2025 Championships

AT last year's British chess championships in Hull there was a strong rumour that the 2025 edition would be held in Liverpool.

That was confirmed today by a report in the Liverpool Echo, and later on the English Chess Federation website.

The main championship and the major open will be over nine rounds, starting on Saturday August 2, but the senior championships (65+ and 50+) will be over seven rounds from Monday August 4.

All four tournaments are one round a day, finishing on Sunday August 10, with a time control of 40 moves in 90 minutes, followed by 30 minutes to finish, and a 30-second increment throughout.

Further details, and information on supporting events, can be found here.

Liverpool It Is

LIVERPOOL has been confirmed as the site of this year's British chess championships - details expected later today.

Even More Winning Chess

THE third all-play-all norm tournament at Mariánské Lázně was won by Indian international master Maran Senthil (2398) on tiebreak from Czech IM Michal Konopka (2321), both scoring +3=6-0.

Senthil's six points cost him 3.4 Fide elo, but Konopka gained 6.3.

Since both have a K factor of 10, this means Senthil's expected score was 6.34, Konopka's 5.37.

The winner was arguably slightly fortunate in that he had five whites in the nine rounds - Konopka had only four.

Senthil's three wins came with white, with the pick of the bunch, in my opinion, being this instructive round-eight game against German Fide master Rainer Roesemann (2276).

Senthil - Roesemann

Catalan

1.d4 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Nf3 Bf5 4.c4 c6 5.Nc3 e6

How should White proceed?

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6.Nh4!?

The standard 6.Bg2 scores 55% in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database, but the main alternatives - the text and 6.Qb3!? - score 59%.
6...Bg6

Black cannot save the bishop-pair as after 6...Bg4 7.h3 Bh5 White can continue with 8.g4!? Bg6 9.Nxg6, gaining a slight edge, according to Stockfish17 and Dragon1.

7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.Qd3!?

Protecting c4 so the light-square bishop can be developed at g2. The engines disagree as to whether the text or 8.Qb3 is the better way to do this.

8...Nbd7 9.Bg2 Be7 10.0-0 0-0

Now both sides have castled, how would you assess the position?

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The biggest imbalance in the position is probably that White has the bishop-pair. The engines reckon White is slightly better.

11.Rd1!?

Signalling that Senthil sees his chances as lying on the central-queenside.

11...Qa5 12.e4!?

The two strongest players to reach the position after 11...Qa5, Anish Giri (2749) and Boris Gelfand (2695), chose 12.b3!?, while the engines recommend the conservative 12.e3.

12...dxe4 13.Nxe4 Nxe4 14.Qxe4 Nf6 15.Qe2 Rad8

Black has achieved some simplification, and has pressure against d4, but White has more space, and the position is starting to open up for the bishops

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16.Be3 Rd7 17.a3 Rfd8 18.b4 Qa4!?

Black has completely equalised, according to Stockfish17, but Dragon1 gives White a slight edge.

19.Bf3!?

I find this hard to understand. The knight was surely not going to h5, from where it would have few prospects.

19...Ne8 20.Ra2!?

Preparing to sacrifice the a3 pawn.

20...Bf6 21.Rad2!? Qxa3

How can White follow up the sacrifice?

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22.d5

Both this and the passive 22.Rb1 give complete equality, according to the engines, which reckon 22.b5!? also gives White enough compensation.

22...cxd5 23.cxd5 Qxb4?

How many club players would make this mistake? Not many, I believe. Correct is 23...exd5, eg 24.Bxd5 Qxb4 25.Bxf7+ Rxf7 26.Rxd8 Bxd8 27.Rxd8 Qe7, with complete equality, according to the engines.

24.dxe6 Rxd2 25.exf7+ Kxf7 26.Rxd2

The engines reckon 26.Bxd2!? is even stronger.

26...Rxd2 27.Bxd2 Qb3

It is quite possible Roesemann had seen this far, but misjudged the resulting position, - the bishop-pair and king safety prove more important than Black's connected passed pawns

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28.Be3 b6

The engines prefer offering the pawn back with 28...Be7!?, claiming White is only slightly better.
29.Qa6 Qb1+?

It seems Black needed to play 29...Kf8!, one point being that after 30.Qxa7 the engines point out the strength of 30...Bd4!, getting rid of the bishop-pair. The further moves 31.Bxd4 Qxf3 32.Qxb6 leave White a pawn up, but all the pawns are on one side of the board, and the black king is in much less danger than in the game. Instead the engines recommend 30.Qb7!, with what they reckon is a slight edge.

30.Kg2 Qa1?

The engines reckon 30...Be7 31.Qxa7 Nf6 keeps Black in the game, albeit with White well on top.

31.Bd5+ Kf8 32.Bc5+!

This is the move Roeseemann probably missed.

32...bxc5 33.Qe6 Nd6 34.Qxd6+ Ke8 35.Bc6+ Kf7 36.Qd7+ 1-0

Mate cannot be avoided, eg 36...Be7 37.Bd5+ Kf6 38.Qe6+ Kg5 39.f4+ Kh6 40.Qh3+ Nh4 41.Qxh4#.

More Winning Chess

The Mariánské Lázně B1 norm tournament, designed to produce international master norms, was won on tiebreak by Greek Fide master Alexandros Papasimakopoulos (2379) with a score of +5=4-0, gaining 8.1 Fide elo (his K factor is 10, so that is the equivalent of most of us gaining 16.2 elo).

Tied with him, and also scoring +5=4-0, was Czech Fide master Daniel Pražák (2314), who gained 33 elo (his K factor is the normal one of 20, meaning he has never reached 2400).

Both players gained an IM norm, and I doubt if either was much bothered that a tiebreak system in an all-play-all tournament favoured one over the other.

They were the top two seeds, and their 11-move draw in round four was not altogether unexpected, especially as the lower-rated of the two had white.

The most impressive part of Papasimakopoulos's performance was perhaps that his two wins against IMs (Pražák 'only' beat one international master) came in successive rounds.

Here is the first of them.

Alexandros Papasimakopoulos (2379) - Angus Dunnington (2259)

Modern Defence

1.d4 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.e4 c5 4.d5 d6 5.Bd3!?

This continuation is second in popularity in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database, albeit a long way behind 5.Nc3. However, among those who have played it are Akiba Rubinstein, Gersz Salwe, Yasser Seirawan and Anatoly Karpov.

How should Black respond?

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5...e6!?

More common is 5...Nf6, but Stockfish17 and Dragon1 prefer the text, and it scores eight percentage points higher in Mega25.

6.h3!?

Another unusual response, and one that scores just 33% in Mega25, but again a move quite liked by the engines.

6...exd5 7.exd5 Ne7 8.Nf3 0-0 9.0-0

Now both sides have castled, how would you assess the position?

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The most significant imbalance is White's extra space in the centre, and the engines reckon that gives White the upper hand.

9...b5!?

This positional pawn sacrifice may be a novelty here, although the idea is well-known in positions in which White has the pawn-formation c4-d5.

How should White respond?

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10.cxb5

Accepting the pawn is best, according to the engines, while they reckon 10.Re1, their second choice, is at best dubious.

10...a6!?

How should White meet this second pawn offer?

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11.Nc3!?

The engines at first prefer 11.Re1!?, but they come to fluctuate between the two moves, and they agree accepting the second pawn reduces White's advantage.

11...Nd7 12.Re1 Nf6 13.a4 axb5 14.Bxb5 Bb7 15.Bc4 Nf5 16.Bf4 Nd4!? 17.Nxd4 cxd4 18.Nb5 Nxd5 19.Bxd6 Qg5!?

Black threatens to win with 20...Ne3!

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20.Qg4

The engines prefer 20.Qf3, but the text also keeps an advantage.

20...Qxg4 21,hxg4 Rfd8 22.Be5!?

The engines much prefer 22.a5.

22...Nb6

Possibly preferable is first exchanging on e5, and then playing ...Nb6, the engines reckoning 22...Bxe5!? 23.Rxe5 Nb6 24.Bb3 d3 gives counterplay that may leave White only slightly better.

How can White try to exploit Black's last move?

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23.Bxg7

The engines point out 23.Bxf7+!? Kxf7 24.Bxg7 Kxg7 25.Re7+. True, after 25...Kg8 26.Rxb7 Black has 26...Rxa4, but White can meet this with 27.Rd1 Nc8 28.Nc3! Nd6 (forced, it seems) 29.Nxa4 Nxb7, reaching a simplified rook-and-knight ending in which White is a pawn up and has what the engines reckon is the upper hand. However it is far from clear the ending is winning, and it may be Papasimakopoulos thought he had better chances in a more complicated middlegame.

23...Kxg7 24.Bb3 Bc6

Pushing the d pawn is more promising, according to the engines.

25.g5?

The engines reckon this throws away all of White's advantage, while they agree 25.Nc7!?, with Re7 to come, gives the upper hand.

25...Bxb5!?

The engines at first much prefer 25...Ra5!? or 25...d3, but Stockfish17 comes to like the text (Dragon1 disagrees).

26.axb5 Rxa1 27.Rxa1 f6?

It seems 27...d3 was necessary, giving equality, according to Stockfish17, although Dragon1 awards White at least a slight edge.

28.f4?!

Much more convincing is directly exploiting Black's error with 28.Ra7+ or 28.Ra6.

28...h6?!

This gives White a second chance to invade the seventh rank with malice, whereas 28...fxg5 29.fxg5 Kf8 keeps the game going, albeit heavily in White's favour.

29.Ra7+ Rd7 30.Rxd7 Nxd7 31.gxh6+ Kxh6 32.Kf2 1-0

I am sure a lot of club players would fight on, but the weakness of the d pawn, combined with White's farside b pawns, add up to an advantage worth more than a rook, according to the engines

League Chess

PLAYED on board one (of eight) for Battersea 2 against Charlton 2 in London League Division Four last night,

Daniel Douglas (1766) - Spanton (1958)

Queen's Gambit Declined Normal Variation

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.e3!? Nf6 4.Nf3 c5 5.d4 Nc6

Aron Nimzowitsch recommended playing the Normal Variation of the QGD as White

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His idea was to sometimes leave Black with an isolated queen's pawn, sometimes to accept an IQP oneself (the latter requiring assistance from Black, although Nimzowitsch did not mention this in My System, if memory serves me correctly). Nimzowitsch argued that exploring the fine details of such a position would awaken positional understanding.

6.cxd5 exd5 7.dxc5!? Bxc5

I suspect Nimzowitsch did not seriously entertain my opponent's next move

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8.e4?

Probably a novelty; definitely not a good one.

How should Black respond?

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8...dxe4

Stockfish17 and Dragon1 prefer not capturing. Their top choice is 8...0-0!?, one line running 9.exd5 Ng4! 10.Be2!? (10.dxc6?? allows mate, starting with 10...Bxf2+ 11.Ke2 Re8+) Nxf2 11.Qa4 Nd4!? 12.Nxd4 Nxh1, with a sharp position that the engines reckon is winning for Black.

Stockfish17's second choice, 8...Qb6!?, also leads to sharp play, as does Dragon1's second choice, 8...Ng4!?

The text may not objectively be as strong, but has the merit of being straightforward, and so less likely to lead to accidents.

9.Qxd8+ Nxd8

The engines prefer 9...Kxd8!?, meeting 10.Ng5 with 10...Nb4 (Stockfish17) or 10...Re8 (Dragon1).

10.Bb5+ Bd7

Not 10...Nc6? 11.Ne5.

11.Bxd7+ Kxd7 12.Ng5 h6!

Judging by body language, DD had missed this.

13.Nh3

Not 13.Nxe4?? Nxe4 14.Nxe4 Re8 15.f3 f5.

13...Ne6 14.Bf4!? Rhd8!?

This is Stockfish17's top choice. Dragon1 prefers 14...Nxf4, but I felt that helped White by bringing the h3 knight back into play.

15.0-0-0+ Ke8

Now both sides have effectively castled - either normally or 'by hand' - how would you assess the position?

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Black's extra pawn is reasonably secure for the moment, but may be vulnerable in the long run. The other main feature of the position, in my opinion, is the offside white knight at h3. The engines reckon Black's advantage is worth about 2.5 pawns.

16.Be5?!

The engines like moving the bishop, but not here, preferring Bg3 or Bd2.

16...Ng4 17.Bg3 f5 18.Rd5 Rxd5 19.Nxd5 Rc8 20.Kb1 Kf7 21.Rc1

DD offered a draw.

21...Rd8 22.Nc7 Bd6!? 23.Nxe6 Kxe6 24.Bxd6 Rxd6 25.f3 Nf6 26.Re1 g5 27.fxe4 fxe4

How big is Black's advantage in this rook-and-knight ending?

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White has no serious opportunity of counterplay. The engines reckon Black is roughly the equivalent of a minor piece and a pawn ahead, Dragon1 being the more fulsome in its assessment.

28.Nf2 Ke5 29.Kc2 h5 30.a3!? g4 31.Nd1 Rc6+ 32.Kd2 Nd5 33.Ne3 Nf4 34.g3 Nd5 35.Nxd5 Kxd5 36.Re3 Kd4 37.Re1 e3+!? 38.Rxe3 0-1 (Time)

White's flag fell as he made his 38th move, but he is lost anyway as after 38...Rc2+ 39.Kxc2 Kxe3 Black queens a kingside pawn.

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*

12/12/24.Central London League....B.......1965..........2153................0...........2018*

7/1/25.....Club Championship.........B.......1958..........1785................1...........2037*

9/1/25.....Central London League....B.......1958..........1851................0...........1978

14/1/25....Eastman Cup.................B.......1958..........2052................1............2021*

28/1/25....London League..............B.......1958..........1766................1............2033*

*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.

Winning Chess

IN addition to the main swisses at Mariánské Lázně, there were three round-robin norm events - two for would-be international masters, and one for potential grandmasters.

The GM norm tournament featured four Fide masters, three international masters and three grandmasters.

Top seed was Ukrainian Anton Korobov, whose 2627 rating put him more than 100 elo clear of the field.

His score of +4=5-0 won the tournament by a half-point, but cost him 6.5 elo (since he has a K factor of 10, that is the equivalent of most rated players losing 13 elo, ie scoring 0.65 points less than expected).

Second was Indian international master G B Harshavardhan, whose score +5=2-2 gained 15 elo (since he also has a K of 10, that means he scored 1.5 points points more than expected).

Their round-six game proved pivotal.

Harshavardhan (2405) - Korobov (2627)

French Winawer

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Qg4 cxd4!?

Much more popular are 7...0-0 and especially 7...Qc7. The text can easily transpose into the latter, but both sides have chances for independent play.

How should White respond?

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8.cxd4!?

The main line in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database runs 8.Qxg7 Rg8 9.Qxh7 Qc7 10.Ne2 Nbc6 11.f4 Bd7 12.Qd3 dxc3 13.Nxc3, with a slight edge for White, according to Stockfish17 and Dragon1.

8...Qc7 9.Ra2!?

An awkward-looking defence of c2 that, at least for a while, is the top choice of Dragon1.

How should Black respond?

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9...Nf5

The engines reckon Black has equalised.

10.Nf3 Nc6 11.Bb2!?

This scores 75%, albeit from a very small sample (just six games) in Mega25, but is strongly disliked by the engines, which prefer 11.Bd3 and 11.Kd1!?

11...Qa5+ 12.c3 b6 13.Qf4!?

Apparently a novelty, the point of which will become clear next move. The engines prefer the known 13.Nd2.

13...Ba6 14.g4!? Nfe7 15.h4 Qa4!?

Black is better after this, according to the engines, but they reckon stronger is 15...Bxf1.

16.Bxa6 Qxa6 17.h5 Qd3!? 18.Ra1

The engines prefer 18.Nd2.

18...Qc2 19.Qd2 Qe4+ 20.Qe3 Qxg4

Black has won a pawn, and has at least the upper hand, according to the engines, but the position looks murky, at least to me

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21.Ke2 Qf5 22.Rag1 Qc2+ 23.Qd2 Qe4+ 24.Qe3 Qc2+ 25.Qd2 Qxd2+ 26.Kxd2 Nf5

Black has consolidated the extra pawn, and has got queens off the board; White has some kingside pressure, but needs to somehow get the bad bishop into play

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27.Kd3 h6 28.a4 Kd7 29.Ba3 Rag8 30.Nh4 Nce7!? 31.Bxe7 Nxe7

With the bishop gone, how big would you assess Black's advantage?

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White has a fair bit of compensation for a pawn, according to the engines, which give Black just a slight edge.

32.Rg4

The engines prefer 32.Ng2!?, intending Ne3, or 32.Rb1, intending a5.

32...g6 33.hxg6 fxg6 34.f4 g5 35.Nf3?!

The engines point out that 35.Ng2 threatens to equalise with fxg5, and after 35...gxf4 36.Rxg8 Rxg8 37.Nxf4 the white knight is well-placed to restrain the h pawn and pressure e6.

35...Rf8 36.Ke3 Rxf4 37.Rxf4 gxf4+ 38.Kxf4 Rf8+ 39.Kg4 Nf5!?

Even stronger may be first 39...Rg8+ and then ...Nf5.

40.Nh4 h5+!? 41.Kg5 Rg8+ 42.Kf6 Ne7!?

The engines at first strongly dislike this, preferring 42...Ng3, or 42...Rf8+ and then ...Ng3. However the text comes to be Dragon1's top choice, although Stockfish17 continues to prefer the alternatives.

43.Rh3 a5!?

This gives Black a backward b pawn, but is the engines' immediate top-choice, although Stockfish17 comes to prefer 43...Rg1 and 43...Rg4. The idea, I am fairly sure, is to create the threat of ...b5, followed, after axb5, by a quick advance of the a pawn.

44.Nf3?

The engines suggest 44.Rh2!? or 44.Rh1!?

44...h4!

Also very strong is 44...b5!

How should White continue?

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45.Nxh4

Walking into a pin, but the move seems forced, eg 45.Rxh4? loses the knight to 45...Rf8+ etc, while moving the knight away, eg 45.Nd2?, allows a quick mate starting with 45...Ke8! Finally, withdrawing the rook to h2 or h1 also loses the knight to 45...Rf8+ etc.

45...Rh8 46.Rh2

Black to play and win

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46...Nf5?

There is only one winning move: 46...Rh5!, when, unlike in the game, 47.Nf3? loses to 47...Rf5+ etc. If White instead shuffles the rook, for example to h3, then 47...Nf5 wins, while 47.Kf7 (best, according to the engines) runs into 47...Nf5 48.Nf3 Nd6+! 49.exd6 Rf5+ 50.Kg6 Rxf3 with a winning rook-and-pawn ending.

47.Rb2?

Incredible. I suspect most club players would play the correct 47.Nf3, even if they could not work out whether it really does draw. In fact after 47...Rxh2 48.Nxh2 b5!? 49.axb5 a4, presumably the sequence Harshavardhan feared, both 50.Nf3 and 50.Nf1 draw, eg 50.Nf3 a3 51.Nd2 a2 52.Nb3, or 50...Ne3 51.Nd2 (among other moves, 51.Ng5!? also draws, according to the engines), and here Black has to be careful as 51...Nd1?? loses to 52.Nb1, thanks to the deflecting power of pushing the b pawn, eg 52...Ne3 53.b6 etc.

47...Rxh4 48.Rxb7 Rf4!

Other moves also win, but the engines agree this is best.

49.Rb7+

Or 49.Kg5 Rf3, winning the c pawn.

49...Kc6 50.Ra7 Nxd4+ 51.Ke7 Nb3 52.Ra6+ Kc7 53.Ra7+

Little better is 53.Rxe6, when several moves win, including the simple 53...Rxa4, eg 54.Rd6 d4!? 55.cxd4 Rxd4 56.Ra6 a4 57.e6 Kb7 etc.

53...Kb6 54.Ra8 Nc5 55.Kd6 Rxa4 56.Rb8+ Ka7 57.Rc8 Rc4!? 58.Rxc5!?

There is nothing better, but the pawn-ending is lost.

58...Rxc5 59.Kxc5 Ka6!?

The key move - easy to find here, but difficult to see from afar.

60.Kd6

Or 60.c4 dxc4 61.Kxc4 Kb6 etc.

60...a4 61.Kxe6 a3 62.Kf7 a2 63.e6 a1=Q 64.e7 Qf1+ 65.Ke6 Qe2+ 66.Kd7 Kb5 0-1

Age Concern

THE seniors tournament at Mariánské Lázně had 93 players, exactly 50% more than the open.

This disparity in favour of older generations, in this case people aged 50+, is not a one-off.

My next tournament with both open and senior sections is likely to be Bad Wörishofen in March.

The ChessOrg website shows 82 entries for the open, and a further 53 in the U1900, making 135 in all, whereas the seniors (60+ for men, 50+ for women) has 149 entries.

Following that in May comes the Austrian Bodensee congress at Bregenz.

At first sight this seems to buck the trend in that there are 71 entries for the open, compared with 49 for the seniors (60+ for men, 55+ for women).

However, in this case like is not being compared with like, in that the former tournament has nine mainly afternoon rounds over nine days, while the latter has seven morning rounds over seven days.

The different schedules will have influenced entries (I know an English couple who used to play in the seniors at Bregenz, but stopped when it switched from afternoons to mornings).

Perhaps my memory is faulty, but I seem to remember opens as having more entries - usually substantially more - than senior events at the same congress.

Is this a sign of a decline in popularity of chess among younger people? Or perhaps it reflects the boom that occurred among people old enough to have experienced the Bobby Fischer phenomenon.

Summing Up Mariánské Lázně

MY score in the seniors (50+) of +3=3-3 lost 9.8 Fide elo.

Mariánské Lázně Round Nine

Spanton (1946) - František Bublik (1896)

Spanish Schliemann

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5 4.d4!?

This trails 4.Nc3 and 4.d3 in popularity. The main line in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database runs 4.d3 fxe4 5.dxe4 Nf6 6.0-0 Bc5, and now the equally popular 6.Bxc6 and 6.Nc3 give White a slight edge, according to Stockfish17 and Dragon1, although 6.Bxc6 scores 16 percentage points higher in Mega25.

4...fxe4 5.Bxc6!? dxc6 6.Nxe5 Nf6 7.0-0 Bd6 8.Bg5 0-0

Now both sides have castled, how would you assess the position?

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Black has the bishop-pair, but White has a well-placed knight at e5. Much may depend on whether the e pawn turns out to be a strength or a weakness. The engines start by calling the position equal, but given more time they come to give White a slight edge (Dragon1) or at least the better part of equality (Stockfish17).

9.Nd2 Qe8 10.Qe2 Bxe5 11.dxe5 Qxe5 12.Bxf6 Qxf6 13.c3!?

Protecting the queenside before levelling material.
13...Bf5 14.Nxe4 Qg6

If 14...Qe6, then 15.Ng3.

15.Rfe1 Rae8 16.Qc4+ Be6 17.Qd4 Bd5

Also equal is 17...Rf4 18.f3.

18.f3?

But here f3 is a mistake. White had to play 18.Ng3, with complete equality, according to the engines.

18...Rxf3! 19.Ng3 Rff8 20.c4

Not 20.Qxa7?? Qc2, when Black mates in five.

20...Be6 21.Re2 b6 22.Rae1 c5 23.Qc3 Bd7 24.Rxe8 Rxe8 25.Rxe8+ Qxe8 26.b3 Qe6 27.h3 Qd6 28.Qe3 Qd4 29.Kf2 Kf7 30.Ne2 Qxe3+ 31.Kxe3 Kf6

How would you judge this bishop-v-knight ending?

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Black is a pawn up, albeit the extra pawn is doubled, and has the better minor piece for action on both wings. All the White pawns being on light squares makes them possible targets for the bishop. The engines agree Black is winning.

32.Nc3 Bc6 33.g3 a6 34.a4

The engines prefer 34.h4!?

34...g5 35.Ne4+?

I knew Black's queenside pawns could not by themselves create a passer, but I did not properly take into account that they gave Black reserve tempi easily exploited in a pawn-ending. Black is lost anyway, but the text simplifies White's task.
35...Bxe4 36.Kxe4 c6 37.h4 h6 38.h5 Ke6 39.g4 Kf6 40.a5 bxa5 41,Kd3 Ke5 42.Ke3 a4!? 0-1

Mariánské Lázně Round Eight

FACED my first Czech of the tournament.
 
Jiří Chmelik (1875) - Spanton (1946)

Queen's Gambit Declined 4...c5

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 c5!? 5.cxd5

In the same tournament last year JC played the less-critical, but still interesting, 5.e3, our game being drawn in 32 moves.

5...cxd4 6.Qa4+!?

For the main continuation, 6.Qxd4, see my round-four game.

6...Qd7!

Stockfish17 and Dragon1 reckon this somewhat counterintuitive move gives Black a slight edge.

7.Qxd4 Nc6 8.Qd1 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 exd5!

The engines agree this is better than the 'freeing' 9...Qxd5.

10.Nf3

Not 10.e3? Bb4+.

10...h6 11.Be3

How should Black proceed?

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11...d4!?

This pawn sacrifice is probably a novelty. The engines prefer the known 11...Be7.

12.Bxd4

Not 12.Nxd4?? Bb4+ 13.Bd2 Qxd4.

12...Nxd4 13.Qxd4 Qxd4 14.Nxd4 Bb4+ 15.Kd1

How would you assess this queenless middlegame?

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White is a pawn up, but cannot castle, while Black has the bishop-pair. The engines reckon Black has full compensation for the pawn, but no more.

15...Be6!?

The engines prefer 15...Bc5 or 15...0-0.

16.e3!

This is better than the tempting 16.Nxe6, according to the engines.

16...0-0-0 17.Bd3 Rhe8?!

This prevents 18.Ke2?, thanks to the reply 18...Rxd4!, but the engines prefer 17...Kb8 or 17...Bd5.

18.a3 Ba5 19.Kc2?!

The engines much prefer 19.b4 and then Kc2.

19...Kb8 20.Rad1

This was a good time for Nxe6, according to the engines, eg 20.Nxe6 Rxe6 21.Rad1, one point being the zwischenzug 20...Rc8+? can be met by 21.Kd1! Rxe6 22.Ke2, when Black's pressure has dissipated, and White remains a pawn up.

20...Bd5 21.Rhg1 g6!?

The immediate ...Bc7 is possibly better.

22.Kb1 Bc7 23.h3?!

White has at least a slight edge after 23.g3.

23...Bh2 24.Rh1 Be5 25.Nf3

This would also have been a good answer to 24...Bc7.

25...Bf6 26.Rhe1 Re6 27.Rd2 Rb6 28.Ree2?!

The game is equal after 28.e4, according to the engines.

What should Black play?

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28...Bxf3!?

28...Bxb2!? transposes, but possibly better is 28...Bc3!?, when 29.Rc2?? loses to 29...Bxf3 30.gxf3 Rxd3, so White must play 29.Rd1, when 29...Bc6 threatens ...Ba4. White can take the sting out this, at least temporarily, with 30.Ka2, but then 30...Bg7 leaves Black on top, eg 31.Ne1 Bb5 32.Red2 Ba4 33.Rc1 Bb3+ 34.Kb1 Rbd6, after which Black has not won material, but continuing pressure gives a winning position, according to the engines.

29.gxf3 Bxb2 30.Rxb2 Rxb2+ 31.Kxb2 Rxd3 32.Rc2

Immediately after pressing the clock, JC offered a draw.

How would you assess this rook-and-pawn ending?

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Black has much the better pawn-structure, but Stockfish17 reckons that is only enough for a slight edge, although Dragon1 gives Black the upper hand.

32...Rd5 33.h4 Rf5 34.f4 Rh5

Better, according to the engines, is 34...Rb5+!?, driving the white king away, and then 35...Rh5. If White tries 35.Kc3? then 35...Rc5+ 36.Kd3 Rxc2 37.Kxc2 is a winning pawn-ending for Black, eg 37...Kc7 38.Kc3 b5 39.e4 Kc6, when it is clear White's 4-3 kingside majority cannot create a passed pawn, whereas Black's 2-1 queenside majority can.

35.Kc3?

The engines give 35.Rc4, claiming Black has only a slight edge.

35...Rxh4?!

This is winning, but 35...Rc5+ etc is simpler and much clearer.

36.Kd4 g5?

Black wins after 36...Rh5, according to the engines.

37.Ke5 gxf4 38.exf4 Rg4 39.Kf5 Rg6 40.Re2 Ra6 41.Re8+ Kc7 42.Re7+ Kc6 43.Kf6?

A cardinal rule for rook-endings, according to first world correspondence champion Cecil Purdy, is to take, because taking frees a rook for other duties. So here 43.Rxf7 Rxa3 44.Rf6+ etc is completely equal, according to the engines.

43...Rxa3 44.f5 Rf3 45.Rxf7

Black has one only one move that gives an advantage, but that advantage leaves Black with at least the upper hand, according to the engines 

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45...a5! 46.Re7 Rxf2?

There was no need to spend a tempo on this. Correct is 46...a4, and Black is also better after 46...b5!?, according to the engines.

47.Re3?

Too defensive. White should harass the black king, eg 47.Re6+ Kb5 48.Re5+ Kb4 49.Re4+ Kb3 50.Re3+ Kb2 51.Re7 b5 52.Re5, with complete equality, according to the engines.

47...b5 48.Ke6 b4 49.f6 a4 50.Re4 Kc5

This is good enough, but simpler is 50...Rxf6+! 51.Kxf6 Kc5 etc.

51.Re5+ Kc4 52.Rf5

The only chance.

52...Rxf5 53.Kxf5 a3??

Winning is 53...b3 54.f7 b2 55.f8=Q b1=Q+, after which both sides have queened, but Black's pieces can protect the pawns, and so Black wins.

54.f7 a2 55.f8=Q a1=Q

Here too both sides have queened, but with White to move the position is drawn as White can force the win of the b pawn (or check perpetually), after which the h pawn cannot be saved

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56.Qc8+

The Syzygy endgame tablebase shows 56.Qg8+ also draws.

56...Kb3 57.Qe6+ Ka3 58.Qa6+ Kb2 59.Qe2+ Kb1 60.Qe1+ Ka2 61.Qxb4

I played on, but soon conceded the inevitable.

½–½ (71 moves)

Snow Change

Yesterday's snow freshened surroundings without making significant change

Mariánské Lázně Round Seven

FACED a Dutchman.

Spanton (1946) - Stef van Kesteren (1892)

Spanish Berlin

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 d6!?

This is second in popularity in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database, but a long way behind castling.

How should White respond?

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6.Be3

Stockfish17 and Dragon1 are not keen on this, preferring the common 6.0-0 and the somewhat unusual 6.d4!? After the latter they reckon best-play continues 6...exd4 7.cxd4 Bb4+ 8.Bd2 0-0!? 9.Bxc6 Bxd2+ 10.Nbxd2 bxc6 11.0-0, when they give White at least the better part of equality.

6...Bb6 7.Nbd2 Ng4!? 8.Nc4!? Nxe3 9.fxe3 0-0 10.0-0

Now both sides have castled, how would you assess the position?

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White is ahead in development and has a half-open f file, but Black has the bishop-pair (at least temporarily) and no weaknesses. The engines call the game equal.

10...f5 11.Nxb6 axb6

The bishop-pair has gone, but Black has a half-open a file, which means at some point White will probably have to use a tempo safeguarding the a pawn.

12.Bc4+ Kh8 13.exf5 d5?!

Black should probably have been satisfied with 13...Bxf5.

14.Bb5!?

How should Black proceed?

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14...e4?!

Best seems to be 14...Bxf5, when 15.Bxc6 bxc6 16.Nxe5 Qe7 17.d4 c5 gives Black some activity for the pawn, although White has the upper hand, according to the engines.

15.dxe4 dxe4 16.Qxd8 Nxd8 17.Ng5!?

The engines much prefer 17.Nd4!? or 17.Nh4. eg 17.Nd4 c5 18.Ne2 Rxf5 19.Nf4, when Black has regained the pawn but the engines reckon White has a won game, one line running 19...g5!? 20.Rfd1!? Nf7 21.Nd5 with Nxb6 to come.

17...Bxf5??

The engines give 17...h6 18.Nxe4 Rxf5, albeit awarding White at least the upper hand.

18.Bd7?

Much better is the immediate 18.g4, and if 18...Ne6 then 19.Rxf5! Rxf5 20.Nxe6, the point being 20...Rxb5 is met by 21.Nxc7 Rba5 22.Rxa8, when after 22...Rxa8 there is a rook-and-pawn ending in which White is 'only' one pawn up, but has the superior pawn-structure and, thanks to the threat of back-rank mate, can take the open d file with 23.Rd1, giving an advantage the engines evaluate as being worth much more than a minor piece.

18...g6 19.g4?

Stronger, according to the engines, are 19.Bxf5!? with Nxe4 to come, or immediately 19.Nxe4!?

19...Bxd7?

Correct is 19...Nf7!, when 20.Nxf7+ Rxf7 is equal, according to the engines.

20.Rxf8+ Kg7 21.Rf4

After the flurry of (missed) tactics, how would you assess the position?

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Black has no compensation for the exchange - indeed Black is the equivalent of being at least a piece and a pawn down, according to the engines.

21...Bc6 22.a3?

But this throws away almost all of White's advantage, which could be maintained with, for example, 22.Rd1.

22...h6 23.Nh3 Ne6?

Both 23...Nf7!? and 23...g5 keep White's edge to a minimum, eg 23...Nf7!? 24.Raf1 Ne5 25.g5!? (the only move to keep any sort of advantage, according to the engines) Nf3+ 26.R1xf3!? exf3 27.Kf2 Ra5, after which the engines reckon White is at most slightly better.

24.Rf2 g5 25.Raf1 Be8 26.Rf6 Nc5 27.Rf8 Ne6 28.R8f5 Ra5!?

It is usually a bad idea to swop rooks when down the exchange, although here the engines do not mind it much as they cannot find anything significantly better.

29.Rxa5 bxa5 30.Rf5 b6 31.Re5 Kf6

How should White proceed?

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32.Rxe4?

Preparing to give up the exchange in return for a pawn-up ending, but White should keep the rook with 32.Rf5+ or 32.Rd5.

32...Bc6 33.Rxe6+?

The rook cannot be saved, but this was not the way to give it up. Instead both 33.Nf2 and 33.Rc4 leave the game completely equal, according to the engines.

33..Kxe6

White is a pawn up, but Black has the better minor piece and the more-active king - advantages that the engines reckon give Black a slight edge

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34.Kf2?

Now Black is winning. Correct is 34.Nf2, defending g4 and preventing the black king from occupying e4.

34...Ke5?

Winning is 34...Kd5, eg 35.Ke2 Bb5+ 36.Kd2 Ke4 etc, or 35.b3 a4!, or 35.Ng1 Kc4 36.Nf3 Be8 (36...Kb3?? 37.Nc4+) 37.Nd2+ Kd3 etc.

35.Ng1?

Possibly holding is 35.Ke2, meeting 35...Bb5+ with 36.Kf3, and 35...Ke4 with 36.Ne2+. At any rate 35.Ke2 is the only move that does not definitely lose.

35...Ke4 36.Nf3 Bd7

Not 36...Kd3?? 37.Ne5+.

37.h3 c5?

The engines reckon several moves win, including 37...a4, 37...Be8 and 37...Bc8.

White to play and draw

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38.b4

White had to play 38.b3!, after which Black apparently cannot make progress, one point being 38...Be6 is a sham threat as White simply plays 39.Ke2, when 39...Bxb3?? loses to 40.Nd2+.

Black to play and win

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38...axb4?

Liquidation saves White's bacon, whereas 38...Bb5 and 38...Ba4 certainly win, and other moves may win.

39.axb4 Be8

No better is 39...cxb4 40.cxb4 Kd5, eg 41.Ke2 Bb5+ (41...Kc4?? 42.Ne5+) 42.Kd2 Kc4 43.e4 Kxb4 44.h4 gxh4 45.Nxh4 etc.

The game finished:

40.bxc5 bxc5 41.h4 gxh4 42.Nxh4 Kd3 43.Nf5 Kxc3 44.Nxh6 Kd3 45.Nf5 c4 46.Kf3 Bd7 47.Nd4 Bxg4+!? 48.Kxg4 Kxe3 ½–½

Icecapades

THE day began with pavements turned into virtual ice rinks by black ice.

But late-morning the promised snow materialised and made walking easy, although drivers were being careful, and there was an accident outside a cafe I frequent.

View from my hotel

Mariánské Lázně Round Six

FACED a fellow England-registered player.

Colin Costello (1856) - Spanton (1946)

English Symmetrical

1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 g6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Bg2

How should Black proceed?

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5...Nf6

This symmetrical response might seem unremarkable, but there are three more-popular moves in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database: 5...e5, 5...e6 and 5...d6. Not only that, but whereas the text scores just 43%, the other three moves all score more than 50%.

6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4 0-0 8.0-0 Qb6 9.Nc2 d6 10.b3!?

This looks risky, but Black seems to have no way to exploit the looseness of the c3 knight.

10...Be6 11.Ne3 Rfc8!?

This appears to be a novelty, at least in this exact position. The idea is to give Black's queen the option of falling back to d8 without breaking the connection of the black rooks along the back rank.

How should White respond?

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12.Bb2

This looks natural, but Stockfish17 and Dragon1 fluctuate between other moves before coming to like 12.Bd2!?

Can Black take advantage of the game continuation?

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12...a5?!

Maybe not, but in any event this is probably not the way to try. The diagram was reached by transposition in Tor Kaasen (2458) - Adrián Suárez Uriel (2348), Chess.com online blitz 2022, when 12...Qd8!? 13.Qd2 a6 14.Rfd1 gave White a slight edge, according to the engines (1-0, 40 moves). They suggest 12...Qa5 or 12...Rab8, but reckon White is slightly better.

13.Qd2 h5!?

The engines prefer several moves, including 13...Rab8, 13...Ne5 and 13...Qb4, but in each case awarding White the upper hand.

14.Rad1 Kh7 15.Ncd5?!

The threat of a knight landing on d5 has been in the air for many moves, but the engines do not like it, suggesting, among other moves, 15.h3!?, one line running 15...Rf8!? 16.Kh2 Bd7!? 17.f4 e6 18.g4, claiming White has a positionally won game.

15...Bxd5 16.Nxd5

The engines prefer both 16.cxd5 and 16.Bxd5!?

16...Nxd5 17.Bxg7 Kxg7

On 17...Ne3!? the engines reckon 18.Qxe3!? Qxe3 19.fxe3 Kxg7 20.c5!? is equal, and also 18.Bb2!? Nxf1 19.Kxf1.

18.Qxd5 a4 19.Qb5?!

Probably better is 19.Rb1.

19...Qc7?!

Almost certainly better is 19...Qxb5 20.cxb3 Nd8.

20.b4 Rcb8?!

Black maintains the balance with 20...a3!?, according to the engines.

21.a3 ½–½

Was I right to accept the draw offer?

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I rejected 21...Ne5 because of 22.Rc1, when the engines give White the upper hand. In the postmortem the best I could come up with was 21...Ra6, which comes to be Dragon1's top choice for a while, but again the engines give White the upper hand. They suggest two moves we did not consider, namely 21...e6!? and 21...h4!?, but in both cases with the upper hand for White. So, yes, by every objective measure (apart, perhaps, from the relative ratings), I was right to take the draw.

Snow Is On The Cards

Central Park this morning - fresh snow is promised tomorrow

Mariánské Lázně Round Five

FACED a Scot in the second of today's double-round games.

Spanton (1946) - Ian Aird (1873)

Spanish Exchange

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.d4 exd4 6.Qxd4 Qxd4 7.Nxd4 Bd7 8.Nc3 0-0-0 9.Be3 Ne7!?

This is a popular alternative to the main line in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database, which runs 9...Bb4 10.Ne2 Ne7 11.0-0-0 Ng6, when Stockfish17 and Dragon1 reckon Black has the better part of equality.

10.f3!?

Much more common is 10.0-0-0, but the text has another idea in mind.

10...Ng6 11.Kf2!?

Emanuel Lasker was fond of moving the white king to f2 in the Exchange Variation of the Spanish.

11...h5 12.Rad1 h4!?

How should White respond to Black's kingside play?

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13.a3!?

The engines do not like this, instead suggesting 13.g4!?, eg 13...Ne5 14.b3 f6 15.h3, with what they reckon is an equal game.

13...c5

The engines give 13...Ne5 14.g4!? Nc4 15.Bc1, and either 15...Bc5 or 15...b5, in each case claiming a slight edge for Black.

14.Nde2 Bd6 15.Nd5

How should Black proceed?

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15...b6?

The simplest solution is 15...Bc6, with an equal game, according to the engines.

16.Nxb6+! cxb6 17.Rxd6 Kc7 18.Rhd1 Bc6!?

This is Dragon1's top choice, at least for a while, while Stockfish17 suggests 18...Bc8!?, but both moves allow ...

19.Rxd8 Rxd8 20.Rxd8 Kxd8

... after which White has:

21.b4 1-0

I suspect most people would play on, especially with hopes of exchanging knights to leave opposite-coloured bishops, but, for what it is worth, the engines reckon White's advantage is the equivalent of at least a minor piece.

Mariánské Lázně Round Four

FACED a French Fide master.

François Marchand (2171) - Spanton (1946)

Queen's Gambit Declined 4...c5

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 c5!?

There are 1,043 examples of this move in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database, which scores five percentage points better than the chief continuation 4...Be7.

5.cxd5 cxd4 6.Qxd4 Be7 7.Nf3!?

The main line in Mega25 runs 7.e4 Nc6 8.Qd2, followed by the equally popular 8...Nxd5!? and 8...Nxe4!? However Stockfish17 and Dragon1 prefer 8...exd5!?, when 9.Bxf6 Bxf6 10.exd5 Ne5 11.Bb5+ Bd7 12.Bxd7+ Qxd7 leaves White a pawn up, but the engines agree Black is close to having full compensation.

7...exd5 8.e3 0-0 9.Be2 Nc6 10.Qa4 Be6 11.0-0

Now both sides have castled, how would you assess the position?

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Quite often the key to such IQP positions, or at least a major factor, is who controls the d4 square. Here that is not yet clear, which may be why the engines reckon the game is completely equal.

11...Qb6 12.Qc2!?

This may be a novelty. Dmitry Gurevich twice won with 12.Qb5 in a Chess.com online blitz tournament in 2023, although the engines reckon Black is fine after both 12...Qxb5 and 12...h6!?

12...Rac8 13.Rfd1 Rfd8 14.Rac1 h6 15.Bf4 d4

Black is slightly better after both 15...Nh5 and 15...Ne4, according to the engines.

16.exd4 Nxd4 17.Nxd4 Rxd4 18.Rxd4 Qxd4 19.Be3 Qe5 20.Bxa7

How should Black proceed?

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20...Ne4!?

The game is equal after 20...Bxa2, but the engines suggest the somewhat surprising 20...b6!? The point is after 21.Bxb6 Bd6 22.g3 Black has 22...Nd5 23.Ba7 Rc7 24.Bb8 Rxc3 25.bxc3 Bxb8, when Black has bishop and knight (and the bishop-pair) for rook and two pawns, and a slight edge, according to the engines.

21.Bf3 Nxc3

This is enough for equality, but the engines give the sharp 21...Ng5!? 22.Bxb7!? Rc7 23.Bb8 Bd6 24.Bxc7 Qxh2+ 25.Kf1 Bc4+ 26.Ke1 Qg1+ 27.Kd2 Qxf2+ 28.Kd1, when Black has a perpetual, or can play on with 28...Qg1+ 29.Kd2 Qd4+ 30.Ke1 Bxc7!?, after which Black is the exchange down, but has the bishop-pair and much-the-safer king. It seems it should be a draw, but there is plenty of scope to go wrong.

22.bxc3 Bg5?!

Several continuations maintain equality, according to the engines, including 22...b5 and 22...Bd6 23.g3 Qa5.

23.Bd4 Qa5 24.Rb1 b5 25.Qb2 Bc4

Best, according to the engines, is 25...Bf6!?, eg 26.Bxf6 gxf6 27.Qxb5 Qxc3 28.Qe2 Bc4 29.Qb2 Qxb2 30.Rxb2 Bxa2! However Dragon1 gives White a slight edge after 26.h3, although Stockfish17 disagrees.

26.Be2 Be7?

A better try is 26...Qxa2, but Black has nothing for a pawn after 27.Qxa2 Bxa2 28.Rxb5.

27.Bxc4 bxc4

Or 27... Rxc4 28.Qxb5 Qxa2 29.Re1, after which White will break the blockade on c4 and gradually advance the passer.

28.Qb7 Rc7?

The passive 28...Qd8 is better, but then comes 29.a4 etc.

29.Qb8+ Kh7 30.Bb6 1-0