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| Playing hall |
England 3 v Finland
Spanton (2003) - Heikki Westerinen (GM 2205)Spanish Exchange
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.d4 exd4 6.Qxd4 Qxd4 7.Nxd4 Bd7 8.Nc3 0-0-0 9.Be3 Bd6 10.0-0-0
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| Now both sides have castled, how would you assess the position? |
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As usual in the Exchange Variation of the Spanish, especially in lines with an early d4, the battle has quickly become a queenless-middlegame clash between Black's bishop-pair and White's better pawn-structure. Stockfish18 and Dragon1 reckon Black has the better part of equality, which is more-or-less borne out by the score from this position in ChessBase's 2026 Mega database of +13=38-17, ie Black scores 53% over 68 games.
10....Ne7 11.Nb3!? Ng6
Three games in Mega26 saw 11...b6?, when 12.Bxb6 wins a pawn, but possibly even better is 12.Rxd6!? cxd6 13.Bxb6, when Wilhelm Schönmann - Josef Lokvenc, German Chess Federation Congress (Frankfurt) 1923, continued 13...Rde8 14.Rd1 f5 15.Rxd6 fxe4 16.Nc5 Bf5 17.a4, with much more than enough for the exchange, according to the engines (1-0, 34 moves).
12.Nc5
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| How should Black proceed? |
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12...Rhe8!?
Euwe preserved the bishop-pair with 12...Be8 in a 1920 game, but the engines reckon White is fine after both 13.h4 and 13.Nd3. The text is Dragon1's top choice, at least for a while, and Stockfish18 also comes to rate it highly, but the engines also like 12...h5 and 12...Nh4, and Dragon1 eventually rates Euwe's move and 12...Nh4 as equally good.
13.Nxd7 Rxd7 14.a3!?
An apparent-novelty, played to prevent 14...Bb4, but the engines prefer 14.f3, or another apparent-novelty in 14.h4!?
14...Ne5 15.f3?!
This is probably a mistake. The engines suggest 15.Bf4.
15...Nc4 16.Bf2 Bf4+ 17.Kb1
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| Black to play and gain at least the upper hand |
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17...Bd2?!
Much better, according to the engines, is 17...Red8, when one of their main line runs 18.Bh4!? Rxd1+ 19.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 20.Nxd1 Bxh2, netting Black a pawn, while they agree 18.Rxd7 Rxd7 19.Nd1 Rd2 20.g3 Bh6 leaves White positionally lost.
18.Na4
Not 18.Be1? Red8, when 19.Bxd2 Rxd2 20.Rxd2 Rxd2 21.Rg1 Ne3 leaves Black winning the g2 or c2 pawn.
18...b6
White seems fine after 18...Red8 19.Nc5.
19.Ka2 Red8 20.Kb3?!
Probably better is 20.b3. I was worried that 20...Nxa3!? 21.Kxa3 Bb4+ 22.Kxb2 Rxd1 23.Rxd1 Rxd1 was strong, but the engines give Black at best a slight edge.
20...Be3!? 21.Rxd7 Rxd7 22.Bxe3?!
Almost certainly better is 22.Kxc4, eg 22...b5+ 23.Kb4 Bxf2 24.Nc3, although the engines give Black the upper hand after, for example, 24...Bd4. Black could try the immediate 22...Bxf2, but 23.Nc3 b5+ 24.Kb3 c5 is, according to the engines, only slightly better for Black.
22...Nxe3 23.Kc3
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| What should Black play? |
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23...g6
Possibly best is 23...Nd1+ 24.Kb3 Rd2 25.Re1, and now either 25...g6 or 25...a5, slowly increasing the pressure. The engines also like 23...Rd6, and they agree the text leaves Black positionally winning.
24.g3 c5 25.Re1 Nd1+ 26.Kb3 c4+?!
'Clever', but premature, whereas the engines' 26...Rd2 27.h4 c4+! 28.Ka2 c3! is very strong, eg 29.Nxc3 Nxc3+ 30.bxc3 Rxc2+ 31.Kb3 Rg2 32.g4 Rf2 33.Re3 Rh2, or 29.bxc3 b5 30.Kb1!? bxa4 31.Kc1 Rg2 32.Kxd1 Rxg3.
27.Ka2 g5?!
The engines give 27...b5 and 27...Rd2, in both cases claiming complete equality.
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| White to play and gain at least a slight edge |
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28.g4?!
The engines suggest 28.Kb1, eg 28...Rd6 29.Kc1 Nf2 30.Nc3, when Black's initiative is spent, and White remains with the better pawn-structure.
28...Nf2 29.Re2?!
And here the engines much prefer 29.Nc3.
29...Nh3 30.Nc3 Nf4 31.Rf2 b5 32.Kb1 c5
Perhaps best is 32...Rd6 33.Kc1 Rh6, but White seems fine after 34.Ne2.
33.Kc1 Kc7 34.Rd2?!
The engines strongly dislike this, claiming 34.Ne2 and 34.h4!? give complete equality.
34...Rd4?!
Black has an edge after this, but the engines prefer 34...Rxd2!? 35.Kxd2 b4, eg 36.Nb1 Kc6!? 37.Ke3 Ne6!? 38.h3 Kb5 39.e5!? Ka4 (threatens 40...c3!) 40.axb4 cxb4 41.Ke4 h6!? 42.Kd5 Kb5, when White does not seem to have a good move, eg 43.Nd2 c3 44.bxc3 bxc3 45.Nb3 a5 46.Nc1 Nf4+ 47.Kd4 Nxh3 48.Kxc3 Ng1, after which f3 drops, and White has to contend with a passed a pawn. That is a very long line, with many alternatives along the way, but it illustrates White's difficulties.
35.Nd1
White comes close to equalising with 35.e5!?, according to the engines.
35...Kd6 36.Ne3 Ke5
The engines suggest 36...Ke6!?, and if, as in the game, 37.Nf5, then 37...Rxd2 38.Kxd2 Ng6!?, with what they claim is the upper hand for Black.
37.Nf5 Rxd2 38.Kxd2 h5
Here too the engines suggest 38...Ng6!?, but claim only a slight edge for Black, at best, the difference between the two lines presumably being due to the black king, in the second line, blocking the black knight's access to the e5 square.
39.gxh5 Nxh5 40.Ke3 Nf4 41.Ne7 Kd6 42.Nf5+
Not 42.Nc8+?? as 42...Kd7 traps the white knight.
42...Ke5 43.Ne7 f6 44.Nf5 b4!?
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| How should White respond? |
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45.axb4!?
Also holding is 45.a4, but 45.c3? loses to 45...b3 as Black has ...Nd3 to come.
45...cxb4
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| Black's queenside pawns are straightened out, but White has enough threats to neutralise them |
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46.Ne7 Kd6 47.Ng8
Not 47.Nf5+? as 47...Kc5 is very strong, eg 48.Kd2 Ng6 49.Kc1!? a5 (49...Ne5?! runs into 50.h4! gxh4 51.Nxh4) 50.b3 c3 51.Kd1 Kc6!? 52.Ke2 Nf4+ 53.Kd1 Kb5 54.Nd6+ Kc5 55.Nf5 Ng2 56.Ke2 a4!? 57.bxa4 Kb6 58.Kd1 Ka5 59.Nd4 Kxa4 60.Kc1 Ka3 61.Kb1 Ne3 62.Nb5+ Ka4 63.Nd4 Nf1 64.h3 Nd2+ 65.Ka2 Ka5 66.e5!? fxe5 67.Nc6+ Kb5 68.Nxe5 Ka4, when, at the end of another long engine-generated line, White is suddenly in zugzwang. Again there were lots of alternatives along the way, but Black was having all the fun.
47...Ke5 48.Ne7 Kd6 ½–½
TEAM RESULT
| Bo. | 13 | England 3 | Rtg | - | 4 | Finland | Rtg | 2 : 2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.1 |
| 2003 | - | GM |
| 2205 | ½ - ½ | |||||
| 4.2 |
| 1950 | - | FM |
| 2176 | ½ - ½ | |||||
| 4.3 |
| 1921 | - |
| 2092 | ½ - ½ | ||||||
| 4.4 |
| 1903 | - | FM |
| 2042 | ½ - ½ |
Nice to play against one of the good old times! And the result is fine in an interesting game.
ReplyDeleteThank you. 'Interesting' is the polite way of putting it - I certainly rode my luck. But, as you say, it was good to play against a famous name, and it was nice not to start with a duck.
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