Stanley Badacsonyi (2298) - Spanton (1916)
Jobava-Prié
1.d4 d5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bf4 e6 4.Nb5 Bd6!? 5.Nxd6+ cxd6
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| Black has given up the bishop-pair but gained greater central control |
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6.e3 Nc6 7.Nf3 0-0 8.c3 Re8 9.h3 e5 10.Bh2 Bf5 11.Bb5!?
This may be a novelty. Baadur Jobava (2578) - Jake Kleiman (2399), Chess.com Blitz 2022, went 11.Be2 Rc8 12.0-0 a6 13.Re1 h6 14.Qb3 Qc7 15.a4, after which Stockfish16 marginally prefers White, but Komodo14.1 marginally prefers Black (1-0, 62 moves).
11...Qc7 12.0-0 a6 13.Be2 Rad8!? 14.Rc1 Qd7 15.Re1 h6 16.a4 Rc8
13...Rad8!? is beginning to look like a wasted tempo.
17.b4!? e4
This gains space but makes the dark-square bishop more active. I missed that 17...exd4!? is playable as White will have to recapture with a pawn, or accept the loss of the a4 pawn. A sample line runs 18.Nxd4 Nxd4 19.Qxd4!? Qxa4 20.Bxd6, when Stockfish16 calls the position equal but Komodo14.1 slightly prefers White.
18.Nd2 Ne7?!
The knight will be obliged to return to c6, so this is probably a waste of time. Perhaps 18...Be6 is best.
19.b5 axb5
Possibly 19...a5 is better.
20.Bxb5 Nc6 21.c4 Be6 22.cxd5 Bxd5 23.Nc4 Bxc4 24.Rxc4 d5?!
The black-square bishop now has free rein on the h2-b8 diagonal, so probably 24...Qe6 is better.
25.Rc5 Re6 26.Qb3 Qd8 27.Rec1 Ne7
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| How should White proceed? |
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28.Bc7!
Forcing the black queen to grovel.
28...Qf8 29.Qc3 Nc6 30.Bg3 Ra8 31.Bxc6 bxc6 32.Rxc6 Rxa4 33.Rxe6 fxe6 34.Qc6 Qe8 35.Qb7 Rc4! 36.Ra1
After 36.Rxc4? dxc4 the black passed pawn gives good counterplay.
36...Qc6?
Black has decent defensive chances after 36...Ra4.
37.Qb8+?
Stronger is 37.Ra8+ Kh7 38.Qb8, eg 38...Kg6 39.Qh8 Qb7 40.Be5 Rc1+ 41.Kh2, after which the engines reckon Black's best is to give up the exchange with 41...Rc7!?
37...Qc8 38.Ra8 Rc1+ 39.Kh2 Qxb8 40.Rxb8+ Kf7
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| How would you assess this rook-and-minor-piece ending? |
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White has the better minor piece for cooperating with a rook, although the fact the pawns are effectively on one side of the board helps the knight. White's pawn-structure is better and White has a slight initiative, but the engines reckon the position is equal, although it is surely easier for White to play.
41.Bd6 Nd7 42.Rd8 Nf6 43.g4 Ra1 44.Kg2 Ra7 45.Rf8+ Kg6 46.Kg3 Rf7 47.Rc8
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| What should Black play? |
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47...Nd7?
Several moves, including 47...Rb7, 47...Nh7 and possibly 47...h5, maintain equality, according to the engines.
48.Re8 Kf6 49.Bc7!? Nf8
There seems nothing better.
50.Be5+ Kg6 51.Bd6 Nd7 52.Rxe6+ Rf6 53.Rxf6 Kxf6
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| White has won a pawn and is winning, or at least has the upper hand, according to the engines |
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54.h4?!
The engines strongly dislike this, preferring 54.Bc7!? or 54.f3!?
54...g6?!
Correct, according to the engines, is 54...g5!?, meeting 55.hxg5+ with 55...hxg5, one point being Blakc can gain a tempo on the bishop, eg 56.f4 exf3 57.Kxf3 Ke6 and 58...Nf6. I rejected it because I was reluctant to have my h and g pawns on the same colour complex as the bishop, as would be the case after 55.h5. However the engines reckon White can then no longer make progress.
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| White has one winning move, according to the engines |
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55.Bc7!
The point seems to be that after the 'obvious' 55.f3 exf3 56.Kxf3 Black has 56...g5, meeting 57.hxg5+ with 57...Kxg5!, after which the engines reckon White cannot make progress.
55...h5?
Also bad is 55...g5? as after 56.Bd8+ Kg6 Black has to meet 57.hxg5 with 57...hxg5, after which 58.f4 (or 58.f3) is strong as Black does not have ...Nf6 following 58...exf3 59.Kxf3. The engines suggest 55...Ke6 or 55...Nf8, but reckon White is winning.
56.Kf4?
Winning is 56.gxh5, or 56.Bd8+ followed by 57.gxh5.
56...hxg4 57.Kxg4 Nf8 58.Be5+ Kf7 59.f3 exf3 60.Kxf3
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| Black to play and draw |
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60...Ne6?
Both 60...Ke6 and 60...Nd7 hold, according to Stockfish16. Komodo14.1 is less sure, but the former engine tends to be more reliable in 'simple' endgame positions like this.
61.e4 dxe4 62.Kxe4 Ke7 63.Bf4 Kf6 64.Bg5+ Kf7
White wins the pawn-race after 64...Nxg5+ 65.hxg5+ Kxg5 66.Ke5.
65.Ke5 Nf8 66.d5 Nd7+ 67.Kd6 Ke8 68.Ke6 Nf8+ 69.Kf6 Nd7+ 70.Kxg6 Kf8 71.Bf6 Ke8 72.Bg7 Nb6 73.d6 Nc4 74.d7+!?
The simple 74.h5 also wins.
74...Kxd7 75.h5 Ke8 76.h6 Nd6 77.h7 Nf7 78.Kf6
Zugzwang!
1-0
East Ham won the match 4.5-3.5.
MY BATTERSEA SEASON 2023-4
DATE.....EVENT...........................COL..RATING..OPP'S RATING..SCORE..SEASON PERF
24/10/23 London League B 1870 2102 = 2102
26/10/23 Central London League W 1870 2118 = 2110
21/11/23 Eastman Cup W 1882 2118 = 2113
14/12/23 Central London League B 1882 2152 0 2023
10/1/24 London League B 1884 2130 0 1964
11/1/24 Central London League B 1884 2278 1 2083
25/1/24 Central London League W 1884 2205 = 2100
30/1/24 Club Championship B 1884 1809 1 2114
1/2/24 Central London League W 1916 2072 0 2065
7/2/24 London League B 1916 2298 0 2048
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