When the opponent is considerably stronger, this is not surprising, but when ratings are not so different, the results are harder to explain.
My biggest bogeyman is probably John Bass, whose record against me is +6=1-0.
Seven games is not a huge sample, but such a poor performance on my part must signify something.
So in this mini-series I am looking at my games against JB to try to discover what is going on.
Our second game was at a rapidplay event.
Bass (159) - Spanton (unrated)
London University Rapid 1989
1.e4 e5 2.f4 Bc5 3.Nf3 d6 4.d4?!
This is much less popular than 4.Nc3, 4.Bc4 and especially 4.c3, but was a favourite of Emanuel Lasker in simuls.
4...exd4 5.Nxd4
Lasker liked 5.Bd3.
5...Nf6 6.Nc3 Qe7
Stockfish17.1 and Dragon1 reckon there is little to choose between this and the commoner 6...0-0.
7.Qd3!? 0-0 8.Nb3?!
This seems to be a novelty, and is still not in ChessBase's 2026 Mega database; White should probably get on with development.
 |
| How should Black respond? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
8...Bb4?!
The engines reckon Black should also develop, with either 8...Na6 or 8...Nc6.
9.Bd2 Bxc3 10.Bxc3 Nxe4 11.Qe3 Re8 12.0-0-0 Nxc3 13.Qxc3
 |
| How would you assess this middlegame? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
Black is a pawn up, and the engines reckon Black has a winning advantage, but positions with opposite-side castling are tricky to evaluate and tricky to play.
13...Bg4 14.Bb5!?
This is the engines' top choice.
14...Bxd1 15.Bxe8 Qxe8?!
Much better, according to the engines, is 15...Bxc2.
16.Re1 Qd7?
 |
| How should White proceed? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
17.Rxd1
Missing 17.Qxc7!
17...Nc6 18.Nd2 Re8 19.Nf3 h6 20.h3?
Possibly best is 20.g3, defending f4.
20...Re6
Even stronger is 20...Qf5.
21.g4 Qe8 22.Rd3?!
The engines much prefer contesting the open file with 22.Re1.
22...Re7
The active 22...Re4 is probably best.
23.b3 Qd7 24.Kb2 Qe6 25.f5 Qd7 26.Nh4!? Ne5 27.Rd1 f6?
This is very weakening.
 |
| How can White exploit Black's weak light squares? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
28.Ng2
The engines' 28.Qa5! seems to equalise as either a7 or b7 falls.
28...Qc6 29.Qd2 Qd7?
Too passive.
30.Nf4?!
Almost certainly better is 30.Qd5+ and 31.Qxb7.
30...Nc6?
The knight was fine where it was, whereas the queen's position could have been improved with 30...Qc6 or 30...Qb5.
31.Qd5+ Kh7 32.Ne6 Qe8 33.h4 b6?!
The engines suggest 33...Nd8 or 33...Ne5.
34.Re1 Ne5 35.g5 fxg5?!
Probably better is 35...Kh8 or 35...b5!?
36.hxg5 h5?
36.hxg5 h5?
36...Kh8 is better, but still losing.
37.g6+ Nxg6
Or 37...Kh8 38.Qh1.
38.fxg6+ Qxg6 39.Nf8+ Kh6 40.Nxg6 Rxe1 41.Qd2+ 1-0
LESSON: once again JB showed better tactical control, helped by my weakening of the black king's position, and by my passive middlegame play.
No comments:
Post a Comment