Giulio De Joannon (1664) - Spanton (1911)
London System
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 Bd6 4.Bg3 Nf6 5.e3 c5 6.Nbd2!?
The main move in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database is 6.c3.
6...Nc6 7.c3 0-0 8.Bd3
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| This position occurs 6,258 times in Mega25 |
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8...b6 9.Ne5!?
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| How should Black deal with the advanced white knight? |
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9...Bxe5?!
Stockfish17 and Dragon1 strongly dislike this, preferring 9...Bb7!?, meeting both 10.Ndf3 and 10.f4 with 10...Ne7, one point being ...Ne7 makes ...Ne4 possible in many lines.
10.dxe5 Nd7 11.Nf3
Possibly even stronger is 11.f4, when Dmitry Andreikin (2720) - Aleksandr Lenderman (2615), Chess.com Blitz 2015, went 11...f6 12.Bh4?! Qe8 13.exf6 Nxf6 14.0-0 e5, with what the engines reckon is at best a slight edge for White (but 1-0, 36 moves). However the engines reckon better is 12.Qh5 f5 and now 13.Bh4, eg 13...Qe8 (more-or-less forced) 14.Qxe8 Rxe8 15.Rg1, claiming the upper hand for White.
11...f6 12.exf6 Nxf6 13.0-0 Qe7 14.Ne5 Nxe5 15.Bxe5 Nd7 16.Bg3 Bb7
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| How should White proceed? |
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17.Qh5
A very direct approach, liked by the engines, along with 17.c4!?
17...Nf6
17...Nf6
The engines suggest 17...h6!?
18.Qg5
Possibly even better is 18.Qh4, eg 18...Rf7 19.Be5 g6 20.Qg3 Nh5 21.Qh3 Nf6 22.Rad1 with continuing pressure.
18...Rae8 19.Bb5 Rd8 20.Bd3 Bc6
The engines reckon 20...h6 leaves White with only the better part of equality.
21.Be5 Rf7 22.Qh4 Qd7 23.Bxf6?!
This throws away almost all of White's advantage, whereas 23.Rad1 leaves White with the upper hand, according to the engines.
23...gxf6
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| How would you assess this mainly heavy-piece middlegame? |
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White has the better bishop and safer king, but Black has more space in the centre and is more developed. Dragon1 reckons White is slightly better, but Stockfish17 calls the position equal.
24.Rad1 Kh8 25.h3!?
White has an edge after 25.e4!?, according to the engines.
25...Rg8 26.e4 d4 27.cxd4 cxd4
The engines prefer 27...Qxd4!?
28.f3 Bb5!? 29.Bxb5 Qxb5 30.Rxd4 Qxb2
The engines reckon 30...Rxg2+!? 31.Kxg2 Rg7 gives complete equality.
31.Qf2 Qxf2+ 32.Rxf2
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| How would you assess this double rook-and-pawn ending? |
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Black has more pawn-islands, but also has a farside pawn-majority. Dragon1 gives White a slight edge, but Stockfish17 reckons the game is equal.
32...Rc8 33.Rfd2 Kg7 34.Rd7 Rc7 35.Rxf7+ Kxf7 36.Kf2!?
The engines suggest 36.Rd8 or 36.Kh2!?
36...Ke7 37.Ke2 a6 38.Kf2!?
The engines are OK with this, but prefer 38.a4.
38...b5 39.Kg3?!
The king should probably move towards the centre, as after 39.Ke3 the position is still equal, according to the engines.
39...a5
Perhaps better is 39...b4!?, discouraging 40.a3.
40.Kf2?!
Probably better is 40.a3, or 40.Kf4 with the possibility of playing on the kingside or of centralising.
40...b4 41.Kg3?
41.Ke3 keeps Black's advantage to a minimum.
41...a4 42.Kf2 e5 43.Ke2 Rc4 44.Ke1 Rd4?!
Pushing the a pawn is already a good move.
45.Ke2?
As usual, allowing liquidation into a pawn-ending, when defending a difficult position, is a bad idea unless certain of holding the resulting setup. Here White has a good alternative in 45.Rc2, when Black is slightly better (Stockfish17) or at best has the upper hand (Dragon1).
45...Rxd2+ 46.Kxd2 Kd6 47.Kd3 Kc5 48.g3 a3 49.h4?
After 49.Kc2 Black gets down to a winning queen-and-pawn ending by going for the white kingside pawns, but there are chances to go wrong.
49...b3! 50.axb3 a2 0-1
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