Spanton (1941) - José Anton (1816)
Sicilian Bb5(+)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.0-0 Bd7 5.c3 Nf6 6.Qe2
Stockfish17 and Dragon1 prefer the mainline 6.Re1, or the gambit 6.d4!?
6...a6 7.Ba4 b5 8.Bc2 e5
 |
| The position looks like a Spanish |
*****
*****
*****
*****
9.Rd1 Be7 10.d4 cxd4 11.cxd4 Bg4!? 12.Be3 Qc7 13.Nc3 0-0
 |
| Now both sides have castled, how would you assess the position? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
Black has more space on the queenside, but White is slightly ahead on development and has pawns abreast in the centre. The engines give White a slight edge.
14.Rac1 Rac8 15.h3 Bxf3!?
The engines reckon White has at least the upper hand after 15...Bh5 16.g4!?
16.Qxf3 Qa5!?
JA took 21 minutes over this move, thus breaching John Nunn's rule against spending more than 20 on any move.*
I am unsure whether this example supports Nunn's advice - the engines prefer double-capturing on d4, but they do not flash red at the text.
17.a3 b4?!
But this may well be a mistake.
18.axb4
Even stronger, according to the engines, is 18.Nd5!?, eg 18...bxa3 19.Nxe7+ Nxe7 20.Bd2!? Qb6 21.Qxa3, when capturing on d4 with either queen or pawn seems too dangerous, and so the engines reckon White has the upper hand.
18...Qxb4 19.dxe5?!
The engines again like Nd5, or 19.d5.
19...dxe5?!
Almost certainly better is 19...Nxe5 20.Qe2 Qxb2, winning a pawn, although 21.Nd5 Nxd5 22.Rxd5 gives White full compensation, according to the engines.
20.Nd5
 |
| How should Black respond? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
20...Nxd5?
The engines reckon Black should take the pawn with 20...Qxb2, but agree 21.h4!? is the start of a strong attack, eg 21...Bd8!? 22.Qh3!? Ra8 23.Bd3 Nxd5!? 24.exd5 Nd4 25.d6!?, although some of these moves look strange, at least to me.
21.exd5 Nd4
Marginally better may be 21...e4, according to the engines, although after 21...Qxe4 22.Qxe4 Bxe4 White has a dangerous passed pawn supported by the bishop-pair and well-placed rooks.
22.Bxd4 exd4 23.Bxh7+! Kxh7
Even worse is 23...Kh8 24.Qh5 etc.
24.Rxc8 Rxc8 25.Qf5+ g6 26.Qxc8
 |
| White is up the exchange and a pawn |
*****
*****
*****
*****
26...Qxb2 27.Qxa6 Qb4 28.Qd3 Bf6 29.Rb1 Qc5 30.Qe4 Kg7 31.g4!? Qc3 32.Kg2 d3?! 33.Rd1 d2 34.Qe3 1-0
*Nunn wrote in Secrets Of Practical Chess (Gambit 1998): "I have observed that if a player spends more than 20 minutes over a move, the result is almost always a mistake."
It looks very much like the Worall Attack in the Spanish. The position at move 12 (13 in the Spanish version) can arise from that variation.
ReplyDelete1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Qe2 b5 6. Bb3 Be7 7. c3 d6 8. 0-0 Bg4 9. Rd1 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 cxd4 12. cxd4 Nc6 13. Be3
RdC
Interesting! Using your move-order, ChessBase calls it "C86: Closed Ruy Lopez: Worrall Attack," but using the game's version it is called "B51: Sicilian: Moscow Variation (3.Bb5+) without 3...Bd7"
Delete