Spanton (1946) - Michael Osswald (1787)
Philidor
1.Nc3 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 g6!? 5.e4
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| By transposition the game has reached a mainline of Philidor's Defence, the position occurring 1,355 times in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database |
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5...Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Be2!?
The main move in Mega25 is 7.Qd2, and if 7...Ng4?! Stockfish17 and Dragon1 reckon 8.Bg5 gives White a positionally won game. Instead they prefer 7...Nc6!? or the much more popular 7...0-0.
7...Qe7!?
Castling is normal.
8.0-0!? Nxe4?!
Probably too greedy.
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| How should White respond? |
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9.Nxe4?!
White has good compensation for a pawn after this, but the engines much prefer 9.Nd5!?, meeting 9...Qd8 with 10.Bf3 (other moves are also good).
9...Qxe4 10.Re1 0-0 11.Bf3
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| Where should the black queen go? |
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11...Qe5
The engines fluctuate between the text and 11...Qe8.
12.Qd2
One point of 11...Qe5 is White's dark-square bishop cannot move as Black replies 12...Qxd4.
12...c6 13.Rad1
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| White has completed development while Black still has the queenside to develop |
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13...Qe7?!
This is probably just a waste of time, while 13...Nd7 leaves White only slightly better, according to the engines.
14.Bf4
Possibly even stronger is 14.Bg5.
14...Qc7?!
On 14...Qf6 I intended the quiet 15.c3!?, which prevents Black exchanging queens on d4 and sets up the deadly 16.Bg5. The engines reckon Black should give back the pawn with 15...h6!?
Best may be 14...Be5!?, although the engines give White the upper hand, one line running 15.b4!? Re8 16.c4 Bd7 17.Bg5 h6 18.Bh6 with continuing pressure.
15.Nb3
Even stronger is the engines' 15.Nb5!
15...Be5!?
An only-move, according to the engines, but not a square Black wants his fianchettoed bishop to occupy.
16.Bh6 Re8
Not 16...Rd8? 17.Rxe5!
17.Qf4?
The relatively straightforward 17.Qxd6! Qxd6 (forced) 18.Rxd6 wins the pawn back and leaves White with at least a slight edge, according to the engines. Note Black cannot continue 18...Bxh2+?? 19.Kxh2 Rxe1+?? as White has 20.Rd8+ Re8 21.Rxe8#.
17...Bd7?
Black is at least slightly better after 17...Nd7, according to the engines.
18.Rxe5! 1-0
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