Upsetting Chess

IN the first round of the English 65+ championship there were a few minor upsets when heavily outrated players drew with their betters, but no major upsets, ie no one managed to beat a stronger opponent.

By contrast, the first round of the English 50+ championship saw no minor upsets, but there was a major one when the top-seeded grandmaster lost.

Mark Hebden (2451 ECF/2383 Fide) - Natasha Regan (2072 ECF/2056 Fide)

Queen's Gambit Accepted

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 a6

This is second in popularity in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database, albeit a long way behind 5...c5.

6.0-0 Nbd7!?

In Mega25 the text scores three percentage points better than the more popular 6...b5 and 6...c5, which nevertheless are preferred by Stockfish17 and Dragon1.

How should White respond?

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7.a3!?

The engines prefer the much more popular 7.a4, which seeks to prevent Black's normal queenside expansion in the QGA.

7...b5 8.Ba2 c5 9.Nc3 Bb7

The game has transposed to a fairly well-known position, with 256 examples in Mega25

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10.Qe2 Qb6 11.Rd1 Be7!?

Deviating from Hebden (2485) - Matthew Sadler (2480), Hastings Challengers 1991-2, which saw 11...Rd8 12.e4 cxd4 13.Nxd4 Ne5 14.Bf4 Ng6 15.Be3 Bc5 16.Nc2 0-0 17.Bxc5 Qxc5, with a slight edge for Black, according to the engines (0-1, 34 moves).

12.e4 cxd4?!

The same response to e4 as in Hebden-Sadler, but this time the engines reckon it is dubious, preferring 12...b4 or 12...c4.

13.Nxd4 Ne5 14.Bf4 Ng6!?

This is an improvement on the known move 14...Nc6?, when the engines point out the strength of 15.Nxc6 Bxc6 (15...Qc6 is even worse, they reckon) 16.Nd5!, eg 16...exd5 17.exd5 Bb7 18.d6 etc, or 16...Bxd5 17.exd5 exd5 18.Bxd5 Nxd5 19.Rxd5 Rd8 20.Re5 Rd7 21.Re1 Qd8 22.Re4!? Rb7!? (22...f6 23.Bd6) 23.h4!? f6 24.b4!? Kf7 25.Qa2+ Kf8 26.Qe6 Rd7 27.Qa6 etc.

15.Be3 Qc7 16.Rac1 Qe5!?

The black queen is well-placed in the centre of the board, if it can escape harassment from White's pieces and pawns

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17.f3 h5!?

Going for it, but the engines prefer 17...0-0.

18.a4?

Hebden apparently underestimates the danger he is in on the kingside. However, while the engines agree the text is bad, and agree White should be slightly better, they struggle to decide exactly how the slight edge should be realised, but perhaps best is 18.Qf2, allowing for the possibility of Qg3 in some lines.

18...b4 19.Nb1 Bd6 20.g3

This is Dragon1's top choice, at least for a while, whereas Stockfish17 suggests 20.Kf1!?, which is obviously not what White wants to be playing.

20...h4 21.g4!?

Perhaps 21.Qg2 is a little better, but Black is on top.

21...Nxg4!?

By no means the only good move.

22.fxg4 Qxe4 23.Qf3

How should Black proceed?

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23...Bxh2+!
After 23...Qe5 24.Qxb7! Black has nothing better than 24...Qxe3+, when 25.Kf1 gives a completely equal position, according to the engines.

24.Kg2??

White had to try 24.Kxh2 Qe5+ 25.Bf4 Nxf4 26.Qxb7, when an immediate discovered check is only good enough for a draw However the engines continue 26...0-0!, which Dragon1 reckons is winning, although for quite some time Stockfish17 gives Black only a slight edge after 27.Qc7!? The position is very murky, but best may be 27...Qe3 28.Qb7 Qh3+ 29.Kg1 Qxg4+ 30.Kf1 Qh3+ 31.Kg1 Qg3+ 32.Kh1 Rad8, when the position is still unclear, but probably favours Black, although it is hard to say by how much.

The text overlooks, among other things, that it puts the g4 pawn en prise.

24...Qxg4+ 0-1