Spanton (1957) - Carl Hetherington (1991)
French Exchange
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bd3 Bd6 6.0-0 0-0 7.Bg5 Bg4 8.Nbd2 Nbd7
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| This symmetrical position occurs 1,225 times in ChessBase's 2024 Mega database |
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9.Re1
The mainline in Mega24 runs 9.c3 c6 10.Qc2 Qc7 11.Rfe1 Rfe8, with an equal position, according to Stockfish17 and Dragon1.
9...c6 10.c3 Qc7 11.h3 Bh5 12.Qc2 Rae8 13.Nh4
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| How should Black proceed? |
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13...Qb6!?
This seems to be a novelty. Gerard Oskham - Akiba Rubinstein, Ostend 1906, went 13...Bg6!? 14.Nxg6 hxg6 15.Bxf6 Nxf6, with equality, according to the engines (but 0-1, 63 moves). Equally popular in Mega24, although from a small sample size, is 13...Bf4, but the engines reckon 14.Bxf4 Qxf4 15.g3!? gives White an edge.
14.Qb3
The engines reckon 14.c4 Bb8 15.c5 leaves White with the upper hand, and if 15...Qc7 then 16.g3!?
14...h6?
This move, which is almost automatic for some players in such positions, is here a mistake.
15.Be3?!
White is quite a bit better after this, but stronger is 15.Bxf6 Nxf6 16.g4, when 16...Bg6 simply loses a pawn. Black can try 16...g5!?, but 17.Nf5 is good, and 16...Bf4 17.Qc2 still leaves Black with the problem of what to do about the h5 bishop. One suggestion by the engines is 17...Nxg4!? 18.hxg4 Bxg4, which looks a little intimidating, considering White's exposed king, but White should not have too many problems.
15...Ne4 16.Nxe4?!
Probably better is 16.Bxe4!? dxe4 17.Nc4 Qc7, after which the engines give 18.g4!? Be7 19.Ng2! (19.Nf5 Bg6 20.Nxe7+ Rxe7 gives Black the upper hand, according to the engines) b5!? 20.Bf4!? bxc4 21.Bxc7 cxb3 22.gxh5, claiming a winning advantage for White, albeit in a messy position.
16...dxe4 17.Bc4 Kh7
The engines suggest 17...Qc7, meeting 18.g4?! with 18...Be7.
18.g4 Bg6 19.Nxg6
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| How should Black recapture? |
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19...Kxg6
The engines prefer 19...fxg6.
20.Qc2 f5?
Possibly even worse is 20...Nf6? 21.f3. The engines give 20...Kh7, and if 21.f3 then 21...f5, eg 22.gxf5 exf3!? 23.f6+ g6 24.f7, awarding White a slight edge.
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| White to play and gain a winning advantage |
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21.gxf5+?
Missing 21.Be6! Rxe6 22.d5 etc.
21...Rxf5 22.Be2 Nf6 23.f3 Rh5??
Best is 23...Qd8!, according to the engines, eg 24.fxe4 Nxe4 25.Bd3 Qh4, with counterplay,but 23...Bg3 is also better than the text.
24.fxe4 Rxh3 25.e5+ Kf7 26.Bc4+ Kf8 27.Qg6 Qc7
There is nothing better.
28.exd6
Not 28.exf6?? Rg3+.
28...Qd7
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| Black's one hope is White's exposed king, but the king is a lot safer than it may at first seem |
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29.Bf4 Rxe1+?! 30.Rxe1 Rh4 31.Be6 Qe8 32.Qxe8+ Kxe8
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| With queens off the board, the game is as good as over |
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33.Be5 Nh5 34.Rf1 g5 35.d7+ Ke7 36.Bd6+!? Kxd6 37.d8=Q+ Kxe6 38.Qe8+ Kd5 39.Rf5+ Kc4 40.Qe2#
Athenaeum won the match 4.5-3.5.
MY BATTERSEA SEASON 2024-5
DATE.....EVENT...........................COL..RATING..OPP'S RATING..SCORE..SEASON PERF
12/9/24 Central London League W 1933 1886 1 2286
26/9/24 Central London League B 1933 2112 1 2399
15/10/24 Club Championship W 1968 1578 1 2259*
31/10/24 Central London League B 1968 1867 0 2061*
19/11/24 London League W 1957 1991 1 2127*
*My season's performance is really slightly better than this, the point being my win against the 1578 counts as a 1978 performance, which lowers my average despite me winning the game.
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