| Bo. | 46 | England - 5 | Rtg | - | 33 | Ireland - 1 | Rtg | 0 : 0 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19.1 |
| 1897 | - | FM |
| 2118 | ||||||
| 19.2 | CM |
| 1861 | - |
| 1946 | ||||||
| 19.3 |
| 1908 | - | CM |
| 1979 | ||||||
| 19.4 |
| 1859 | - |
| 1919 |
Spanton (1908) - Gerald MacElligott (1979)
French Alekhine-Chatard
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.h4!?
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| The starting position of the famous Attack, apparently first played by Adolf Albin in 1890 |
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6...h6
This is the second-most popular continuation in ChessBase's 2026 Mega database. Stockfish17.1 prefers accepting the gambit with 6...Bxg5 7.hxg5 Qxg5 8.Nh3 Qh4!?, while Dragon1 likes the text, and 6...0-0!?
7.Bxe7 Qxe7 8.Qg4
This is the commonest continuation, but the engines prefer 8.f4.
8...0-0 9.f4
Alekhine played 9.0-0-0 in a 1930 simul.
9...f5!?
The engines strongly dislike this, preferring the more popular 9...c5.
10.Qg6!?
White need not fear an exchange of queens. After 10...Qf7 11.Qxf7+ Rxf7 12.Nf3 the engines give White at least the upper hand.
10...Rd8!?
Seemingly a novelty. The engines at first suggest 10...c5, 10...Nc6 or 10...a6, albeit with advantage to White, but Dragon1 comes to prefer 10...Qf7, at least for a while.
11.Nf3
The engines reckon 11.g4!? Nf8 12.Qh5 leaves White with a positionally won game.
11...Nf8 12.Qg3 a6
The engines recommend 12...c5!?, not fearing Nb5-d6.
13.Qf2 c5!? 14.dxc5 Nbd7 15.Na4!?
White should play 15.Nd4 or 15.0-0-0, according to the engines.
15...b5
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| How should White proceed? |
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16.Nd4?
Initiating a faulty combination. Instead 16.Nb6 Nxb6 17.cxb6 Qb4+ 18.c3! Qf4 19.h5 gives White a slight edge (Stockfish17.1) or at least equality (Dragon1).
16...bxa4 17.Nc6 Qe8
Also good is 17...Qxc5!? 18.Qxc5 Nxc5 19.Nxd8 Bd7.
18.Bd3 Bb7 19.Na5!?
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| How should Black proceed? |
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19...Rdb8!
Black is winning after this, according to the engines, whereas they reckon 19...Rab8 20.c6 Ba8 (20...Bxc6?! 21.Nxc6 forks the black rooks) 21.c7 Rxb2 22.cxd8=Q Qxd8 23.Nb3! axb3 24.axb3 gives White at least equal chances. A little better is 19...Bc8 20.c6 Qe7 (20...Nb8? 21.c7 Rd7 22.Qb6) 21.cxd7 Bxd7, but the text is best.
20.Nxb7 Rxb7 21.c6 Rxb2 22.cxd7 Qxd7
Even stronger, according to the engines, is taking with the knight.
23.0-0
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| Now both sides have castled, how would you assess the position? |
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Black's extra pawn is doubled, but the black king's rook is well-placed. The engines reckon Black is winning, or at least has the upper hand, but do not agree on how to go about maintaining Black's advantage.
23...Qa7
But they do agree exchanging queens is the wrong plan. Perhaps best is 23...Qf7!?, eg 24.a3!? Rab8!? 25.g4!? (25.Bxa6 Qe7 26.Bd3 Nd7 27.h5 Kh7) R8b3!? 26.Rad1!? Qg6!? 27.Qg2!? Qf7!? 28.gxf5 exf5, but I am far from understanding the ideas behind the vast majority of these engine moves.
24.Rfb1
The engines give 24.Qxa7 Rxa7 25.c4, but their evaluations of the resulting position differ markedly, and fluctuate.
24...Qxf2+ 25.Kxf2 Rab8
25...a3!? may be better, but the evaluations fluctuate wildly, with at one point Dragon1 claiming Black is winning while at the exact same moment Stockfish17.1 calls the game equal. Given plenty of time, their evaluations merge somewhat, eventually stabilising at the upper hand for Black (Dragon1) or equality (Stockfish17.1)
26.Rxb2 Rxb2 27.a3!
An important move that seems to give White equality, whereas allowing 27...a3 appears to leave Black with at least a slight edge.
27...Nd7 28.Ke3 Kf7 29.Kd4 Ke7?!
This allows White the upper hand, according to the engines.
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| What should White play? |
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30.h5!
Fixing Black's h and g pawns, and preparing to open the kingside with g4. Black should have played 29...h5 or 29...g6, according to the engines.
30...Rb6
30...Nb8!? is suggested by the engines, but with the upper hand for White.
31.g4! fxg4 32.Rg1 Kf7 33.Rxg4 Rc6 34.Rg6 Nf8 35.Rg1 Nd7
35...Rb6 occupies the open file, but the engines agree White is winning, eg 36.f5 exf5 37.Bxf5 Rb5 38.Rg3!? a5 39.Rc3 Ne6+ 40.Bxe6+ Kxe6 41.Rc6+ Kf7 42.Rc7+ Kf8 43.e6 Rb8 44.Rf7+ Kg8 45.Ke5 Rc8 46.Rf2 etc.
36.Rb1 Nb6
Even worse is 36...Rb6? 37.Rxb6 Nxb6 38.Kc5!
37.Bxa6
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| With the number of pawns aside now equal, White's rook-and-bishop combo gives a large advantage |
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37...Nc4 38.Rb7+ Kf8 39.Rb8+
More precise is 39.Bb5 Rc8 40.Bc7.
39...Ke7
If 39...Kf7, White needs to play 40.Rb7+ Kf8, and now 41.Bb5, as in the previous note, but with two extra moves thrown in.
40.Bb5 Rc7 41.Re8+ Kf7
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| White to play and win |
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42.f5!
The only winning move, but plenty good enough.
42...exf5
The pawn ending after 42...Re7 43.Rxe7+ Kxe7 44.Bxc4 dxc4 45.fxe6 Kxe6 46.Ke4 is an easy win for White, eg 46...c3 47.Kd4 g5!? (47...Kf5 48.Kd5) 48.hxg6 h5 49.Ke4 h4 50.Kf4 h3 51.Kg3 etc (Black cannot capture on e5 without allowing the g pawn to queen).
43.Kxd5 Nb6+
Or 43...Nxa3 44.e6+ Kf6 45.Rf8+ Kg5 46.Bxa4 Nxc2 47.Rf7 Ne3+ 48.Kd6 Rc8 49.e7 etc.
44.Kd6 Rxc2 45.e6+ Kf6 46.Rf8+ Kg5 47.e7
Not 47.Rxf5+?? Kxf5 48.Bd3+ Kf6 49.Bxc2 as Black has 49...Nc4+, after which White cannot get out of check without losing the e pawn, eg 50.Kd5!? Ne3+ 51.Kd6 Nc4+ (51...Nxc2?? 52.e7) 52.Kd7 Ne5+.
47...Nc8+
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| Only one move maintains the win |
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48.Rxc8!
After, say. 48.Ke6 Nxe7! 49.Kxe7 Rc3, the game is drawn, according to the engines.
48...Rxc8 49.e8=Q Rxe8 50.Bxe8
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| Black's kingside pawns are too far from queening to save the game |
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50...f4 51.Bxa4 Kxh5 52.Bd1+ Kh4 53.Ke5 Kg3 54.Ke4 g5 55.a4 h5!? 56.Bxh5 g4 57.Kf5 f3 58.Bxg4 f2 59.Be2 1-0
Team ResultFreeman (1897) = Smith (2118)
Stokes (1861) 1-0 Noone (1946)
Spanton (1908) 1-0 MacElligott (1979)
Marshall (1859) = Gaffney (1919)
England 5 3-1 Ireland
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