Correspondence Chess

I PLAY correspondence chess at the Fide-approved International Correspondence Chess Federation.

Most games are drawn, thanks to the strength of modern engines, but occasionally a game escapes that fate, or is interesting for some other reason.

Spanton (2330) - Matthew Kirk (1852)

British Correspondence Chess Championship Reserves

QGD Exchange

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 Be7 7.Bd3 Nbd7 8.Qc2 0-0

This position occurs 12,317 times in ChessBase's 2026 Mega database

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9.h3!?

Overwhelmingly more popular are 9.Nf3 and especially 9.Nge2, but the text scores an excellent 71% in Mega26, respectively seven and eight percentage points more than the main moves.

Note that all three percentages are high - an indication of how difficult Black's play can be in the Exchange Variation of the Queen's Gambit.

9...h6 10.Bf4!?

One of the points of 9.h3!? is that it gives White's dark-square bishop a bolthole, where it cannot be easily harassed by a black knight.

10...Nb6 11.Nf3 Be6 12.0-0

Now both sides have castled, how would you assess the position?

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Stockfish17.1 and Dragon1 reckon White enjoys the slight edge that White often retains for a long time in the QGD Exchange.

12...Bc8?!

A strange retreat. By playing 11...Be6 and 12...Bc8?! Black has given up two tempi. I wonder if MK had written the move 12...Rc8 on a piece of paper, but, on coming to input the move at the server, misread the R as a B and played ...Bc8 without thinking.

13.Kh1

Another point about 9.h3!? - it can support the thrust g4, which could be particularly effective with a white rook on g1.

13...Be6!?

Despite the toing and froing of Black's light-square bishop, White 'only' has the upper hand, according to the engines

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14.Rg1 c5!? 15.g4 c4 16.Bf5 Qc8 17.Rg2 Bb4 18.Ne5 g5!? 19.Bh2 Bxc3 20.bxc3 Qe8 21.h4 Kg7 22.Rf1

However Black seems powerless to stop White building up at leisure before launching a decisive attack.

22...Rfc8 23.f3 Nfd7 24.e4 Qe7 25.Nxd7!? Nxd7 26.e5 f6 27.Re1 Rc6 28.Rge2

Black faces threats down the e file, as well as more directly against the black king

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28...gxh4!?

The engines can find nothing better.

29.Bf4 fxe5 30.Bxe5+ Kg8

White to play and win

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31.Bd6!? 1-0

Other moves also win, but the text is pretty, as well as devastating, eg 31...Qxd6 32.Bxe6+ Kh8 33.Bxd7 Qxd7 34.Re7 etc.