Lessons From Bischofsgrün

IN round one of the senior (55+) championship of Upper Franconia, my opponent, Hartmut Kumeth (1784), laid down his marker as early as move two when he followed 1.Nf3 c5 with 2.c3!?

As I pointed out in my notes to the game, 2.c3!? is not extremely rare (the position occurs 1,577 times in ChessBase's 2026 Mega database) and the move has been played by many top grandmasters.

It is also true that White can afford more leeway in the opening than Black before falling into serious trouble.

But by move seven, the following position had been reached.

White has just played 7.Be2, and is yet to advance anything to the fourth rank

Indeed, by playing 7...e4, I was first to occupy White's fourth rank.

It was not until move 12 that White finally, if briefly, reached his fourth rank by playing 12.dxe4.

I recaptured with the d pawn, so again White had nothing beyond the third rank

It was not until move 18 that White actually established something on the fourth.

White has just played 18.c3-c4

I do not think many players will be surprised to learn that Stockfish18 and Dragon1 reckon Black has a won game.

Indeed White only lasted another four moves.

LESSON: space in chess is important. If you are cramped, and have no compensation, such as pressure against the opponent's centre, you may well be lost.

Bischofsgrün Round One

Hartmut Kumeth (1784) - Spanton (1951)

1.Nf3 Irregular

1.Nf3 c5 2.c3!?

This position goes back to at least 1925, occurs 1,577 times in ChessBase's 2026 Mega database, and has been played, as White, by Barcza, Stahlberg, Keene, Hort, Ivanchuk, Conquest, Harikrishna, Rapport, Aronian, Short, So and Carlsen

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Most of those players have had decent results with it, so what is going on? Presumably one of the main points of 2.c3!? is that a later d4 cxd4 can be met by cxd4, keeping two pawns in the centre. The text also opens the d1-a4 diagonal, although it is too early to know whether that will prove useful. However, for what it is worth, after 2.c3!?, Stockfish18 and Dragon1 reckon Black has completely equalised.

2...d5 3.e3!?

Another strange-looking move, but it is the top choice of the engines, along with 3.d4.

3...Nf6 4.b3!? Nc6 5.Bb2

The first move of White's I managed to predict, and it is the first move not in Mega26. Alexandr Fier (2499) - José Fernando Cubas (2447), Mário Covas (Santos, Brazil) 2007, went 5.Bb5 Qb6 6.c4 a6 7.Ba4 Bd7 8.0-0, with equal chances, according to the engines (1-0, 32 moves).

5...e5 6.d3

It is too late for d4, according to the engines, which reckon 6...cxd4 gives Black at least the upper hand after both 7.exd4 e4 and 7.cxd4 Bb4+ 8.Nbd2 (8.Bc3 Qa5) exd4 9.exd4 Ne4.

6...Bd6 7.Be2 e4 8.Nfd2 0-0 9.Na3?!

The engines strongly dislike this, preferring 9.dxe4 dxe4 10.Nc4 Bc7 11.Qxd8 Rxd8 12.h3, although they agree that leaves Black with at least a slight edge.

How should Black proceed?

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9...Bf5

Best, according to the engines, is 9...exd3 10.Bxd3 Qe7, threatening to win a piece with ...c4. A sample line runs 11.Nc2 Ne5 12.Be2 Bf5, when Black is ahead in space and development.

10.Nf1?!

Falling further behind in development. However, after 10.dxe4 Nxe4!? 11.Nxe4 Bxe4 the engines reckon Black has a positionally won game.

10...Qe7

Threatening to win a piece with 11...exd3 12.Bxd3 Bxd3 13.Qxd3 c4. But even stronger, according to the engines, is 10...exd3 11.Bxd3 Bxd3 12.Qxd3 c4!? 13.bxc4 Ne5.

11.Nc2 Ne5 12.dxe4 dxe4 13.Ng3 Bg6 14.0-0

Now both sides have castled, how large is Black's advantage?

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Black's extra space and more-active development add up to an advantage worth nearer a rook than a minor piece, according to the engines.

14...Rad8 15.Qb1!?

The engines reckon 15.Qc1 is a tad better.

15...h5 16.Rfd1

Not 16.h4? Nfg4 etc.

16...h4 17.Nf1 Nfg4 18.c4

Possibly better is 18.h3, although the engines reckon 18...f5!? is a strong reply.

18...Qg5 19.Rd5

This is the engines' second choice, at least for a while, but their main line runs 19.Bxg4 Qxg4 20.h3 Qe2!? with a large advantage, eg 21.Rd2 runs into 21...Nf3+! 22.gxf3 Bh2+!, when 23.Kxh2 Rxd2 24.Nxd2 Qxf2+ 25.Kh1 exf3 26.Qf1 Qxd2 results in Black regaining the sacrificed piece, with a two-pawn advantage. That is not by any means an easy line to see in advance, but even without 20...Qe2!? Black has a substantial edge.

19...Nf6 20.Qd1?!

White should probably just give up the exchange, albeit with no compensation.

20...Nxd5 21.Qxd5

21.cxd5 is not necessarily any better, according to the engines.

21...Nf3+ 22.Bxf3 Bxh2+!? 0-1

After 23.Nxh2 Rxd5 24.cxd5 exf3 25.Nxf3 Qxd5 Black has queen and pawn for two knights.