Fundamentals (part 53)

Richard Desmedt (144) - Spanton (167)
Bradford U171 2018

White to make his 38th move - what should the result be?

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38.d5+
White had to find 38.Kf3!, the idea being to meet 38...Kd5 with 39.Ke3, when 39...c3 40.Kd3 c2 41.Kxc2 Kxd4 42.Kd2 is drawn thanks to White having the opposition. Black could try 41...Kc4!? but White draws with 42.Kd1 (or 42.Kc1) Kxd4 43.Kd2. The analysis engines Komodo11.01 and Stockfish11 show that, after 41...Kc4!?, even 42.d5!? draws, eg 42...cxd5 43.Kd2 d4 44.Kc2 d3+ 45.Kd2 c6 46.Kc1, when Black cannot play 46...Kc3? as it loses to 47.b5 etc.
Note that 38.Ke3 loses to 38...Kd5 as the d pawn falls, and 38.b5 cxb5 39.d5+ loses wherever the black king moves to, eg 39...Ke7 40.Kd4 Kf6 41.Ke4 b4! 42.axb4 a3.
The game finished:
38...cxd5+ 39.Kd4 c6 (an only-move but an obvious one) 40.Kc3 Ke5 41.Kd2 Kd4 42.Kc1 c3 43.Kc2 Kc4 44.Kc1 d4 45.Kc2 d3+ 46.Kd1 Kb3 47.b5 Kb2 48.bxc6 c2+ 49.Kd2 c1=Q+ 0-1

Fundamentals (part 48)

Spanton (169) - John Brooke (117)
Bradford U171 2017

Black to play and draw

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47...h6+?
The only other reasonable-looking move, 47...Kf7, draws, eg 48.h4 Kg7 49.h5 Kf7 50.h6 Ke7 51.f6+ Ke6. If 48.f6 then any king move draws, eg 48...Ke6 49.Kh6 Kxf6 50.h4 Kf7 51.Kxh7 Kf8 (with an h pawn this is a draw if the white king can be kept off the squares g7 and g8 - for details see https://beauchess.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-power-of-two-squares.html)
The text fails because Black will eventually lose his h pawn without winning White's f pawn (or the f pawn will simply queen).
The game finished:
48.Kf4 Kf6 49.h4 h5 50.Ke4 Ke7 51.Ke5 Kf7 52.f6 Ke8 53.Kf5 Kf7 54.Kg5 Kg8 55.Kxh5 Kh7 56.Kg5 Kg8 57.Kf5 Kf7 58.h5 1-0

Bradford Finale

I ENTERED the fifth and final round of the Bradford U171 on 3.5/4, a half-point ahead of the chasing pack.
Spanton (168) - Mark Whitehead (167)
Maroczy Bind
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4!?
Carlsen and Leko are among those who have played this.
3...Nc6 4.Nc3 d6
My main analysis engines Stockfish10 and Komodo10 like 4...Nd4!?, which was tried by Fine and Alekhine, albeit the latter in a simul.
5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 Nf6 7.Be2 Bd7!?
Komodo10's choice. It has also been the choice of at least one 2500+ player, but has a very-apparent drawback.
8.Nb5!?
The engines prefer getting on with development with a move such as Be3 or castling.
8...Qb8 9.Bf4 Ne5
For some reason this move, which is quite common in positions like this, had not occurred to me.
10.0-0
It would be wrong to give up White's good bishop and relinquish control of the d4 square by 10.Bxe5? dxe5.
10...a6 11.Nd4 Be7 12.Qd2 0-0 13.Rfd1 Rd8 14.Rac1
The engines prefer 14.a4 or 14.f3.

Black has a thematic move available

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14...Qc7
I do not believe either of us seriously considered that Black can break the bind here with the engines' 14...b5! The point is that after 14.cxb5 axb5, White cannot win a pawn as his queen's knight is overloaded protecting e4 and a2, which is why the engines wanted 14.f3 or 14.a4.
15.b3 Rac8 16.h3 Qb8 17.Qe3 Ng6 18.Bg3 Bf8 19.Kh1 e5?!
It is not often that ...e5 is a good move against the Maroczy Bind, and this position is no exception. Black should have continued manoeuvring.
20.Nf5 Bc6
Again it was possible to play ...b5. Another possibility was 20...Bxf5 21.exf5 Ne7, but White looks better after 22.Bd3 or 22.Qf3.
21.Nd5 Bxd5 22.cxd5
The engines prefer 22.exd5!?, but in either case give White an edge.
22...Rxc1 23.Rxc1 Rc8 24.Bf3 Ne7?
Better was 24...Rc7. The text allows White a strong kingside attack (as well as giving up the open c file).
25.Rxc8 Nxc8 26.Bh4 Nd7
There is nothing better, eg 26...Ne7 runs into 27.Nh6+! (even more effective than 27.Bxf6).
27.Qc1?
I did not play 27.Qg5 because I missed that after 27...Kh8? 28.Nxg7! Bxg7 29.Qd8+ Nf8, White wins his piece back with 30.Bg4. The engines reckon that after 27.Qg5, best play goes 27...g6 28.Nh6+ Bxh6 29.Qxh6, when they much prefer White.
27...Nc5 28.b4 Nd3 29.Qc3 Nf4 30.Bg5?!
Not a great idea as White does not want to give up his good bishop for a knight which, while it looks good, can do little by itself. Better was 30.Bg4, with a veiled threat against the c8 knight while threatening to evict the f4 knight with g3.
30...h6 31.Bxf4?
White is still better after, say, 31.Bd8. The text damages Black's pawn-structure, it is true, but more significant is that White is left with a bishop at least as bad as Black's.
31...exf4 32.Bg4 Nb6 33.Qc1 g6 34.Nd4 Bg7 35.Ne2 g5 36.Qc2 Qd8 37.a4 Nd7 38.Bxd7 Qxd7 39.a5?!
Giving up the b5 square to the black queen. Sensible was the solidifying 39.f3.
39...Be5
Not 39...f3?, as White's knight gets to the strong f5 square via g3.
40.f3?!
This seems to be another inaccuracy. The engines eventually settle on 40.Nc1, so 40...Qb5 can be met by 41.Nd3, which protects b4 without allowing the black queen to enter White's position.
40...Kf8?!
Better was 40...Qb5, which forces 41.Qd2 and so allows 41...Qa4. White is then very passive, but might be able to defend.
41.Kg1?! Ke7?!
Again White should have prepared to defend b4 with the knight, and Black should have invaded via b5.
42.Nc1 Bd4+ 43.Kh2 Be5 44.Nd3 f6 45.Nxe5 ½–½
The draw allowed three players on 3pts to catch me for a share of first place. We each won £80.
My score of +3=2-0 was an ECF grading performance of 191.

Réti

Bradford U171 Round 4
Marek Soszynski (164) - Spanton (168)
Réti
1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 e6 3g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 Be7 5.b3 0-0 6.0-0 Nbd7 7.Bb2 b6 8.d4!?

Only fourth-most popular in ChessBase's 2019 Mega database, but White scores 73% with it.

8...Bb7 9.Nbd2 Rc8 10.Rc1 c5 11.Ne5!?

The idea of White developing his queen's knight to d2 is largely so the dark-square bishop can support the king's knight occupying e5, but 11.Ne5!? may be premature as it allows Black to dissolve White's centre. The commonest move, as played by Korchnoi, Hübner and Ribli, is 11.e3.

11...cxd4 12.Bxd4 Nxe5 13.Bxe5 Ng4 14.Bb2 Bf6 15.Ba3 Re8

15...Be7!? would be a tacit invitation to a draw, and psychologically was probably the best move as MS was a half-point behind me and so would have been more-or-less obliged to exchange his powerful dark-square bishop.

16.h3 Ne5 17.Nf3!?

This somewhat surprised me as I thought MS would want to keep pieces on. The analysis engines Stockfish10 and Komodo10 suggest 17.cxd5, but rate the position as equal.

Black to make his 17th move

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17...Nxf3+

This seemed obvious, bearing in mind the tournament situation, but I should have seriously considered 17...dxc4!?, when the engines reckon best play is 18.Nxe5 Bxg2 19.Kxg2 Bxe5 20.bxc4 Qc7, with a small edge to Black thanks to White's isolated queenside pawns.

18.Bxf3 Rc7 19.cxd5 Rxc1 20.Qxc1 Bxd5 21.Rd1 Qa8 22.Bxd5 exd5

Now it is Black who has the only isolani.

23.Qd2

A natural-looking move, but probably better was 23.e3!?

23...d4!

This equalises by fixing White's e pawn, which is why 23.e3!? would have been more of a challenge.

24.Qd3 ½–½
If 24.Bb2, then 24...Qe4 25.Bxd4 Bxd4 26.Qxd4 Qxe2, with complete equality.

White To Play And Win

FROM the top board in this afternoon's third round of the Bradford U171.

White to make his 32nd move in Spanton (168) M Younis Quereshi (162)

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I played 32.a3, and the game continued 32...Rxa5 33.Bxa5 f6? (it is natural to want to get rid of a doubled pawn, but in this case the move is weakening) 34.Bc3 fxe5 35.fxe5 Rc8? (preventing a sac on c6, which was a real threat, but the analysis engines Stockfish10 and Komodo10 reckon Black should allow it, ie 35...f4 36.Rxc6! Qf5 - not 36...Qxc6?? 37.e6 etc - although White is much better after 37.h4 f3 38.Rf6 Rxf6 39.exf6 fxg2 40.Kxg2) 36.Rb7 Ra8? - makes for a quick finish, but 36...Rf8 37.Qh4 Rf7 38.Rb8 Rf8 39.Rxf8+ Kf8 40.Qxh7 should also win for White - 37.Qh4 h5 38.Re7 Qxe7 39.Qxe7 d4 1-0
However, White had an immediate win from the diagram with 32.Rxa8 Rxa8 33.Rxc6! Qxc6 34.e6. I saw that 34...f6 35.Qxf6 is hopeless for Black, but missed that 34...Kf8 fails to 35.Qg7+, the key points that I failed to spot being that Black is mated after either 35...Ke8 36.exf7+ Kd8 37.f8=Q+ etc, or 35...Ke7 36.Qxf7+ Kd8 37.e7+ Kc8 38.e8=Q+ Qxe8 39.Qxe8+ Kb7 40.Qd7+ Ka6 41.Qc6+ etc.

London Derby

ROUND 2 of Bradford U171 featured something of a London derby on top board this morning as I had Black against Wimbledon's Yasser Tello (159).

While I was thinking about my 29th move, White, for the second time in the game, offered a draw

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The position is dead-equal, but I was determined to play on - not out of annoyance at the improper draw offers, nor because I felt my nine-point ECF grading advantage was likely to be significant, but because I wanted to be sure I had tried everything I could.
29...Bc6 30.Qc1 Bd7 31.Nxd6 Qxd6
Opposite-coloured bishops and locked queenside pawns, but I felt Black has a tiny edge thanks to the light-square holes around White's king. However, the analysis engines Komodo10 and Stockfish10 reckon the position is still absolutely even.
32.Qf1
Defending the light squares, but somewhat passively. The engines prefer 32.f3 or 32.Qc3.
32...Qf6 33.Qd3 Bh3 34.f4?!
Gaining space, but doing nothing about the light squares. It was almost certainly better to push this pawn just one square forward.
More than 40 moves later, and after much probing, I had come up with a winning plan - swop off into an ending of opposite-coloured bishops!

Black to make his 76th move

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76...Qxf2+ 77.Kxf2 Ke4 78.Be3 Kd3 79.g4 Kc3 80.f5 g5??
Playing too quickly in my opponent's mild time-trouble (the time control is all moves in 110min with a 10sec increment).
81.Ke2??
White wins with 81.Bxg4, as I instantly saw, with a feeling of horror, after making my last move.
81...Be4
Now everything is back to 'normal'.
82.Kf2 Kxb4 83.Kg3 Kc4 84.Kxh3 b4 85.Kg3 b3 86.Bc1 Kxd4 87.Bb2+ Kc4 88.Bxf6
A better try was 88.h4, but Black still wins.
88...d4 0-1

Winsome Threesome

AM playing in the U171 section of the Bradford Congress, which started this evening upstairs at the city's Latvian club.
There was an oddity on the top three boards when the lower-graded player in each case offered a draw.
In two of the games he was ahead on material; in the third he had a big, but unclear, attack.
The draw offers were accepted on boards one and three, where there were material deficits, which at least meant the higher-graded players did not start with a duck.
On board two, the offer was declined (by me). Three moves later, I had a completely lost position (a tad over -5, according to Stockfish10).
But my opponent failed to find the winning combination, and eventually I had the rare satisfaction of delivering mate.

Black has just played 41...Qf2-e2

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Black was lost in any event, eg 41...Qg3 42.f6.
42.Rxd6+ Ke7
Or 42...Bxd6 43.Qxd6+ Ke8 44.Bc6#
43.Qc7+
Or 43.f6+ Ke8 44.Qc8+ Rxc8 45.bxc8=Q#
43...Kf8 44.Qxb8+ Kg7 45.f6#

Mating!

IT was my turn to deliver mate in this afternoon's round-five game from the Bradford U171.
Siefaldin Holi (151) - Spanton (167)
French Advance
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Bd7
Not as popular as 4...Nc6 or 4...Qb6, but with an interesting idea.
5.Nf3 Qb6 6.Be2 Bb5
The point of Black's play is to ease the cramp in his position by exchanging his bad bishop for White's good one. It was a favourite system of Bob Wade in the 1950s.
7.0-0 cxd4
The immediate 7...Bxe2 is seen much more frequently.
8.Bxb5!?
This seems rather cooperative, but it was played by Jovanka Houska in a win at the 1998 girls' world championship.
8...Qxb5 9.cxd4
JH preferred 9.Nxd4!?
9...Ne7
Played partly so my queen can drop back to d7 after White's next move.
10.Nc3 Qd7 11.Bf4 Nbc6 12.a4?!
Leaving a hole at b4 does not feel right.
12...Ng6 13.Bg3 Bb4 14.Ng5 Qe7 15.Rc1??
Judging by his body language, SH saw this dropped a piece as soon as he picked up the rook.
No game was ever won by resigning, but eventually we reached the following position:

White has just played the forced 61.Kh6-h7, and I replied 61...Rh5#

Mated!

MANAGED to get mated in under 20 moves as White against a lower-graded player this morning in round four of the Bradford U171.
Spanton (167) - Charles Proctor (154)
Modern Defence
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Nf3 a6 5.a4 c5?
Not in ChessBase's 2018 Mega database.
6.d5?
I rejected 6.dxc5 because of 6...Qa5, but White is much better after both 7.cxd6 and 7.Bd2.
6...Bg4 7.a5 Nd7 8.h3 Bxf3 9.Qxf3 Ne5 10.Qg3 Nf6 11.Be2 0-0 12.Be3

Despite missing the best continuation at move six, White is much better

12...b5!?
Whatever the soundness of this move, it does have the practical advantage of distracting White from his kingside build-up.
13.axb6 Qxb6 14.Ra2?
White is pleasantly better after the calm retreat 14.Bc1, which ends Black's queenside counterplay.
14...Qb4 15.f4??
Catastrophic. I somehow missed that my c3 knight is not protecting e4.
15...Nxe4 16.Qh2 Nxc3 17.Bd2 Nc4 18.Bxc4 Qxc4 19.Ra3?
I have given this a question mark, but it is arguably the best move in the position as it allows my opponent to immediately put me out of my agony.
19...Qe2#

T Total Tim?

ROUNDS two and three at Bradford U171 saw me beat a 151 in 98 moves in a game I should have won much quicker but was lucky to recover after blundering my queen, and then I lost to a 159 after turning down a draw at a time when my opponent had the superior position but I had the greater arrogance.
I have drowned my sorrows this evening, but it is clear future success will need a sustained period of alcoholic abstinence.

Embarrassing Ending

BACK at Bradford for a three-day, five-round U171 tournament, which I won in 2016 and did horribly in last year.
My round-one game this evening was reasonably played on both sides ... until we reached a king-and-pawn-ending.
Richard Desmedt (144) - Spanton (167)
Stonewall Attack
1. d4 d5 2. e3 Nc6 3. f4 Bf5
Chigorin played 3... Nh6 at London 1899, drawing with Showalter and losing to Tinsley.
4. c3 f6!?
Hoping to smash White's central wall with a quick ...e5, but ...e5 does not
come until move 19.
5. Nf3 Qd6 6. Bb5
This may be a new move. 6. b3 was played in a Swedish game by a 1959.
6... a6 7. Qa4 Rb8 8. Bxc6+ Qxc6 9. Qxc6+ bxc6

The queens have come off early

White has stopped a quick ...e5 and has broken up Black's queenside pawns, but at the cost of giving up his good bishop.
10. b3
An exchange of dark-square bishops must help White.
10... Nh6
Nevertheless it might have been better for me to play 10... e6 11. Ba3 Bd6, so that 12. Bxd6 cxd6 would reinforce Black's centre.
11. Ba3 a5
Hoping to prove a weakness at b3, but I had not seen far enough ahead.
12. Nbd2 a4 13. Ke2 Kd7
13... axb3 14. axb3 Bc2 is no threat as I cannot capture on b3 with my bishop because of a subsequent pin along the b file.
14. h3 e6 15. Bc5!?
My main analysis engines Stockfish9 and Komodo9 slightly prefer 15. Bxf8, but they do not hate the text.
15... Bxc5 16. dxc5 Rb5 17. b4 Re8 18. Nd4 Rbb8 19. N2f3
The engines give 19. g4 Bg6 20. N4f3!? with what they reckon is a roughly equal position.
19... e5 20. fxe5 fxe5 21. Nxf5 Nxf5 22. Kf2 e4 23. Nd4?!
Although the engines reckon White can get away with this, I thought it was rather risky.
23... Nxd4 24. exd4 Rf8+ 25. Ke2 Rf6 26. Rhf1 Rbf8 27. Rxf6 Rxf6

A difficult position for White, whatever he plays

28. Rf1?
The king-and-pawn ending should be lost for White with correct play. But even if White keeps a pair of rooks on, Black can carry on probing.
28... Rxf1 29. Kxf1 Ke6
My original idea was 29... Kc8 30. Ke2 Kb7 31. Ke3 Ka6, which does indeed
seem to win, but the text is fine too, although it requires more-precise play.
30. Ke2 Kf5 31. Ke3 h5 32. g3 h4?
White is in big trouble after 32... a3, eg 33. h4 g6 (but not 33... Kg4? 34. c4! Kf5 35. cxd5 cxd5 36. b5 with a draw) 34. Kf2 Kg4
33. g4+ Ke6 34. Kf4?
34. a3 seems to draw as neither side can make progress.
34... Kd7?
Again 34... a3, and if 35. Ke3 the engines give 35... g6, eg 36. Kf4 g5+ 37.
Ke3 Kd7 with lines similar to my original idea of 29...Kc8
35. c4?
35. a3= K9/S9.
35... dxc4 36. Kxe4 Ke6?
36... a3 is still key, eg 37. Ke3 Ke6 38. Ke4 g5 39. Kf3 Kd5 40. Ke3 c3 41. Kd3 c2 42. Kxc2 Kc4! and Black wins (K9/S9).
37. a3! g5 38. d5+??
38. Kf3 holds, ie 38... Kd5 39. Ke3 c3 40. Kd3 c2 41. Kxc2 Kc4 (or 41... Kxd4 42. Kd2) 42. Kc1! Kxd4 43. Kd2 and White draws thanks to having the opposition (K9/S9).
The game finished:
38... cxd5+ 39. Kd4 c6 40. Kc3 Ke5 41. Kd2 Kd4 42. Kc1 c3 43. Kc2 Kc4 44. Kc1 d4 45. Kc2 d3+ 46. Kd1 Kb3 47. b5 Kb2 48. bxc6 c2+ 49. Kd2 c1=Q+ 0-1

Resigning In A Won Position

I PLAYED at Bradford over the weekend, hoping to repeat last year's feat of winning the U171 tournament.
Instead, I had one of my worst congresses ever, despite facing five players graded 117-147, ie considerably lower than my 169.
I had losing positions in every game, but somehow managed to scrape together a 50 percent score.
I was much helped in this by my round-three opponent resigning in a won position.
Here is the game after White's 50th move:

Spanton (169) - Dennis J Wright (141), Bradford U171, 2017

Seeing he was about to lose his pinned bishop, my opponent played 50...Rxe2, desperately hoping I would fall for 51.Kxe2 Qa6+, when Black picks up White's bishop and has an attack against the exposed White king.
But I was ready for this and so played 51.Qxe2, prompting DW to immediately resign.
It was only later that evening, putting the game into my database, that I realised - thanks to analysis engines - that Black, not White, is winning after the simple 51...Qxf5+.
True, White can save his bishop with 52.Bf2, but the engines have Black winning easily with 52...Bb6. Materially, Black has only a pawn for the exchange, but there is much more to come thanks to the exposed nature of White's king.
On a brighter note, the congress, held upstairs at Bradford Latvian club, featured good playing conditions and, an increasing rarity these days, a well-stocked bookstall.

Players gathering before round four on Sunday morning