Lessons From Munich: Long Live The King!

IN round two my opponent offered a draw in the following position.

White has just played 20.Be2-f3 in Andreas Moser (1768) - Spanton (1954)

The game is completely equal, according to Stockfish17 and Dragon1.

But I suspect grandmaster Nigel Davies would be among those who would prefer to have the black pieces.

Why? Because Davies stresses in his publications that the No1 factor in chess is king safety, and there can be little doubt that in the diagram the black king, being behind unmoved pawns, is safer than its white counterpart, whose pawn-protection has been compromised.

All of which helps explain, if not excuse, why, in the game just three moves later, White was completely lost - the equivalent of almost a rook down, according to the engines.

LESSON: positions that engines rate as level may well be equal if played by computers, but it is often a different matter when humans are at the board, especially if one king is safer than the other.