When the opponent is considerably stronger, this is not surprising, but when ratings are not so differentt, 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 fourth game, like the third, was at Paignton.
Spanton (2010) - Bass (2092)
Paignton 2008
King's Indian Attack
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d3 Nc6 4.c3!?
Deviating from the previous year, when I played the standard 4.g3.
4...d5 5.Qe2!?
In ChessBase's 2026 Mega database, this scores 10 percentage points better than the slightly more popular 5.Nbd2.
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| How should Black respond? |
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5...Nf6!?
Black has nothing to fear from 6.exd5 Qxd5!?
6.Nbd2!?
Playing Qe2 and Nbd2 has a strange look to it. The normal 6.g3 is likely better.
6...Be7 7.g3 b6 8.Bg2 Ba6!?
The engines much prefer this over 8...Bb7.
9.e5!?
Generally speaking, White is advised against pushing on with the e pawn in the KIA before Black has castled kingside, but it seems OK here.
9...Nd7 10.0-0
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| How should Black proceed? |
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10...Qc7
Stockfish17.1 and Dragon1 suggest 10...g5!?, which is a typical response when White plays e5 before Black castles. A sample line runs 11.c4!? g4 12.Ne1 h5, with unclear play.
11.Re1 Rc8
Stockfish17.1 likes 11...g5!?; Dragon1 favours 11...0-0-0!?
12.Nf1 0-0
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| Now both sides have castled, how would you assess the position? |
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The engines give White a slight edge, perhaps based on White's small space advantage.
13.Bf4 b5 14.h4!? b4 15.c4 dxc4 16.dxc4 Nd4 17.Qd3
13.Bf4 b5 14.h4!? b4 15.c4 dxc4 16.dxc4 Nd4 17.Qd3
White is at least slightly better after 17.Nxd4 cxd4 18.b3, according to the engines.
17...Rfd8
The engines reckon this improves on Jordi Fluvià Poyatos (2451) - Xavier Boixader Arbo (2099), Platja d'Aro (Spain) 2017, which went 17..Nb6 18.b3 Rfd8, when the engines reckon White would have been at least slightly better after 19.Nxd4 Rxd4 20.Qf3.
18.b3 Nf8 19.Rad1
The engines still like getting rid of Black's well-placed knight.
19...Ng6 20.Ng5?
Better is 20.Nxd4 or 20.h5!?, in each case with equal chances, according to the engines.
20...Bb7 21.Nh2?
As is often the case, mistakes come in pairs. The engines give 21.Bxb7 Qxb7, and either 22.Nd2 or 22.Nh2, but reckon Black has a positionally won game.
21...Nf3+ 22.Nhxf3?
And sometimes mistakes come in threes. The engines prefer 22.Ngxf3 or 22.Bxf3.
22...Rxd3 23.Rxd3
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| White has rook and knight for queen, but White's disadvantage is equivalent to being at least a minor piece down, according to the engines |
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23...Rd8 24.Red1 Rxd3 25.Rxd3 h6 26.Nh3 Nxf4 27.Nxf4 Bxf3 28.Bxf3 Qxe5 29.Rd7
The engines agree this is best, which only goes to show how bad White's position is, as Black now has ...
29...Bxh4 30.Rxa7 Bf6
... after which the flurry of captures is over, and Black is comfortably winning.
31.Kg2 g6 32.Bc6 Bg5 33.Nh3 f5!? 34.Nxg5 hxg5 35.Be8?
Having loose pieces when there is an enemy queen in the vicinity is asking for trouble.
35...Qb8 36.Re7 Qa8+ 37.Kg1 Qxa2 38.Ba4 Qa1+ 39.Kh2?!
Less bad, but also hopeless, is 39.Kg2.
39...Qe1 40.Kg2 Qe4+ 41.Kg1 f4 42.gxf4 gxf4 43.Bd7 f3 44.Bxe6+ Kh8 45.Re8+ Kg7 46.Rg8+ Kh7 47.Re8 Qe1+ 48.Kh2 Qxf2+ 49.Kh3 Qg2+ 50.Kh4 f2 51.Re7+ Kh6 0-1
LESSON: a series of tactical errors changed an interesting positional game into a rout.
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