Ton Up

ENTRIES for the English championships in Peterborough at the end of October have passed 100.

Lessons From Bad Bertrich V

MY round-five game, in which I was Black against Fide master Norbert Heck (2235), featured an instructive middlegame moment.

White has just played 22.Rc1-c7, defending the bishop on b7, which has helped snaffle a pawn

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I replied with 22...Rfd8?, the idea being that White is forced to move the bishop from b7 as Black threatens to kick the queen's rook with 23...Be5.

However, after 23.Ba6 Rxb2 (there is nothing better) White played 24.Bc4, when Black must lose either the f or a pawn.

Black is lost, according to Stockfish18 and Dragon1, as I show in my notes to the game.

What is more important is that in the diagram Black has an instructive way to equalise (Stockfish18) or at least be only slightly worse (Dragon1).

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The way to do this is to give up a second pawn by 22...d3!?, the point of the move being to activate Black's bishop.

After 23.exd3, Black does not take on b2 straightaway (if at all!), but instead hits the white queen's rook with 23...Be5.

That effectively forces 24.Rd7, and now 24...Rfd8 25.Rxd8 Rxd8 results in two White pawns being en prise.

White cannot defend both of them, so, after Stockfish18's line, 26.b3 Rxd3 27.Re1 f6, Black has regained one pawn, and has the better coordinated pieces.

Dragon1 suggests 26.Re1 Bxb2 27.Ba6, after which White has a passed pawn, but it is difficult to see how White makes progress following, for example, 27...Bd4.

LESSON: piece activity is hugely important, and can be well worth achieving at the price of a pawn, especially as the pawn may well be regained in short order.

Chess Tip Of The Day 532

Chess patterns will often repeat themselves according to the opening that was employed, which is why playing through complete games with a particular opening will help someone play that opening well.

Nigel Davies, The Rules Of Winning Chess

Championship Chess

THE September issue of Chess magazine has reports on the British championships, held at Warwick University last month.

Chess ... championship edition

One game that particularly caught my attention, and certainly deserves deeper scrutiny, is the following round-three clash, which features a long-term positional piece sacrifice.

Notes in italics are by international master Andrew Ledger.

Syvatoslav Bazakutsa (IM 2579 ECF/2488 Fide) - Kenneth Hobson (FM 2349 ECF/2244 Fide)

Réti

1.c4 e6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.Nf3 d4!?

We get a reversed Benoni, and White will get decent dynamic chances, given that he has the extra move and Black is committed to ...e6.

On the other hand, 4...d4!? is the top choice of Stockfish18 and Dragon1, narrowly ahead of 4...dxc4, while the engines agree the most popular continuation, 4...Be7, leaves White slightly better, or at least with the better part of equality, after 5.d4 or 5.0-0.

5.0-0 c5 6.e3 Nc6

This position occurs 1,929 times in ChessBase's 2026 Mega database, and is equal, according to the engines

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7.d3 h6!?

7...Bd6 is most common, although as this is usually met by 8.exd4 cxd4 9.Bg5, you can see the point of ...h6.

8.exd4 cxd4 9.Bf4 Nd7!?

Challenging White's dark-square bishop with 9...Bd6 looks much more natural, but the engines rate the two moves as more-or-less equivalent.

10.Re1 g5!?

An aggressive attempt to stir things up.

11.Be5

I'd be nervous about committing my bishop to e5, but Bazakutsa, quite rightly, has no such fears.

11...Rh7!?

After 11...N(either)xe5 12.Nxe5 Nxe5 13.Rxe5, Black has the bishop-pair, but White is ahead on development, and it is unclear where the black king will find a safe haven.

How should White proceed?

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12.Bxd4!!

This appears to be a novelty, initiating a long-term piece sacrifice, relying on Black's lack of coordination and development.

I am sure the text would not have seriously crossed the mind of most players, but it is engine-approved, and may well have been preparation. The known continuation is g4 but, as AL points out, it "looks pretty ropey after simply 12...h5."

12...g4

Black has to accept the piece sacrifice, as otherwise White is winning, according to the engines.

13.Bc3 gxf3 14.Bxf3 Bg7

How would you assess the coming middlegame?

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White has two pawns for a knight, which, materially, is clearly not enough, and has a slight lead in development. But the main factor is surely the plight of the black king, which will struggle to reach the queenside, and is unlikely to be very safe in the centre or on the kingside. The engines give White a slight edge.

15.d4 Kf8!

Bearing in mind White's threatened 16.d5, this is the only move to stay in the game, according to the engines.

16.Na3!? Kg8 17.Nb5 a6?!

Black has defended well up to this point, but this looks wrong, sending the knight to where it wants to go. 17...Ne7 looks better, and the engine [unspecified] assesses it as close to equal.

18.Nd6 Bf8?

The engines give 18...Qf8!?, but award White the upper hand.

19.d5!

Really strong.

19...Nce5

19...Bxd6!? looks catastrophic for Black after 20.cxd6, but the engines reckon it is not much inferior to the text, which shows how bad Black's position already is.

20.dxe6 Bxd6 21.Be4!

Excellent play, following up with all the best moves. White will soon start to recoup material.

He needs to - Black has two knights for three pawns!

21...Qf8 22.exd7 Nxd7 23.Bxh7+ Kxh7

The position has clarified somewhat, leaving White with rook and two pawns for bishop and knight

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Often two pieces are well worth a rook and two pawns, but not here - Black's position is a wreck, with a weak king and far behind in development.

24.Qd3+ Kg8 25.Rad1 Bb4!? 26.Bxb4 Qxb4 27.Qd4 Qf8!?

The engines reckon there is nothing better.

28.Qg4+ Kh8 29.Rxd7

The rest is pretty easy.

29...Bxd7 30.Qxd7 Qb4

It is KH's misfortune that, being 'only' two pawns down, he probably feels compelled to play on in the hope a swindle will somehow appear, and it may be his opponent is short of time

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31.Re7 Qxb2 32.Rxf7 Qb1+ 33.Kg2 Qe4+ 34.Kh3!? Qg6 35.Qxb7 Re8 36.Rf4 h5 37.Kg2 Kg8!? 38.Qd5+ Re6 39.h4 Kh7 40.Rf5 1-0

It is said that only when you become really good do you realise how really bad you are. Alas, I am fairly certain I am one of those players for whom 12.Bxd4!! would not have been a candidate move.

Lessons From Bad Bertrich IV

MY round-four game, in which I was White against Joachim Hiller (1879), featured an instructive moment in the opening, an Exchange Variation of the Spanish.

I have just played 10.Bc1-f4, and it is up to Black to decide what to do about the attacked c7 pawn

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As is well known, White in the Spanish Exchange gives up the bishop-pair in order to obtain the superior pawn-structure.

White gets a healthy 4-3 kingside majority, from which a passed pawn can be made with normal play, while Black gets a damaged 4-3 queenside majority, which will not produce a passed pawn with normal play, unless White gets careless.

In the diagram position, Black has three plausible ways of saving c7: (i) by castling, (ii) by defending the pawn with the dark-square bishop, (iii) by advancing the pawn.

I suspect most players would pretty quickly dismiss 10...c6 as not helping development, as well as weakening Black on the b8-h2 diagonal, including the square d6.

The overwhelmingly most popular choice in ChessBase's 2026 Mega database is 10...0-0-0, which not only defends the pawn, but gets the king to safety, and develops the rook - three good things for the price of one!

However, I was surprised 10...Bd6 appears only once in Mega26.

After 11.Bxd6 cxd6, Black no longer has the bishop-pair, but also no longer has doubled pawns. However, Black has also contracted a backward pawn on a half-open file.

The engines very much disapprove of 10...Bd6.

Part of the reason, no doubt, is the backward pawn, but there is also the fact that engines rate the bishop-pair as more than cancelling out the disadvantage of having doubled pawns - indeed, engines are not keen on White playing the Spanish Exchange from the get-go.

The move 4.Bxc6 sees Stockfish18 and Dragon1 drop their evaluation of the opening from slightly better for White to a game with equal chances.

Garry Kasparov might well agree, as I recall a John Watson review for The Week In Chess in which he quotes Kasparov as joking that "the bishop is always better than the knight!"

LESSON: the bishop-pair is a major factor in chess, and should not be given up without very good cause.

Chess Tip of The Day 531

Whether you are a new advocate or a seasoned exponent of the English, you will inevitably enhance your understanding by studying complete games, which demonstrate how ideas in the opening are continued into the middlegame and endgame.

Nigel Povah, How To Play The English Opening

Lessons From Bad Bertrich III

THERE is a fairly well-established hierarchy when it comes to the drawishness of endings.

At the top, and by a considerable distance, are endings with opposite-colour bishops.

Next come rook-and-pawn endings, their drawing tendencies illustrated by the aphorism, usually attributed to Tarrasch or Tartakower, that "all rook endgames are drawn."

Third in the drawishness stakes are queen endings, thanks to the danger of the weaker side escaping defeat with perpetual check.

After that the hierarchy becomes somewhat murky, but I would suggest the list continues with same-colour bishop endings, followed by knight endings, and finally pawn endings (note I am only listing endings where both sides have the same pieces, ie leaving out, for example, rook versus bishop and knight).

All of this is a preamble to the strange finish in my round-three game, where I was Black against Børge Svanholm (1871).

The following rook-and-pawn ending was reached after White's 27th move.

White has just captured on d8, leaving a commonly occurring rook-and-pawn ending in which material is level, but one player has a farside passed pawn

Such positions are normally quickly agreed drawn at high levels, and often at club level too.

However, if the game continues, the normal procedure is that the player with the passed pawn - in this case White - protects it from the front, and advances the pawn to the seventh rank, while the black rook keeps an eye on the pawn from behind.

There are two dangers for Black to avoid, once the pawn has reached White's seventh.

One is to carelessly put the black king in such a position on Black's third rank, or higher, that it can be checked by the white rook, allowing the a pawn to be advanced on the next move.

The other is to let the white king get over to the queenside to safely help promote the pawn, although this is a risky business if it means Black mops up White's kingside pawns.

But if White tries nothing, and Black does not get careless, the game is inevitably drawn.

Here is the position seven moves after the previous diagram

Material is still level, and the ending is still completely drawn. Indeed, the ending would be a tablebase draw even if the h pawn were removed from the board.

Six moves later, the h pawn was removed from the board after Black in this position played 40...Rxh5

The Syzygy endgame tablebase confirms that the position is still drawn, and would remain so after any move by the white rook along the back rank.

Instead, my opponent committed the cardinal sin of leaving a drawn rook-and-pawn ending for a lost pawn ending by playing 41.Rxh5+, resigning 10 moves later.

LESSON: unless you have no other option, never swop off into a pawn ending unless you are certain of the outcome.

Chess Tip Of The Day 530

In endings with bishops of opposite colour, material means NOTHING, position EVERYTHING.

Cecil Purdy, On The Endgame

Lessons From Bad Bertrich II

MY round-two game, in which I was White against Wolf Ebert (1725), was a French Defence that began 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3.

A position familiar to every tournament player, even if it has not appeared in one of their games

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The position occurs 239,392 times in ChessBase's 2026 Mega database, with the most popular continuations being 3...dxe4 (27,031 games), 3...Nf6 (94,362) and 3...Bb4 (106,481).

Geoffrey Stern (1931, Luxembourg) told me later that, although he had played the French for many years, my opponent's continuation was one that GS had never even considered playing.

The move my opponent played was 3...Ne7!?, which frankly looks rather silly at first, but appears 251 times in Mega26.

One of my first thoughts was to reply 4.Be3, to make it difficult for Black to get in ...c5. But then one of the points of my opponent's move becomes apparent, as he can play 4...dxe4 5.Nxe4 Nf5, with ...Nxe3 to come, when Black at least has the bishop-pair for his trouble.

I finally settled on 4.Bd3, which is reasonable enough, but the commonest continuation in Mega26, and the top choice of Stockfish18 and Dragon1, is 4.Nf3.

(Note that a move such as 3...Ne7!?, no matter how awful it may look, cannot be refuted out of hand - there is no tactical blow to punish Black.)

After 4.Nf3, the engines for quite some time completely disagree as to how Black should continue, but eventually agree that best is 4...Nbc6!?

This may look odd, but a knight on c6 is well-placed to harass a white bishop on d3 (by continuing ...Nb4) and may support a later ...e5.

After 4...Nbc6!?, the continuation 5.Bd3 scores a disappointing 47% in Mega26, but 5.e5, ensuring Black cannot play ...e5 in the foreseeable future, rings up a much more satisfactory 61%.

Black can attack the head of the pawn chain with 5...f6 - Nimzowitsch might have disapproved - when the relatively high-level game, Yunguo Wan (2471) - Ngoc Truong Son Nguyen (2579), PGMA Cup (Manilia, Philippines) 2008, continued 6.exf6 gxf6 7.Nh4!? Ng6?! (the engines reckon 7...Bg7 improves) 8.Qh5 Ne7 9.Nxg6 Nxg6 10.Bd3 f5 11.Bg5 Be7 12.h4 Qd6 13.0-0-0 Bd714.Bxe7 Kxe7! (14...Qxe7 15.Nxd5!) 15.g3 Rag8, when the engines agree White has at least the upper hand, but the game was drawn after 41 moves.

A later game, but also at quite a high level, Axel Delorme (2495) - Aleks Sahakyan (2243), Chess.com Blitz 2023, varied with 7.Bd3. There followed 7...a6!? 8.Bf4 Ng6 9.Bg3 Bd6 10.Qe2 Nb4!? 11.0-0-0 Nxd3 12.Rxd3 Nf4!? 13.Bxf4 Bxf4+14.Kb1, with a slight edge for White, according to the engines (but 0-1, 49 moves).

LESSON: following established theory is often be safe and reliable, if a little predictable, but striking out on one's own, even with a move that may cause 'superior' players to smile or wince, can be invigorating, and may bring surprising success if the move is played with specific worked-out ideas in mind.

Chess Tip Of The Day 529

It's better not to change entire lines or systems, but to tinker a bit so as to make one less predictable, while retaining the knowledge of the ideas behind the lines.

Junior Tay, Chess magazine

Lessons From Bad Bertrich

I CAN recall reading an article by Cecil Purdy, the first chess world correspondence champion, in which he stated that, though it is hard to believe, novices can struggle with mate-in-one problems.

It is easy to laugh at such difficulties, but I suppose the equivalent among experienced players would be to miss a mate-in-two.

Unfortunately, that happened to me in the 50+ at Bad Bertrich in game one, in which I was Black against Jürgen Dieter (1769).

The critical position arose after White's 40th move

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Knowing something is on, it is not difficult to find 40...Rb3+! 41.axb3 Rxb3#.

The situation of the white king, and specifically its inability to retreat, is a little unusual, but hardly unprecedented.

I have preached in previous blogs about how I try to follow a mantra, Captures-Checks-Hangers-Threats, at every move.

This entails firstly looking at every possible capture, not matter how apparently absurd, followed by looking at every possible check, again no matter how foolish-looking.

I am then supposed to look at hangers, ie pieces and pawns that are not protected, and so are 'hanging' or 'loose'. If a player has two or more, a forking combination may be in the air.

And finally I look at threats, eg a minor piece that can 'hit' the opponent's queen, or a pawn advancing against a piece short of squares, or a move lining up a checkmate.

The mantra takes longer to explain that it usually takes to carry out - most possible captures, for example, can be dismissed at once as of poor value, and lots of possible checks are either pointless or downright harmful to the checking side.

But if, in the diagrammed position, I had seriously considered, just for a moment, ...Rb3+, I would surely have seen that it was by no means as ridiculous as it might appear at first sight.

LESSON: there is no point in having a mantra if you do not use it.

Chess Tip Of The Day 528

A growing trend in modern chess is to know as many different openings as possible, making it harder for opponents to prepare.

Simon Williams, Chess magazine

Summing Up Bad Bertrich 50+

Carving - Falkenlay

My score of +5=3-1 gained 35.4 Fide elo. I finished equal 3rd-4th, but was placed third on tiebreak (average rating of opponents), winning 150 euros (fourth won 120 euros).

Chess Tip Of The Day 527

Knights and bishops are normally the most important pieces in the middlegame. The reason is simple: rooks and queens are more susceptible to incoming fire than minor pieces.

Jacob Aagaard, Excelling At Positional Chess

Bad Bertrich 50+ Game Nine

Heron (or similar)

I was upfloated two points to top board against the No1 seed, an international master who had won his first eight games.

Spanton (1997) - Dieter Pirrot (2321)

French Burn

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4!?

This lags behind 4...Be7 in popularity in ChessBase's 2026 Mega database, but is fashionable, and is preferred by Stockfish18 and Dragon1.

5.Nxe4 Be7 6.Nxf6+!?

The main move in Mega26 is 6.Bxf6, after which Black chooses between 6...Bxf6, which can transpose to the game, and 6...gxf6, when Black keeps the bishop-pair, at the expense of a damaged kingside pawn-structure.

6...Bxf6

6...gxf6!? seems to make less sense now, as Black no longer gains the bishop-pair, but it has been played by grandmasters

7.Bxf6 Qxf6 8.Nf3 0-0 9.Qd3!?

The engines prefer this, marginally, over the much more common 9.Bd3.

9...c5 10.0-0-0!?

This is the point behind 9.Qd3!?

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

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White has a slight lead in development, which may be enough for an edge, although the engines' evaluations fluctuate, with Stockfish18 starting off by giving White a slight edge, whereas at the same moment Dragon1 calls the game completely equal. But slowly the two engines' evaluations converge, and briefly Dragon1 is more fond of White's position than is Stockfish18.

10...Rd8 11.Qe3?!

White has problems after this. Probably best is 11.Qe4, and if, as in the game, 11...Nc6, White has time for 12.Bd3, when Kramnik has tried 12...Nxd4!? 13.Qxh7+ Kf8, but the engines give White at least a slight edge. They prefer 12...Qh6+ 13.Kb1, and either 12...cxd4 or 12...Nxd4, winning a pawn, but with White having good compensation, eg 12...Nxd4 (Stockfish18's top choice) 13.Rhe1!? Rb8!? (apparently a novelty) 14.Nxd4 cxd4 (14...Rxd4? 15.Qe5) 15.Qe5 Bd7 16.Be4 Qf6!? 17.Qxf6 gxf6 18.Rxd4, when White has regained the pawn, and has the better structure.

11...Nc6 12.d5!?

Maksim Chigaev (2632) - Vladimir Kramnik (2753), Chess.com Blitz 2023, went 12.Bd3?! cxd4 13.Qe4 g6 14.Rhe1 Bd7, with the upper hand for Black, according to the engines (0-1, 42 moves).

12...exd5

How should White proceed?

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13.Qxc5

Possibly better is 13.Rxd5!? Be6 (13...Rxd5?? 14.Qe8#) 14.Rxd8+ Rxd8, and now either 15.a3 or 15.Bd3, but in each case the engines reckon Black has at least the better part of equality.

13...Bf5!?

This apparent-novelty, targeting c3, is the top choice of Dragon1, for a while, but it comes to concur with Stockfish18 in preferring the known 13...Bg4, when 14.Be2 Rac8 gave Black an initiative in Aspasia Giaidzi (2360) - Susan Lalić (2320), Athens Scheveningen (Women) 1992 (0-1, 47 moves), and Gyula Mészáros (2419) - Kornél Szalai (2315), Hungarian Team Championship 2006 (1-0, 44 moves).

14.Nd4!

If 14.Bd3, Black has 14...Bg4!?, when White has nothing better than 15.Be2, transferring to the previous note.

14...Nxd4 15.Qxd4 Rac8 16.c3 Qh6+

The engines suggest 16...Qg5+!? 17.f4, and now 17...Qh6, claiming Black is at least slightly better, one point being 18.Bd3 (this is best, according to the engines) can be met by 18...Be4!?, when f4 is hanging, along with g2.

17.Qd2?

White has no problems after 17.Rd2, according to the engines.

Black to play and gain what the engines reckon is a positionally won game

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17...d4?
White does not have a satisfactory answer to 17...Qg6!, according to the engines, the threat being 18...d4. White can stop this with 18.Qd4, but 18...Bb1 threatens both mate and the a2 pawn. White can stop both of these with 19.Bd3, but 19...Bxd3 20.Qxd3 allows 20...Qxg2, when the half-open g file is not of much use to White, with only heavy pieces on the board. Other queen moves by Black are also better than the text.

18.Qxh6 gxh6 19.Bd3 Be6 20.Bb1

Not 20.Kb1 dxc3 21.bxc3, as Stockfish18 points out the possibility of 21...Rxd3!! 22.Rxd3 Bf5 23.Kc2 Rd8 24.Rhd1 b5, when it is only now Dragon1 sees the danger. The point is that the black rook and bishop are holding all three white pieces in place, meaning Black has a free piece in the shape of the king. A sample line runs 25.Rd1 Kg7 26.Rd2 h5 27.Rd2 h4 28.Rd1 Kh6 29.Rd2 Kg5 30.h3 Be4 31.Rd1 Kf4 f5 32.Rd1 Ke5 33.Rd2 f4 34.f3 Bxd3+ 35.Rxd3 Rxd3 36.Kxd3 Kd5, when Black's reserve tempi make this an easily won pawn ending, eg 37.a3 a5 38.Kd2 Kc4 39.Kc2 a4 etc.

20...b5 21.Rd3 dxc3

If 21...b4, then 22.Rhd1 bxc3 23.bxc3, when both black further captures on c3 lose.

22.Rxd8+ Rxd8 23.bxc3

Who, if anyone, has the advantage in this rook-and-bishop ending?

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Neither side, it seems - the engines call the game completely equal.

23...Bc4

The engines suggest 23...Rc8 or 23...Rb8!?

24.Re1

Both engines are at first are quite enthusiastic about 24.Rd1, but Stockfish18 soon changes its assessment to equal, although Dragon1 persists in awarding White a slight edge.

24...Rd6 25.Re3 Rf6 26.f3 Ra6 27.Kb2 Rd6 28.Kc1 Kg7 29.a3 Ra6 30.Kb2 Rd6 31.Kc1 Ra6 ½–½

Chess Tip Of The Day 526

A pawn advantage in a pawn ending is much easier to realise than one in a bishop or knight ending.

John Emms, Starting Out: Minor Piece Endings

Bad Bertrich 50+ Game Eight ADDENDUM

JOE Skielnik points out that in the line 18...Nxe4 19.fxe4 f5 20.Bxg7+! Kg8!, White is not forced to allow the perpetual that follows 21.Bxf8, and can instead play 21.Bf3!?, giving the following position.

Play should then continue 21...Qxf3+ 22.Qf2, after which best may be 22...Qh1+ 23.Qg1 Qxg1+ 24.Kxg1 Kxg7

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Black is two pawns up, but Stockfish18 and Dragon1 reckon White has full compensation, one line running 25.Nxb6 Rad8 26.Rxd7+ Rxd7 27.Nxd7 Rg8!? 28.exf5 exf5 29.Kf2.

Position after 29.Kf2

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White has three connected pawns against Black's three isolanis, but Black has the better minor piece for working with a rook, especially in an open game with play on both sides of the board.

The position is completely equal, according to the engines, but would be fascinating to play out over the board.

Bad Bertrich 50+ Game Eight

Beaver (I think) preening itself - three days after a wild boar rushed past within 20 yards of where I was walking on a forest track (but I did not even come close to snapping a pic of that animal)

I was downfloated.

Spanton (1997) - Horst Prüsse (2006)

Maróczy Bind

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6 3.c4!?

This is the third-most popular response to the O'Kelly Variation of the Sicilian, behind 3.c3 and especially 3.d4 in ChessBase's 2026 Mega database, but it is the top choice of Stockfish18 and Dragon1.

3...e6 4.Nc3 Qc7!?

This committal move with the queen is easily the commonest continuation in Mega26, and was the choice of Albéric O'Kelly de Galway when he reached the position in 1948, although 15 years later he preferred 4...Nc6 (both games were drawn).

5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 b6!?

This was O'Kelly's choice is the 1948 game, his opponent replying 7.Bd3.

7.Be3 Nc6 8.Rc1!? Nf6

Branko Damljanović (2504) - Igor Miladinović (2536), Serbian Team Championship 2021, went 8...Bb7 9.a3!? Nf6 10.Be2 Bc5 11.b4 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 Bd6!? 13.Qd3 Rc8!? 14.g3 h5!? 15.h4, with at least a slight edge for White, according to the engines (½–½, 37 moves).

9.Be2 Bb4 10.f3 0-0 11.Qd2!? Kh8!? 12.0-0

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

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The opening has been a success for White. Black has not challenged the Maróczy Bind with any of the three classic pawn-breaks, ...b5, ...d5 and ...f5, and White is ahead on development. The engines give White the upper hand.

12...Nxd4 13.Bxd4 Bc5 14.Rfd1 Bb7 15.Na4 Bd6 16.g3?

White has at least the upper hand after both 16.h3 and 16.e5!?, according to the engines, eg 16.e5!? Bxe5 17.Bxe5 Qxe5 18.Nxb6.

16...Bxg3! 17.hxg3 Qxg3+ 18.Kf1

Black to play and (at least) draw

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18...Bxe4?

Correct is 18...Nxe4 19.fxe4 f5 20.Bxg7+! (everything else loses) Kg8! (White wins after 20...Kxg7? 21.Qc3, and is on top after 20...Qxg7?! 21.Qe3!) 21.Bxf8 Qh3+ 22.Kf2 Qh4+ 23.Kf1 (not 23.Ke3? Qxe4+ 24.Kf2 Qg2+ 25.Ke3 Qg3+ 26.Bf3 Qxf3+ 27.Kd4 e5+ 28.Kxe5 Qe4+, when mate follows in short-order) Qh3+ etc.

19.fxe4 Qh3+ 20.Ke1 Nxe4 21.Qf4

Not the only winning move.

21...Qh1+ 22.Qf1 Qh4 23.Bf2

White's king has no pawn cover, but Black's attack is over, and White has emerged with two bishops for four pawns

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23...Qe7 24.Nc3 f5 25.Qg2 d5!?

Seeking to open lines to the white king, or create a big pawn-roller, but only a major blunder can change the outcome.

26.cxd5 exd5 27.Nxd5 Qd6 28.Bd4 Rg8 29.Nc3 Qh6 30.Nxe4 fxe4 31.Rc3 e3!? 32.Bxe3 Qh4+ 33.Bf2 Qb4 34.Rd2 Rad8!? 35.Rxd8 Rxd8 36.Qg5 Re8 37.Qd2 Qe4 38.Re3 Qb1+ 39.Qd1 Qg6 40.Rxe8+ Qxe8 41.Bxb6 1-0

Chess Tip Of The Day 525

Your practical results will improve once you are more willing to sacrifice material - not for attack (we can all do that) but for defensive and psychological reasons.

Jonathan Rowson, Chess For Zebras

Bad Bertrich 50+ Game Seven

Looking down on Bad Bertrich

Michael Hillenbrand (2113) - Spanton (1997)

Réti

1.c4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e3!?

The main continuations in ChessBase's 2026 Mega database are 3.d4 and especially 3.g3, but the text is a fashionable alternative, one of the points being it prevents 3...d4.

3...Nf6

3...c5 renews the 'threat' of playing ...d4, so White usually continues with 4.d4 or 4.cxd5 exd5 5.d4, in both cases with equal chances, according to Stockfish18 and Dragon1.

4.b3!?

This is easily the most popular move in Mega26.

4...Bd6!?

The bishop more often goes to e7.

5.Bb2 0-0 6.g3!? b6!?

The engines prefer 6...dxc4!? or 6...Nc6!?

7.Bg2 Bb7 8.0-0

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

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The position occurs 39 times in Mega26, including eight games in which Nakamura was White. His score from the diagram is +5=2-1, but, according to the engines, White has no more than the better part of equality.

8...Nbd7 9.d4

Nakamura has played this, but also Qe2, cxd5 and d3.

9...c5!?

This may be slightly premature. The engines suggest 9...dxc4!? 10.bxc4, and now 10...c5.

10.cxd5 Bxd5

The engines agree this is better than 10...exd5.

11.Nc3 Bc6!?

Keeping a watch on the b5 square, but the engines prefer the conventional retreat 11...Bb7.

12.Qe2 Ne4!?

Black should probably play 12...cxd4, obliging White to accept an IQP or to allow an exchange of light-square bishops.

How should White proceed?

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13.dxc5

Stockfish18 gives on 13.Rad1 Qe7 14.Qd3 Nxc3 15.Bxc3 Bxf3!? 16.Bxf3, claiming a slight edge for White. Taking on f3 looks strange, but if, say, 15...Rfd8, White has 16.Ng5! Qxg5 17.Bxc6, gaining the bishop-pair anyway.

Dragon1 suggests 13.Nb5 Bb7 (13...Bb8? 14.Nd2) 14.Rfd1 a6 15.Na3!?, also claiming a slight edge for White.

13...Nxc3 14.Bxc3 Bxc5

The engines prefer 14...Nxc5.

15.Rfd1 Qe7 16.Rac1 Rac8 17.Nd4!?

The engines give 17.b4!?, one point being 17...Bxb4?! runs into 18.Bxb4 Qxb4 19.Rxc6! Rxc6 20.Rxd7, although this is not as strong as it first appears, as Black has 20...Qb1+ followed by ...Rc2.

17...Bxg2 18.Kxg2 Nf6 19.Qf3 Nd5

One line given by the engines runs 19...e5!? 20.Nf5 Qe6, with roughly equal chances.

What should White play?

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20.Nf5!?

This is Dragon1's top choice; Stockfish18 prefers 20.Bb2.

20...exf5 21.Qxd5

The engines slightly prefer 21.Rxd5.

21...Ba3 22.Rc2 Rfd8

What would you play as White?

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23.Qf3?

Contrary to first impressions, perhaps, White is at least equal in the diagram position, thanks to Black having back-rank mating problems. Best play, according to the engines, runs 23.Qe5! (23.Ba1!? is also fine) Qxe5 24.Bxe5 f6 25.Ba1 Rxc2 (the engines also like 25...Bc5) 26.Rxd8+ Bf8 27.a4, with complete equality, according to Stockfish18, although Dragon1 gives White a slight edge.

23...Rxd1 24.Qxd1 Qe4+

The immediate 24...Bb4 may be even stronger.

25.Kg1

How should Black proceed?

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25...h6

White is off the hook after 25...Bb4? 26.Rc1, and if 26...Ba3, then 27.Bb2!? or 27.Qd7.

26.Qd7

There is nothing better, eg 26.Qd2 is met by 26...Bb4.

26...Rc5 27.Qd8+?!

Objectively better is 27.Qd4 Qxd4 28.exd4 Rc8 29.d5!, when 29...Bb4?! 30.d6 Bxd6 31.Rd2 Rc6 leaves Black a doubled pawn up, and winning, according to the engines, but stronger is 29...f4!, eg 30.gxf4 Bd6 31.Kg2 b5 32.a3 Bxf4 33.d6 Bxd6 34.Rd2 Bxa3, with a two-pawn advantage, or 30.Kf1!? Bb4 31.d6 Bxd6 32.Rd2 Rxc3 33.Rxd6 Rc2 34.Rd8+ Kh7 35.gxf4 Rxa2, when Black is a pawn up, and all of White's pawns are isolated.

While the text is objectively weaker, keeping queens on gives Black more chance to go wrong.

27...Kh7 28.Bxg7 Kxg7 29.Rxc5 Bxc5

How large is Black's advantage in this ending?

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Black's kingside pawns are weak, but Black is up bishop for pawn, and has an advantage worth comfortably more than a minor piece, according to the engines.

30.Qd7 a5 31.Qd1 Kg6 32.Qe2 Qd5 33.Qc2 Qf3 34.Qd3 Qe4 35.Qe2 Qe5 36.Kg2 Qd5+ 37.Kg1 Bb4 38.Qb2 Qd2 39.Qh8 Qc3 40.Qg8+ Qg7 41.Qd8 Bc5 42.Kg2 Qf6 43.Qg8+ Qg7 44.Qd8 Kh7

Black has not made much progress after much manoeuvring, but also has not jettisoned a pawn, or otherwise reduced the winning chances

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45.Qd7 Qg6 46.Qd3!? f4!? 47.e4 h5 48.Qf3 Bd6 49.Kf1 Kh6 50.Qd3 Qf6 51.Kg2 Be5 52.Kg1 Qc6 53.Qe2 Qc5 54.Kg2 Qd4 55.Qf3 Qd6 56.Qe2 Qf6 57.Qd3 Qg5 58.Qd7 Kg7 59.Qd1 h4

At last I felt able to move in for the kill

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60.Qf3 Kg6 61.Qd3

61.g4 possibly holds out longer, but makes little difference to the engines' assessment of the position.

61...Qh5 62.Qd7 h3+!? 63.Kf1

Not 63.Qxh3? f3+.

63...fxg3 64.hxg3 h2 65.Qf5+ Qxf5 66.exf5+ Kxf5 67.Kg2 Ke4 0-1