Spanton (England 3 - 1896) - Miloš Možný (Czech Republic - IM 2232)
Sicilian ...e6
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 d5!?
A relatively rare continuation, although there are 135 examples in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database.
After 4.exd5 exd5 the following position was reached.
 |
| How should White respond? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
A useful rule-of-thumb in openings, especially in symmetrical or near-symmetrical positions, is that it pays to continue developing rather than making a capture.
That is why in the diagram position 5.d4 is popular, and has been played by the likes of Igors Rausis (2470) and Ádám Kozák (2532).
However most popular is 5.cxd5!?, which flies in the face of above-mentioned rule-of-thumb, but is preferred by Stockfish17 and Dragon1,
The move goes back to at least the 1928 Leopold Trebitsch Memorial in Vienna, when Savielly Tartakower - Josef Lokvenc went 5...Nf6 6.Bc4!? (6.Nc3 and 6.Bb5+ appear more often in Mega25, but the engines reckon Tartakower got it right) Be7 7.Nc3, giving White the upper hand, according to the engines (1-0, 37 moves).
It is not that 5.d4 is bad. My game continued 5...Nf6 6.Nc3 Nc6 7.Bg5 cxd4 (here MM offered a draw in my time) 8.Nxd4 Be7, with what the engines reckon is an equal game (it was only later that I went wrong).
Going back to the 5.cxd5!?, Dragon1 reckons that after 5...Nf6 6.Bc4!? Black can improve with 6...Qe7+ 7.Qe2 Bg4!? 8.Qxe7+ Bxe7, albeit still giving White the upper hand.
Stockfish17 suggests 6...Nxd5, although after 7.Qb3 Be6!? 8.Nc3!? Nc7!? 9.d3 it much prefers the better-developed White.
LESSON: once again it is the old one of concrete analysis triumphing over general considerations.
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