PLAYED on board four (of five) for Battersea against Railsport in Central London League Division Two last night.
Spanton (1980) - John Bass (1932)
English Nimzowitsch
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e4!?
Aron Nimzowitsch pioneered this formation, which Mikhail Botvinnik refined by developing the white king's knight at e2 and fianchettoing the king's bishop.
4...Bb4
This is the main response, although 4...Bc5 is also popular.
5.d3 0-0 6.Be2
Here too fianchettoing the king's bishop is possible.
6...d6 7.0-0
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| Both sides having castled early, how would you assess the position? |
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White has a hole at d4, but a grip on d5, with more space on the queenside. Both king's bishops are technically bad (friendly central pawns on the same colour), but Black's is active while White's is passive. Stockfish17 and Dragon1 call the game equal.
7...h6 8.h3 Bxc3!?
In these lines White often provokes this capture with a3.
9.bxc3 Re8!?
By putting latent pressure on e4, Black discourages any advance of the white d pawn.
10.Rb1 Ne7 11.c5!? Ng6 12.cxd6 Qxd6!? 13.Qc2 b6 14.Rd1 Bb7 15.Be3 Rad8 16.Nh2 c5 17.Ng4 Nxg4 18.Bxg4 Qc7 19.Bh5 Nf4!? 20.Bxf4 exf4
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| Who has the advantage in this middlegame? |
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No one, according to the engines, which reckon the position is completely equal.
21.Bf3 Re7 22.Qa4 Bc6 23.Qc4 Bb7 24.a4 Qc8!? 25.Bg4 Qc7
After 25...Ba6 26.Bxc8 Bxc4 27.dxc4 Rxc8 28.f3 White is slightly better (Dragon1), or at least has the better part of equality (Stockfish17).
26.Ra1 Bc8 27.Bxc8 Qxc8 28.a5? f3!?
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| The opening of the white king's position will objectively give Black only a slight edge, according to the engines, but in practical terms makes the defence very tricky for a human |
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29.axb6?
The engines reckon 29.Re1! keeps White's disadvantage to a minimum, but they also prefer 29.d4!? over the text.
29...axb6?!
The engines much prefer 29...fxg2.
30.Kh2?
Again the engines reckon Re1 is best.
30...fxg2 31.Rg1?
The engines still prefer Re1, but by now agree Black is winning anyway.
31...Qc7+ 32.Kxg2 Qf4 33.Rad1 Re6 34.Qa2 Rg6+ 35.Kf1 Rxg1+ 36.Kxg1 Qf3 37.Rd2 Rxd3 38.Rxd3 Qxd3 39.Qa8+ Kh7 40.Qd5!?
This is Dragon1's top choice - Stockfish17 suggests 40.Qc8 - but, as usual, swoping off into a pawn-ending when inferior does not work out well.
40...Qxd5 41.exd5 Kg6 42.c4
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| This was my idea - creating a protected passer - but it is not enough to save the game |
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42...Kf6 43.f4 g5 44.Kf2!? gxf4 45.Kf3 Ke5 46.h4 b5!? 47.cxb5 Kxd5 48.Kxf4 c4 49.Ke3 Kc5 0-1
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*
*My season's performance is slightly better than this, the point being my win against a 1578 counts as a 1978 performance, lowering my average despite winning the game.
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