Central London League

PLAYED on board three (of five) for Battersea against Pimlico Knights in division one last night.

Spanton (1924) - David J Wilson (1987)

Sicilian Nimzowitsch

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 2.e5

More popular in ChessBase's 2024 Mega database is 3.Nc3, but the text is preferred by Stockfish16 and Komodo14.1.

3...Nd5 4.d4

Here Nc3 is much more popular.

4...cxd4 5.c4!? Nc7

This may look less active than 5...Nc6, but the knight is destined for e6.

6.Nxd4 g6 7.Nc3 Bg7 8.Bf4 Nc6 9.Nxc6

Spanton (2051) - Damir Vrban (2130), Hastings 2006-7, went 9.Nf3!? Ne6 10.Bg3 0-0 11.Bd3 Qa5 12.0-0!? Nxe5? (better is 12...d6) 13.Nxe5 Bxe5, when 14.b4! Qc7 15.Nd5 Qd6 16.Nxe7+ would have been very good for White. Instead the game saw 14.Nd5 Bxb2 15.Nxe7+ Kg7 16.Bd6? (the simple 16.Rb1 is strong) Be5 17.c5 Bxd6 18.cxd6, when White has reasonable compensation for a pawn (0-1, 31 moves).

9...bxc6 10.Be2 Ne6 11.Bg3 Qa5!?

This may be a novelty. Known are11...Rb8 and 11...0-0.

How should White respond?

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

12.f4

Possibly better is sacrificing the pawn with 12.0-0!? Bxe5 13.Bxe5 Qxe5 14.Re1, although the engines give Black a slight edge.

12...0-0 13.Qa4

Again it was possible to sacrifice. The engines reckon 13.0-0!? Qb6+ 14.Kh1 Qxb2 15.Rf3! is completely equal.

13...Qb6 14.b4?

Too loosening. After 14.Qb3 Qxb3 15.axb3 Nd4 16.Bd1 White is embarrassed, but still in the game.

14...Qd4

This wins two pawns.

15.Qc2 Nxf4 16.Bxf4 Qxf4 17.Rd1 Qxe5 18.Ne4 d5 19.Ng3 Qc3+!?

Getting queens off the board is a well-known recipe for greatly reducing the chances of an accident.

20.Qxc3 Bxc3+ 21.Kf2 Bxb4 22.cxd5 cxd5 23.Rxd5 Be6 (0-1, 28 moves).

Battersea defaulted on board five, losing the match 1-4.

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

8/2/24     Central London League  B       1916        1960                    0            2004

15/2/24   Central London League  B       1916        1951                    =            1999

29/2/24   Central London League  B       1916        2014                    0            1970

5/3/24     Club Championship        W      1910        1990                    1            2000

2/4/24     Club Championship        B       1924        1927                    0            1968

4/4/24     Central London League  B       1924        2123                    =            1978

16/4/24   London League               B       1924        2393                    0            1979

18/4/24   Central London League  B       1924        2329                    0            1976

23/4/24   London League               B       1924        2118                    =            1984

25/4/24   Central London League  W      1924        1997                    0            1964