Ishan Ramdewar (1976) - Spanton (1914)
QGD Exchange
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 h6!?
An early ...h6 used to be taboo in the Exchange Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined. The thinking was twofold. Firstly, if played before White castled, it was feared White could castle long and use the pawn as a hook for a kingside pawnstorm. Secondly, if White castled short, it was thought the third rank on the kingside should be left uncluttered as Black might want to place a rook and/or queen there to attack the white king's position. But 6...h6!? has been played by Carlsen, Kramnik, Ding, etc. What changed? Engines quite like the move, rating it marginally better than the common 6...Be7.
7.Bh4 Be7 8.Bd3 0-0 9.Nge2!?
This is massively more popular than the 'traditional' Nf3.
9...Re8 10.0-0
The position after 10.Qc2 Nbd7 11.0-0-0!? occurs 136 times in ChessBase's 2026 Mega database, but 11...b5 gives Black the upper hand, according to Stockfish17.1 and Dragon1.
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| Now both sides have castled, how would you assess the position? |
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Mega26 has 702 examples of this position, with White scoring a very good 59%. The engines reckon White is slightly better.
10...Nh5!? 11.Ng3!?
This seems to be a novelty. The engines prefer 11.Bxe7, followed by queenside play.
11...Bxh4 12.Nxh5!?
The engines marginally prefer this over capturing with the queen.
12...Qg5??
Blundering a piece ... or, at least, it should.
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| How does White win a piece? |
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13.Nf4??
There is no satisfactory answer to the simple 13.g3, eg 13...Bg4 can be met by 14.Be2, after which the black dark-square bishop cannot be saved.
13...Qf6 14.Qc2 Be6
The engines much prefer 14...Qd6, claiming equality.
15.g3 Bg5 16.Nxe6 Qxe6
Not 16...Rxe6?? 17.f4 Rxe3 18.fxg5 Qxd4 19.Bh7+ and 20.Kg2.
17.b4 a6 18.a4 Nd7 19.b5 axb5 20.axb5 Rxa1!? 21.Rxa1
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| How should Black proceed? |
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21...Bxe3??
The engines suggest 21...g6, 21...Rb8 or 21...Nb6, but in each case give White the upper hand.
22.Bf5 Qe7 23.Bxd7 Bxf2+ 24.Qxf2 Qxd7
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| How big is White's advantage? |
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Two pawns come nowhere close to compensating for a knight in this middlegame position, especially with two white queenside pawns effectively holding back three black ones. The engines reckon White is approximately the equivalent of 2.5 pawns ahead.
25.Re1?!
This gives away much of White's advantage.
25...Rxe1+ 26.Qxe1 Qg4?!
After the 'ugly' 26...cxb5! Black has counterplay thanks to having a passed pawn and the safer king.
27.Qe8+ Kh7 28.Qe5 Qf3 29.Ne2?!
White is still winning after 29.Qe1, according to the engines.
29...cxb5!
'Ugly', but effective. Black now has three isolated pawns, but the engines agree having a passer is much more important.
30.Nf4 Qd1+ 31.Kg2 Qc2+?!
It is a game of equal chances after 31...b4, according to the engines.
32.Kh3?!
The engines give White the upper hand after 32.Qe2, one point being 32...Qxe2+?! 33.Nxe2 b4 fails to 34.Nf4!
32...Qd1?
The game is completely equal, according to the engines, after both 32...b4 and 32...Qc8+ 33.Kg2 b4.
33.Qf5+ Kg8
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| White to play and win |
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34.Qxd5?
Both 34.Qd3 and 34.Nxd5 seem good enough for at least a slight edge, but winning is 34.Qc8+ Kh7 35.Qxb7 as 35...Qf1+ 36.Kg4 Qd1+ comes to nothing after 37.Kf5, eg 37...Qxd4 38.Qxb5 g6+ 39.Kg4 h5+ 40.Kh3, although the whole line is not easy to envisage from the diagram.
34...g5 35.Qd8+ Kg7
34...g5 35.Qd8+ Kg7
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| White to play and draw |
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36.Nd5??
White has a draw after no fewer than seven moves, according to the engines, including 36.Ne6+!?, 36.Qd5, 36.Qe8 and 36.Qc7.
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| Black to play and win |
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36...Qf1+ 37.Kg4 f5+ 38.Kh5 Qh3#
Coulsdon defaulted on board three, but the match was drawn 2-2..
My Battersea Season 2025-6
Date Event Colour Rating Opp's Rating Score Season's Perf
16/9/25 CLL W 1936 1952 0 1552
18/9/25 CLL W 1936 1797 = 1675
16/10/25 CLL W 1889 2047 0 1665
23/10/25 CLL B 1889 1823 1 1805
18/11/25 LL W 1891 1980 = 1840
20/11/25 CLL W 1891 1866 1 1911
25/11/25 BCC B 1891 1817 1 1955
9/12/25 LL W 1904 1982 1 2008
16/12/25 LL B 1904 2046 0 1968
18/12/25 CLL B 1904 2066 1 2018
6/1/26 CLL W 1929 2150 = 2066
7/1/26 LL W 1929 1971 = 2058
8/1/26 CLL B 1929 1800? = 2038
13/1/26 LL B 1929 2035 1 2067
27/1/26 LL B 1929 2089 0 2041
29/1/26 CLL B 1929 1882 = 2031
3/2/26 BCC W 1928 1836 1 2043
12/2/26 CDL B 1928 1890 1 2057
25/2/26 LL B 1928 1863 = 2047
26/2/26 CLL B 1928 2015 0 2025
3/3/26 CDL B 1914 1976 1 2043
CLL: Central London League
LL: London League
BCC: Battersea club championship
CDL: Croydon & District League
I also have a win-by-default in the Central London League
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