Spanton (1941) - Oliver Stubbs (2195)
French Exchange
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Bd6 5.Bd3 Ne7 6.0-0 Nbc6 7.c3 Bf5!?
Much more popular in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database is 7...Bg4. The point of the text is to swop Black's 'bad' bishop for White's 'good' one, as judged by the squares the central pawns occupy.
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| How should White respond? |
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8.Re1
This is the commonest continuation in Mega25, while Stockfish17 and Dragon1 marginally prefer 8.Bxf5 Nxf5 and either 9.Re1+ or 9.Qb3!? Note that the latter does not win a pawn as Black can reply 9...b6, safe in the knowledge that 10.Qxd5?? loses to 10...Bxh2+ and 11...Qxd5.
8...0-0
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| Now both sides have castled, how would you assess the position? |
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The game looks balanced, and that is what the engines reckon.
9.Nh4!? Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Qd7 11.Be3 Rae8 12.Nd2 Qg4
This may be a novelty. The known move is 12...Nd8!?
13.Ndf3!?
Taking the king knight's square ... at least for the moment.
13...h6 14.h3 Qd7
Possible is 14...Qe4!?, when 15.Qxe4?? loses a piece as the h4 knight is trapped after 15...dxe4. However the white queen can simply move away, with what the engines reckon is an equal position.
15.Nh2
The engines suggest 15.Bd2!?, the idea being to meet 15...g5?! with 16.Bxg5! hxg5 17.Nxg5, gaining what seems to be a winning attack, eg 17...f5 18.Qf3! Nd8 19.Qh5 Rf7 20.Nxf7 Nxf7 21.Re2 Kg7 22.Rxe7! Rxe7 (22...Bx7? 23.Qg6+ Kf8 24.Nxf5 etc) 23.Nxf5+ Kf6 24.Nxe7 Qxe7 25.Qxd5, when White is winning on material, or 17...Ng6 18.Nxg6 fxg6 19.Qxg6+ Qg7 20.Qxg7 (20.Qxe8!? may be even stronger) Kxg7 21.Ne6+, and again White is winning on material.
15...f5 16.Bd2
The engines like this, but reckon 16.f4!? may be even stronger, despite shutting in White's bishop.
16...g5 17.N4f3 f4 18.Ng4 Kg7
Not 18...Nf5?! as after 19.Rxe8 Qxe8 (19...Rxe8?? 20.Nf6+) 20.Re1 Qg6 (20...Qf7 21.Qxf5!) 21.c4!, the engines reckon Black's position collapses, mainly thanks to the exposed black king, eg 21...h5 22.Nge5 Bxe5 23.Nxe5 Nxe5 24.Rxe5 dxc4 25.Qxc4+ Qf7 26.d5 c6 27.Qd3 Qd7 (27...cxd5?! 28.Bf8) 28.Qe2 h4 29.Qg4, when White is winning material, and still has a strong attack.
19.Nge5 Qf5 20.Qxf5 Nxf5
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| How would you assess this queenless middlegame? |
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The engines at first slightly prefer White, but given plenty of time they come to the conclusion that the position is equal.
21.Nd7 Rxe1+ 22.Rxe1 Rd8 23.Nc5!? Bxc5 24.dxc5 Kf6 25.b4 b5!?
This is the engines' top choice.
26.Kh2 a5 27.a3 axb4 28.axb4
The engines prefer 28.cxb4!?
28...Ra8
Even stronger, according to the engines, is 28...Nfe7!?, and if, as in the game, 29.g3, then 29...Ng6, the idea being to keep a space-gaining pawn on f4.
29.g3 fxg3+ 30.fxg3 Ra3 31.g4 Nfe7 32.Rf1 Kg7 33.h4 gxh4 34.Nxh4 Ne5 35.Re1 N7c6 36.Rg1?
Too much flitting about with the rook. After 36.Kg2 White is fine, according to the engines, and if 36...Nxg4, then 37.Re6 Nce5 38.Bf4 Nd3 39.Bxc7, with what they reckon is an equal game.
36...d4 37.Rg3
The engines are unsure whether the text or 37.cxd4 is correct, but in either case much prefer Black.
37...Ra2?!
Stronger is 37...d3.
The problem with the text is that after ...
38.Rg2
...White threatens to win the black rook with 39.Bxh6+!
38...Kh7 39.cxd4 Nxd4 40.Kg3 Nc4 41.Bf4 Ra3+ 42.Kh2 c6 43.g5 hxg5 44.Bxg5 Nf3+ 45.Nxf3 Rxf3
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| How would you assess this rook-and-minor-piece ending? |
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White has what is usually the better minor piece for cooperating with a rook, but the c6 pawn cannot be harassed by the bishop, while both the knight and black rook can attack b4. The engines reckon the position is equal.
46.Rg3 Ne5 47.Kg2
Not 47.Rxf3?? Nxf3+ and 48...Nxg5. However Dragon1, but not Stockfish17, prefers 47.Bd8.
47...Rxg3+ 48.Kxg3 Kg6
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| White to play and draw |
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49.Bd2?
This almost certainly loses by force (the analysis is very difficult, even for engines), and at any rate makes White's task difficult, whereas the engines reckon both 49.Bd8 and 49.Kf4!? definitely draw, eg 49.Kf4!? Nd3 50.Ke4 Nxb4 51.Bd2 Na6 52.Ke5 Nxc5 53.Kd6!? Ne4+ (there is nothing better) 54.Kxc6 etc.
49...Kf5
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| What should White play |
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50.Kf2?
This makes it easy. The engines reckon 50.Bc3!? may hold, eg 50...Ke4 51.Bxe5! Kxe5 52.Kf3 Kd4 53.Kf4 Kc4 54.Ke5 Kxb4 55.Kd6, and both sides queen. Trickier is 50...Nd3!? 51.Kf3 Nf4!?, when 52.Ke3? loses to 52...Nd5+ 53.Kd3 Nxc3 54.Kxc3 Ke4, after which b4 eventually drops. However, the engines suggest 52.Bb2 Nd5 53.Ba3 Ke5 54.Bb2+ Ke6, when 55.Ba3 Kf5! 56.Bb2 (56.Ke2 Ke4 is hopeless) Nxb4 wins for Black. But they are much less sure about the outcome after 55.Ke4!? Nxb4.
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| Position after 55.Ke4!? Nxb4 |
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In fact White is in zugzwang. The Syzygy endgame tablebase shows that if it were Black to move in the diagram, the position is a "cursed win," ie "mate can be forced, but a draw can be achieved under the 50-move rule." However, with White to move, the position is lost, eg after the engines' 56.Bc3 Na6 (56...Nd5 also wins) 57.Kd4 Black has the winning 57...Kf5!!, which to be fair, is suggested by Stockfish17, albeit without realising how strong the move is. The main line can be thought of as 58.Ba5 Nb8! 59.Bc7 Nd7 60.Bd6 Nf6 61.Bb8 Nd5 62.Bd6 Nf4 63.Ke3 Ne6 64.Kd3 Nd8!? 65.Kd4 Nb7 66.Bc7 Kg4!? 67.Bd6 Kf3 68.Kd3 Nd8!? 69.Bb8 Ne6 70.Bd6 Ng5!? 71.Be7 Ne4 72.Kd4 Nd2 73.Kd3 Nc4 74.Bd6 Nb2+ 75.Kc2 Na4 76.Kd3 Kf2!? 77.Kd2 Nb2 78.Be7 Kf3 79.Kc2 Nc4 80.Kd3 Kf4 81.Kd4 Kf5 82.Bf8 Nd2 83.Kd3 Nf3!? 84.Ke3 Ne5 85.Kd4 Nc4 86.Be7 Na5 87.Bd6 Ke6 88.Bf8 Nb3+ 89.Ke4 Kf6!? 90.Bd6 Nd2+ 91.Kd3 Nc4 92.Bf4 Kf5 93.Bb8 Ke6 94.Kd4 Nd2 95.Bd6 Nf3+!? 96.Ke3 Ng5! 97.Kd4 Kf5 98.Be7 Ne6+ 99.Kc3 Ke5 100.Bd6 Ke4! 101.Kb3 Kd4 102.Kb4 Kd5 103.Be7 Nc7 104.Ka5 (104.Bf8 Na6+) Kc4 105.Bd6 Nd5 106.Ka6 b4 - a pawn moves just in the nick of time, and so Black wins. Incredible stuff!
Back to the game:
50...Ke4 51.Bc3 Nd3+ 52.Ke2 Nf4+ 53.Kd2 Nd5 54.Bg7
Or 54.Kc2 Nxc3 55.Kxc3 Ke3 56.Kc2 Kd4 57.Kb3 Kd3 58.Kb2 Kc4 59.Ka3 Kc3 60.Ka2 Kxb4.
54...Nxb4 55.Kc3 Na6 56.Bf8 Kd5 57.Kb3 Nxc5+ 58.Kc3 Na6 59.Kb3 c5 60.Kc3 Nb4 61.Bg7 Nc6 62.Kb3 c4+ 63.Kc3 b4+ 64.Kb2 Nd4 65.Bf6 c3+ 66.Kb1 Kc4 67.Bg7 b3 68.Bh6 Kd3 69.Kc1 Nf3 70.Kb1 Nd2+ 0-1
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