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 third game came eight years after the first two.
Spanton (1982) - Bass (2094)
Paignton 2007
King's Indian Attack
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d3 Nc6 4.g3 d6 5.Bg2 g6
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| How should White proceed? |
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6.0-0
This is normal, but Stockfish17.1 and Dragon1 much prefer the relatively rare 6.d4!? The point, I believe, is that after 6...cxd4 7.Nxd4, Black's dark-square bishop cannot both defend d6 and occupy the fianchetto square g7. In ChessBase's 2026 Mega database 6.d4!? scores 64%, which is 11 percentage points more than the text.
6...Bg7 7.c3 e5!? 8.Be3 Nge7 9.d4 exd4!? 10.cxd4 b6?!
This seems to have been a novelty (10...Bg4 is normal), and this game is still the only one in Mega26 to feature it.
11.Nc3
The engines reckon 11.d5 is even stronger.
11...0-0 12.d5
Perhaps a move late, but still strong.
12...Ne5 13.Nxe5 Bxe5 14.f4 Bg7 15.a4 Rb8!? 16.Qe2 a6 17.g4!? f5!?
The engines agree this counterpunch is best.
18.gxf5
My notes show that in the postmortem I suggested 18.h3!?, but later found it was not liked by my main engines, Junior10.1 and Fritz9. However, 18.h3!? is the top choice of Stockfish17.1 and Dragon1.
18...gxf5 19.e5!?
My notes show this was "based on a miscalculation." However, it is the top choice of Stockfish17.1 and Dragon1.
19...dxe5 20.fxe5 Bxe5 21.Bh6 Bd4+
This is what I had missed, but the engines do not like the text, suggesting an exchange sacrifice, ie 21...Ng6!? 22.Bxf8 Qh4!? 23.Bf3 Kxf8, when Black has the classic exchange compensation of a pawn and the bishop-pair.
22.Be3?
Much better is 22.Kh1.
22...Bxe3+
Even stronger, according to the engines, is 22...Ng6!?, with what seem good attacking chances, eg 23.Qf2 Bxe3 24.Qxe3 f4 25.Qd2 Bg4, when neither king is safe, but Black is a pawn up.
23.Qxe3 Ng6 24.Rae1 f4 25.Qe2 Rb7
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| How would you assess this position? |
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Neither king has much pawn-cover, but Black's f pawn both menaces the white position and gives Black's pieces manoeuvring room. The engines reckon Black has a winning advantage.
26.Kh1 Rg7 27.Rg1 Kh8 28.Be4 Qf6 29.Bxg6!? Rxg6 30.Ne4?!
Probably better is 30.Rxg6 hxg6, and maybe 31.Qe7, hoping to survive an ending.
30...Rxg1+ 31.Rxg1 Qe5 32.Rg5 Bf5!? 33.Nc3 Qxe2 34.Nxe2
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| White has an ending, but this one is lost |
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34...Be4+ 35.Kg1 f3 36.Nc1 h6!? 37.Re5+?
A bad move in a bad position, but White is lost anyway, eg 37.Rg3 Bxd5 38.Nd3 Bc4 39.Nf2 Kh7, when it should be only a matter of time.
37...f2+ 0-1
LESSON: my calculation issues were, perhaps, not so bad in our previous two games, but they are still glaring enough.
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