Spanton (1942) - Timon Trubini (1714)
Sicilian Bb5(+)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.0-0 Nc6 6.c3 Nf6 7.Qe2
Considerably more popular in ChessBase's 2024 Mega database are 7.d4!? and 7.Re1.
7...e6 8.d4 cxd4 9.cxd4 d5 10.e5 Ne4 11.Nbd2 Nxd2 12.Bxd2 Rc8 13.Rac1 Be7 14.Qd3 0-0
 |
| Now both sides have castled, how would you assess the coming middlegame? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
White has more space on the central-kingside, but Black has the better bishop. Stockfish16 and Komodo14.1 reckon the position is equal.
White has more space on the central-kingside, but Black has the better bishop. Stockfish16 and Komodo14.1 reckon the position is equal.
15.a3 f6 16.exf6 Rxf6!?
This may be a novelty. The engines marginally prefer it over the known 16...Bxf6.
17.Rce1!? Rcf8
The engines strongly dislike this, suggesting 17...h6!?
18.Re2
White gets the upper hand after 18.Ng5 and 19.f4, according to the engines.
18...Rg6 19.Ne5 Nxe5
 |
| How should White recapture? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
20.Rxe5
The engines prefer 20.dxe5!?, a possible continuation being 20...Bc5 21.Kh1 Qf7!? 22.f4 Qf5 23.Rf3, claiming a slight edge for White despite Black's protected passer.
20...Bd6 21.Rg5 Rh6 22.h3
Also possible is 22.g3!?, blunting Black's dark-square bishop, but leaving light-square weaknesses around the white king.
22...Bc7 23.Bb4 Bd6!?
An exchange of dark-square bishops eases the pressure on White's position.
24.Bxd6 Qxd6 25.Re5 Qb6
 |
| How would you assess this heavy-piece middlegame? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
The d4 pawn is weak, but the e pawn is probably even weaker as it is backward on a half-open file. The engines give White a slight edge.
26.b4 Rf4 27.Rd1 Rhf6!?
The engines prefer this over 27...Rhh4 as then, after 28.Qc3 Rxd4 29.Rxd4 Rxd4 30.Qc8+ Kf7 31.Qd7+ Kf6 32.Re3, White seems to have more than enough for a pawn, the key feature being Black's vulnerable king.
28.f3 Qc6 29.Kh2 Qc7 30.Kh1!? Qb6
TT offered a draw.
31.Qc3 Qd8 32.Rde1 Kf7 33.a4 Qb6?!
Despite appearances, Black is not really threatening the d4 pawn, so probably better are the engines' 33...a6 and 33...Qd7.
34.Rd1
The engines reckon 34.b5! is winning, the idea being to take away the c6 square from the black queen and so make Qc8 a big threat. Black cannot reply 34...Rxd4?? as that loses to 35.a5, and 34...Qxd4 allows 35.Qc7+ followed by 36.Rxe6.
34...Ke7?!
Black probably should block the c file with 34...Qc6.
35.a5
Possibly even stronger is 35.Rc1!?
35...Qc6 36.Qd3
Black is at least equal after 36.Qxc6? bxc6.
36...g6 37.b5 Qc7?!
Probably better is 37...Qc4 as 38.Qxc4 bxc4 39.Rc5 is met by 39...R6f5.
38.a6 bxa6 39.bxa6 Rf8?
Undefending e6 is a mistake, although the engines reckon their suggestions of 39...Kf8 and 39...Qd6 leave White with the upper hand.
40.Rb1 Rb8 41.Qa3+?!
Even stronger is 41.Rbe1, when Black has no answer to the threat of Rxd5.
41...Kf7 42.Rbe1?!
The engines strongly prefer 42.Rxb8 Qxb8 43.Qc5.
42...Rb6 43.Qe3 Rf6 44.g4?!
Another probably sub-par choice. After 44.Qh6 Kg8 White has 45.Rxd5!, although the weakness of a6 means Black is still in the game.
44...Qd7 45.Qd3 Qa4!? 46.Rc1 Qxa6 47.Rc7+ Kg8
 |
| How should White proceed? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
48.Qxa6!?
There is really no choice as the white king is too weak to allow queens to stay on the board.
48...Rxa6
 |
| How would you assess this rook-and-pawn ending? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
Black is a passed pawn up, but the black king is cut off on the back rank. Stockfish16 calls the position equal, although Komodo14.1 gives Black a slight edge.
49.Re3 h6!? 50.Kg2 Rf7 51.Rec3 Rxc7 52.Rxc7 Ra4 53.Re7 a5 54.Rxe6 Kf7 55.Ra6 Rxd4
The engines agree the position is now completely equal. Komodo14.1 reckons 49...h5 or 49...Rf7 would have maintained a slight edge, but Stockfish16 disagrees.
56.Rax5 Kf6
The black king has become active, but at the cost of a pawn - the position remains equal.
57.Ra6+ Kg5?
But this is too active. The king should drop back to the seventh rank.
58.Kg3 h5
 |
| White to play and win |
*****
*****
*****
*****
59.f4+
59.h4+? Kh6 is a draw.
59...Kh6
Or 59...Rxf4 60.h4+ etc, but not 60.Rxg6+? Kxg6 61.Kxf4=.
60.f5
The pin on g6 is decisive.
60...hxg4 61.hxg4 Rd1 62.Rxg6+ Kh7 63.Kf4 d4 64.Rd6 1-0
No comments:
Post a Comment