Christine Nordahl (1673) - Spanton (1876)
London System
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nc6!? 3.Bf4 e6 4.e3 Bd6 5.Bg3 Nf6 6.c4 Ne4!?
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| How should White react to this knight sortie? |
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7.Bxd6!?
The mainline in ChessBase's 2024 Mega database, albeit in a position that is quite obscure, so there are few examples, runs 7.Nc3!? Nxg3 8.hxg3 dxc4 9.Bxc4, with White having the upper hand, according to Stockfish16 and Komodo14.1. Note that 7.Bh4? can be met by 7...Bb4+, when 8.Nbd2?? loses to 8...Bxd2+.
7...Qxd6 8.Nc3!? Nxc3 9.bxc3 0-0 10.Rb1 b6 11.cxd5 exd5 12.Qc2 Bg4 13.Ng5!? Qg6 14.Qxg6 hxg6
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| How would you assess this queenless middlegame? |
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White's superior pawn-structure gives a slight edge, according to the engines.
15.Bd3 f6 16.h3!? Bd7 17.Nf3 Ne7 18.c4 Be6 19.Nd2 dxc4 20.Bxc4 Bxc4 21.Nxc4 Rac8 22.Ke2 c5 23.Nd6!? Rc6 24.dxc5 Rxc5 25.Rhc1 Rd5
Exchanging rooks probably helps White as the queen's rook is more active on c1 than on b1.
26.Nb5 Rfd8!?
The passive 26...Nc8?! lets White occupy the seventh rank with the king's rook.
27.Nd4
After 27.Nxa7 Rd2+ 28.Ke1 Rxa2 Black threatens to double on the seventh.
27...Nf5 28.Rc7!? Nxd4 29.exd4 R8d7 30.Rxd7 Rxd7 31.Kd3 Kf7 32.Re1 Re7?
Komodo14.1 does not realise it until shown further along the continuation, but this is a losing move.
33.Rxe7+! Kxe7
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| I went for this pawn-ending without seriously considering the position, thinking my queenside pawn-majority would be decisive, but White is winning thanks to having much the better king |
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34.Kc4 a6?!
Black can make it trickier for White with 34...Kd6, but 35.Kb5 Kd5 36.Ka6 Kxd4 37.Kxa7 b5 38.Kb6 Kc4 39.f4! (the key move, it seems) wins, eg 39...g5 40.f5 b4 41.g4 b3 42.axb3+ Kxb3 43.Kc6 etc.
35.Kd5 Kd7 36.a4?
This throws away the win by making it much easier for Black to create a queenside passer. Instead, White should wait for Black to run out of pawn moves on the kingside, after which the black king will have to give way without serious hope of queening either queenside pawn.
36...g5 37.g3 f5 38.f4 gxf4 39.gxf4 g6 40.h4
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| The black king finally has to give way, but Black holds the draw thanks to the advanced position of the white a pawn |
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40...Kc7 41.Ke6 b5 42.axb5 axb5 43.Kd5 Kb6 44.Ke6 Kc7 45.Ke7 Kc6 46.Ke6 Kc7 ½–½
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