Vivien Webster (1642 ECF/1731 Fide) - Spanton (1931 ECF/1980 Fide)
King's Pawn Irregular
1.e4 e5 2.d3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.a3!?
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| There are 130 examples of this position in ChessBase's 2024 Mega database, with Stockfish16.1 and Dragon1 reckoning Black is already slightly better |
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4...Bc5 5.Be2 d5 6.exd5 Nxd5 7.0-0 0-0 8.Bg5!? f6 9.Bh4?!
It seems the bishop should retreat to d2 or c1.
9...Nf4
Probably even stronger, according to the engines, is 9...g5!?, eg 10.Bg3 g4 11.Nfd2 f5 12.h3? (12.Nb3 is better) f4 13.Bh2 g3!?, after which White loses the dark-square bishop.
10.Nc3 Be6 11.b4 Bb6 12.Na4 Qd7 13.Nxb6 axb6
The engines slightly prefer 13...cxb6!?
14.Bg3 Nxe2+ 15.Qxe2 Bg4 16.Qe4
Not 16.h3? Nd4.
16...Bxf3!? 17.Qxf3 Nd4!? 18.Qxb7
Possibly slightly better is 18.Qd1 - Stockfish16.1 reckons so; Dragon1 fluctuates - but the engines still give Black the upper hand.
18...Nxc2
Even stronger seems to be 18...Rab8!?, the point being 19.Qe4 can be met by 19...f5!? (not 19...Nxc2?? 20.Qc4+ etc) 20.Qxe5 f4!, after which White is in huge trouble, eg 21.Bxf4 Rxf4! or 21.Bh4 f3. If White sees this, and instead plays 19.Qa6, the engines give 19...b5, with ...Rb6 and ...Nc6 to come.
19.Rac1
Not 19.Ra2 Nxb4.
19...Rfb8
This is now the stronger rook move.
20.Qe4 Nxa3
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| How should White proceed? |
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21.d4?
Trying to complicate matters, before White's pawn-deficit and pawn-weaknesses prove fatal, but a much better way to do this is 21.f4!?, activating the bishop and king's rook.
21...Qxd4 22.Qc6!? Qxb4 23.Qe6+ Kh8 24.Rxc7 Re8 25.Qf7 Qf8 26.Qh5!? Re7 27.Rc6 b5 28.f4 e4 29.f5 Nc4 30.Qe2 Qe8 31.Rc7 Rad8 32.Rxe7 Qxe7 33.Re1!? Qc5+ 34.Bf2 Qxf5 0-1
White could play on with 35.Qxe4 Qxe4 36.Rxe4 Rd1+ 37.Be1, but it would take a huge blunder by Black to throw away the win.
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