Lessons From Bischofsgrün: Don't Help A Bad Bishop

IN round six I essayed a move that is audacious and unusual, but apparently perfectly sound.

White has just played 17.Rc1-c2 in Patrick Chochoy (1757) - Spanton (1954)

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I replied 17...Bxc3!?, which occurs in just seven of 121 games in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database.

The point is that after the further moves 18.Qxc3 Qxc3 19.Rxc3, Black has exchanged queens (usually a good idea in the Maróczy Bind), so dark-square weaknesses around the black king are unlikely to be exploitable. And as I pointed out in my notes to the game, 18.Rxc3 Na4 also forces queens off.

Position in the game after 19.Rxc3

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However, I spoilt the concept by continuing 19...f5?, allowing White to open lines for the bishop-pair, and in particular letting White move the e4 pawn (either by capturing on f5 or, even better, advancing to e5), which helps make White's light-square bishop less bad.

LESSON: opening lines is rarely a good idea when the opponent has the bishop-pair and you do not, exceptions normally only occurring when there is a concrete short-term reason.