BEAU CHESS - the post-work workings-out of a chess amateur: January 2025

Friday, 3 January 2025

Kraków Round Eight

Andre Klucznik (1893) - Spanton (2011)

English

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 g6 4.b3!?

A relatively rare continuation, but Viktor Korchnoi is among those who played it.

4...Bg7 5.Bb2 Nge7 6.e3!?

The mainline in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database runs 6.Nc3 0-0 7.e3 d6 8.Nge2 Be6 9.0-0, when Stockfish17 and Dragon1 reckon White has at least the better part of equality.

6...d5 7.Ne2

How should Black proceed?

*****

7...Be6?!

The engines give Black a slight edge after several moves, including 7...dxc4, 7...d4 and 7...Bg4.

8.Na3?!

This was also played in the only game to reach the position in Mega25, Zaur Mammadov (2427) - David Shahinyan (2257), EU U16 Championship (Batumi, Georgia) 2010, but almost certainly better is 8.Nf4!?

8...0-0 9.0-0 d4 10.exd4 exd4 11.d3 Qd7 12.Nc2 a5 13.a3 Rfe8 14.b4 Nf5!?

The engines strongly dislike this, claiming both 14...Ne5!? and 14...Bg4 are good, eg 14...Ne5!? 15.Bxd4 Rad8 16.Bxe5 Bxe5 17.d4 Bg7, when Black is a pawn down, but has the bishop-pair and pressure against White's fourth-rank pawns.

15.Nf4 a4?!

Probably the wrong idea. After 15...axb4 16.axb4 Rxa1 17.Qxa1 Ne5!? the engines agree White is better, but not as much as in the game.

16.Re1 Rab8!?

First world correspondence champion Cecil Purdy warned against placing a rook behind an unmoved pawn, even when the intention is to quickly advance the pawn, but here the engines quite like the move.

17.Nxe6 Rxe6 18.Rxe6 Qxe6 19.Ne1!

The engines reckon this gives White a positionally won game.

19...Ra8 20.Nf3 Qe7 21.Nd2!?

But they reckon this is a knight move too many, preferring, among other continuations, 21.Bc1 (Stockfish17) or 21.Qd2 (Dragon1).

21...Nd6 22.Ne4 Nxe4

How should White recapture?

*****

23.Bxe4

Black has at least the upper hand after 23.dxe4?! Ne5, according to the engines.

23...Nd8 24.Qd2 c6 25.Re1 Ne6 26.Qd1!? Qd7 27.Bc1 Qd6!? 28.h4 Ra7?!

The engines prefer 28...h5, albeit giving White the upper hand.

29.Bg2 h5 30.Bh3

Even stronger seems to be the engines' 30.g4!?

30...f5?

Weakening, whereas 30...Ra8 keeps the game going.

31.Qe2 Kf7

There is no defence, eg after the engines' 31...Nf8 comes 32.Qe8 Qd7 33.Bg5, eg 33...Qxe8 34.Rxe8 b6 35.Bg2 Rc7 36.Bf4 etc.

White to play and win

*****

32.Bxf5!

Other moves also win, but this is the most convincing.

32...gxf5 33.Qxh5+ Ke7 34.Qxf5 Ra8 35.Bf4 Qd7 36.c5 Qd5 37.Bd6+ Kd7 38.Qf7+ Kd8 39.Rxe6 1-0

... And Not Bad In The Daytime

Wawel Castle

Chess tables beside the Vistula

St Florian's Gate

'Apple tree' - or, at least, a tree with apples hanging from it

Mornings have been frosty

But plenty of blue sky, as shown here above the main covered market and Town Hall Tower

Thursday, 2 January 2025

Kraków Round Seven

I WAS downfloated.

Piotr Gasik (2038) - Spanton (2011)

QGD Exchange

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.cxd5!?

There are 5,098 examples of this move in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database, and it has been tried by famous names, including Blackburne, Kotov, Reshevsky, Ehlvest, Miles, Uhlmann, Bacrot, Svidler and Caruana. Nevertheless, opting for the Exchange Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined as early as move three is regarded by theory as innocuous.

3...exd5 4.d4 c6!?

This is second in popularity to 4...Nf6, but is marginally preferred by Stockfish17 and Dragon1. The idea is to prepare ...Bf5 without being worried about the consequences of the reply Qb3.

5.Nf3

White can temporarily prevent ...Bf5 by playing 5.Qc2!?, but both 5...g6 and 5...Ne7 renew the threat.

5...Bf5 6.Bf4 Bd6 7.Bg3 Nf6 8.Qb3 Bxg3!?

Played to make the follow-up ...Qb6 possible.

9.hxg3 Qb6 10.Qxb6!? axb6 11.e3 b5 12.Nh4!?

The idea is to drive the black bishop off the b1-h7 diagonal, so the white bishop can be developed to d3.

12...Bg4 13.Bd3 g6!? 14.f3 Be6 15.Kf2

Now one player has connected rooks, how would you assess the position?

*****

Both sides have two half-open files. White is slightly more developed, and has the better bishop, but the engines reckon that if anyone is better, it is Black, although I cannot work out why.

15...Nbd7!?

The engines agree Black should play 15...h5, or 15...b4 and then ...h5.

16.g4 Nb6

And here their top choice is 16...0-0!?

17.g5 Nfd7 18.f4

How should Black proceed?

*****

18...f5?

Black is equal after a move such as 18...Ke7!?, 18...h5 or 18...Nc4, according to the engines.

19.Nxg6!

Not just winning a pawn, but also weakening Black's other kingside pawns. White's advantage is worth more than a minor piece, according to the engines.

19...Rg8 20.Nh4 Rf8 21.Nf3 Bg8 22.Nh4!? Be6 23.g4 fxg4 24.Bxh7 Bg8!? 25.Bf5 Nc4 26.b3 b4!? 27.Na4 Nd6!? 28.Bxd7+ 1-0

Tipsy In The Morning

I GAVE up drinking alcohol - hopefully for ever - in early September, the result being better sleep patterns, a (slight) loss of weight and generally more vim.

The decision has not led to improved chess results, at least in the short run, but I remain optimistic.

This morning I rose at about 07:20 and headed into Kraków old town, having a coffee in a Costa while waiting for the restaurants on Market Square to open.

The restaurants are pricey - think Central London - but the staff are friendly, and the setting is great.

I ordered a muesli at the Metropolitan (I have had the dish there before - despite its name, it consists of yogurt, fresh fruit and granola), a large orange juice and a single espresso.

The waitress warned me that the the orange would be "99," meaning 99 Polish złoty.

That sounded a lot, but I'd had a fresh juice there before and, perhaps not having woken up properly, I could not immediately work out what that was in pounds sterling, and thought perhaps it seemed expensive as previously I'd had a normal-size glass.

Anyway, the espresso and the orange arrived fairly quickly, the latter in an over-sized brandy glass.

It tasted a little strange, but I put that down to it being fresh juice, which is liable to vary.

I had a new book with me, and settled down to read it, but after about 20 minutes my food had still not arrived, so I beckoned the waitress over and politely said: "Muesli?"

She replied: "Oh, OK," and went off to the kitchen, it quickly dawning on me that my original order of muesli and a large orange juice had been misheard.

It turns out I had been drinking mimosa, which, on looking it up on the internet, is a somewhat-potent cocktail of champagne and orange juice.

I quickly sobered up, at least figuratively, working out that 99 złoty is roughly £20. My total bill, including an automatic 15% service charge, came to 185.80 złoty, or about £37.

The offending receipt

It is just as well I am paying only £40 a night for my hotel room, which has proved a very good choice in almost every respect, except that the wifi last night proved not up to the job of streaming the thrilling college-football playoff game between the Texas Longhorns and the Arizona State Sun Devils.

A budget tree in front of my Ibis Budget hotel

The hotel is close to the main train station - about a 30-minute walk from the chess venue, Hotel Galaxy, and also a half-hour from the heart of the old town.

There is no fridge, and it has stools rather than chairs, but the double-bed is comfortable and the shower above-average.

Snug bargain

There are two Żabka mini-supermarkets nearby, and a large Carrefour, the former open on New Year's Day.

If I play when the tournament comes round again next December, I might upgrade to the next-door regular Ibis, but I would not be upset if only the Ibis Budget were available.