Middlegame Lessons From Basel IV

Black has just played 30...Bb7-e4 and offered a draw in Spanton (1814) - Maximilian Ponomarev (2017), Basel Round 4. Was I right to accept his offer?

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The white knight is hanging, so 31.fxe4?! Qxe5 32.exf5 Qxe3+ 33.Rxe3 exf5 is nothing for White after, say, 34.Rc3 Rd5. But note Black must avoid 31...Rxe4?? 32.Qc3.

Saving the knight with 31.Nd3!? allows 31...Bxd3 32.Qxe6+ Kg7 33.Qe8! (better than immediately capturing on d3) Be4! 34.fxe4 f4! 35.Rf1 Rd8 36.Qe6 fxg3 37.Qf6+ Kg8 38.h4, a complicated line that the engines reckon is equal. Note that in this variation 33...Qd8, which the engines give at first, runs into 34.Re7+ Kh6 35.Qf7 Qh8 36.cxd3 Rxd3 37.Kf1, when the better-coordinated white pieces are enough for an advantage, according to the engines.

However, White seems to be much better after 31.c3. I am fairly sure I rejected it because of 31...Ra4?, but the engines point out that 32.Rd1 allows a winning exploitation of Black's weak king (33.Rd7 cannot be prevented without large material loss). The engines reckon the best reply to 31.c3 is 31...Rd5, but then 32.Nxg6 hxg6 33.fxe4 leaves White much better, eg 33...Re5 34.Qh6 Qg7 35.Qxg7+ Kxg7 36.Kf2 fxe4 37.Ke3.

Middlegame Lessons From Basel III

White has just played 14.Bf4-d2 in Jeremias Stark (1599) - Spanton (1814), Basel Round 3

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Black has to move the queen, but to where? The candidate moves, in my opinion, are 14...Qh5, 14...Qe5, 14...Qc7 and 14...Qa6, and here I want to deal with them in turn.

A) 14...Qh5

This comes to be, at least for a while, the second choice of the analysis engines Stockfish14 and Komodo12.1.1. The queen is actively placed on h5. But the activity of the black pieces, including a rook that will soon come to the half-open b file, is easier to direct against the white queenside, so it makes sense to place the black queen where it can add to this pressure.

B) 14...Qe5

A queen in the middle of the board in the middlegame is powerful if it cannot be molested, but is often subject to harassment. The latter looks more likely here, but it is not clear such harassment is beneficial to White. For example, 15.f4?? is a gross blunder thanks to 15...Qd4+, while 15.Bc3 Qf4 (or 15...Qh5) 16.Bxg7 Kxg7 leaves Black without his fianchettoed bishop but with the better remaining-bishop and with exploitable dark-square weaknesses in the white position. The engines reckon the best answer to 14...Qe5 is 15.Kh1, with what they rate as approximate equality.

C) 14...Qc7

This is what I played. The queen remains on the queenside but is not very active. The engines reckon Black has, at best, a slight edge.

D) 14...Qa6

General principles in chess are often a useful guide to finding good moves, but many times two general principles clash. Here 14...Qa6 runs contrary to the general principle of not placing the queen in the firing line of a weaker piece, but conforms with the general principle of pinning enemy men (in this case the c4 pawn). I rejected 14...Qa6 because of 15.Qc2?!, missing that 15...Nb6 costs White a pawn, eg 16.Nxb6 Qxb6+ and 17...Qxb2. Note that in this line 16.c5? loses to 16...Qxa4 17.cxb6 Qxc2 18.Bxc2 Bxb2 19.Rab1 Bd4+. The engines reckon the best answer to 14...Qa6 is 15.b3!?, when Black can probably accept the exchange, but is also much better, according to the engines, after the simple 15...Nb6.

In conclusion, it seems 14...Qa6 is best.

Middlegame Lessons From Basel II

White is two pawns down in Spanton (1814) - Anuar Tureshbayev (-), Basel Round 2, but can conjure up a strong attack by finding the right move

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24.Rd6?

Black gets a large advantage after this with the game continuation 24...Bf5.

White needed to find 24.Bd3!, according to the analysis engines Stockfish14 and Komodo12.1.1. The first point is 24...exd4? allows a draw by 25.Bh7+ Kh8 26.Bg6+ Kg8 27.Bh7+ etc. Also drawing is 24...g6? 25.Qh6 exd4 (only move) 26.Bxg6 fxg6 27.Qxg6+ etc. That leaves 24...Rfe8, when 25.Bc4! Be6 26.Bxe6 fxe6 27.R4d3 is only slightly better for Black, according to the engines.

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White is still two pawns down, but can equalise by finding the right move

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The game saw the hopeless retreat 28.Nf3?, but the engines point out 28.Bxf7+! Bxf7 28.Qh8+ Kxh8 29.Nxf7+ and 30.Nxd8.

Middlegame Lessons From Basel

White has just played 15.Bg6-e4 in Cyrill Speiser (1320) - Spanton (1814), Basel Round 1

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White is a pawn up and winning, according to Stockfish14; has a slight edge, according to Komodo12.1.1.

The fact that two strong engines can disagree to such a large extent suggests this is not an easy middlegame to judge.

However, given enough time, Stockfish14 comes to reduce White's advantage to 'only' having the upper hand (+1.28 pawns, compared with Komodo12.1.1's +0.52 pawns).

Grandmaster Nigel Davies states that the No1 factor in chess is king safety, and here White is much better situated. White's pieces are also more active.

The number of pawn-islands is equal, but clearly Black's pawn-structure is superior, which could be a significant factor in any ending.

So what should Black play?

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15...Be6

This is Komodo12.1.1's choice, but Stockfish14 may well be right in preferring 15...Qg7!? After 16.Qxg7+ Kxg7 both engines reckon White has the upper hand, but Black has time to complete development and try to start manoeuvring against the white queenside pawns. Of course swopping queens reduces the chance of a tactical coup, but, for reasons explained above, the tactical situation in the diagram favours White (there was also the psychological consideration that CS is a junior, and it rarely hurts to get queens off against juniors). However, White is not forced to exchange queens - 16.Qe3 keeps an edge.

16.0-0

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16...Kh8?

Trying for a kingside attack, but the attempt is unrealistic. Again ...Qg7 is sensible.

17.Nh4 Kg8

Forced, thanks to the threat of Ng6+, so 16...Kh8? has wasted two tempi in what was already a bad position.

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Can White avoid an exchange of queens by retreating to h5?

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Yes, as 19...Bg4? fails to 20.Bxh7+!

However, Black can play 19...Qf7, when either queens come off or the white queen has to retreat from the vicinity of the black king.

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Can Black grab the undefended a2 pawn?

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20...Bxa2?! runs into 21.Nf5+, when 21...Kg8? 22.Rd7 is the start of a massacre, so Black has to play 21...Kh8, when 22.Nd6 is unpleasant, the engines continuing 22...Na5!? 23.Ra1 Nc4 24.fxe5 fxe5 25.Nf7+!? Kg7 26.Bxb7 - a sharp line, but all variations seem good for White.

The engines reckon the best move in the diagram is 20...Rad8, when they agree White is better but disagree as to how to proceed.

Endgame Lesson From Basel

ONLY one of my five games at Basel reached an ending, but it is quite instructive.

Position after a black capture on c4 in Jeremias Stark (1599) - Spanton (1814)

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Black is a pawn up and has two protected passed pawns. But this is a rook-and-pawn ending, and White has compensation in the shape of an outside passed pawn, a juicy square at e6 and targets at e7 and h6. Nevertheless the analysis engines Stockfish14 and Komodo12.1.1 reckon Black is clearly winning.

45.a3

It makes sense to get the passed pawn off the same rank as the king, and the move gives White the option of following up with Ra2 or Re6. Note that 45.Kg3?! Rc3+ 46.Kg2 Ra3 helps Black.

45...h5?!

A radical and unnecessarily complicating way of dealing with the weakness at h6. Black is still much better after the text, but simpler is 45...d5, not least because 46.Re6 d4 starts a race White cannot win.

46.gxh5 Rf4?

White gets drawing chances after this. The engines reckon 46...Rh4 leaves Black in control.

47.Kg3?

Much better is 47.h6 Rh4 48.Re6, although after 48...c4 Black has the upper hand, according to Stockfish14; just a slight edge, according to Komodo12.1.1. Note that 47...Rxf5? runs into 48.h7 Kg7 49.Rxe6+, although Black has a draw after 49...Kh8, according to the engines.

47...Rxf5?!

More clear-cut is 47...Rh4.

48.Rf2!?

Stockfish14 reckons this is best, but it seems pointless in that the pawn-ending is winning for Black despite White having passed pawns on the a and h files. Komodo12.1.1 wavers between the text and 48.h6, although the latter is easily met by 48...Rf6.

Perhaps the best practical chance is 48.a4!?, when the engines reckon only 48...d5 maintains Black's advantage.

48...e6 49.Rxf5+?

The pawn-ending is lost, so White should have tried pushing the a pawn or relocating the rook.

49...exf5 50.h4?!

This comes to be Komodo12.1.1's choice, at least for a while, but it makes Black's task easy. A better practical try is 50.a4, but 50...c4 wins after 51.a5 c3 52.a6 c2 53.a7 c1=Q 54.a8=Q Qg1+ 55.Qg2 (55.Kf3 Qh1+) Qxg2 56.Kxg2 and after 51.Kf2 c3 52.Ke2 f4 53.a5 (what else?) f3+ etc.

50...gxh4+ 51.Kxh4 c4 (1-0, 58 moves).

Opening Lessons From Basel V

IN round five I had black against Steve Heron from Liechtenstein, who is 11 or 12 and has a Fide rating of 1580.

Sicilian Accelerated Dragon

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nb3!?

There are eight more-popular moves in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database, but the text has been played by grandmasters. The idea, normally, is to inhibit Black's thematic Accelerated pawn-thrust ...d5.

5...Bg7 6.Bd3?!

But this puts ...d5 back on the agenda. Normal is 6.Be2, while 6.Nc3 allows the controversial 6...Bxc3+!?

6...Nf6 7.Nc3 d5

There are 50 examples of 7...0-0 in Mega21 and just five of 7...d5, but Kjetil A Lie (2493), the strongest player to reach the position after 7.Nc3, chose the thematic text.

8.0-0 0-0

Komodo12.1.1 narrowly prefers 8...d4, but Stockfish13 likes castling.

9.Re1 e5

Both engines like 9...d4.

10.Bg5 d4 11.Nd5 Be6 12.Nxf6+ Bxf6 13.Bxf6 Qxf6

Position after Black has connected rooks

It might be thought White is doing well as Black's fianchettoed bishop has been exchanged, but White has few prospects of exploiting the holes around the black king. Meanwhile Black has more space in the centre and the more-active bishop. The engines agree Black is better.

Opening Lessons from Basel IV

IN round four I had white against Maximilian Ponamarev from Germany, who is 15 or 16 and has a Fide rating of 2017.

Sicilian ...e6

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 Nc6 4.Bg2 g6?!

This has been played by many grandmasters, including Svidler, Kamsky and Liberzon, but is probably a mistake, as I hope to show.

The main move in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database is 4...Nf6, when the main line continues 5.Qe2 d5 6.exd5 Nxd5 7.0-0 Be7 8.Rd1, when Komodo12.1.1 reckons White has a slight edge, but Stockfish13 is less sure.

5.d4

It is easy for Black to carelessly forget White still has this option even though it was not exercised at move three.

5...cxd4

This is the main move, but Svidler has also tried 5...d5, when 6.exd5 exd5 7.0-0 cxd4 8.Nxd4 was nice for White in Mihail Kobalia (2614) Peter Svidler (2723), Chess.com Blitz 2020 (1-0, 43 moves).

6.Nxd4 Bg7

This natural-looking move is the engines' choice but, after White's reply, Black is in big trouble.

Eliezer Malzman (-) - Vladimir Liberzon (2555), Israeli Championship (Tel Aviv) 1978, saw 6...a6 7.0-0 Bg7 8.c3!? (8.Be3 seems better) Nge7, when Malzman played the surely too-slow 9.Ne2 and drew, but the engines reckon White has the upper hand after 9.Be3 or 9.Nxc6.

Svidler chose 6...Qb6!? in a 2012 blitz win against Magnus Carlsen, but the engines' reckon the latter's reply 7.Nxc6?! throws away much of White's advantage. Instead they like the much more popular 7.Nb3, when Stockfish13 rates the white position as already positionally won, although Komodo12.1.1 'only' gives White the upper hand.

7.Nb5

Taking advantage of the holes in Black's set-up.

7...Nf6?

Most popular in Mega21 is 7...Qa5+?! 8.N1c3 Bxc3+?! 9.Nxc3, but the engines strongly dislike the whole concept (an old rule-of-thumb says that when you have a bad bishop, you should not swop off your good one).

The engines reckon Black's best chance lies in sacrificing a pawn with 7...d5!? 8.exd5 exd5 9.Qxd5 Qe7+ 10.Qe4 Be6, but agree White is better (much better, according to Stockfish13).

8.Nd6+

This is good enough to cement White's advantage, but even better seems to the engines' 8.e5!?, the point being 8...Nxe5 9.Qd6 wins material for White. Best play, according to the engines, continues 9...Qa5+ 10.N1c3 Nc4 11.Qc7! 0-0 12.Qxc4.

8...Kf8 9.Nc3 a6

The engines suggest 9...Ne8, albeit with a large advantage for White.

10.0-0 Ne8 11.Bf4 Nxd6 12.Bxd6+ Kg8 13.Kh1!?

This may be too slow. I rejected 13.f4 because of 13...Qb6+ 14.Kh1 Qxb2, which is Komodo12.1.1's choice, but both engines give White a large advantage after 15.Rf3.

13...Bf8

Eduard Fomichenko (2357) - Elena S Brineva (2139), Poltavskaya (Russia) 2005, saw 13...h6 14.f4 with a strong attack for White (1-0, 29 moves).

Komodo12.1.1 at first reckons White only has a slight edge after 13...b5, but comes to give White the upper hand (Stockfish13 reckons White is winning).

14.e5 Bxd6 15.exd6?!

The engines prefer 15.Qxd6, meeting 15...Qf8 with 16.Na4, and if Black exchanges queens (I wanted to keep queens on, which is why I played the text), both engines give White a positionally won game.

15...b6 16.Bxc6!?

This may be best but the position is no longer so clear.

16...bxc6 17.Qf3?!

The engines do not like this, but are unsure as to how White should proceed - suggestions include 17.f3!?, 17.Kg1!?, 17.Qd2 and 17.Qd3.

Position after White connects rooks

White retains an edge, according to the engines, but the important part of the analysis is earlier in the play when I think I have demonstrated why ...g6 at move four is dubious (but Svidler apparently disagrees, so who are you going to believe?).

Opening Lessons From Basel III

IN round three I had black against Jeremias Stark, a Swiss aged 11 or 12 with a Fide rating of 1599.

Sicilian Accelerated Dragon

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nxc6!?

An unusual choice, but this was my eighth time facing it, and I have twice played it myself.

5...bxc6

Against juniors an interesting choice might be 5...dxc6!? True, White can get an edge with 6.Qxd8+, but then Black has achieved the first rule-of-thumb of playing against juniors - get the queens off.

6.Nc3!?

White's normal idea is to play 7.Qd4, but the little-played text is preferred by the analysis engines Stockfsih13 and Komodo12.1.1.

6...Bg7 7.f3?!

Passive and weakening. It is by no means clear White will need this move. The normal follow-up to 6.Nc3!? is to continue development with 7.Bc4.

7...d6

I misjudged 7...Nf6 8.e5, not liking the pawn-sac 8...Nd5!? and underrating the simple retreat 8...Ng8, which the engines reckon favours Black.

8.Bf4!?

This does not look right. The obvious square for this bishop is e3, while the engines again like Bc4.

8...Qb6 9.Na4!?

Awkward-looking, but the engines only marginally prefer 9.Rb1.

9...Qa5+ 10.c3 Be6 11.Bd3

The engines want White to play the aggressive 11.b4!?, reckoning 11...Qc7 12.Qd2 Qb7 (White was threatening 13.Nc5) 13.Bd3 is at best only slightly better for Black.

11...Nf6 12.0-0 0-0

Position after Black has castled

Black has connected rooks, and the opening can be thought of as over. The engines give Black a very small edge.

Opening Lessons From Basel II

IN round two I had white against Anuar Tureshbayev from France, who is nine or 10 and does not have a Fide rating.

French Irregular

1.Nc3!?

This can have independent meaning but can also be used as a transpositional device.

1...d5 2.d4

The independent 2.e4 is the most-popular move by far, at least in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database, reaching a position that can arise, but rarely does, from a Scandinavian: 1.e4 d5 2.Nc3!?

2...e6 3.e4 c6!?

I have called this an irregular variation of the French Defence, but the position more often comes about from a Caro-Kann move-order: 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 c6!?

4.Bd3

More popular are 4.Nf3 and 4.e5, but the text has been chosen by strong players, as has Stockfish13's pick, 4.a3!?

4...dxe4 5.Nxe4!?

Offering a promising gambit. Blackburne in 1880 preferred 5.Bxe4 Nf6 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Bxf6 in a simul win.

5...Qxd4

Stockfish13 and Komodo12.1.1 approve of this principled decision, but they agree White has an edge.

6.Nf3 Qd8

All nine games in Mega21 feature this retreat, but 6...Qb6!? is worth investigating. The engines come to view the moves as of approximately equal value.

7.Qe2!?

Holding back on where to develop the dark-square bishop and on whether to castle short or long.

7...Nf6 8.Nxf6+

Known moves are 8.Bg5 and 8.Bf4, but the engines prefer the text.

8...Qxf6

The engines prefer 8...gxf6!?, one line given by them running 9.0-0 Qd5!? 10.Nh4!? Nd7 11.Be3 Ne5, when they reckon White has a slight edge.

9.Bg5?!

Reckless. The engines give White the upper hand after 9.c3.

9...Qxb2 10.0-0

Position after White castles

With one side having connected rooks, the middlegame can be thought of as starting. Stockfish13 gives Black a slight edge after 10...Nd7, but Komodo12.1.1 reckons White has full compensation for the sacrificed pawns.

Opening Lessons From Basel

IN the first round I had black against Cyrill Speiser, a Swiss aged 16 or 17 who did not have a Fide elo but had a national one of 1320.

Sicilian Accelerated Dragon

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3

For many years the refutation of Black's move-order, which began as the Hyper-Accelerated Variation of the Sicilian but transposed into a 'merely' Accelerated Variation, was supposed to be 5.c4, setting up a Maróczy Bind. The point was that if Black failed to 'force' Nc3 by playing an early ...Nf6, White should punish the omission by clamping down on the centre.

Modern thinking, I believe, holds that while the Bind gives White a long-term slight edge, defensive techniques have improved to the extent that Black should be reasonably comfortable. Similar views are often expressed about the Exchange Variation of the Queen's Gambit.

However, it is one thing for defensive techniques to have improved at elite levels, quite another for the same thing to have happened among club players.

Nevertheless, it is not every white who revels in the type of positional play the Maróczy usually entails, which is perhaps why there are almost 29,000 examples of the text in Chessbase's 2021 Mega database and just over 21,000 examples of 5.c4 (but the latter scores 57%, seven percentage points more than 5.Nc3).

I suspect the most important thing is to play what you feel most comfortable with, as is often the case unless one move can be shown to be seriously faulty.

5...Bg7 6.Nf3!?

What is White's idea?

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Much more popular in Mega21 are 6.Be3, 6.Nb3!?, 6.Nde2!? and 6.Nxc6!? All five moves have been played by grandmasters.

The idea of the text, which, at least in Mega21, only goes back to 1982, is presumably to interfere with Black's normal Accelerated plan of getting in ...d5 without spending a tempo on ...d6.

The drawback is that the white king's knight has spent three tempi getting to f3, from where it blocks the white f pawn, which often advances to f4 in the Sicilian.

6...Nf6

Also popular is 6...d6, which concedes the point about ...d5 but argues Black has little to fear since White has spent time manoeuvring the king's knight to what is arguably not its best square.

7.Bd3?!

Not only is this passive, but it seems to run contrary to the spirit of 6.Nf3!? More popular in Mega21 is 7.Bc4.

Note that 7.e5? runs into 7...Ng4, but the analysis engines Stockfish13 and Komodo12.1.1 point out a bizarre trap in 8.Ng1!? Ngxe5? 9.f4, when the black king's knight is a gonner. However, after 8.Ng1!? the engines reckon 8...d5!? 9.exd6 Bd4!? is strong for Black.

7...0-0

The thematic 7...d5!? would be a novelty, at least in Mega 21, and also probably good.

8.Bf4?!

A strange-looking move, perhaps hoping to get a knight into c7. Most popular in Mega21 is 8.0-0, when the position, according to the engines, is more-or-less equal.

8...d5

Getting this move in without first having to play ...d6 is a main reason - probably the main reason - Accelerated players 'risk' the Maróczy.

9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Qd2?

This should drop a pawn, but Black is also much better after 10.Bd2 or 10.Nxd5.

10...Nxf4?

Winning the bishop-pair, but Black can win a pawn with 10...Nxc3 11.bxc3 Qa5.

11.Qxf4 Bxc3+?!

Giving up the bishop-pair in return for inflicting structural weaknesses, but the engines' 11...Qb6 seems better.

12.bxc3 e5?

Not paying enough attention to the weak squares around the black king. The engines' 12...Qa5 is better.

13.Qh6 f6?!

This allows a drawing combination, and anyway may be inferior to 13...Qf6.

14.Bxg6!?

The opening is effectively over as objectively Black should now play 14...hxg6 and accept a draw by repetition. Instead I played on with 14...Qe7?!, although the game was eventually drawn.

Reflections On Basel

EFFECTIVELY my trip to Basel became a glorified weekend swiss in that I played one game on day one and two games on days two and three.

All of my opponents were juniors, and it is probably fair to assume they have spent the past year or more improving online while their over-the-board ratings remained stagnant.

So what bearing does that have on my tournament performance of losing six Fide elo? 

Certainly my draw with a 2017 was a decent result, although I should have won the game after my opponent went seriously wrong in the opening.

But I was fortunate that one of my draws was with an opponent who had a Swiss elo of 1320, but no Fide rating, and it is hard to see anything creditable in that performance.

So it can be argued I was lucky not to lose more rating points, but on the other hand was unlucky to meet an all-junior field.

However, the bottom line is that my Fide rating will be going down.

I have not looked at the games in any great depth yet, but I have the following impressions:

1. I generally outplayed my opponents in the openings. This conforms with the view that juniors may be very booked up on sharp and fashionable lines, but can struggle with older theory.

2. I was thoroughly outplayed in middlegame tactics.

3. It is not possible to draw any conclusions about our respective endgame strengths - I won the only ending I reached, but by then I already had a large advantage.

THREE GOOD THINGS ABOUT BASEL AND THE TOURNAMENT

1. The city's old town has lots of interesting-looking bars and restaurants, including at least three Irish pubs.

2. Public transport, in the form of trams and buses, is excellent, and is free for hotel guests.

3. Playing conditions at the tournament were spacious, with good lighting.

THREE BAD THINGS ABOUT BASEL AND THE TOURNAMENT

1. Prices are often shocking, even for a Londoner, with a single and not-very-flavourful espresso typically costing about £4, and a half-litre of standard keg beer costing around £8.

2. Basel is not a normal tourism destination, so its attractions are limited if you are not into eating and drinking.

3. The city is easy to get to from Zürich airport, but overall for most people it is a long journey for a four-day tournament (assuming your opponents turn up for every round).

Good News ... Bad News

AFTER playing juniors in my first five games at Basel, I was paired with a grown-up for the sixth and final round today ... but my opponent, from Portugal, failed to show.

That meant I finished on 3.5pts (+1=3-1 and a default), which saw me lose exactly six Fide elo.

Meanwhile, in the early hours this morning, when I could not sleep, I watched some baseball, using the breaks between innings to fill in my passenger locator form for my return to England.

This included booking a covid Day 2 test, which set me back £75.

Basel Round Five

FACED my fifth junior this afternoon in round five of the Basel tournament. He is 11 or 12 years old and registered with Liechtenstein.

Steve Heron (1580) - Spanton (1814)

Sicilian Accelerated Dragon

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nb3!?

Position after 5.Nb3!?

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The main idea of this move, as I understand it, is to restrain ...d5, which is Black's thematic equalising move in the Accelerated Dragon.

5...Bg7 6.Bd3?!

But this blocks the white queen's action along the d file.

6...Nf6 7.Nc3 d5 8.0-0 0-0 9.Re1 e5

The analysis engines Stockfish13 and Komodo12.1.1 like 9...d4.

10.Bg5 d4 11.Nd5 Be6 12.Nxf6+ Bxf6 13.Bxf6 Qxf6

Black has lost the fianchettoed bishop, but White is unlikely to be able to exploit the holes around the black king.

14.Nc5 Bc8

The engines like 14...Nd8!?

15.Be2 Qh4 16.Bb5 Qe7 17.Nd3 Bd7 18.Qf3 Rac8 19.Qg3 a6?

Black has a tiny edge, according to the engines, after 19...Nb8 20.Bxd7 Nxd7.

20.Bxc6 Rxc6 21.Qxe5

I had missed the strength of this move.

21...Re8?

Probably best, according to the engines, is 21...Qxe5 22.Nxe5 Rc7 23.Nxd7 Rxd7, although Black is a pawn down without compensation.

22.Qxd4 Rxc2?

And this makes Black's situation even worse.

23.Nb4 Rc5

What else? Nd5 is a huge threat.

24.Nd5 Rxd5 25.Qxd5 Bc6 26.Qb3 Qh4

Hoping to conjure up a swindle, but the odds are against it.

27.f3 Re5 28.Qd3 Rh5 29.h3 Qg5 30.Rad1! Kg7

Not 30...Rxh3? 31.Qd8+ Qxd8 32.Rxd8+ Kg7 33.gxh3.

31.Qd4+ f6 32.Qd8 Qe5 33.f4!? Qxb2?

This allows a mate in three, but 33...Qxf4 34.Qe7+ Kh6 35.Qf8+ Kg5 36.Rf1 Qe5 37.Qd8 creates the threat 38.Qd2+.

34.Qe7+ Kg8 35.Rd8+ 1-0

Basel Round Four

ARRIVED at the clinic for my covid antigen test earlier than I needed to, and wished I had arrived even earlier as I got tested 10 minutes before my appointment was due.

By a stroke of luck, the tram that goes to the chess venue also passed very near to the clinic, so I arrived at the board for round four of the Basel Tournament 'only' 17 minutes late.

My opponent was a junior from Germany, aged 15 or 16.

Spanton (1814) - Maximilian Ponomarev (2017)

Sicilian 1...e6

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 Nc6 4.Bg2 g6?!

Perhaps it is presumptuous of me to say so, but this move, which has been played by many strong players, including Svidler and Kamsky, is probably a mistake, as I hope will become clear.

5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4

How should Black proceed?

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6...Bg7

Grandmasters have tried many different moves, but it is doubtful if any is fully satisfactory.

The text is most-popular in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database.

Svidler chose 6...Qb6, but the analysis engines Stockfish13 and Komodo12.1.1 reckon White is much better after 7.Nb3 (Kamsky's 2270 opponent played 5.0-0, but still managed to draw).

I thought Black should perhaps try 6...a6, but it has to be said Black's position looks very suspicious.

7.Nb5

The point behind why I believe ...g6 at move four is dubious. Having said that, Komodo12.1.1 reckons White 'only' has a slight edge. Stockfish13, as is often the case in its assessments, is more enthusiastic for the side with an advantage.

7...Nf6?

I thought Black should try 7...Qa5+ 8.N1c3 Bxc3+ 9.Nxc3, which turns out to be the most-popular line in Mega21, but the engines reckon White is positionally winning.

The engines suggest Black should sac a pawn with 7...d5!? 8.exd5 exd5 9.Qxd5 Qe7+ 10.Qe4 Be6, which was seen in a Russian blitz game between two players rated just under 2500. The engines reckon White is only slightly better.

8.Nd6+

Not bad, but the engines much prefer 8.e5!?, the point being 8...Nxe5 9.Qd6, when the engines reckon best is 9...Qa5+ 10.N1c3 Nc4 11.Qc7! 0-0 12.Qxc4, leaving White up a knight for a pawn.

8...Kf8 9.Nc3 a6 10.0-0 Ne8 11.Bf4

MP in the postmortem suggested 11.Nxe8 Qxe8 (the engines prefer 11...Kxe8) 12.f4. The engines reckon best is 11.Be3, but all three moves leave White much better.

11...Nxd6 12.Bxd6+ Kg8 13.Kh1!?

Preparing f4, but this never comes, and MP said, bearing in mind what happens in the game, that Kh1 may be a mistake. Certainly it may be too slow. If 13.f4, Komodo12.1.1 gives the continuation I was worrying about, viz 13...Qb6+ 14.Kh1 Qxb2, but both engines reckon White is much better after 15.Rf3.

13...Bf8 14.e5 Bxd6 15.exd6

The engines much prefer 15.Qxd6, I rejected it because after 15...Qf8 White cannot retreat the queen without dropping the e pawn, and I felt White's advantage was bigger with queens on. However the engines reckon 16.Na4 Qxd6 17.exd6 is very good for White.

15...b6 16.Bxc6!?

This may be best, but the position is unclear.

16...dxc6 17.Qf3?!

But this seems to throw away much of White's already-diminishing advantage.

17...Bb7?!

This does not seem best, but again the engines are unsure, flitting between 17...Ra7!?, 17...Qxd6 and 17...Kg7.

18.Kg1?

Scared of shadows. White has the upper hand, according to the engines, after 18.Rad1.

18...Qxd6 19.Ne4 Qe7 20.Qc3

Not 20.Nf6+?? Kg7.

20...f5!

A committal move, but if the knight retreats, Black's worries are over.

21.Nf6+!

This may look suicidal, but White has resources to emerge with at least equal chances.

21...Kf7 22.Rad1 Rad8

MP rejected 22...Rhd8! because of 23.Nxh7, but the engines continue 23...Rxd1 24.Rxd1 Rd8 with equality.

23.Rd7

Spectacular, perhaps, but not best as 23.Nd7! uses the same idea to reach a position in which White regains the pawn and has more pieces on the board to menace the black king (after 23...Rhe8 24.Nxb6).

23...Rxd7 24.Nxd7 Rd8

Not 24...Qxd7?? 25.Qxh8.

25.Nxb6 c5 26.Nc4 Qc7 27.Re1 Rd5?

As MP pointed out in the pm, this should lose. The engines reckon White has a slight edge after 27...Rd4.

28.Ne5+?

Missing the winning 28.Qh8.

28...Kg8 29.Qe3 Rd4 30.f3 Bd4!? ½–½

MP offered a draw, and I accepted as I could not see a way to an advantage. However the engines reckon White is well on top after 31.c3. I am fairly sure I thought 31...Ra4 was a good answer, but the engines give 32.Rd1 as winning.

Basel Round Two

FACED another junior this morning, and could discover little about him except he is French, aged nine or 10, does not have a Fide rating, and drew with a 1939 in round one.

Spanton (1814) - Anuar Tureshbayev (-)

French Irregular

1.Nc3 d5 2.d4 e6 3.e4 c6!?

Irregular, to say the least, but it has been played by grandmasters, and there are 525 examples of 3...c6!? in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database.

4.Bd3 dxe4 5.Nxe4!?

Speculative, but playable.

5...Qxd4 6.Nf3 Qd8 7.Qe2

Freeing d1 for a rook, and holding back on the dark-square bishop until Black has shown more of his hand.

7...Nf6 8.Nxf6+ Qxf6 9.Bg5?!

Throwing a second pawn on the fire, but Stockfish13 and Komodo12.1.1 reckon White has the upper hand after 9.c3.

9...Qxb2 10.0-0 Qb6 11.Rab1

The engines prefer 11.Ne5.

11...Qc7 12.Rfd1 Be7 13.Qe4?!

The engines like 13.Qe3 and 13.Bxe7.

13...Bxg5 14.Nxg5 h6 15.Nf3 Nd7 16.Rd2 Nf6 17.Qh4 0-0 18.Rbd1 Bd7 19.g4!?

Black has connected his rooks and remains two pawns up, so I felt I had to do something or else I would be without compensation for the material minus.

19...Qf4 20.Be2 Rad8 21.Rd4 Qc7 22.g5 hxg5 23.Nxg5 e5

How should White proceed?

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24.Rd6?

The engines give 24.Bd3! Rfe8 25.Bc4 with an unclear position.

Another better try than the text is 24.Ne4!? as 24...exd4? 25.Nxf6+ gxf6 26.Bd3 Rfe8 27.Qh6 is a draw. However, after 24.Ne4!? Black has 24...Nxe4 25.Rxe4 Be6 with what the engines reckon is a clearly winning position.

24...Bf5 25.Rxd8

The desperate 25.Nxf7? fails to 25...Kxf7.

25...Rxd8 26.Rxd8+ Qxd8 27.Bc4

27.Qh8+!? Kxh8 28.Nxf7+ Kg8 29.Nxd8 wins back a pawn, but the engines continue 29...Bc8, when the white knight is surely doomed.

27...Bg6?

Much better is 27...Qd1+ 28.Kg2 Nd5.

28.Nf3?

Retreating the knight is always likely to be hopeless, but here it misses 28.Bxf7+! Bxf7 29.Qh8+ Kxh8 30.Nxf7+ and 31.Nxd8, when White has equalised.

28...Qd1+ 29.Kg2 Be4 30.Qh3 Qxc2?

Greedy. Black can simply swop off into an ending two pawns up, but even better is 30...g5 etc.

31.Qc8+ Kh7 32.Qh3+ Kg6 33.Qg3+ Kh6 34.Qh4+ Kg6

Disastrous for Black would be 34...Nh5?? 35.Qg5+ Kh7 36.Qxh5+ Kg8 37.Qxf7+ and 38.Qh5#.

35.Qg3+ Kh7 36.Qh3+ Kg6 37.Qg3+ Kh6 38.Qh4+ Kg6 39.Qg3+ Kh6 40.Qh4+ ½–½

Basel Round One

Cyrill Speiser (?) - Spanton (1814)

Sicilian Accelerated Dragon

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Nf3!?

Unusual, but it has been played by grandmasters.

6...Nf6 7.Bd3

Not 7.e5? Ng4.

7...0-0 8.Bf4?!

White is more-or-less equal after 8.0-0, according to the analysis engines Stockfish13 and Komodo12.1.1.

8...d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Qd2?

Both 10.Bd2 and 10.Nxd5 are better.

How should Black proceed?

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10...Nxf4?

Missing the win of at least a pawn after 10...Nxc3 11.bxc3 Qa5.

11.Qxf4 Bxc3+?!

The engines' 11...Qb6 is probably better.

12.bxc3 e5?!

The engines prefer 12...Qa5.

13.Qh6 f6?!

Probably better, and certainly more practical, is 13...Qf6.

14.Bxg6!?

There had been a somewhat chaotic start to the first round, and I had not been able to find out who my opponent was (but I knew I had to be in the top half of the draw). My opponent and I exchanged names, and I told him my rating, but he said he could not remember his (and ratings were not displayed with the pairings, nor were they otherwise available, except online, which was awkward as phones are not allowed at the venue).

By the time CS played 14.Bxg6!?, the  lower-rated player on the board next to me (I was sat at the end of a row, so there was only one board next to me) had already lost a piece and was still rushing his moves (within a few minutes he would be mated, or possibly he resigned when faced with mate-in-one - I did not notice which).

Since these were the circumstances, I felt justified in taking the risk of playing on.

14...Qe7?!

14...hxg6 15.Qxg6+ Kh8 16.Qh6+ etc is dead-drawn.

15.Be4

The problem with my decision is not so much that Black is a pawn down - after all, White has doubled and isolated c pawns - but the fact that the black king is dangerously exposed. I should also have taken into consideration that my opponent, a junior, was not rushing his moves, unlike the much-younger junior sat next to me.

15...Be6 16.0-0 Kh8?

Trying for more than the position offers. Best, according to the engines, is 16...Qg7, although Stockfish13 gives White at least the upper hand after 17.Qe3 (Komodo12.1.1 reckons White only has a slight edge).

17.Nh4

Threatening 18.Ng6+. Black's reply is forced.

17...Kg8 18.f4 Qg7

I felt I had to offer an exchange of queens.

Not 18...f5? 19.Bxc6 (19.Rf3!? is also strong) bxc6 20.Rae1 e4 21.Re3.

I also did not like the look of 18...exf4 19.Rxf4, when Black's king is in huge danger.

19.Qxg7+

If 19.Qh5!? then not 19...Bg4? 20.Bxh7+! Instead Black should probably play 20...Qf7, when White is either obliged to allow an exchange of queens or has to withdraw his queen from the vicinity of the black king.

19...Kxg7 20.Rad1 Rfd8

Likely the wrong rook, but almost certainly better than 20...Bxa2?!, when 21.Nf5+ Kh8 (21...Kg8? 22.Rd7 is horrific for Black, eg 22...Rf7 23.Nh6+) 22.Nd6 is strong for White.

21.Rb1 Rab8

I rejected 21...Rd7 because of 22.Rxb7!? Rxb7 23.Bxc6 Rab8 24.Bxb7 Rxb7 25.fxe5 fxe5, but the engines reckon White is only slightly better. I missed that 26.Re1 can be met by 26...Kf6 (or 26...Rb5 for that matter).

22.fxe5 fxe5

I rejected the engines' choice, 22...Nxe5!?, because of 23.Rxb7+ (better than 23.Bxb7, according to the engines) Rxb7 24.Bxb7, but the black knight gets a decent outpost, and Black's pieces are better coordinated than White's.

23.Nf5+ Kh8

I thought this was forced because of 23...Kg8 24.Bxc6 bxc6 25.Ne7+ Kg7 26.Nxc6, but 26...Rxb1 27.Rxb1 Rd2 28.Nxe5 Rxc2 29.Rb7+ Kf6 30.Nf3 Rxa2 31.Rxh7 is not completely clear-cut, despite White's two-pawn advantage, as Black's outside passed pawn is a fast runner.

However, the engines prefer the text as they reckon 23...Kg8 is well-met by White maintaining the pressure with 24.a4 or 24.Ne3.

24.Nh6 Kg7 25.Nf5+ Kh8 26.Nh6 Kg7 27.Nf5+ ½–½

A severe case of rating-itis; of course White should play on.

(I discovered after the game that CS does not have a Fide rating, but has a Swiss rating of 1320.)

A Swiss swiss

I MENTIONED yesterday I have entered the Basel schachfestival, which is being held from Saturday 17 to Tuesday 20 at the Landgasthof Riehen.

I was too late to book accommodation at the venue, which is four miles from Basel's main train station, so I am staying in town at an Ibis Budget.

If it is anything like the Ibis Budget at Bradford, West Yorks, it will be good value for money, especially as my stay apparently comes with a pass for free public transport in the area.

The congress is being run as one big swiss, with a 4pm round on the Saturday, 9.30am and 3pm rounds on the Sunday and Monday, and a 9.30am round on the Tuesday (prize-giving, should it prove relevant, is 2.30pm on Tuesday).

The time control is 40 moves in 90 minutes, then a 15-minute 'windback', with a 30-second increment from move one.

So far there are 138 entries, which is fairly near the venue's maximum of 150, and there are plenty of countries represented by a lone soul.

1		AUT	Austria	4
2		BEL	Belgium	1
3		ENG	England	1
4		ESP	Spain	1
5		FID	FIDE	1
6		FRA	France	6
7		GER	Germany	32
8		HUN	Hungary	1
9		IND	India	2
10		IRL	Ireland	1
11		ITA	Italy	1
12		JPN	Japan	1
13		KGZ	Kyrgyzstan	2
14		LIE	Liechtenstein	2
15		MDA	Moldova	1
16		NED	Netherlands	8
17		POR	Portugal	1
18		SLO	Slovenia	1
19		SRB	Serbia	1
20		SUI	Switzerland	68
21		UKR	Ukraine	2

Here is a selection of interesting rules and observations:

Before going to the tournament venue, please remember to bring at least 5 (1 per round) protective masks (certified surgical masks, nowadays also available in supermarkets), or a visor, and a personal pen to fill out the Contact Tracing Form and note your moves on the game forms.

- A lateral, front and rear distance between the chessboards of at least 1,5 m will be ensured

- The tournament room will be regularly aired

- Chessboards and pieces will be disinfected after each round or completed game

- A bottle of hand disinfectant will be available at the entrance to the room

- There will be a waste container for used masks at the exit of the game room

- The tournament director will measure the body temperature of the participants before checking in. Unfortunately, people with a body temperature of over 37,4 ° C will not be admitted to participate in the tournament.

This is one of the first tournament since the Covid-19 emergency. Together, we will succeed it if everyone does his/her part. So that we can finally continue to play real tournaments and opponents "in person" in the future.

Have fun and a "virtual hug"!