English Symmetrical
1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 Nc6 5.Bg2 e6 6.0-0 d5!?
Of the 4,921 games to reach the position in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database, 4,734 saw 6...Nge7.
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| How should White respond? |
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7.cxd5
This is most popular, and scores 61% in Mega25, albeit from a fairly small sample. Stockfish17 suggests 7.Na4!?, and Dragon1 likes 7.d4!?, neither move occurring in the database.
7...exd5 8.d4!?
The engines prefer this aggressive continuation over the slightly more popular 8.d3.
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| Black only has one decent reply, according to the engines |
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8...cxd4!
Yury Atanazevich (2045) - Vladimir Gritsenko (2264), Veronezh Regional Championship (Russia) 2014, went 8...Nxd4? 9.Nxd4 cxd4 (9...Bxd4 is not an improvement) 10.Nxd5 Ne7? (better are 10...Nf6!? and 10...Be6, but both can be successfully met by 11.Qa4+) 11.Bg5 f6 12.Nxf6+ (1-0, 28 moves). Also bad is 8...Bxd4?, while 8...c4?! is positionally suspect in this type of position, one continuation being 9.b3!? cxb3 10.Qxb3 Nge7 11.Ba3 0-0 12.e3, when White's pressure against d5, and on the queenside, give the upper hand, according to the engines.
9.Nb5 Qb6?
Trying for too much. Black should develop the king's knight and get castled.
10.Nd6+
Somewhat surprisingly, at least to me, this seems to be a novelty. The known move, from a 1975 Romanian championship semi-final, saw 10.Qb3?!, when the engines reckon 10...Nge7 would have come close to equalising (the game was drawn anyway).
10...Ke7 11.Nxc8+
11.Bf4?! Nf6 leaves White with, at best, a slight edge, according to the engines.
11...Rxc8
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| How would you assess the coming middlegame? |
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White has won the bishop-pair, and Black's extra pawn is likely to prove temporary, after which d5 will be even weaker than it is now, but the most significant factor is probably the awkward position of the black king. The engines give White the upper hand.
12.e3!?
The engines suggest queenside play, eg 12.a4 Nf6 13.a5!? Nxa5 14.Nxd4 Nc4 15.b3 Nd6 16.Be3 Qd8 17.Rxa7 with continuing pressure.
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| How should Black proceed? |
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12...d3
Trying to keep lines closed, but probably a better way to give back the pawn is 12..Nf6!? 13.exd4 Rhe8. Almost certainly too greedy is 12...dxe3?! 13.Bxe3 d4 14.Bf4.
13.Qxd3 Nf6
This is almost certainly better than 13...Nb4?! 14.Qa3 Nf6 15.Bd2 a5 16.Bc3!? Rhd8 17.Qb3 Qd6 18.Bh3, when Black remains uncoordinated, and is positionally lost, according to the engines.
14.Bd2 Rhd8 15.Qa3+ Ke8
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| The black king has had to stay in the centre |
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16.Bc3 Bf8 17.Qa4 Ne4 18.Ne5?!
The natural 18.Rfd1 gives at least a slight edge, according to the engines, but they reckon 18.Bd4?! Qb4 19.Qxb4 Bxb4 is equal.
18...Nxc3 19.bxc3 Bd6?!
Both 19...Qa5 and 19...Bg7 equalise, according to the engines.
20.Ng4!
The engines come to marginally prefer this over the more obvious 20.Nxc6, when 20...bxc6? is met by 21.Bxd5, but they reckon 20...Qxc6 leaves White only slightly better.
20...Kf8?!
Breaking the pin on the c6 knight, but 20...Be7 is probably preferable.
21.Bxd5
Even stronger, according to the engines, is 21.Nf6!?, but the text works out well for White.
21...Bxg3??
Pressure against the black king means White is better after 21...Qc5, but there is a lot of play left.
22.Bxc6 Bxh2+ 23.Kxh2 Qxc6
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| How big is White's advantage? |
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White has knight for pawn, but the advantage is worth a minor piece (Dragon1) or at least close to three pawns (Stockfish17).
24.Qb4+!?
More pragmatic is 24.Qxc6, eg 24...Rxc6 25.Rfd1!? Rxd1 26.Rxd1 Ke7 (26...Rxc3 27.Rd7 increases White's advantage, according to the engines) 27.Rb1 b6 28.Rb3, when White stays up knight for pawn.
More pragmatic is 24.Qxc6, eg 24...Rxc6 25.Rfd1!? Rxd1 26.Rxd1 Ke7 (26...Rxc3 27.Rd7 increases White's advantage, according to the engines) 27.Rb1 b6 28.Rb3, when White stays up knight for pawn.
24...Kg7 25.Qf4 Rd5!?
This is probably not best, but it threatens counterplay, and obliges White to be careful.
26.Kg3
The engines reckon best is the cool 26.Rad1!?, and if 26...Rh5+ then 27.Kg3.
26...Rf5
The engines prefer 26...h5 or 26...g5!?
27.Qd4+ f6 28.f4
Even stronger, according to the engines, is 28.e4!?, and if 28...Rc5 then 29.Rad1!? Rxc3+ 30.Ne3. However they reckon best for Black is 28...Qxc3+!? 29.Qxc3 Rxc3+ 30.Ne3, although they agree White is winning.
28...h5 29.Nf4 h4+!? 30.Kh2
30.Kxh4? seems to give Black a draw, and quite possibly more in practical play.
30...Rd5
There is no perpetual after 30...Qf3? 31.Qd7 Kh6 32.Ne4!
31.Qd4 Re8 32.Qf3
Not 32.Qg2? Rxe3.
32...Qc5!? 33.Rae1 Rd2!? 34.Qxb7+ Re7
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| White to play and lose |
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35.Kg1??
BC had about two minutes, plus the 30-second increment, to make the 40-move time control.
35...Rxb7 0-1
an nice got away with it moment! after the Queen swop(24.) is it toughter to get an result.congrets anyway!
ReplyDeleteThanks - I have certainly been riding my luck.
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