Bad Herrenalb Round Two

Spanton (1928) - Heinz-Dieter Gierse (2063)

English Nimzowitsch

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e4!?

This gives White a grip over d5, but at the expense of leaving a hole at d4. It was pioneered by Aron Nimzowitsch, and later refined by Mikhail Botvinnik, who developed the king's knight to e2 (or e7 when using the formation with black).

4...Bc5

Slightly more popular in ChessBase's 2024 Mega database is 4...Bb4, but the text has been played by many top grandmasters, including Fabiano Caruana and Vladimir Kramnik.

5.Nxe5!? Bxf2+?!

There are 194 examples of this move in Mega24, but it is probably a mistake. The mainline runs 5...Nxe5 6.d4 Bb4 7.dxe5 Nxe4 8.Qf3 Nxc3 9.bxc3 Ba5 10.Bf4, which is completely equal, according to Dragon1, although Stockfish16.1 gives White an edge.

6.Kxf2 Nxe5 7.d4 Neg4+ 8.Kg1

White has lost castling rights, but has the bishop-pair and dominates the centre

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8...d6 9.Be2

This appears to be a novelty, although it transposes to a known position, albeit one that only occurs once in Mega24. Normal is 9.h3.

9...c5!?

The engines agree this is an improvement on the known 9...Rg8?!

10.dxc5 dxc5 11.Qxd8+ Kxd8 12.Bf4 Be6

DH spent 31 minutes on this move. John Nunn has a theory that someone who spends more than 20 minutes on a move almost always plays a mistake. The theory does not quite hold up here - the text is the engines' second choice, although they prefer 12...Re8.

13.Rd1+ Kc8

Again this is the engines' second choice. They prefer 13...Nd7.

14.h3 Nh6 15.g4 Ne8 16.g5 Ng8 17.Kh2

White has connected rooks, while Black has only one piece developed, and is lost, according to the engines

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17...Ne7 18.Nd5 Nc6 19.Bf3 Nd4 20.Bg2 Kd7!?

The engines fluctuate between this and 20...b6.

21.Be3 Bxd5 22.Bxd4 cxd4 23.Rxd4 Rd8?!

The engines' 23...h6 seems better.

24.Rxd5+ Kc7 25.Rxd8 Kxd8 26.Rd1+ Ke7 27.e5!? b6?!

Probably better are the engines' 27...Nc7 and 27...f6.

28.Bc6 h6 29.Rd7+ Ke6 30.gxh6 gxh6 31.Rd8 Rg8?

This makes it easy for White, but not much more difficult is 31...Ke7 32.Rxe8+ Rxe8 33.Bxe8 Kxe8 34.Kg3 etc.

32.Rxe8+ 1-0