PLAYED on board two (of five) for Battersea against Battersea Galacticos in Central London League Division Two last night.
Gautam Jain (2178) - Spanton (1986)
Queen's Pawn Game
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 c5 4.c3 Nf6 5.Bg2 Nc6 6.0-0 Be7 7.Nbd2 0-0
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| With both sides castling early, how would you assess the position? |
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Black has more space on the queenside and, according to Stockfish17 and Dragon1, has at least the better part of equality.
8.Re1 b6
The engines like 8...cxd4 9.cxd4 Qb6.
9.Ne5 Nxe5 10.dxe5 Ng4?
Correct is 10...Nd7, with what the engines reckon is an equal game.
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| How should White exploit Black's mistake? |
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11.Nf3?!
This is enough for a slight edge, but White is winning (Dragon1) or has at least the upper hand (Stockfish17) after 11.e4 Nxe5 12.exd5, the point being 12...Nd3? runs into 13.d6. The engines suggest 12...Bf6, but 13.Ne4! is strong as 13...exd5 14.Nxf6+ Qxf6?! (14...gxf6 is a tad better) runs into 15.Qxd5 Ng4 16.Qd2! Rb8 17.Qf4. Instead the engines give 13...c4!?, but reckon White is well on top.
11...f6 12.Bf4 g5!? 13.exf6 gxf4 14.fxe7 Qxe7 15.h3 Nh6 16.g4 Bb7
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| After the brief flurry of tactics, how would you assess the middlegame? |
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Black is more developed and has a central pawn-majority, but the pawns are not easy to mobilise and the white king is much safer than its black counterpart. The engines give White the upper hand.
17.e3!?
Offering Black the chance to half-open the f file.
17...Rad8
The engines prefer 17...fxe3 or 17...Rae8.
18.Qd2 fxe3 19.Qxe3 d4
The engines suggest giving up the e pawn with 19...Nf7!?, or protecting it with 19...Rf6!? After the latter, 20.g5 can be met by 20...Rg6, when 21.gxh6 d4!? 22.cxd4 Rf8 gives excellent counterplay for the piece, according to the engines. However they reckon 20.Nh4! is very strong.
20.cxd4?!
Much better, according to the engines, is 20.Qxh6 Bxf3 21.Rxe6.
20...Bxf3 21.Bxf3
The engines still prefer Qxh6.
21...cxd4 22.Qxh6 Rxf3 23.Rxe6
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| Black to play and equalise |
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23...Qf8?
Correct is 23...Rxh3.
24.Qg5+ Kh8
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| White to play and win |
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25.Rae1
Getting the last piece into play looks natural, but Black is holding on after this. Instead there seems no adequate answer to 25.Re7!, when both 26.Qh4 and 26.Rae1 are decisive threats. If 25...Qf6, then 26.Qxf6+ Rxf6 gives White a winning rook-and-pawn ending, while 25...d3 fails to the engines' 26.Qe5+ Kg8 27.Rc1! d2 28.Qg5+ Kh8 29.Rxh7+! Kxh7 30.Rc7+ Rf7 31.Rxf7+ Qxf7 32.Qxd8 (but this is a very tricky line to find over the board, and at the end of it there is still a queen-and-pawn ending to negotiate).
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| Black to play and draw |
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25...Rxf2!
The only move as 25...Rf7 fails to 26.Qxd8+! Qxd8 27.Re8+, eg 27...Rf8 28.Rxd8 Rxd8, when White has a winning rook-and-pawn ending.
26.Qe5+ Kg8 27.Qg5+ Kh8 28.Qe5+
Worth a try is 28.Re7 as only 28...Rf6! holds. Also holding is 28.Re8 Rxe8, but less clear is 28...Rf1+?! 29.Rxf1 Qxe8 30.Qf6+ Kg8 31.Rf5.
28...Kg8 29.Qg5+ Kh8 30.Qe5+ ½–½
Battersea won the match 3-2.
Battersea won the match 3-2.
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*
4/2/25......London League..............B........1980..........1757................1............2043*
6/2/25......Central London League..W.......1980..........1932................0............2006*
11/2/25....Central London League..B........1986..........2178................=............2018*
*My season's performance is slightly better than this as my win against a 1578 is a 1978 performance, lowering my average despite me winning.
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