Manfred Gradwohl (1911) - Spanton (2013)
Amateur Chess Organization 50+ World Championship Group C
French Winawer
1.d4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 b6!?
This move is third in popularity in ChessBase's 2024 Mega database, behind 4...Ne7 and especially 4...c5.
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| How should White respond? |
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5.a3
Stockfish17 and Dragon1 like the text, which is the commonest move, and they also like the rare 5.h4!?
5...Bf8!?
This is part of the main idea behind 4...b6!? - preserving Black's good dark-square bishop while seeking to swop off White's good light-square bishop. The engines prefer 5...Bxc3+ and 5...Be7, albeit awarding White the upper hand.
6.f4
This has been played by many grandmasters, but more popular is 6.Nf3.
6...Nh6!? 7.Nf3 c5 8.Bd3!?
This move, which is the top choice of the engines, appears to be a novelty. Known moves are 8.Be3, 8.Bb5+ and 8.Ne2!?
8...Ba6 9.Bxa6 Nxa6 10.Qd3
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| How should Black proceed? |
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10...c4!?
This is nearly always a controversial move in the Winawer Variation of the French Defence, even when, as here, it comes with tempo. The move gains space and ensures the white d pawn remains for the foreseeable future on a dark square - the same colour complex as the white bishop - but takes pressure off the white centre.
11.Qe2 Nf5 12.0-0 h5 13.g3!? Be7 14.Nd1
The knight heads to e3 to challenge the black king's knight.
14...b5 15.c3 Nb8 16.Kg2 Nc6 17.h3?
Consistent with earlier play is 17.Ne3, when Stockfish17 reckons Black has an edge after both 17.Nxe3 and 17.g6!? Dragon1 also marginally favours Black.
17...h4! 18.Nxh4
The engines prefer 18.g4 or 18.gxh4.
18...Bxh4!?
This is better than capturing with the knight, which is well-placed in the vicinity of the white king.
19.gxh4 Qxh4 20.Qg4 Qe7?!
The engines agree with avoiding an exchange of queens, but reckon e7 is the worst of the four possible retreat squares.
21.Ne3 Nh6
The engines prefer 21...g6 or 21...Nxe3.
22.Qf3!?
This is the engines' top choice, threatening both 23.f5 and 23.a4.
22...Na5 23.Bd2 Nb3 24.Rad1 0-0-0
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| Now both sides have castled, how would you assess the position? |
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The black king cuts something of a lonely figure on the queenside, but it is hard for White to exploit this. Meanwhile the white king could find lines being opened to it, and White has a bad bishop. The engines give Black the upper hand.
25.Be1 Rdg8?!
Probably better is 25...g6.
26.f5 Na5 27.Kh2 Nc6 28.Rd2 Qd8?
Vacating e7 for the queen's knight is a good idea, but it should be done so ...Ne7 does not allow a pin on the h4-d8 diagonal.
29.Rg2 Ne7?!
It was almost certainly better to spend a tempo moving the queen to d7 or e8.
30.Bh4 Qe8 31.Bxe7 Qxe7 32.Rfg1 Rh7 33.f6 Qf8 34.fxg7
Even stronger, according to the engines, is 34.Nxd5!? exd5 35.Qxd5, eg 35...Nf5 36.Qf3!? g6 37.Qxf5+!, or 35...Qd8 36.Qa8+ Kc7 37.Qxa7+.
34...Rhxg7 35.Qf6?
Winning is 35.Rxg7 Rxg7 36.Nxd5!? exd5 37.Qxd5
35...Rxg2+ 36.Rxg2 Rxg2+ 37.Kxg2 Qg8+ 38.Kh2 Qg6? 39.Qh8+
After 39,Qxg6 fxg6 40.Kg3 White has a winning knight-and-pawn ending.
39...Kb7 40.Qf6 Qxf6? 41.exf6 Kc7 42.Kg3 Kd6 43.Kf4 a5 44.Kg5 Ng8 45.Ng4 Kd7 46.h4 Kc6 47.h5 b4
Desperation.
48.axb4 axb4 49.h6 Nxh6 50.Nxh6 e5 51.Nxf7 exd4 52.Ne5+ Kd6 53.cxd4 c3 54.f7 Ke7 55.bxc3 b3 56.Nxd3 Kxf7 57.Kf5 1-0
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