Bad Soden-Salmünster Round One

Michael Jordake (1798) - Spanton (1922)

London System

Time Control: 130 minutes with a 30-second increment

1.d4 131 d5 131 2.Nf3131 e6 131 3.Bf4 131 Bd6 131 4.Bg3 132 Nf6 132 5.e3 132 0-0 132 6.Bd3 132 c5 131 7.c3 132 b6 131 8.Nbd2!? 131

This is much more common in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database than preventing 8...Ba6 with 8.Qe2. This may be because after 8.Qe2 Black can insist on ...Ba6 by first playing 8...a5.

8...Bb7!? 131

More popular is 8...Ba6, when the main line in Mega25 runs 9.Bxa6 Nxa6 10.Qe2 Nb8!? 11.e4 Be7!? 12.0-0!? Nc6, with an equal position, according to Stockfish17 and Dragon1.

9.0-0!? 131

White usually plays 9.Ne5 before castling kingside, or 9.Qe2, giving the option of castling long.

9...Bxg3 131 10.hxg3 131 Nbd7 130 11.Re1 131 Ne4 129

This was the first point at which either of us had a think that took more than a minute off the clock

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12.Nf1 125 Qf6!? 126

Apparently a novelty. The known move is 12...f5.
13.N1h2 125 h5 124 14.Rc1 122 g5!? 122 15.Bb5!? 122 Nb8!? 119

After being inputted on the screen, this becomes Dragon1's second choice, albeit for a while, and later is Stockfish17's second choice, but both engines prefer 15...Rfd8.

White to play and lose

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16.Ne5?? 121

Both 16.Qe2 and 16.g4 keep the game equal, according to the engines.

16...Qxf2+ 119 0-1