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.
The following game came 35 years after our first two encounters, in both of which he opened with 1.e4.
Bass (1951) - Spanton (1916)
Central London League Division Two 2024
QGD Semi-Tarrasch
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 c5 5.cxd5 cxd4!?
 |
| 5...cxd4!? is a sharp line, marginally preferred over the mainline 5...Nxd5 by Stockfish17.1 and Dragon1 |
*****
*****
*****
*****
*****
6.Qa4+!?
More popular is the straightforward 6.Qxd4.
6...Bd7 7.Qxd4
The point of White's manoeuvre is to oblige Black's light-square bishop to interfere with Black's coverage of the d5 square, but this does not prove important.
7...exd5 8.Bg5 Nc6 9.Qd2 Be6 10.e3
White cannot win the d pawn, for example 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.Nxd5?? Bxd5 12.Qxd5 Bb4+ 13.Nd2 Qxb2 14.Rd1 Rd8 etc.
10...Be7 11.Bb5 0-0 12.0-0
 |
| Now both sides have castled, how would you assess the position? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
It looks like a typical IQP position - imbalanced, but with equal chances, according to the engines.
12...Ne4!? 13.Nxe4 dxe4 14.Bxe7!?
The engines reckon this apparent-novelty is a marginal improvement on the known 14.Qxd8.
14...Nxe7 15.Nd4 Nf5 16.Rfd1 Nxd4 17.Qxd4 Qxg5!?
The engines suggest 17...Qxd4 18.Rxd4 Rac8!?
18.Be2 f5?!
Probably better is 18...Rfe8 or 18...Qf6!?
19.g3 Rfd8 20.Qa4 a6?!
The engines much prefer 20...Qf6 or 20...h6.
21.Qb4 Rab8 22.a3
White has a positionally won game after 22.h4 Qf6 23.Rxd8+ Qxd8 24.Rd1, according to the engines.
22...Qf6
The engines reckon 22...Kf7!? is best.
23.Rxd8+ Qxd8 24.Rd1 Qc7 25.Rd6 a5!? 26.Qd4 Kf7!?
 |
| How should White proceed? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
27.Kg2
Even stronger is 27.Rxe6! Kxe6 28.Bc4+ Ke7 29.Qxg7+, eg 29...Kd6 (29...Kd8 30.Qf8+ Kd7 31.Qxf5+) 30.Qf6+ Kc5 31.Qd4+ Kc6 32.Bd5+ etc.
27...b6?
Better is 27...Rc8 or 27...Re8.
28.Qe5
This is winning, but again Rxe6 is even stronger.
28...Re8 29.Qd4?!
Stronger is 29.Bb5 or 29.b4, but not 29.Rxe6?? Qxe5.
29...Rb8?
29...Qc5 was a chance to get out of the worst of Black's troubles.
30.Qe5 Re8 31.Qd4?! ½–½
LESSON: my lucky let-off does not conceal the fact that, first, I was first outplayed positionally, and then tactically.
No comments:
Post a Comment