Spanton (2013) - Uwe Ritter (1893)
Amateur Chess Organization 50+ World Championship Group C
Spanish Exchange
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.d4 exd4 6.Qxd4 Qxd4 7.Nxd4 Bd7 8.Nc3 0-0-0 9.Be3 g6!?
An unusual continuation, but José Capablanca and Artur Yusupov are among those who have won with it.
10.0-0-0
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| Now both sides have castled, how would you assess the position? |
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The main features are White's superior pawn-structure and Black's bishop-pair. White also has a slight lead in development, although it is not clear anything can be done with it. Stockfish17 and Dragon1 call the position equal.
10...Bg7 11.Rhe1 Ne7 12.Nde2 b6 13.Kb1!? c5 14.Nd5 Nxd5 15.Rxd5?
White had to play 15.exd5, after which White's kingside majority is gone, but Black still has the bishop-pair.
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| How can Black exploit White's last move? |
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15...Bc6
There is no good answer to the engines' 15...Rde8!, eg 16.f3 f5 17.Nc3 fxe4 18.Nxe4 Bc6 and 19...Bxe4 etc, or 16.Ng3 Bc6 and 17...Bxe4 etc.
16.Rxd8+ Rxd8 17.f3 Re8 18.Bd2 Bd7 19.Nc3 f5!? 20.exf5 Rxd1+ 21.Bxe1 Bxf5
Black has swopped off into an ending in which White has the superior pawn-majority, but Black's bishop-pair is matched against a bishop and knight, with no other pieces complicating matters, on a board with an open centre. The engines reckon chances are equal.
22.Nd5 Be6 23.Nc3!? h5!?
Black could have forced a draw with 23...Bxc3!? as the resulting opposite-coloured bishops neutralise White's superior pawn-structure. Instead the text keeps the game going.
24.Ne4 Bf5 25.c3 Kd7 26.Kc2 Ke6 27.Kd3 b5 28.Bg3 c4+ 29.Ke3 Bh6+!? 30.Bf4 Bf8 31.Bxc7
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| White has won a pawn, but the position remains equal, according to Stockfish17 |
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The point is that if White is going to win the game, the win will come on the kingside - the c7 pawn was more-or-less irrelevant in that its absence does not help White on the kingside, and its presence would not have helped Black create a passed pawn on the queenside. However Dragon1 gives White a slight edge, presumably on the basis that a pawn is a pawn.
31...Be7?!
But this lets the white king advance, so probably better is 31...Kd5.
32.f4?!
After 32.Kd4 White has the upper hand (Dragon1) or at least is slightly better (Stockfish17).
32...Kd5 33.Ng3?!
32...Kd5 33.Ng3?!
The knight proves awkwardly placed here. Since 33.Nf2 and 33.Ng5 allow Black to swop off into an opposite-coloured bishops ending, the correct move to keep the game going is 33.Nd2.
33...Bc5+ 34.Kd2 Be4 35.Nxe4 Kxe4 36.Ke2 Bg1 37.h3 Bh2 38.b3 Bxf4
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| What should White play? |
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39.Ba5!?
Drawing is 39.Bxf4!? Kxf4 40.bxc4 bxc4 41.Kf2 as Black cannot make progress, eg 41...h4 42.a3 (42.a4 also draws) a5 43.a4 g5 44.Ke2 Kg3 45.Kf1 g5 46.hxg4 Kxg4 47.Kf2.
Dragon1 at first reckons the text loses, but later switches to giving Black 'just' the upper hand; Stockfish17 reckons White is still equal.
39...Be5 40.bxc4 bxc4 41.Bb4 Bc7 42.a4 Bb6 43.Ba3 g5 44.Bb4 Bc7 45.Ba3 Kf4 46.Bc1+ Kg3 47.Kf1 Bf4 48.Ba3 Bc7 49.Bc1 Be5
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| How should White proceed? |
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50.Bd2?
This lets Black force a zugzwang position, whereas 50.Bxg5 Bxc3 51.Be3 holds, according to the engines. But the engines are split as to the merits of 50.Ba3!?, although they agree 50...Bxc3 51.Bd6+ is a draw, eg 51...Kh4 52.Bc5 g4 53.Be7+ Kg3 54.Bd6+ etc. If in this line Black tries 52...Be5, then 53.Bf2+ Bg3 54.Bd4 draws. However, after 50...a5!? there is a sharp divergence - Stockfish17 gives Black a slight edge, while Dragon1 reckons Black is winning. A sample line runs 51.Bb2 g4 52.hxg4 hxg4 53.Kg1 Bf6 54.Kf1 Kh2 55.Kf2 g3+ 56.Kf1 Kh1 57.Ba1. and it is hard to see how Black makes progress.
50...g4 51.hxg4 hxg4 52.Be1+ Kf4?
Winning is 52...Kh2 53.Bd2 g3 54.Be1 Bf4. Not much better is 54.Bc1 Bxc3 55.Bf4 Bb2 etc.
53.Ke2 Ke4 54.Bd2 Bf6 55.Be1 Kd5 56.Kd2 Be7 57.Bf2 Bg5+ 58.Be3!? Be7
Only drawing is 58...Bxe3+ 59.Kxe3 Ke5 60.g3 a5 61.Kd2 (or 61.Kf2, but not 61.Ke2?? Ke4 etc) Ke4 62.Ke2.
59.Bd4 Ke4 60.Ke2 Bd6 61.Kd2 Bf4+ 62.Ke2 Kd5 63.Kf2 Bd6 64.Ke3 Bh2 65.Kf2
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| Black to play and lose |
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65...Ke4?? 66.g3 1-0
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