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.

Fascinating Ending

HERE is a a fascinating and instructive endgame position from Carl Portman's Never Mind The Grandmasters column in Chess magazine.

Black to make his 33rd move in Portman (1888 ECF) - Tayeb Kazemi (1791 ECF), Leamington (Warwickshire) League 2026

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Pawn endings with rival majorities are tricky, no matter how equal the engines reckon the position is (completely equal, according to Stockfish18 and Dragon1).

So how does one go about gaining winning chances, or, at least, setting the opponent problems?

The answer, I believe, is to try to create a passed pawn that will divert the enemy king, leaving your own king free to attack weak enemy pawns, and thus create another, this-time-winning, passer.

Here is an example from a 1991 rapid game at London's Barbican.

Black has just captured a knight on e6 in Spanton (151 BCF) - Martin Cutmore (152 BCF)

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I played 26.Kf3, as advancing the king is rarely wrong in such positions, although the engines marginally prefer 26.g4!?

After 26...h5, I took the chance to also advance my backward pawn with 27.e4, and following 27...dxe4+ 28.Kxe4, we have a position with rival pawn-majorities.

The game is completely equal, according to Stockfish18 and Dragon1

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28...f5+?

This natural-looking move not only gains space, but comes with a check, and yet after it Black is lost. The engines reckon several moves maintain the balance, including 28...g6, 28...a5 and 28...b5.

The problem with the text is that after 29.Kf4, Black is obliged to defend the kingside as 29...Kd5 30.Kxf5 Kxd4 is hopeless, eg 31.Kg6 Ke3 32.Kxg7 Kf4 33.Kh6 Kg4 34.g3, when Black's king will eventually have to move, allowing Kxh5.

My opponent played 29...Kf6 (29...g6 runs into the same trouble as in the game after 30.Kg5 Kf7 31.c4), but 30.c4 g6 31.d5 cxd5 32.cxd5 created a diverting passed pawn.

The game finished 32...a5 33.b3 b5 34.a4 b4 35.g3 Ke7 36.Ke5 1-0.

Returning to Portman-Kazemi, what would you play in the diagram position?
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The game saw 33...h5?, which, probably to both players' surprise, loses.

CP states that, after the move, "the engines goes up to '+7' for White." I do not know which engine he is talking about, but for a long time Stockfish18 puts White's advantage at a little over 3.00, while Dragon1 gives White only the upper hand. However, after allowing them more time than I usually would, Stockfish18's evaluation rises to just over +4.00, while Dragon1 agrees White is winning, but puts the advantage at a little under +2.00.

Even so, whatever the precise number, there seems little doubt White is winning, whereas moves such as 33...g4!? (CP's suggestion) and 33...a5 keep the game level.

I might have been inclined to play 33...Kd5, and if, as in the game, 34.c4, a sample continuation runs 34...bxc4+ 35.bxc4+ Kd6, when neither side is able to safely create a diverting passer.

In the game, White met Black's faulty 33rd move by gaining space with 34.c4!, which the engines agree is the strongest continuation by some distance.

There followed 34...a6 35.a4 Kd6 36.a5 Ke6.

How should White proceed?

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37.Ke3

Also winning is 27.h4 - the idea will become apparent as the game progresses.

However, simply creating a passed pawn is NOT the way to go. Indeed, 37.cxb5?? turns a win into a loss after 37...cxb5 as, far from diverting Black's king, the sequence allows the king to advance to the d5 square, eg 38.Ke3 Kd5 39.Kd3 f4 40.gxf4 gxf4, when it is Black who has created a diverting passer, a possible continuation being 41.b4 f3!? 42.Ke3 f2 43.Kxf2 Kxd4 etc, or 41.h4 b4 42.Ke2 Kxd4 etc.

37...Kd6 38.h4!?

This could also have been played in answer to 37...Kf6.

38...bxc4 39.bxc4 gxh4

Or 39...g4 40.Kf4 Ke6 41.Kg5 etc.

40.gxh4 Ke6

Black has created a passed pawn, but rather than diverting White's king from a crucial part of the board, the sequence has created weak squares that invite the king to advance

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41.Kf4 Kf6 42.d5!?

But this does create a passer that diverts.

42...cxd5

Or 42...c5 43.d6!? Ke6 44.d7 Kxd7 45.Kxf5 etc.

43.cxd5 Ke7

As CP points out, 43...Kg6 loses to 44.Ke5.

44.Kxf5 (1-0, 53 moves).

So why was 33...h5? weak? The answer is it eventually let White create kingside weaknesses in Black's position with 38.h4!?

Could Black have prevented this? Well, he could have prevented the h4 thrust, eg with 34...g4, but that does White's job for him by immediately creating black kingside weaknesses, a likely continuation being 35.Ke3 a6 36.Kf4 Kf6 37.cxb5 cxb5 (37...axb5 38.a4) 38.d5, when the diverting passer wins.

As is often the case, a 'simple' pawn ending has proved to be anything but simple.

Puzzle

A POSITION from one of my games features in the "intermediate" section of this month's Find The Winning Moves in Chess magazine.

Return Of The King's Indian?

TALKING to a friend recently - cannot remember whom, or even where, but it may have been in Prague at the world seniors - he commented how the King's Indian Defence is 'never' seen at elite levels any more.

I pointed out how Mark Hebden had made a living out of it on the weekend circuit, and how it used to be a favourite with Garry Kasparov.

But that was quite a few years ago, or as the authoritative source Wikipedia puts it: "In the early 2000s the opening's popularity suffered after Vladimir Kramnik began scoring excellently against it; so much so that Kasparov gave up the opening after several critical losses to Kramnik."

However, that may be about to change after Magnus Carlsen used the defence to beat Dutch grandmaster Max Warmerdam in Germany's Bundesliga.

Notes in italics are by international master Malcolm Pein in Chess magazine.

Warmerdam (Solingen 2646) - Carlsen (St Pauli 2831)

English/Modern/King's Indian

1.c4 e5 2.g3 g6

At this point ChessBase classifies the opening as "A20: English Opening: 1...e5."

3.d4!?

This is much less popular than 3.Bg2, but scores 15 percentage points better in the 2025 Mega database, and is preferred by Stockfish17 and Dragon1.

3...d6!?

A provocative reply.

4.Nf3!?

It must have been very tempting to proceed 4.dxe5 dxe5 5.Qxd8+, which is how Yasser Seirawan beat Anatoly Karpov at Haninge (Sweden) 1990, although the engines reckon Black's position is fine.

4...Nd7 5.Nc3 Bg7

ChessBase now calls the game "A41: 1.d4 d6: Tartakower System and Modern Defence."

5.Bg2 Ngf6 7.0-0 0-0

ChessBase finally settles on "E67: King's Indian: Fianchetto: 6...Nbd7"

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8.Qc2 Re8 9.Rd1!? e4!?

Ambitious. 9...c6 and 9...Qe7 are standard, but not 9...exd4 10.Nxd4 Nb6 11.c5!

Most popular in Mega25 is 9...c6, followed by 9...exd4 and 9...e4!? The engines like 9...Qe7!?

10.Ne1

10.Ng5 e3 11.Bxe3?! Rxe3! 12.fxe3 Ng4 gives full compensation.

10...Nb6 11.c5?

The computer [unspecified] prefers 11.Bg5 when 11...Nxc4?! 12.Nxe4 is good for White, as is 11...Bf5 12.Nxe4 Kh8 13.f3 h6 14.Bxf6 Bxf6 15.Qb3. Instead, 11...e3!? 12.fxe3 Nxc4 13.Nd5! also looks better for White, but he has to reckon with 13...Nxd5!? 14.Bxd8 Ndxe3 15.Qc3 Nxd1 16.Rxd1 Ne3 17.Rd2 Nxg2, which looks pretty messy.

11...Nbd5 12.cxd6

12.Nxe4 Nxe4 13.Bxe4 Nb4 14.Qb1 d5! is terrible for White after 15.Bf3 Bf5 or 15.Bd3 Bxd4.

12...Qxd6 13.Bg5

Not 13.Nxe4 Nxe4 14.Bxe4 Nb4 15.Qb1 Qe7 or 13.e3? Bg4.

Walter Browne (2540) - Yuri Balashov (2600), Buenos Aires 1980, went 13.Qb3 Bg4 14.Nc2!? Nxc3 15.bxc3 Bxe2 16.Re1 Qa6!?, with at least a slight edge for Black, according to the engines (0-1, 39 moves).

13...e3!?

The wedge is driven into White's position with the aid of a supporting cast.

14.f3 Nxc3 15.bxc3

15.Qxc3 Nd5 16.Qb3 h6 is even worse.

15...Nd5 16.c4 h6!? 17.cxd5 hxg5 18.Rac1 Bf5!? 19.Qb3

If 19.Qxc7 [then] 19...Qxd5.

19...Rab8

The engines prefer the immediate 19...Rad8!?

20.Qc4?!

The engines much prefer 20.Nc2.

20...Rbd8!? 21.f4!?

Exposing the king, but otherwise White might lose both d pawns for no compensation.

21...gxf4 22.Qxc7!? fxg3

22...Qa6 23.Nd3 fxg3 24.hxg3 Rc8 was even better.

23.Qxd6 Rxd6 24.hxg3

How would you assess this queenless middlegame?

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Black has the bishop-pair, the better pawn-structure and, with his next move, confirms Black's possession of the initiative, adding up to a winning advantage, according to the engines.

24...Ra6 25.Bf3 Bf8!?

As Pein points out, there is nothing wrong with grabbing the a2 pawn. He suggests Carlsen may have been worried that 25...Rxa2 could be successfully answered by 26.d6?, but that makes White's position worse, especially after 26...Rd2. However 26.g4 Bd7 27.Rc7 is more promising for White, although the engines reckon Black is winning after 27...Bb5!?

26.g4

Pein's suggestion of 26.Rc7 is preferred by the engines.

26...Be4 27.Rc7!? Rxa2 28.Kf1

If 28.Rxb7 [then] 28...Bxf3 29.Nxf3 Rxe2 and wins.

28...Rd2 29.Ra1 Rxd4 30.Rxa7 Bxd5 31.Bxd5 Rxd5 32.Kg2 Rd2 33.Kf3 Rd1 0-1

So will the King's Indian Defence undergo a revival, at high levels as well as in club play?

Time will tell, and after all it may be significant that Carlsen only committed to a KID setup after White committed to a kingside fianchetto.

Pulling No Punches

HOW many people still buy a chess magazine?

It is many years since I saw a copy in WH Smith, and the opportunity to buy one at a congress diminished as quickly as the presence of bookstalls.

The main culprit is the rise of the internet, which put paid to one of my favourite publications, Inside Chess.

This afternoon the April edition of Chess dropped through my letterbox.

Pride of place goes to former world champion Boris Spassky

So far I have only read Michael Pein's editorial, but for entertainment value it is alone worth the price of admission.

His two bugbears this month are Fide's Fair Play Commission - compared unfavourably with the KGB - and cheating at correspondence chess.

You might think the latter is impossible, bearing in mind all serious governing bodies allow the use of engines. 

Indeed, one of the first questions asked of newly crowned world champions at the Fide-recognised International Correspondence Chess Federation is which engines they have, and how they use them (answers are normally somewhat uninformative).

However, it seems I am rather naive ...

Is This The Future?

MOST chess players buy opening books, which is self-evident from the large numbers published every year.

What usually happens is that we buy the latest book on an opening we already play, or we buy a book an opening we intend to take up.

But I have a friend, whose identity I do not have permission to reveal, so, the purposes of this post, I will disguise it by calling him Vic Ramsey, who buys books on openings he neither plays nor intends to play.

Instead he buys books on openings he thinks future opponents will play, the idea being to prepare for what he might face over the board.

I thought of this while flicking through the January issue of Chess magazine.

On page 21 is a full-page advert featuring five "GREAT NEW TITLES FROM EVERYMAN CHESS."

Three of them are on specific variations within mainstream openings: the French, the Queen's Gambit and the King's Indian/Grünfeld complex.

The first, by international master Andrew Martin, recommends the Rubinstein Defence to the French, ie 3...dxe4 against both 3.Nc3 and 3.Nd2.

In one fell swoop, so the thinking goes, Black sets the agenda and, hopefully, takes whites out of their comfort zone.

The second book, by Nicolás Yap (Fide: 2266), advocates accepting the Queen's Gambit, concentrating on meeting 3.e4, after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4, with the offbeat 3...b5!?, and meeting 3.e3 with 3...e5!?

The third book, by international master Richard Palliser and grandmaster Simon Williams, recommends 3.h4!? after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6, thus providing a weapon against both the King's Indian and Grünfeld Defences.

What all three books have in common is that the suggested systems kick in at an early stage in the opening, making them fairly likely to appear on the board.

None of these books is a complete repertoire, since some opponents will sidestep the recommendations, eg by playing 3.e5 against the French, by playing 2.Nf3 after 1.d4 d5, or by meeting 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 with ...e6, probably intending either a Nimzo-Indian or a Queen's Gambit Declined.

Nevertheless I expect all three books will find buyers, leading to an increase in the covered variations, at least at club level.

All Change!

I TOLD last month how Fide planned to boost the ratings of players rated U2000, using a formula designed to combat what is seen as deflation in the elo system.

Grandmaster Keith Arkell has been complaining about deflation for several years.

Certainly some players, who once were comfortably rated in the 1900s, find themselves struggling to stay in the 1700s.

Some might put this mainly down to ageing, but chess statistical experts think otherwise.

Originally the boost, which I detailed in my blog, was to take place on New Year's Day, but quite a few officials claimed this was too soon.

Accordingly the change will now occur on March 1, along with other anti-deflationary measures, including moving the rating floor from 1000 to 1400, which will mean many weaker players losing their international rating.

Sometimes being close to a subject makes it hard to see what exactly is going on - a bit like being unable to see the wood for the trees.

One person who can take a much more detached view is grandmaster John Nunn, who, although never a Candidate, was rated in the world's top 10.

In other words he was a big fish in a big (chess) pond.

Nunn, as he puts it himself "more or less" retired from playing chess about 20 years ago.

But recently he has started competing in a string of 65+ seniors' events, where once again he is a big fish, albeit in a smaller pond.

To him the most noticeable change in the game in the intervening period has not been a decrease in ratings, but an increase in (legitimate) computer use, including "extensively" among 65+ seniors.

"This has certainly affected the way players tackle the openings," he wrote in December's issue of Chess magazine.

"The practical effect seems to be that players are reluctant to repeat an opening line and they tend to prepare 'one-off' opening variations which they have not played before, solely to evade the pre-game scrutiny of engines."

Another big change over the past two decades, or perhaps even longer, is the vast increase in chess literature.

There was a time when a handful of books might be published in a year; now many more than a handful are published every month.

Faster time limits are another change that is noticeable, along with digital clocks almost totally replacing analogue ones.

Which of these changes is the most significant is arguable, but chess is thriving, at least if the number of international tournaments is anything to go by.

Preparation

THE March issue of Chess has a three-page article by Ben Graff on how to prepare for opponents.

It has the rather strange title of "Fighting Back!", and a further objection to it might concern how much can be learned from a player whose ECF and Fide ratings are both below 1800.

(Then again, I am sure there are many players rated 2200 or so who wonder what they can get out of a blog written by someone with over-the-board ratings below 2000).

However, instead of filling the article with his own views, Graff sought opinions from people who might be expected to know rather more than most of us.

First up is grandmaster Keith Arkell, who makes many interesting points, not all of them directly related to preparation, including:

1. "I do not strive for much objectively with white, but instead strive for a position I like to play. With black I just want to get the ball back over the net, again with my kind of position. If that entails enduring, say, -0.7 early on, then so be it." [emphasis added]

2. "Weaker players are massively better than they used to be. We talk about grade inflation (but) the reality is what we are seeing is grade deflation."

3. "Some years back a friend paid me to help him prep for two hours before each round. I was also playing in the event (and) I played horribly - one of my worst performances of the last three decades."

By contrast, at Bad Wörishofen earlier this month, I was chatting in a bar one evening to a player seeking his third international-master norm.

He said he prepared each morning for four hours, and did not feel this tired him for the game that followed.

Having said that, he spent much of the evening drinking beer, while joining in rounds of schnapps, and claimed his worst games of the tournament came the days after the bar was shut (it opens Tuesday-Saturday), which spoilt his usual drinking routine.

March Chess ... no doubt there are many forms of Dutch courage

Graff also interviewed Jonathan Arnott, author of last year's Prepare To Win - A Club Player's Guide To Winning At Chess Before Move One.

Arnott seems to agree with Arkell that 'weak' players are stronger than they used to be.

"There are a few factors here," he states. "First, the abundance of openings knowledge means that even weak players are now getting past the opening pretty much unscathed.

"Second, engines give instant and brutal feedback on your mistakes. In the past players would have repeated and reinforced the same mistake; today engines put a stop to it."

Finally Graf interviewed Coventry junior Elis Dicen, a 12-year-old whose ECF rating has reached 1997, and shows no sign of slowing.

I am not sure all of her advice will be relevant to older readers, for example: "To improve my chess ... I meditate, colour in colouring books and play the Nintendo Switch as part of relaxation."

Several players I know like to use a 'lucky' pen to record their moves, and Elis also has her superstitions.

She reveals: "When I was starting to play chess my mum would accentuate my hair with a big bright JoJo Siwa* bow.

"I have always considered the bow as my lucky charm, but actually I heard my dad say that it was to spot me easily in a large crowd of children."

Perhaps this helps explain why many adults at chess tournaments walk around clutching a Tesco bag.

At the end of the article, readers are invited to send in their views and tips on preparation. I thought of letting Chess know about the lucky pen that used to pick my openings, but that is probably better left for another time. 

*JoJo Siwa is a popular YouTuber who is, according to Wikipedia, "known for appearing for two seasons on Dance Moms."

Chess!

NIGEL Povah asked me to write up one of my games from the European seniors team championships at Dresden for Chess magazine.

His articles on the championships, one written in collaboration with Keith Arkell, appear in the December and January editions of the magazine.

I chose to annotate my round-one game, partly because I was outrated by almost 200 elo, and it appears in January's Chess.

As a courtesy I have been sent copies of both magazines, and am slowly going through them.

Two for the price of none

My first impressions are they contain more writing and more annotated games than was the case when I was a subscriber, but that may be faulty recollection.

Remembering The Elephant Gambit

ONE of the joys of going through old chess magazines is coming across interesting articles that have faded from the memory.

One such I recently spotted is My Dream Game by Philip Corbin in the January 2005 issue of Chess.

It concerns his win with the Elephant Gambit at the 2004 Olympiad against an international master.

The gambit starts 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5, which apparently has served PC well, at least judging by his statistics in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database.

In 20 games he has amassed a score of +12=1-7, which is 62%. His average rating in those games was 2226, and his performance rating is given as 2242, albeit only 11 of his opponents had a rating.

However, if you take out the unrated opponents, and a game from a simul, PC's score becomes +3=0-7. His average rating in those 10 games was 2208, and his performance rating is given as 2162.

Nevertheless I thought it would be fun to go through the game published in Chess, using modern engines to cast a critical eye on the key moments.

Tadej Sakelšek (Slovenia, IM 2425) - Corbin (Barbados, FM 2242)

Olympiad (Mallorca) Round 1

Comments in italics are by PC

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5

At this olympiad I played (the Elephant Gambit) four times, scoring three wins and a draw.

3.exd5

I deem 3,Nxe5 Bd6 4.d4 dxe4 OK for Black.

3...Bd6

3...e4?! is well met by 4.Qe2.

4.d4!?

More popular in Mega21 is 4.Nc3, which has been played by Karpov, but the text scores 15 percentage points higher and is much preferred by Stockfish14 and Komodo12.1.1.

4...e4 5.Ne5 Nf6 6.Bb5+ c6!?

The safer, but more-placid, alternative is 6...Bd7 with an unclear position. I was playing for maximum complications.

7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Nxc6 Qb6!

The only move that makes the line playable. This game is the first time the line appears in Mega21, but the implication of PC's notes is that it was known to Elephant aficionados.

Position after 8...Qb6!

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9.c4

Later games saw 9.Nc3, which is slightly preferred by Komodo12.1.1. The text is preferred by Stockfish14.

Note that, as PC points out, 9.Nxb8?? loses a piece to 9...Qxb5. Less clear, but probably also good for Black, is 9.Nxa7+?! Bd7 10.c4 Qxa7 11.Nc3, when White has three pawns for a knight, but the engines prefer Black. Another possibility in the latter variation is 10.Nc8, when PC's 10...Bb4+! seems strong, eg 11.c3 Qxb5, although after 12.a4!?, Komodo12.1.1 reckons Black is only slightly better (Black is winning, according to Stockfish14).

9...Nc6 10.d5

The engines prefer 10.Nc3!?, although Komodo12.1.1 gives the nod for a while to the text. After 10.Nc3!? best play, according to the engines, runs 10...0-0 11.c5 Qc7 12.cxd6 Qxd6 13.Bxc6 Qxc6 14.0-0, when White is a pawn up.

10...0-0 11.Bxc6 Ng4!

PC also gives this an exclamation mark, and rightly it would seem; certainly the text is the engines' choice. The crude threat is checkmate on f2, but there is much more to the move than that.

12.Qe2

This is the only way to keep a slight edge, according to the engines.

12...f5!?

Offering a whole rook to gain a tempo in the attack! The idea of the move came to me when preparing for a game in the 2004 Barbados championship. I had not gotten the chance to play it then (so) this game was the first test over the board of my new rook-sac idea!

PC gives the text two exclamation marks, but Komodo12.1.1 prefers 12...Ne5, when it reckons 13.0-0 Nxc6 14.dxc6 Qxc6 15.Nc3 is only slightly better for White. Stockfish14 gives 12...Rb8 13.h3 Ne5 14.0-0 f5, when it reckons Black's initiative at  least compensates for his two-pawn deficit. PC rejected this latter line because of 14.Qxe4!?, which wins a third pawn, but Stockfish14 continues 14...f5 15.Qe3 Qc7, claiming Black is winning (Komodo12.1.1 'only' gives Black the upper hand).

13.Bxa8

The engines come to narrowly prefer this over the arguably more-practical 13.Nc3, but in any event the position is very tricky for White and, at least for a while, Komodo12.1.1 prefers 13.Nc3.

13...f4 14.f3

Stockfish14 prefers 14.Nc3, but then 14...f3 15.gxf3 exf3 requires White to find 16.Be3 Nxe3 17.Qxe3 Bc5 18.Na4! Qa5+ 19.Qd2 Qxa4, when White is up the exchange and two pawns but Black still has a strong attack.

14...Ne5!?

This seems even stronger than 14...exf3 14.gxf3 Ne5, when both 15.Kd1 and 15.Bc6 keep White in the game, according to the engines.

15.Nc3

Not 15.Qxe4? Bf5 16.Qe2 Nd3+ 17.Kd1 Rxa8, when Black has a winning  attack, according to the engines. Similarly 15.fxe4? Bg4 16.Qc2 f3 is horrific for White.

15...exf3 16.gxf3 Bf5 17.Ne4

Komodo12.1.1 at first suggests 17.c5, but the simple 17...Qxc5 18.Bc6 Nd3+ leads to advantage for Black after 19.Kd1 Nf2+ 20.Ke1 Nxh1. Its second suggestion of 17.Bc6 is dismissed by Stockfish14 with 17...Qd4, the point being Komodo12.1..1's 18.h4 fails to 18...Bc5 19.Qg2 Nd3+ 20.Kf1 Nf2.

17...Bb4+ 18.Kd1?!

White's best chance seems to be 18.Bd2 Bxd2+ 19.Nxd2, although both PC's 19...Nd3+ and the engines' 19...Re8 leave Black well on top.

18...Qd4+ 19.Kc2 Nxf3! 20.Rd1 Bxe4+ 21.Kb3 Rb8!

Black is 'only' the exchange and a pawn down, so he offers his queen.

22.Bc6

This allows a quick mate, but 22.Rxd4 Nxd4+ 23.Ka4 Nxe2 also weaves a mating net, eg PC points out 24.Bc6 Bc2+ 25.b3 Nc3#.

22...Bd2+ 23.Bb5

If 23.Ka4, the engines give a two-bishop mate with 23...Qxb2!? (the prosaic 23...Rb4+ also mates) 24.Bxb2 Bc2+ 25.Ka3 Bb4#.

23...Rxb5+!

Yet another sac.

24.cxb5

Or 24.Ka3 Ra5+ 25.Kb3 Qb6#.

24...Qb4#

An amazing game in which I have been unable to find a move by White that deserves an unadorned question mark. Is the Elephant Gambit really that good?!

Playing Against Oneself

IT is always interesting to see what players choose when they find themselves facing one of their own favourite systems.

So I was pleased when I recently came across a game in the January 2005 issue of Chess in which Jovanka Houska played 1.e4 and met with the reply 1...d5.

Her notes from the magazine are in italics.

Houska (2298) - Chrissy Oquendo Serrano (-)

Women's Olympiad (Calvià, Mallorca) 2004

Scandinavian

1.e4 d5

These days JH is more likely to play 1...c6, but the two times I played 1.e4 against her in the mid-1990s she replied with the text and followed up with 2...Nf6.

2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.Bc4!?

More popular are 4.Nf3 and especially 4.d4.

4...Nf6 5.d3!?

A dangerous system and one not to be underestimated.

The move scores a very respectable 59% in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database.

Less popular, but arguably more natural, is 5.d4, which also scores 59% in Mega21. The latter move takes more space in the centre, but the text controls the e4 square and will blunt the power of the black light-square bishop if it takes up its common post on f5.

5...c6 6.Bd2 Qc7 7.Qe2 e6

7...Bf5 is more active but ... far more risky. Unlikely as it may seem, the bishop becomes a target for the (white) kingside pawns.

8.Nf3 Bd6 9.0-0 0-0 10.Ne4!?

JH gives this an exclamation mark, without a comment (however, see her note below to Black's reply). Certainly many players would 'automatically' centralise the rooks in such a position, for example starting with 10.Rfe1. The analysis engines Stockfish14 and Komodo12.1.1 then give 10...b5 11.Bb3 and either 11...Nbd7 or 11..a4 with what they reckon is a level position.

10...Nbd7?!

I dislike this move. Black cannot afford to shut in one bishop and give the other one so freely. But also 10...Nxe4 11.Qxe4 Nd7 12.Bc3 provides White with easy play.

11.Nxd6 Qxd6 12.d4!?

A later game saw a 2052 play 12.Rfe1.

With the text White is saying, presumably, she has e4 under control and there is little chance of the black light-square bishop coming to f5, so the time is ripe for using the d pawn to grab central space.

12...Nd5

12...b6 is vital in order to develop the bishop.

The engines agree 12...b6 is best but reckon White has an advantage after 13.R(either)d1.

13.a4

Prophylaxis - Black's most positive feature in the position is the central placing of the knight. It is important for White to preserve her advantage by undermining the knight and then dominating the centre!

So the main point of 13.a4 seems to be to prevent ...b5 and thus allow an easy c4.

13...N7f6 14.Bb3 Nf4?

The knight leaves its post without prompting. More normal in such positions is to attack the white centre with 14...c5 or prepare to develop the light-square bishop with 14...b6. However the engines reckon both those moves leave White with a large advantage.

15.Qe1

The engines' 15.Qe5!? seems strong, forcing 15...Qxe5 16.dxe5 N6h5, when they reckon Black's lack of coordination helps give White a winning advantage.

15...Re8?

As JH points out, 15...Rd8 is better.

16.a5

Missing 16.Qe5! Qxe5 17.dxe5 N6h5 and it will take Black a long time to untangle the knights as well as all her other pieces.

16...Bd7 17.Ne5

Qe5 is still strong.

17...N4d5 18.c4 Ne7 19.Rd1 Rad8 20.Bg5 Ng6 21.Bc2 Rc8 22.Qe2Qe7 23.Rd3

White's space advantage makes it easier to manoeuvre her pieces.

23...h6?

Obliging White to smash the black kingside pawn-formation. The engines give 23...c5, but reckon White has a positionally won game.

24.Bxf6

The engines point out also strong is 24.Bxh6!? gxh6 25.Rg3.

24...gxf6

Black's position is so bad Komodo12.1.1 prefers giving up the light-square bishop with 24...Qxf6!?

25.Nxg6 fxg6 26.Rh3 Kh7!?

This allows a pretty finish, but the objectively best 26...f5 27.Rxh6 is miserable enough.

White to play and win

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27.Bxg6+! 1-0

The bishop cannot be captured, eg 27...Kxg6? 28.Qh5+ Kg7 29.Rg3+ Kh7 30.Qg6+ Kh8 31.Qxh6+ Qh7 32.Qxf6+ Qg7 33.Qxg7#

Antidote To The Lion

PLAYERS who open 1.e4 or 1.d4 have to be ready to face the fashionable Lion, aka the Black Lion.
It is a system aimed at getting a version of Philidor's Defence without allowing White to play what are regarded as theoretically strong replies.
I came across a decent-looking antidote while going through my free copy of Chess magazine from the Hastings congress (https://beauchess.blogspot.com/2020/01/hastings-bonus.html).
Notes in italics are from the winner's Chess annotations.
Harry Grieve (196) - Dominic Klingher (200)
Delancey UK Schools' Terafinal 2017 Round 5
1.d4 d6 2.e4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nbd7
A slightly unusual move-order aimed at reaching a Philidor without allowing the early exchange of queens that can occur after 3...d5 4.dxe5 dxe5 [sometimes called the Lion's Yawn].
The opening is a Pirc after 3...g6, and a Pribyl after 3...c6.
4.f4!?
By highlighting the drawback to Black's third move, White gains a strong grip on the centre.
Much more popular in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database is 4.Nf3, but it is probably fair to say the text is regarded as the move Black has most to worry about. For example, IM Jeremy Silman, in reviewing the 2008 book The Black Lion: The Chess Predator’s Choice Against Both 1.e4 And 1.d4, says f4 "must be the critical test."
4...e5 5.Nf3 exd4 6.Qxd4
Pillsbury played 6.Nxd4 in 1902, the earliest known example of this line, but Grieve says the e4 pawn can quickly become weak.
6...c6 7.Be3 d5!?
A thematic pawn sacrifice aimed at reducing Black's slight cramp.
We are very much still in mainline theory.

White has to decide what type of game he wants

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8.e5!?
A solid choice to avoid the complications - White aims to establish a grip on the dark squares.
Naturally Black has to also be prepared for 8.exd5, when the main line runs 8...Bc5 9.Qd3 Qe7 10.Nd4 Nb6 11.dxc6 bxc6, with White scoring very well after 12.0-0-0. However, Black has important alternatives at move 10, viz ...Ng4 and...Nxd5. Grieve's choice has the advantage that your opponent is likely to have spent much more time analysing the pawn grab.
8...Bc5!?
Grieve says this seems slightly inaccurate compared with the more popular 8...Ng4. However, the text has been played by grandmasters and is the choice of Komodo10, although Stockfish10 prefers ...Ng4. After 8...Ng4, Grieve gives 9.Bg1 Bc5 (9...Nh6 is also interesting, targeting the weakened f5 square) 10.Qd2 Bxg1 11.Rxg1 Qb6 12.Na4 Qe3+ 13.Qxe3 Nxe3, as played as long ago as 1991, and repeated several times since. But White seems to be doing well after 14.Bd3.
9.Qd2 Ng4?!
This may be the real problem with Klingher's play. The main line runs 9...Bxe3 10.Qxe3 Ng4, although White looks better coordinated after 11.Qd2.
10.Bxc5 Nxc5 11.h3 Nh6 12.g4
White gets a lot of space on the kingside, and the black knight on h6 is badly misplaced.
The engines prefer queenside expansion with 12.b4.
12...b5?
Grieve suggests 12...0-0, but the engines prefer White - Stockfish10 even reckons White is winning - after 13.f5. The engines suggest Black should prevent this with 12...f5, although they reckon White is better after 13.exf6 or 13.g5.
13.b4 Nd7
The engines agree with Grieve's suggestion of 13...Na4, but have White winning after 14.Nxa4 or 14.f5.
14.a4 bxa4 15.b5!?
Simple moves such as 15.Nd4 and 15.Nxa4 are also strong.
15...Bb7
White is also much better after the engines' 15...cxb5 16.Bxb5.
16.bxc6 Bxc6 17.Nd4 Qh4+ 18.Qf2 Qxf2+ 19.Kxf2 Rc8
White has clearly won the opening battle, with the more active and better coordinated pieces as well as the superior pawn-structure.

How does White best realise his advantage?

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20.Ncb5!?
Clearly the best move. With Nd6 and Nxa7 threatened, Black's next move is almost forced, but will still leave him with serious problems to resolve.
Note that 20.Nxc6?! Rxc6 21.Nxd5 Rxc2+ gives Black play he does not really deserve. However, the prosaic 20.Nxa4 also leaves White in command.
20...Bxb5 21.Bxb5 Rc7 22.Rxa4
White has got his pawn back  and dominates on the queenside.
22...Ke7
As Grieve points out, 22...0-0 loses a piece to 23.Bxd7 Rxd7 24.g5.
23.Nc6+ Kf8 24.Rxa7
Now White is a pawn up, and Black is effectively playing without two pieces stranded on the h file (1-0, 42 moves).
One game may prove little, but 4.f4!? seems to set Black difficult problems without exposing White to undue risk.

Hastings Bonus

ONE of the (minor) benefits of playing at Hastings is getting a free copy of Chess magazine, courtesy of bookstall providers Chess & Bridge.

Free Chess

As someone who gave up buying chess magazines several years ago, I enjoy this perk even though the edition I was given dates from October 2017.
I have not gone through it properly yet - I have a huge backlog of chess magazines at home - but I think a piece of advice for club players from "new English women's champion" Louise Head is rather good: "As there is no time for preparation in league matches, it does help to have a comfortable opening knowledge."
This ties in somewhat with a piece of advice I give, if anyone asks, about tournaments: do not play an opening you have to look up before the game.
In other words, if you do not know an opening well enough to play it without refreshing your memory, play something else.

Chess - September 2019

THE second part of my free three-issue subscription to Chess arrived this week, with Michael "Awesome" Adams on the front cover.
There are 60 glossy pages, including the covers, and it has a normal retail price of £4.95.

September 2019 Chess … propped on my laptop after I boarded a train to Torquay yesterday for the 'Paignton' congress

CONTENTS
Chess Editorial IM Malcolm Pein reflects on the British Championships at Torquay and includes notes to an Aronian rapid win over Carlsen.
60 Seconds With … Q&A with English-based Polish WGM Katarzyna Toma, who credits Boris Zlotnik's Chess Knowledge, Training, Mastery with helping her achieve her first WGM norm.
Boris Gelfand's Remarkable Comeback Notes to some games and positions from an Israeli tournament won by Gelfand ahead of a field that included Peter Svidler and Luke McShane.
Best Of British Detailed notes by Luke McShane on a win over Pavel Eljanov, and short notes to a David Howell win over Sam Shankland.
Awesome Adams Detailed notes to four Michael Adams' wins at the British and to a win each by Jovanka Houska and Katarzyna Toma.
Never Mind The Grandmasters Carl Portman reflects on the British Championships, and includes positions from three games.
A Three-Way Go FM Terry Chapman reflects on the 50+ seniors section of the British Championships.
A Humdinger Detailed notes to the British Championships game Palliser-Howell.
All The Wrong Moves Stephen Moss reviews a fellow journalist's account of two years playing chess at c1400 level.
A Little Bird Just Told Me Tweets from chess players.
The Flanders Position Michael Reeve looks in detail at a position on the cover of a chess novel.
BH Wood In Gijon Extract from a book about tournaments held in a Spanish city from 1944-65.
Find The Winning Moves 24 positions.
How Good Is Your Chess? Daniel King on a 35-move win by Ding Liren.
All That Glisters Is Not Gold FM Carl Strugnell provides detailed notes to two games he played this year in Serbia.
Studies With Stephenson Two composed positions.
Overseas News Brief reports and four games, two with very detailed notes.
Home News Brief reports, forthcoming September events and a game with detailed notes.
Solutions To Find The Winning Moves.
This Month's New Releases Two detailed reviews and 14 brief mentions.
Saunders On Chess John Saunders reflects on last-round mindsets.

Old Chessnut

GOING through an old copy of Chess magazine from July 2007, I came across an article more than a page long - and remember that Chess uses an a4 format - on the famous game in which Paul Morphy beat an aristocratic consulting team at the Paris Opera House.
I find it hard to believe there are many, if any, regular readers of Chess who have not seen the game before. It would be difficult to prove, but I suspect it may be the most-published game of all time.
The main rival to such a claim must be the 1851 Immortal Game between Anderssen and Kieseritzky.
It may well be there are better games than these two, although quality in such cases is subjective, but none that has been published so often.
Anyway, I thought it might be interesting to take (yet) another look at Morphy's gem, but this time with the help of the analysis engines Stockfish10 and Komodo10.
Morphy - Duke of Brunswick/Count Isouard
Philidor Defence
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Bg4?!
This move goes back to at least 1795, but by the time of this game had been superseded by 3...f5 and (today's favourite) 3...exd4.
4.dxe5 Bxf3
The engines reckon it is better to give up a pawn by 4...Nd7!?, which has been played by many strong players including Albin, Lasker, Mieses, Blackburne, Nimzowitsch and, in more modern times, by at least six players rated over 2400.
Is ...Nd7 any good? Well, according to ChessBase's 2019 Mega database, Albin won both his outings with it, and Blackburne scored +3=1-0.
5.Qxf3 dxe5 6.Bc4 Nf6?
The most popular move in Mega19, but the superior 6...Qd7 had been played in George Atwood - Jonathan Wilson, London 1795. Atwood continued, as Morphy was to do, with 7.Qb3, when 7...c6 meant that at least Black was not losing material (but 1-0, 22 moves).
7.Qb3 Qe7!?
Fischer called this "a clever move," his point being that 8.Qxb7 would allow the aristos to get queens off the board with 8...Qb4+. They would in all likelihood have still lost, but would have had the satisfaction of the game lasting a lot longer than it did (and Morphy would have spent a lot longer sitting in the duke's luxury box with his back to the opera).
Later in 1858, in Morphy's match against the Prussian Daniel Harrwitz, the weaker 7...Bd6? was played. Morphy won in 59 moves.
8.Nc3
The engines prefer the prosaic 8.Qxb7 but Morphy, at least metaphorically, may have had one eye on the opera.
8...c6 9.Bg5
Fischer reckoned this puts Black in zugzwang: "He can't develop his knight because his (b) pawn is hanging (and) the bishop is blocked by the queen."
9...b5?!
It is easy to condemn this move, but in 15 subsequent games to reach the position after 9.Bg5, the text was played in 12 of them.
The engines reckon best play is 9...Na6 10.Bxf6 gaf6 11.Bxa6 bxa6 12.0-0, with a miserable game for Black.
10.Nxb5! cxb5 11.Bxb5+ Nbd7 12.0-0-0 Rd8
Fischer points out that breaking the pin on the queen's knight with 12...0-0-0? loses instantly to 13.Ba6+ Kc7 14.Qb7#
13.Rxd7 Rxd7 14.Rd1 Qe6 15.Bxd7+ Nxd7 16.Qb8+! Nxb8 17.Rd8+
The exact same game last occurred in Mega19 in Edmundo Luz (2059) - Jose Correa (1686), Maranhão (Brazil) 2018.

Chess Perks

ONE bonus of attending the British Chess Championships is that there are usually perks to be had.
For those without easy access to the Chess & Bridge shop in London, it must have been pleasing to see the company's well-stocked bookstall, especially in these days of decreasing bookstall-attendance at congresses.
There were even generic chess T-shirts for sale, although none, alas, themed for the championships.
That being the case, and despite the interesting books on prominent display (DVDs were not so easy to view, so I gave them a miss), I resisted the temptation to buy - something of a personal best for me.
However, I did not come away emptyhanded. As well as picking up a free old copy of Chess magazine, I also took out a free three-month subscription.
I used to be an avid magazine buyer - at various times I subscribed to Chess, BCM, Chess Life, New In Chess and Inside Chess, and I still have every copy of Chess Circuit and Weekend Chess.
But the internet destroyed much of  the magazines' usefulness for me - their "news" sections tended to be so out-of-date that they could have been more properly renamed "olds."
There were always parts of most magazines that simply held no interest for me - stamp collecting, problems, "humorous" cartoons and hagiographic interviews being leading culprits.
What I really wanted was instruction, which I felt was sometimes in short supply, and informative reviews of the latest books and DVDs.
My three-month subscription to Chess will give me a fair chance to see how things stand today.
The first issue of my subscription  - "Volume 84 No.5 August 2019" - arrived while I was in the Czech Republic.

August Chess … the cover features 20-year-old Russian GM Aleksandra Goryachkina

The magazine, which has a cover price of £4.95, has a thin feel to it but consists of 60 glossy pages with plenty of colour photos (something that can be taken for granted today, but was not the case only a short time ago).
CONTENTS
Editorial Executive editor Malcom Pein's take on the current state of chess, including detailed notes to two Giri games and his opinion on the Igors Rausis cheating scandal (Pein wants a life ban).
60 Seconds Q&A with IM Adam Hunt, who includes his Chess Strategy: Move By Move as among "the three best chess books."
Havana Good Time! Five games and two positions from the Capablanca Memorial.
Is Magnus Beatable? Two Carlsen draws and one position from Zagreb.
Find The Winning Moves 24 game positions.
Getting Hackneyed Two games with notes, one game with just a single annotation and a position - all from Hackney's most-recent season in the Middlesex League.
Readers' Letters Featuring a Paul Littlewood brevity with one note, and information about Vera Menchik.
The Rise of Aleksandra One game and one position from the Women's Candidates.
How Good Is Your Chess? GM Daniel King with another game from the Women's Candidates.
Vera Menchik: Challenging The Status Quo One game and one position, but mostly a recap of the life of the first women's world champion, marking the 75th anniversary of her death.
Trends In The Chess Openings The Réti was the most popular opening in June among GMs and IMs, according to a chart credited to Hiarcs 14 via TWIC.
A New Initiative One game and two positions from a rapid tournament in Stockton-on-Tees.
Women's Chess Month A view from Hammersmith chess club.
Growing Up A Wood Interview with the son of Chess magazine founder BH Wood.
Never Mind The Grandmasters Carl Portman details how he beat a player graded 83.
Studies With Stephenson Three studies.
Pattern Recognition Matthew Lunn on the dangers of relying on pattern recognition.
Playing Chess Below Canterbury Cathedral James Essinger describes, with edited extracts, his new partially-chess-themed novel.
Overseas News Seven short reports, including British involvement in the St Louis Summer Classic.
Home News Ten short reports, plus a Forthcoming Events diary.
Solutions To Find The Winning Moves.
This Month's New Releases Long reviews of books on the Sicilian Taimanov and Emanuel Lasker. Brief mentions of five other books, one DVD and two magazines.
A Little Bird Just Told Me Chess tweets.
Saunders On Chess John Saunders' take on the current state of chess.
In addition there are adverts for new publications and upcoming tournaments, so all-in-all quite a lot to get through.

Guess The Move

GOING through an old copy of Chess (September 2017) this morning, I came across a move I am pretty certain would never have occurred to me.

Black to make his 20th move in Jovanka Houska (2402) - Gawain Jones (2660), 2017 British Championship round seven

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20...g5!?
Jones, who is pictured on the cover of the magazine as he went on to win the British title in a playoff against Luke McShane, explained his thinking thus: "My g6 pawn was just getting in the way of my knight's ideal journey to f4, so I decided to get rid of it."
Jones awards his move a single exclamation mark. My reaction on first seeing it was that the move either deserved !! or ?!
Analysis engines struggle to get the move, or at least at first. Show them the move on the board, give them enough time and, for a while, ...g5 comes to be Stockfish10's top choice and Komodo9's second choice. The latter engine is consistent in preferring 20...Kh8, but Stockfish10 flitters between 20...Kh8 and the text.
I am perhaps being curmudgeonly in annotating Jones' move with !?, although I am sure he would not care an iota either way. Whatever the punctuation, ...g5 is a brave, and to me, amazing move.
The game continued (notes in italics by Jones in Chess):
21.Qxg5
The engines suggest leaving the pawn where it is and instead bringing the a3 knight back into play with 21.Nc4.
21...Rf6
Now White has problems with both her king and queen.
22.Kh2?!
The engines come to strongly dislike this natural-looking move, preferring 22.Bh2, 22.Bh4 or 22.Qg4, although favouring Black in any case.
22...Rg6 23.Qh5
23.Qh6 Bh6 hardly helps. One illustrative line runs 24.f4 Kh8 25.Nc4 Rxg3! 26.Qxg3 Bxf4.
23...Rf8
Black's position plays itself. All I need to do is point all my pieces at White's king. In the meantime White has absolutely no counterplay and the extra f3 pawn just gets in the way.
24.Nc4 Rff6 25.Bh4
Bringing the knight over to the kingside with 25.Ne3 fails to 25...Rxg3! 26.Kxg3 Rh6 27.Qg4 Rg6.
25...Rh6
The computer points out I could also have played 25...Nxd5!? 26.exd5 (26.Bxf6 Rxg2+! 27.Kxg2 Nf4+ is the subtle point) Rf5.
26.Qg5 Ng6
Six moves later, the knight gets to use the square vacated by Black's positional pawn sac.
27.Bf2?!
This loses immediately. 27.Bg3 at least covers the f4 square, but after 27...Bc8 White will still be unable to defend against all the threats.
27...Nf4 28.Qg4 Qe8
White's queen is trapped …
29.Ne3 Rgf6 30.Nf5
… as if 30.Qf5 there's 30...Rh5.
30...Rxg4 31.Nxh6+ Bxh6 32.fxg4 Nd3
32...Nxg2 33.Kxg2 Bd2 was the alternative, but I thought it would allow White to put up further resistance.
33.Re2 Nxf2 (0-1, 38 moves)

Top Advice

IDLY filling in a spare moment by going through an old copy of Chess magazine (from September 2017), I came across a Q&A with international master Craig Hanley.
"A tip please for the club player: Play openings that you enjoy! A hobby is supposed to be leisure time where you relax and have fun."
It is hard to argue with that advice, but how many of us follow it?

Championship Clash

CONTINUING to go through the October 2005 edition of Chess magazine, I came across this interesting opening from round eight of the British Championship.
Andrew Greet (2425) - Stuart Conquest (2503)
Hippopotamus Defence, 150 Attack
1.d4 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Be3
Greet comments: "I have always enjoyed playing the '150 Attack' against the Pirc and Modern, although I get the feeling that Black should be OK if he plays precisely."
4.Be3 has been played by Kasparov, Anand and many other strong players, and is easily the most popular move in ChessBase's 2019 Mega database.
4...a6 5.Nf3 Nd7
Greet: "I found this to be a slightly annoying move order."
6.Bc4
Greet: "Usually 6.Bd3 would be the preferred square, but after the specific move-order chosen by Black I was slightly concerned about 6...c5!? 7.d5 (otherwise Black gets a fairly comfortable Dragon after ...cxd4 as my bishop would be misplaced on d3) 7...b5 with unclear play."
Most popular is 6.Qd2, which is thematic for the 150 Attack, but the analysis engines Stockfish10 and Komodo9 much prefer Greet's move.


Greet says "Black must do something about the threat of Bxf7+," but is he right?

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Yes.
6...e6
Out of 87 games in Mega19, 78 feature this move.
The point is that the 'natural-looking' 6...Ngf6? runs into 7.Bxf7+! (the preliminary 7.e5 is also good) Kxf7 8.Ng5+. Now 8...Ke8 and 8...Kf8 lose the queen to 9.Ne6+. That leaves 8...Kg8, but after 9.Ne6+ Qe8 10.Nxc7 Qd8 11.Nxa8, White has a rook and two pawns for a bishop. True, White's a8 knight looks doomed, and Black has the bishop-pair, but White must be much better.

How should the game proceed?

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Stockfish10 and Komodo9 agree the main line would go 11...b5 12.e5 Bb7!? (12...Ne8 13.Qf3 is even worse, according to the engines, but might be the best practical chance in a game between humans) 13.exf6 Nxf6 14.f3 Qxa8, when White is an exchange and a pawn up.
Going back to the position after 12.e5, I think the best practical chance would be 12...Ne8, but after 13.Qf3 it is far from clear that Black will after all win the knight on a8.
After the game's 6...e6, play continued:
7.a4 b6 8.0-0 Ne7 9.Qd2 h6 10.h3 Bb7 11.Rfe1 Nf6 12.Bf4?!
This may be a mistake as it gives Black a tempo for kingside play. The engines much prefer 12.d5 or 12.Bd3!?
12...g5!
Greet's punctuation.
13.Bh2 g4 14.hxg4 Nxg4 15.Bg3
Four years later the game Anh Dung Nguyen (2500) - Huan Hoang Canh (2378), Vietnamese Championship qualifier, was agreed drawn here, suggesting strong players very much like Black's kingside attacking chances. Stockfish10 reckons the position is dead equal, while Komodo9 prefers White.
15...Ng6 16.Nh2?!
The engines reckon this is a mistake, wanting White to get on with it in the centre or on the queenside.
16...h5 17.Rad1 Kf8!?
This seems to be almost a waiting move. I guess Conquest wanted to get his king off the central files to give himself more flexibility in case of White playing d5 or e5.
18.Qe2 Qg5 19.Nf3 Qe7 20.Nh2!?
This is the engines' choice, but it means Black has developed his queen to e7 without loss of tempo.
20...Nf6 21.Nf1?!
The engines still want White to get on with it in the centre, giving 12.e5 with unclear play.
21...h4
Stockfish10 at first gives Black a winning advantage after this move, but given sufficient time it slowly comes to have Black as just slightly better. Komodo9 also prefers Black, but only by about a fifth of a pawn.
22.Bh2 Bh6?!
Komodo9 prefers Greet's suggestion of 22...h3, when best seems to be the horrible-looking 23.g3, but Stockfish10 reckons Black has time to consolidate his queenside with 22...a5.
The frequent differences in the engines' evaluations highlight how unclear these positions can be (even as I type this, Stockfish10 comes round to liking 22...h3, at one point reckoning it gives Black a winning advantage).
23.Qf3 Nh7
Greet says 23...Kg7 was better. The engines give 23...h3!? or 23...Bg5, but disagree on how much Black is better (if at all).
24.Qh5
Greet is harsh on this, saying he should have played 24.Rd3. The engines are not so sure.
24...Nf6 25.Qf3 Kg7 26.Qh3
Greet calls this "quite a senseless move," but does not give an alternative, and it is Komodo9's second-choice (behind continuing redeployment of the king's knight with 26.Ne3).
26...Rag8!
Neither engine suggests this move, but, once shown it, Stockfish10 comes to very much rate it. I give it an exclamation mark because of the engines' initial indifference, but to me it looks like the type of move many club players would instinctively choose.
27.d5?
"This achieves nothing," says Greet. Perhaps more importantly, it allows Black to seal the centre, which is the normal source of counterplay when an opponent is attacking down a flank.
27...e5 28.Ne3

How should Black proceed?

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28...Bxe3!
Giving up his bad-but-active bishop in a position that does not seem promising for White's bishop-pair. On top of this, Conquest has seen a tactical point.
29.fxe3?
This loses an exchange (can you see how?) but, as Greet says, 28.Qxe3 Ng4 "would have left Black well and truly in control."
29...Bc8 30.Qf3 Bg4 (0-1, 49 moves)

How True

GOING through the October 2005 edition of Chess magazine - Jonathan  Rowson is on the cover, with an announcement that he is to lecture on Chess For Zebras - I come across a diagram of the final position (no moves are given) of the British Championship game between Timothy Woodward and Stuart Conquest.
The commentary reads: "It's not often that you see an 82-move, close to 7-hour game in which all eighteen pawns remain on the board!"