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
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| 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
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| 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.
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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.
Well played.
ReplyDeleteAlso nice that the body language showed up.
It can be a handy tool.
I remember a few wins when this phenomenon appears.
True, but it's important not to fall for whoops-I've-made-a-blunder fakery!
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