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| A sprinkling of unforecast snow fell overnight |
Spanton (1736) - Manfred Sonntagbauer (1460)
Scandinavian
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd8!?
This somewhat passive-looking continuation enjoys periodic revivals, and has been played by many top grandmasters, including Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura.
4.d4 c6 5.Bc4 Nf6 6.Nf3 Bf5
Not 6...Bg4?, although there are 64 examples of the move in ChessBase's 2024 Mega database. After 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Ne5+ White has a large advantage.
7.0-0 e6 8.Re1 Be7 9.Qe2 0-0 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bh4 Nbd7 12.Rad1
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| White has completed development, but who stands better? |
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White has more space in the centre and has developed every piece, whereas Black's rooks are situated directly behind pawns, and the black queen is yet to move. But according to Stockfish16 and Komodo14.1 the position is equal, which I cannot understand - what am I missing?
12...Nd5
The engines prefer 12...Bb4!?, 12...Qc7 or 12...Re8.
13.Nxd5 Bxh4
Not 13...cxd5!? 14.Bxe7 Qxe7 15.Bxd5.
14.Ne3 Bg6 15.Nxh4 Qxh4 16.g3 Qd8
If 16...Qh3, then 17.Qd2 followed by Bh1.
17.Ng4 Bh5? 18.Nxh6+ gxh6 19.Qxh5 Qg5 20.Qf3
White is clearly also better after 20,Qxg5+, but Black has the less-safe king so it makes sense to keep queens on.
20...Rad8 21.Re4 Kh8 22.Rg4 Qf6 23.Rf4 Qg6 24.Bd3 f5!?
This is best, according to the engines.
25.Re1 Rde8 26.Qe3 e5!? 27.dxe5 Rxe5 28.Qd4 Qe6 29.Bc4 Qe7 30.Rh4 Rf6 31.Rxe5 Nxe5 32.Qe3 Qd6 33.Bb3 Kg7
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| There have been plenty of alternatives along the way, but White has always been well on top |
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34.Kg2 a6?
Better is 34...c5, which both protects the black a pawn and prevents White's next.
35.Rd4 Qc7 36.f4 Ng4 37.Qe8 1-0
In your first diagram, the engines may consider it equal because White has no obvious plan to make progress. Black on the other hand can continue not to do anything with, as the engines suggest, .. Re8 and .. Qc7 .
ReplyDeleteThese Caro like positions can be very resilient.
RdC
I guess that must be it. White's position can hardly be improved, whereas Black's can without White being able to interfere. Ironically, Black's 'normal' plan of going for exchanges in a spatially inferior position with 12...Nd5 may have been wrong.
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