Bregenz Seniors Round Seven

Overnight hail and snow

FACED a Belgian.

Bernard Logie (1822) - Spanton (1911)

Sicilian Hyper-Accelerated Dragon

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.c3 d5 4.e5!?

Stockfish18 and Dragon1 prefer this over the more popular 4.exd5, and it scores five percentage points better in ChessBase's 2026 Mega database.

4...Nc6 5.d4 Bg7

This natural-looking move may be a little slow; the engines prefer 5...Bg4 or 5...cxd4.

6.Bb5!? Ob6!?

How should White proceed?

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7.Bxc6+!?

Giving up White's good bishop is the top choice of the engines.

7...bxc6

The engines reckon the less popular 7...Qxc6!? is better.

8.0-0 e6?!

The engines suggest an apparent-novelty in 8...f6!?

9.Na3 Ne7 10.Nc2 0-0

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

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White's central space advantage is much more important than Black's bishop-pair, according to the engines, and they reckon White has a positionally won game.

11.b4

The engines suggest 11.b3.

11...c4?!

Reducing the light-square bishop to a sorry looking piece,

12.a4

BL pressed the clock and immediately offered a draw.

12...Nf5 13.a5 Qc7 14.g4!?

This is the top choice of Stockfish18, and is also liked by Dragon1, although the latter marginally prefers 14.Bf4.

14...Ne7 15.g5!?

Again Stockfish18 approves; Dragon1 suggests 15.h4 or 15.Qe2.

15...Nf5 16.Ne3!? Nxe3

Otherwise White has 17.Ng4.

17.Bxe3 Ba6 18.Re1 Rfd8 19.Kg2 Rab8 20.Qc2 Bb5 21.h4

White I was thinking about my next move, BL offered a draw, commenting that he was tired

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White's advantage is worth about two pawns, according to the engines, but in human terms the advantage is surely worth much more as White can build up at leisure on the kingside, safe in the knowledge that any possible counterplay by Black will involve giving up a pawn for nebulous compensation.

½–½

This game ended a sequence for me of 11 without a draw, and I have had just two draws in my last 21 games.