Michael Ridge (1885) - Spanton (2013)
Amateur Chess Organization 50+ World Championship Group C
Réti/Reversed Grünfeld/Catalan/QGD Tarrasch
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 c5 3.Bg2 Nc6 4.d4 Nf6
Varying from round one, when I played 4...Bg4!?
5.0-0 e6 6.c4
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| There are 7,833 games with this position in ChessBase's 2024 Mega database |
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6...dxc4
This is the main move in Mega24, and leads ChessBase to classify the opening as "E04: Open Catalan: 5 Nf3," but other classifications are possible.
7.Qa4 Bd7 8.Qxc4 b5! 9.Qd3
Probably not 9.Qxb5?! Nxd4.
9...Nb4!?
The main moves are 9...Rc8 and, a tad more popular in Mega24, 9...c4.
10.Qd1 Bc6!?
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| A superficial glance at the position might lead one to suppose Black is doing well - the white queen has been chased back to its starting square, and the white king's knight cannot move without allowing a swop of light-square bishops |
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However after ...
11.a3
... the impetuous black knight does not have a good retreat square, eg 11...Nbd5?! 12.e4 is positionally winning for White, according to Stockfish17 and Dragon1.
That leaves ...
11...Na6
... but the knight is sidelined for the foreseeable future.
12.Bg5!?
This may be a novelty. The engines prefer the known 12.Nc3.
12...cxd4 13.b4!?
Fixing the b5 weakness and preventing ...Nc5.
13...h6?!
Probably better is 13...Be7.
14.Bxf6 Qxf6
The engines prefer 14..gxf6!?
15.Qxd4
Even stronger is 15.Qd3!?, according to the engines.
15...Be7 16.Nbd2 Qxd4
Both 17.Ne4 and 17.Rac1 were unpleasant threats.
17.Nxd4 Bxg2 18.Kxg2 Bf6
Perhaps better is 18...Nc7, but Black's position is very difficult.
19.N2b3 0-0 20.Rac1
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| Can you find a decent continuation for Black? |
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No, unless your abilities surpass those of Stockfish17 and Dragon1. They reckon best-play goes 20...Bxd4!? 21.Nxd4 Nb8 22.Nxb5 a5, but White is winning.
20...Rfd8 21.Nxb5 Rd7 22.Rfd1 Rad8?!
Perhaps better is the engines' 22...Rb7 23.Nd6 Re7!?, but it is all rather hopeless.
23.Rxd7 Rxd7 24.Rc6 Rb7
There is nothing better, eg 24...Nb8 25.Rc8+ Rd8 26.Nxa7.
25.Rxa6 Rxb5 26.Rxa7 Bb2 27.Nc5 Bd4 28.Rb7!? (1-0, 41 moves)
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