Correspondence Chess

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

Thanks to the strength of modern engines, most games are drawn, but occasionally a game escapes that fate, or is interesting for other reasons.

Spanton (2330) - Alex Tupper (1662)

British Correspondence Chess Championship Reserves

QGD Exchange

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 Nxd5!?

Bobby Fischer was fond of this move, claiming, if I recall rightly, it made a change from the tedium of normal lines of the Exchange Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined.

5.e4 Nxc3  6.bxc3 c5 7.Nf3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2

This is something of a tabiya for the variation, occurring 4,701 times in ChessBase's 2026 Mega database

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10...0-0 11.Bc4 Nd7!?

This is the main continuation. The knight will (eventually) land on f6, protecting the kingside.

12.0-0

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

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White has a large lead in development, more space and a central pawn-majority, but Black has no weaknesses, and enjoys a farside majority that could be useful in an ending. Dragon1 gives White a slight edge, but Stockfish17.1 calls the position equal.

12...b6 13.Rfe1 Bb7 14.Rad1 Rc8 15.Bb3 Re8 16.h3!? h6!?

Pushing the h pawn looks like the type of move played by relative beginners, afraid of being back-rank mated, but the continuation (for both sides) has been played by grandmasters.

17.Re3 Nf6 18.Qe2 Qc7 19.Ne5 b5!? 20.Ng4!? Nxg4 21.hxg4!? Qf4!? 22.d5!?

This may be a novelty - Stockfish17.1 reckons it is a small improvement on 22.Qxb5 (Dragon1's top choice) Bxe4 23.d5, which occurred in José Fernando Cuenca Jiménez (2480) - Pedro Antonio Ginés Esteo (2477), Spanish Team Championship 2024. That game continued 23...exd5 24.Bxd5 Re5 25.Qb7 Rce8, with complete equality, according to Stockfish17.1, although Dragon1 slightly favours White (½–½, 31 moves). Whites have also tried 22.Re1 and 22.g3.

22...exd5 23.exd5 Rxe3 24.fxe3 Qe5 25.e4

How should Black proceed?

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25...a6?!

This natural-looking move is strongly disliked by the engines. They suggest 25...Rc7.

26.Qf2!

The threat to play d6 is hard to meet.

26...Rd8
Since 26...Qxe4? fails to 27.d6, and 26...Rc7? runs into 27.Qf5!, eg 27...Qxf5 28.gxf5 Kf8 29.e5 Rd7 30.d6 Ke8 31.e6 fxe6 32.fxe6 Rd8 33.Bc2, the engines reckon the text is best, especially as 26...Qd6 27.e5! Qxd6 28.d6 Qf6 also fails, eg 29.Rf1 Qxf2+ 30.Rxf2 Rf8 31.Rxf7! Rxf7 32.d7 etc.

27.Qf5 Qc7?

27...Qxf5?! runs into similar problems as in the previous note, but 27...Qg3 keeps the game going, eg if 28.Rf1, then 28...Qc7 is good, since d6 is not as effective as in the game, and 29.Qh5 (admittedly not the only try) Rd6 30.Qe5 Qb6+ 31.Kh2 Qd8 leaves White at least slightly better, but not winning, according to the engines.

28.d6 Qd7 29.e5 Bc8 30.Qf4 Qa7+ 31.Kh2 Rf8

The engines suggest 31...Be6, but 32.Bxe6 fxe6 33.Rc1 Qf7 34.Qxf7+ Kxf7 35.Rc7+ gives White a comfortably winning rook-and-pawn ending, while 33...Rd7 can be met by 34.Rc8+ Kh7 35.Qe4+ g6 36.Qc6 and Rc7.

32.Rf1 Qb7 33.e6 Bxe6!? 34.Bxe6 fxe6!? 35.Qxf8+ Kh7 36.Rf7 Qxf7!? 37.Qxf7 1-0