Spanton (1957) - Chris Gribben (1723)
French Rubinstein
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bd7
This is the start of the For Knox Variation within the Rubinstein complex.
5.Nf3 Bc6!?
This seems to have been first played by José Capablanca in 1902.
6.Bd3 Nd7 7.0-0 Ngf6
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| There are 5,288 examples of this position in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database |
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8.Re1
The mainline in Mega25 runs 8.Ng3 Be7 9.Re1 0-0 10.c3, with a slight edge for White, according to Stockfish17 and Dragon1.
8...Nxe4 9.Bxe4 Bxe4 10.Rxe4 Nf6 11.Re1
The engines like 11.Rh4!?
11...Be7 12.c3 0-0 13.Bg5 c6 14.Ne5 Qc7!?
This may be a novelty. Known moves are 14...h6 and 14...Nd7.
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| How should White proceed? |
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15.Re3?
Building up on the kingside is positionally desirable, but here it is tactically flawed. The engines suggest 15.a4, 15.Bf4 or 15.Qe2.
15...Nd5! 16.Bxe7
There is nothing better, eg 16.Qg4? can be met by 16...Bxg5 17.Bxg5 f6.
16...Nxe3 17.fxe3 Qxe7 18.Qf3 Rad8 19.Rf1 Rc8!? 20.Qg3 Qc7 21.Qh4 Qd8 22.Qg3 Rc7 23.h4 Kh8?!
The engines dislike this, preferring 23...f6 or 23...c5.
24.Qf4 Qe7 25.h5 h6?
The engines reckon 25...Kg8!? and 25...Qd8!? maintain a winning advantage.
26.Ng6+! fxg6 27.Qxf8+
CG offered a draw.
27...Qxf8 28.Rxf8+ Kh7 29.g4
White has a slight edge after 29.Ra8 a6 30.Re8!?, according to the engines.
29...gxh5 30.gxh5 Re7 31.Kf2 g6 32.hxg6+ Kxg6 33.Kg3 e5 34.Rf2 exd4 35.exd4 Re4+ 36.Kf4 Re7
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| Who, if anyone, stands better? |
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The engines reckon the position is completely equal.
37.Rg2+ Kf6 38.Rh2 Rh7!? 39.c4 Ke6 40.b4 a6 41.Rh5 b5!? 42.Re5+ Kd6 43.c5+ Kd7 44.d5 cxd5 45.Rxd5+ Kc7
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| White has a protected passed pawn, but this is balanced by Black's mobile passed pawn, the position remaining completely equal, according to the engines |
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46.Rd6 Kb7 47.Kf5 h5 48.Rd3
White gets nowhere with 48.Kg6 Rh8 49.Kg7 Re8.
48...h4 49.Kg4 Re7!? 50.a3 Re4+ 51.Kf5 Rc4
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| What should White play? |
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52.Kg5?
It was time to think about securing the draw, starting with, for example, 52.Rd7+ or 52.Ke6.
52...a5 53.Rb3?!
Perhaps the best practical chance lay with 53.Rd7+ Kc8 54.Rh7, but the Syzygy endgame tablebase shows the position after 54...axb4 55.axb4 Rxb4 is winning for Black.
53...axb4 54.axb4 Kc6 55.Kf5 Kc7
This does not spoil anything, but the simplest win begins with 55...h3!?
56.Kf5 ½–½
Battersea 2 won the match 5-3..
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*
21/11/24 Central London League B 1957 2035 = 2112*
27/11/24 London League W 1957 1723 = 2056*
*My season's performance is slightly better than this, the point being my win against a 1578 counts as a 1978 performance, which lowers my average despite me winning the game.
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