!?
White has almost run out of decent moves.
32...f5
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| What should White play? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
33.Red2?!
The engines at first are not too unhappy with this move, but then they reckon White is positionally lost anyway, eg 33.Kf2 Nc5 34.Kf3 a6 35.Re1 Kf7 36.Ke2 h5 37.Rd2 Ne4 38.Rc2 Ke6 39.Kf3 Kd5 40.Rg1 Kc5, after which Black activates the queenside majority.
33...Rxd2 34.Nxd2 Rd3
 |
| Black is winning a pawn |
*****
*****
*****
*****
35.e4 Rxc3 36.Rxc3 Nxc3 37.e5 Nxa2
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| Black has a large advantage, but the white protected passed pawn means most pawn-endings will be drawn |
*****
*****
*****
*****
38.Ke1 Nc3 39.Nf3 b4?
Careless ...
40.Nd2 Kf7 41.Nxc4
40.Nd2 Kf7 41.Nxc4
... but Black still has a winning advantage.
41...Ke6 42.Ne3 a5 43.Kd2 g5!?
Opening a second front, which makes White's defence much more difficult.
44.Nc4 a4 45.Nb2!?
This does not, as may first appear, lose on the spot, but it certainly does not help matters.
45...gxf4 46.gxf4 a3 47.Nd3 a2 48.Nc5+ Ke7 49.Nb3
The black a pawn is stopped, but White cannot save the f4 pawn.
The game finished:
49...Nd5 50.Kc2 Nxf4 51.Kb2 Ke6 52.Nd4+ Kxe5 53.Nc6+ Ke4 54.Kxb4 Nd3+ 55.Nxd3 Kxd3 56.Kxa2 f4 0-1
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