Miniatures

I WAS much taken by a quote from Bent Larsen in an old copy of the US Chess Federation's Chess Life magazine: "I don’t care very much for miniatures. It’s too risky to play very sharply to beat [my opponents] in 20 moves."

This is no doubt true of the company in which Larsen mixed, but the reality at club level is rather different.

Not only is it different, but quick losses can impart valuable lessons, so in this occasional series I am reproducing my decisive games of 20 moves or fewer.

T Briggs - Spanton*

Friendly, Ely (Cambs) 1977

Petrov

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d3!?

Hardly a critical continuation, but there are 4,822 examples of the move in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database, including being played by the likes of Carlsen and Kasparov 

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3...Nc6 4.Bg5

Carlsen has tried a King's Indian Attack-treatment with 4.g3 at least six times, scoring +3 =3-0, while Kasparov preferred 4.c3 in a 1998 blitz win over a 2515.

4...Bc5 5.Be2 d6 6.Nbd2!?

This move does not occur in Mega25.

6...h6 7.Bxf6!? Qxf6

Black is at least slightly better, according to Stockfish17 and Dragon1

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8.0-0 Qg6 9.Ne1

Black to play and lose

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9...f5?? 10.Bh5 Qxh5

The old joke about Resigns being a better move is appropriate here.

11.Qxh5+ g6?! 12.Qxg6+ Kf8 13.exf5 Ne7?! 14.Qf6+ 1-0
*I have no further details about my opponent, not even whether he had a grade (I know I did not).

LESSON: clearly Black was a rabbit, but the danger-motif of a queen being on the same diagonal as the king is worth remembering.

Garry Kasparov's Forgotten Weapon Against The Queen's Gambit (part five)

IN the same tournament in which Kasparov beat Yasser Seirawan he faced Bent Larsen.

Larsen (2555) - Kasparov (2690)

Nikšić (Yugoslavia) Round 7 1983

1.c4 e6

Kasparov angles for another opportunity to play the Tarrasch Defence.

2.Nc3

Larsen indicates he is happy to oblige. He could have avoided the Queen's Gambit with, for example, 2.Nf3, when 2...d5 3.g3 c5 could be classified as a Réti or as a Symmetrical English.

2...d5 3.d4 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.g3 Nf6 7.Bg2 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.b3!?

This move goes back to at least 1920 but is dubbed the Uhlmann Variation in Play The Tarrasch by Shamkovich & Schilller (Pergamon (1984). As is pointed out in the book, the position can arise from a Nimzowitsch-Larsen Opening, ie 1.b3.

9...Ne4!?

This is the main move in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database, and is called "very sharp" by Shamkowich & Schiller.

10.Bb2 Bf6 11.Na4

A reasonably popular alternative is 11.e3, when 11...Bg4 12.h3 (12.Ne2 is the main move, but the engines slightly prefer the text) cxd4?! (Black should probably capture on f3 or withdraw the dark-square bishop) 13.Nxd5! was better for White in Spanton (1968) - John G Cooper (Hull - 2193), Hull 2017 (but ½–½, 53 moves).

11...Re8!?

More popular, but not by much, is 11...b6 (note that after 11.Na4, White is not threatening 12.Nxc5?? as that loses to 12...Nxc5 13.bxc5 Bxb2, but White is threatening 11.dxc5).

12.Rc1

12.dxc5 does not even come close to winning a pawn as Black replies 12...Bxb2 13.Nxb2 Nc3 etc.

12...b6!?

This had been played before but largely slipped under the radar because of Spassky's 12...cxd4 13.Nxd4 Bxd4 14.Nxd4 Bf5, when White has the bishop-pair and a slight edge, according to my main analysis engines Stockfish12 and Komodo11.01, but Black's position looks solid enough.

Today the text is the main move.

13.dxc5 Bxb2 14.Nxb2 bxc5 15.Na4

Black's hanging pawns come under immediate pressure.

15...Ba6

Active defence. Black's position looks problematic after 15...Nb4?! 16.a3 Na6, while the pawn sacrifice 15...c4?! 16.bxc4 d4 did not work out in Attila Jakab (2367) - Nathaniel Graham (2346), Budapest IM-A 2002, after 17.Nd2 Bf5 18.Nxe4 Bxe4 19.Bxe4 Rxe4 (1-0, 60 moves).

16.Re1

Not 16.Nxc5? Nxc5 17.Rxc5 Bxe2 etc.

16...c4 17.Nh4?!

This move has not find favour with later players. Today the main line runs 17.Nd2 Qf6 18.Nxe4 dxe4 19.bxc4 Rad8 20.Qb3 e3!, when Black has full compensation for a pawn, according to the engines, eg 21.fxe3 Qh6 24.Nc5 Rxe3 25.Qb2 Ne5, which led to a quick draw in a 'freestyle', ie computer-assisted, rapid game in 2006.

17...Qa5 18.Nf5 g6 19.Nd4 Rac8 20.h4?!

The engines dislike this, reckoning White keeps the balance with 20.Bh3 f5 (20...Rc7? 21.Nxc6 Rxc6 22.Bd7) 21.Nxc6 Rxc6 22.Bg2.

20...Ne5 21.Bh3 Rc7 22.Nc2?

This allows a combination. The engines prefer 22.Kg3, albeit reckoning Black is on top.

22...cxb3

Even stronger is the engines' 22...Nd3! 23.exd3 cxd3 24.Re3 (24.Ne3 Rxc1 25.Qxc1 d2) dxc2, when 25.Rxc2? only makes matters worse after 25...d4 26.Re1 Rxc2 etc.

23.axb3 Bc8 24.Bg2 Ng4 25.Rf1 Bd7?!

And here almost certainly stronger is 25...Ba6, eg 26.Nd4 Rec8, eg 27.Rxc7 Qxc7 28.Bxe4 dxe4, when the threat of ...e3 is extraordinarily hard to meet.

26.Ra1 Bxa4 27.Rxa4 Qc3 28.Bxe4

Forced, but good.

28...dxe4 29.e3?!

White should have protected the b pawn, for example by 29.Na3, according to the engines.

29...Qxb3 30.Rxe4 Rxe4 31.Qd8+ Kg7 32.Qxc7 Rxc4 33.Nd4 Rxc7 34.Nxb3 Rc2

Larsen correctly calculated that 29.e3?! did not lose material, but the ending favours Black thanks to his farside passed pawn and more-active pieces.

35.Nd4 Ra2 36.e4 Rd2?!

Black should have got on with it on the queenside with 36...a5, according to the engines, who reckon the text allows White to equalise.

37.Nc6 a6 38.e5

Stockfish12 is happy with this, but Komodo11.01 does not like it. Perhaps a surer draw is to be had with 28.f3!?, eg 38...Ne3 39.Re1.

38...Re2 39.Ra1 Rxf2 40.Rxa6 Rc2 41.h5 Kh6

Black is a pawn up but with almost zero winning chances after 41...gxh5?!

42.hxg6 hxg6 43.Ra4 Kg5 44.Nd4 Rc3 45.e6 Rxg3+ 46.Kh1!?

Kasparov gave this a question mark, but it seems that the losing move comes later.

46...f5 47.e7 Re3 48.Nc6 f4 49.Ra5+!?

Kasparov also gave this a question mark, but again that may not be right.

49...Kh4 50.Ra8 Nf6

White to play and draw

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51.Kg2?

This is the losing move, according to the engines.

I will explain later why they reckon 51.Kh2 is correct, but for now here is how the game ended:

51...f3+ 52.Kf1

52.Kf2 Ng4.

52...Kg3 53.Nd4 Ng4 54.Nxf3 Rxf3+ 55.Kg1 Nh2 56.Rf8 Rc3 0-1

Going back to the last diagram, White seems to draw with 51.Kh2, after which ...f3 does not come with check. The engines reckon 51...f3 is still best, but then comes 52.e8=Q! Nxe8 53.Ra4+ Kh5 54.Kg3, after which there seems no way for Black to save the f pawn, and then White should be able to give up his knight for the other pawn and reach a reasonably easy-to-draw ending, at least for a player of Larsen's calibre, of rook versus rook and knight. Best play seems to go 54...g5 55.Nd4 Re6 (55.Rc3 Ne5) 56.Nd4 Rf6 57.Nxf3! g4 58.Ra5+ Kh6 59.Ra3 gxf3 60.Rxf3 - Draw.

Bobby Fischer v The Sicilian (part three)

Sicilian Dragon

Fischer always met 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 with the main move 6.Be3, to which Black nearly always replies 6...Bg7 (the tempting, to the uninitiated, 6...Ng4? loses substantial material to 7.Bb5+, eg 7...Nc6 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.Bxc6+ etc or 7...Bd7 8.Qxg4).

Games usually continue 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 0-0 (the precise order of Black's moves can vary) and Fischer always played 9.Bc4, reaching a main Sicilian tabiya.

There are more than 22,000 games with this position in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database

Black plays 9...Bd7

This is easily the most-popular move in Mega20.White usually replies 10.0-0-0, but Fischer had other ideas and played 10.h4!?

A) 10...Rc8 11.Bb3 Qa5!? (the main line today runs 11...h5 12.0-0-0 Ne5 13.Bg5 Rc5 14.Kb1 b5 15.g4 with a position from which White has scored heavily, although my main analysis engines Stockfish12 and Komodo11.01 reckon the position is unclear) 12.0-0-0 Nh5?! (the main line goes 12...Ne5 13.Kb1 Nc4 14.Bxc4 Rxc4 15.Nb3 with what the engines reckon is a very good position for White) 13.g4 Nxd4 14.Bxd4 Bxd4 15.Qxd4. White had a large advantage in Fischer - Heinz Matthai, Canadian Open (Montreal) 1956 (but ½–½, 108 moves).

B) 10...a6!? (a little-played move that is quite liked by the engines) 11.Bb3 Na5 12.Bh6 e5 13.Nde2 Nxb3 14.axb3 Bxh6 15.Qxh6 with a large advantage for White in Fischer - Tibor Weinberger, North Central Open (Milwaukee) 1957 (1-0, 35 moves) and subsequent games.

C) 10...h5. This was not faced by Fischer but has been played by Carlsen and Kasparov. The main line continues 11.0-0-0 Rc8 when 12.Bb3 transposes to the first note in A), but the engines like the little-seen 12.Nxc6!? Bxc6 13.Bb3 with an edge for White.

Black plays 9...Nd7!?

This anticipation of long castling by White is Black's second-most popular move in Mega20.

Fischer accepted the challenge with 10.0-0-0 Nb6 11.Bb3 Na5 12.Qd3 Bd7 13.h4 Rc8 14.h5 Nbc4 15.hxg6 in Fischer - Sharav Purevzhav, Olympiad (Varna, Bulgaria) 1962. This is still the main line today.

A) 15...hxg6?! (this has been played by strong grandmasters, but is probably a mistake) 16.Bg5!? (the engines reckon this is even stronger than the more-popular 16.Bh6) Nxb3+ 17.cxb3! Qa5 18.Bxe7 (if 18.bxc4?! then 18...Qxg5+) Ne5 19.Qc2 with a winning advantage, according to the engines, as in Tom Wedberg - Gennadi Sosonko, Haninge (Sweden) 1988, and other games. They suggest Black can slightly improve with 17...Ne5 18.Qd2 f6 but reckon White has a winning attack anyway after 19.Bh6 Nf7 20.Be3.

B) 15...fxg6 16.Bg5 Nxb3 17.cxb3! Ne5 18.Qd2 Nf7 19.Be3. This line is not so very different from the last line in A). Stockfish12 reckons White is again close to winning, but Komodo11.01 rates White's edge as quite a bit smaller.

Black plays 9...a6

This was popular in Fischer's day but has fallen from favour. The main reply is 10.0-0-0.

A) 10...Qc7 (this is still Black's commonest move) 11.Bb3 b5? (this popular move already loses: the engines prefer the mainline 11...Na5 12.h4 Nxb3+ 13.axb3 but reckon White is much better) 12.Nxc6 Qxc6 13.Nd5! with a winning advantage in Fischer - Edward Stepans*, US Open (Cleveland) 1957 (1-0, 25 moves) and other games.

B) 10...Ne5 11.Bb3 b5 12.h4 gave White the better game - much better, according to Stockfish12 - in Fischer - TC Hartwell, Simul (Ogden, Utah) 1964 (1-0, 42 moves).

C) 10...Bd7. This quiet developing move, second in popularity to 10...Qc7, was not faced by Fischer. The main line runs 11.h4 b5 12.Bb3 Na5 13.h5 Nxb3+ 14.axb3, which the engines reckon is good for White (positionally winning, according to Stockfish12).

Black plays 9...Nxd4

An exchange of knights on d4 is a common motif in the Sicilian, where Black has less space in which to find good places for his pieces.

After 10.Bxd4 the main idea is to develop the queen's bishop, viz 10...Be6, and so immediately challenge what can be thought of as White's Fischer bishop.

Fischer only faced this line once, but it was in an important game.

Fischer - Bent Larsen

Interzonal (Portorož, Yugoslavia) 1958

11.Bb3

Dropping the bishop back, rather than exchanging on e6, is still the main line today.

11...Qa5 12.0-0-0 b5!?

The engines prefer this to the more-popular 12...Rfc8.

13.Kb1 b4 14.Nd5!

An improvement over 14.Ne2 Bxb3 15.cxb3 Rfd8 with approximate equality in Vasily Panov - Alexey Suetin, USSR U21 Semi-Finals (Vilnius) 1953 (½–½, 24 moves).

14...Bxd5

White has the upper hand after 14...Nxd5?! 15.Bxg7 Nc3+ 16.bxc3 Kxg7 17.cxb4.

15.Bxd5!?

This might not be best. Fischer may have feared his light-square bishop would become something of a dead piece after 15.exd5, but later games, including Tal - Larsen, Zürich 1959, suggest this is not the case.

15...Rac8!?

Most later games continued 15...Nxd5 16.Bxg7 Nc3+ 17.Bxc3 bxc3 18.Qxc3 Qxc3 19.bxc3, when White's extra pawn is largely meaningless.

16.Bb3 Rc7 17.h4 Qb5

As often happens in Sicilians with opposite-side castling, the game becomes a race to get at the opponent's king.

18.h5! Rfc8

Not 18...Nxh5?? 19.Bxg7 Kxg7 20.g4 etc.

19.hxg6 hxg6 20.g4 a5 21.g5 Nh5

Not 21...Ne8?? 22.Bxg7 Nxg7 23.Rh6 etc.

22.Rxh5!

Sacing the exchange in this way has become routine in the Sicilian, but it still needs to be precisely calculated.

22...gxh5?

Black is busted after this.

The engines give best-play as 22...Bxd4 23.Rh6 Bg7 24.Qf4! Bxh6 25.Qxf7+ Kh8 26.gxh6 Qe5 27.Qxg6, when White's two pawns and safer king seem to give more than enough compensation for the exchange.

In this line Black can offer a counter exchange-sac with 24...Rc4!? but it seems to fail to 25.Bxc4 Rxc4 26.Rh7!! Qc5 (best, according to the engines, as 26...Kxh7?? loses to 27.Qxf7 and 28.Rh1+ ) 27.Qh2 (not 27.Rh2?? Be5) Qxg5 28.b3, when Black does not have enough compensation.

23.g6 e5 24.gxf7+ Kf8 25.Bde3 d5

This is best, but hopeless, according to the engines. The point is that defending the d pawn by 25...Rc6 runs into 26.Bh6 with a huge attack against the black king.

The game finished:

26.exd5 Rxf7 27.d6 Rf6 28.Bg5 Qb7 29.Bxf6 Bxf6 30.d7 Rd8 31.Qd6+ 1-0

Black plays 9...a5!?

This speciality of Donald Byrne is still occasionally seen at elite levels. The main idea is to accelerate Black's queenside counterplay, but there is also a trap White can easily fall into.

10.h4 Ne5 11.Be2

Not 11.Bb3? a4! 12.Bxa4 (or 12.Nxa4?! Rxa4! 13.Bxa4 Nc4 14.Qc3 Nxe3 15.Qxe3 Qa5+ 16.c3 Qa4, when Black has won two bishops for rook and pawn) Nc4 13.Qc1 d5, when Black has great play for a pawn.

11...d5

This position was reached in several games, including Fischer - Donald Byrne, Western Open (Bay City, Michigan) 1963. That game continued 12.Bf4?! Nc4? 13.Bxc4 dxc4 14.0-0-0, when White was much better, according to the engines, and went on to win. However 12...Nc6 seems a big improvement.

The engines much prefer 12.exd5 Nxd5 13.0-0-0 with advantage to White, but Black is still in the game.

*Sometimes given, for example in Mega20, as Stephans.

Chess Evolution: QGD Exchange (part four)

TWO of White's earliest plans in the Exchange Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined were the Minority Attack (pawn-thrusts on the queenside) and opposite-side castling (aiming for a kingside piece-and-pawn attack).

As Black adjusted to these, a third plan became popular: a central pawn-advance.

Mikhail Botvinnik - Bent Larsen

Noordwijk (Netherlands) 1965

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5

Playing 1...e6 and 2...d5 can be used as a universal system against just about everything, including 1.d4, 1.c4, 1.Nf3 and 1.e4.

3.d4 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6

This move is second in popularity to 5...Be7. Black nearly always plays ...c6 at some point in the QGD Exchange, but some people believe playing ...c6 early is rather committal in that Black might want to play ...c5 in one move, for example if White castles long. On the other hand, 5...c6 can be the prelude to a radical plan, popularised by Nigel Short, involving an early ...Bf5. I will cover this later in the series.

6.e3 Be7

Larsen is happy to transpose to the main line.

7.Qc2 0-0 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.Nge2

This development of the king's knight has overtaken 9.Nf3 in popularity in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database.

9...h6!? 10.Bh4 Re8 11.f3!?

White starts to advance in the centre, while holding back on committing his king to either flank.

11...c5!?

If Black dithers, he can easily get overrun in the centre. The text, first played in this game, is today the most-popular response to 11.f3!?

12.0-0

Botvinnik goes short. The move Nge2 has been played with a view to castling long, especially when Black has created a kingside target by playing ...h6. Here Botvinnik may have felt 12.0-0-0!? was rather unclear.

12...a6 13.Rad1 b5 14.Bf2?!

Black is ready to expand into White's side of the board on the queenside, and it seems this pawn-storm should be broken up with 14.dxc5 Bxc5 15.Nd4, with a roughly equal game, according to my main analysis engines Stockfish12 and Komodo11.01.

14...c4 15.Bf5 Nb6

Forcing light-square bishops off can be regarded as a major success for Black, although the engines prefer 15...b4!?, continuing 16.Na4 Nb6 with advantage to Black (winning, according to Stockfish12, but just a slight edge, according to Komodo11.01).

16.Ng3 Bf8 17.a3 Bb7?!

A strange decision. It is not as if ...Bb7 prevents White playing e4. Perhaps Larsen thought his light-square bishop would become powerful after exchanges on e4, but that does not happen.

18.e4 g6 19.Bh3 a5

The problem with 19...dxe4?! is that, after 20.fxe4, White's hanging pawns are not weak, but instead threaten to drive back the black pieces.

20.e5 b4 21.Nce2

Not 21.exf6? bxc3 22.bxc3 Qxf6 - the e pawn is too powerful to be swopped in this way.
21...Nh7

It seems Black did not have to be so quick about withdrawing the knight. One line given by the engines runs 21...Bc6!? 22.Rde1 Ba4 23.Qb1, with a possible continuation being 23...Bd7 24.Bxd7 Nfxd7, although after 25.f4 White's kingside plays looks much more effective than Black's queenside counterplay.

22.f4 Bc6 23.Rda1 Ba4 24.Qb1 f5?!

The engines give 24...c3 25.b3 Bb5, albeit with advantage to White.

25.axb4 axb4

How should White proceed?

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26.Nxf5! gxf5 27.Bxf5 Qe7

The engines prefer 27...Qc7!?, their main line running 28.Bg6 Rec8 29.Re1 Kh8 30.f5 with advantage to White.

28.Ng3?!

This largely lets Black off the hook. Much stronger seems to be 28.Bg6, when the engines reckon Black has to give up the exchange as, after the king's rook moves, say to c8, 29.f5 is very powerful.

28...Bd7?!

The engines reckon Black gets good counterplay with 28...Bb5, for example 29.Re1 Rxa1 30.Qxa1 Ra8.

29.Bxd7 Nxd7 30.Qg6+ Qg7 31.Qc6 Rxa1 32.Rxa1

White is still material down - a knight for two pawns - but his pieces are better coordinated and the white f and g pawns are more of a threat than the black b and c pawns.

32...Qf7 33.Ra7 Nxe5??

Larsen cracks under the pressure. The engines reckon 33...Nb8 keeps Black in the game, although they prefer White after 34.Qa4.

34.dxe5 Qe6 35.Qxe6+ Rxe6 36.Nf5

Black is only a pawn down materially, but in reality he is the equivalent of at least a piece down, according to the engines.

36...Rc6 37.Kf1 c3 38.bxc3 bxc3 39.Be3 Bc5

This loses the h6 pawn, but Black has virtually run out of moves, eg 39...c2 40.Bc1 Rc4 runs into 41.e6.

40.Bxc5 Rxc5 41.Ra1

Arguably simpler is 41.Nxh6+ followed by 42.Ra1, but Botvinnik decides Black has so many weaknesses he does not need to pick up the h6 pawn.

41...Nf8 42.Ke2 Ne6 43.g3 h5

At last Larsen feels compelled to move his h pawn off-prise, as Nigel Davies would put it, as otherwise he is in danger of going two pawns down.

44.Kd3 d4 45.Nd6

Not 45.Nxd4? Rd5 46.Ra4 Nxd4! 47.Rxd4?? Rxd4 48.Kxd4 c2 etc.

45...Rc7 46.Ne4 Kh7 47.f5 Nd8 48.Nf6+ Kh6 49.Nd5 Rb7 50.e6 Nc6 51.Ra6 Ne5+

Or 51...Ne7 52.Nxe7 Rxe7 53.f6 etc.

52.Kxd4 1-0