County Chess

FACED a junior (born 2016) on board 13 (of 14*) for Kent at Middlesex in the opening weekend of the Southern Counties championship.

Spanton (1942) - Aviraj Bhaduri (1937)

Sicilian ...e6

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 d5!?

This is fifth-most popular in ChessBase's 2026 Mega database, behind ...b6, ...d6, ...a6 and especially ...Nc6, but has been played by grandmasters.

4.cxd5 exd5 5.exd5 Nf6

How should White continue?

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6.Nc3

This is second in popularity behind 6.Bb5+, but best, according to Stockfish18 and Dragon1, is 6.Bc4!?, when play might continue 6...Qe7+ 7.Qe2 Bg4!? (7...Qxe2+ 8.Kxe2!?) 8.Qxe7+ Bxe7 9.Ne5, with the upper hand for White, according to the engines.

6...Nxd5 7.Bb5+ Nc6

At least two players rated over 2400 have played 7...Bd7?, but 8.Qe2+ Ne7 (forced) leaves Black in trouble, eg 9.d4 Bxb5 10.Qxb5+ Qd7 11.dxc5, resulted in White being up a pawn, and ahead on development, in Leonid Starozhilov (2318) - Christopher Woojin Yoo (2455), Chess.com Blitz 2021 (1-0, 42 moves).

8.Qe2+

The engines prefer 8.0-0 or 8.d4, claiming a slight edge for White.

8...Be6!?

Apparently a novelty - the engines like it as much as the known 8...Be7.

9.d4 a6 10.Bc4!? Be7 11.Be3?!

The engines strongly dislike this, preferring 11.dxc5 or 11.Bxd5 Bxd5 12.dxc5.

What should Black play?

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11...Nxc3

This is Dragon1's second choice, but it prefers 11...Nxe3, claiming a slight edge for Black, while Stockfish18 reckons 11...cxd4 gives Black the upper hand. Play can be very sharp, eg 11...cxd4 12.Nxd5 Bxd5 13.Nxd4 Bxg2 14.0-0-0!? Bxh1 15.Nf5 0-0!? 16.Rxd8 Raxd8, which seems to favour Black, but there are plenty of plausible alternatives along the way.

12.bxc3 Bxc4 13.Qxc4 cxd4 14.Nxd4 Nxd4

The engines at first reckon 14...Ne5!? 15.Qa4+ b5 16.Qc2 0-0 gives Black a slight edge, but come to downplay Black's advantage if given more time.

15.Qxd4 0-0 16.0-0 Qxd4 17.Bxd4 Rac8 18.Rfe1 Bc5 19.Rab1 Bxd4 20.cxd4 b5 21.a4!? Rc4

If 21...bxa4, then 22.Rb4.

22.axb5 axb5 23.Rxb5 Rxd4 24.Kf1 ½–½
*Apparently Middlesex were unable to raise a full team of 16, so the captains agreed to make it a 14-board match.

Kent won the match 8-6.