PLAYED on board six (of eight) for Battersea against Greater London in London League Division Two last night.
Sanzhar Baisakalov (1757) - Spanton (1980)
Sicilian Accelerated Dragon
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bd3!?
The main line in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database runs 7.Bc4 0-0 8.Bb3!? d6 9.f3 Bd7 10.Qd2 Nxd4 11.Bxd4 b5!?, with a slight edge for White, according to Dragon1, but Stockfish17 calls the game equal.
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| 7.Bd3!? is very much a sideline, but the position occurs 238 times in Mega25 |
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7...0-0 8.0-0 d5!?
The main drawback to 7.Bd3!? must be that it allows Black to get in this thematic Accelerated Dragon break.
9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.exd5 cxd5 11.Bd4 Bb7
The engines prefer Tarrasch's 11...Qd6!?, and if 12.Nb5 then 12...Qb8!?, claiming the upper hand for Black.
12.Re1 Nd7!?
Offering an exchange of dark-square bishops to get the central pawns moving.
13.Bxg7 Kxg7
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| How would you assess this middlegame? |
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White has a slight lead in development, but the key issue, in my opinion, is whether Black's central pawn-duo outweighs White's chances against the weakened black king's position. The engines reckon the game is completely equal.
14.Qe2 e5 15.Bb5 f6 16.Rad1!?
This is a significant improvement over the known 16.Bxd7?!, according to the engines.
16...d4 17.Ne4 Bxe4 18.Qxe4 Nc5 19.Qe2
Not 19.Qc6? Rc8 20.Qf3 Qb6 etc.
19...Qb6 20.b4?
20.c3 maintains equality, according to the engines.
20...Ne6 21.g3!?
This is Stockfish17's top choice for a short while, but there is no move that remedies the weakness of White's queenside.
21...Nc7
The engines reckon 21...Ng5!? leaves Black well on top, one point being 22.h4 can be met by 22...Nh3! 23.Kg2 Nxf2 24.Kxf2 d3+ 25.Qe3 Qxb5.
22.Bd3?
White had to play 22.Bc4 to prevent Black's next, according to the engines.
22...Nd5!
This is much stronger than 22...Qxb4, after which 23.Rb1 gives White counterplay, albeit Black is better.
23.Be4!?
White can save the exchange with 23.Ra1, but after 23...Nc3 24.Qd2 Qxb4 Black's advantage is worth about a minor piece, according to Dragon1, although Stockfish17 is less enthusiastic.
23...Nc3 24.Qf3 Rab8 25.a3
25.Ra1 saves the exchange but loses the bishop to 25...f5 (with ...e4 to come).
25...Nxd1 26.Rad1 Rbc8 27.g4!?
This is White's best chance, according to the engines.
27...Rc3 28.Rd3!? Rfc8
There is also nothing wrong with the immediate 28...Rxc2.
29.h4 Rxc2 30.h5 R2c3 31.g5 f5 32.h6+ Kh8
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| Black has to be careful about back-rank mate threats, and the weakness of g7, but otherwise should win easily |
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33.Qg3
White does not really get anywhere with 33.Bxf5!? gxf5 34.Qxf5, eg 34...Rc1+ 35.Kg2 Qd6.
33...Qe6
33...Qe6
Not 33...fxe4?? 34.Qxe5+ and mate.
The game finished:
34.Bb7 f4 35.Qf3 Rxd3 36.Qxd3 Qg4+ 37.Bg2 Rc1+ 38.Kh2 Qh4+ 39.Bh3 Qxf2+ 40.Bg2 Qg1+ 41.Kh3 Rc3 0-1
Battersea won the match 6-2.
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*
*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 winning the game.
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