Summing Up Davos

MY score of +2=1-2 lost 14.4 Fide elo.

Davos Round Five

UPFLOATED against a Pole.

Spanton (1942) - Michał Kaczmarek (1825)

Caro-Kann Two Knights/Tartakower

1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ exf6 6.Bc4 Bd6 7.0-0 0-0 8.d4

The game began as a Two Knights Variation but the position arises more commonly from the Tartakower, eg 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ exf6 6.Bc4 Bd6 7.Nf3 0-0 8.0-0

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8...Bg4 9.h3 Bh5 10.c3 Nd7 11.Re1 Re8 12.g4!?

This thrust is nearly always controversial, and here it seems to be a novelty, but is the second choice of Stockfish16, marginally behind 12.Rxe8+.

12...Bg6 13.Nh4 Nb6 14.Bb3 Bc7!? 15.Rxe8+ Qxe8 16.Nxg6 hxg6

How would you assess the position now White has won the bishop-pair and mangled Black's kingside pawn-formation, but has a weak king's position?

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Equal chances, according to Stockfish16 and Komodo14.1.

17.Bd2 Qd7 18.Qc2

The engines reckon the queen is needed on the kingside, even though their recommended 18.Qf3!? blocks the white f pawn.

18...Nd5 19.Bxd5

Here they prefer 19.Qe4!?, the idea being to follow with Qf3.

19...Qxd5 20.Qd3 Re8 21.c4?!

This seriously weakens the d pawn. The engines suggest 21.b3, with equality according to Stockfish16, although Komodo14.1 gives Black at least a slight edge.

21...Qd6 22.f4?

Better seems to be the engines' 22.Kf1!?, although that is a horrible move to have to play.

Black to play and gain a winning material and positional advantage

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22...Rd8

This is good enough for the upper hand, but stronger is 22...Bb6, the point being 23.Be3? loses to 23...Rxe3! etc. Also very strong, according to the engines, is 22...f5!?

23.Be3 g5 24.Rf1 Bb6 25.b3?!

Better, according to the engines, is 25.Rd1 gxf4 26.Bf2.

25...Bxd4 26.Bxd4 Qxd4+ 27.Qxd4 Rxd4

How big is Black's advantage?

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Black is 'only' a pawn up but Stockfish16 reckons Black's advantage is worth about a minor piece, although Komodo14.1 is less enthusiastic.

28.fxg5 fxg5 29.Rf2 f6 30.Re2 Kf7 31.Kf2 Rd3 32.Kg2 g6 33.Rf2 Re3 34.Rd2 Ke7 35.c5!? a5!?

The engines agree Black's response to 35.c5!? is correct.

36.Rb2 Ke6 37.b4!? axb4 38.Rxb4 Re2+ 39.Kg3 Rxa2 40.Rxb7 Rc2 41.Rg7 Rxc5 42.Rxg6

White has succeeded in exchanging a lot of pawns, but Black now has a passed pawn and no longer has doubled pawns, so how should Black proceed?

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42...Kf7

Black is still much better after this - winning, according to Stockfish16 - but probably stronger is getting on with advancing the passed pawn.

43.Rh6 Kg7 44.Rh5 Re5 45.h4 Re3+ 46.Kf2 Re5

Not 46...Rh3? 47.hxg5 Rxh5 48.gxf6+.

47.hxg5?!

Black is definitely winning again after this, according to the engines, whereas they reckon 47.Kg3 leaves Black with 'only' the upper hand.

Black to play and win

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47...Rxg5?

Black is winning after 47...fxg5, according to the engines and the Syzygy endgame tablebase, but the text should result in a draw. Why capturing with the pawn makes such a difference, I am not sure.

48.Rh4 c5 49.Ke3 Rd5 50.Rh1 Kg6 51.Rc1 Kg5 52.Rc4 Kg6 53.Kf3 Kf7 54.Ke4

But not 54.Re4? Rd3+, which wins for Black.

54...Ke6 55.Ke3 Kd6 56.Rf4 Re5+ 57.Kd3 Ke6 58.Kc4 Rg5 59.Re4+ Kd6 60.Kd3

Black wins after 60.Rf4? Ke5.

60...Re5 61.Rf4 Rd5+ 62.Kc4 Ke6 63.Rxf6+! Kxf6 ½–½

Davos Round Four

Mario Steiner (1804) - Spanton (1942)

Albin Countergambit

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5!? 3.dxe5 d4 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.a3!?

The idea of this move, which is the top choice of both Stockfish16 and Komodo14.1, is to prevent ...Bb4+, which can be a nuisance to White in some lines, eg 5.e3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 dxe3.

5...Be6!?

The mainline in ChessBase's 2024 Mega database runs 5...Bg4 6.Nbd2 Qe7 7.h3 Bh5 8.g4!? Bg6 9.Bg2 0-0-0 10.0-0 with a sharp game that the engines reckon favours White.

6.Qc2!?

The commonest continuations in Mega24 are 6.Nbd2 and especially 6.e3.

6...Nge7 7.Bf4

The engines prefer 7.b4.

7...Ng6 8.Bg3 Be7

The engines much prefer 8...Qd7.

9.Nbd2 a5

Again the engines prefer ...Qd7.

10.h4 h5 11.Rd1 a4 12.Ne4

Thanks to the pin down the d file, the d pawn cannot be saved

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12...Ra5!? 13.e3 Ngxe5 14.Nxe5 Nxe5 15.exd4 Ng6 16.d5 Bf5 17.Bd3 0-0 18.Nf6+?!

This throws away much of White's advantage.

18...Bxf6 19.Bxf5 Re8+ 20.Kf1

How should Black proceed?

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20...Nxh4?

Restoring material equality, but only temporarily as the move liberates the white king's rook and makes h5 undefendable. Instead 20...Ne5 leaves White with only a slight edge, according to the engines.

21.Bxh4 Bxh4 22.g3 Bf6 23.Rxh5

Can Black successfully fork the white king's rook and bishop?

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23...Qe7?

A bad move in a bad position, but 23...g6? also loses, eg 24.Bxg6 fxg6 25.Qxg6+ Bg7 26.Qh7+ Kf8 27.Rf5+ etc. Best, according to the engines, is 23...Re5, but White is winning after, for example, 24.f4.

24.d6! cxd6

Also hopeless is 24...Rxf5 25.dxe7 Rxh5 26.Rd8 Rxd8 27.exd8=Q+ Bxd8 28.Qxa4.

25.Bh7+ Kh8 26.Rxa5 g6 27.Bxg6 fxg6 28.Qxg6! Qe2+ 29.Kg2 Qe4+

Best.

30.Qxe4 Rxe4 31.Rxd6 Bxb2 32.Rxa4 b5 33.Ra7 1-0

Davos Round Three

FACED a Swiss junior (born 2009).

Spanton (1942) - Timon Trubini (1714)

Sicilian Bb5(+)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.0-0 Nc6 6.c3 Nf6 7.Qe2

Considerably more popular in ChessBase's 2024 Mega database are 7.d4!? and 7.Re1.

7...e6 8.d4 cxd4 9.cxd4 d5 10.e5 Ne4 11.Nbd2 Nxd2 12.Bxd2 Rc8 13.Rac1 Be7 14.Qd3 0-0

Now both sides have castled, how would you assess the coming middlegame?

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White has more space on the central-kingside, but Black has the better bishop. Stockfish16 and Komodo14.1 reckon the position is equal.

15.a3 f6 16.exf6 Rxf6!?

This may be a novelty. The engines marginally prefer it over the known 16...Bxf6.

17.Rce1!? Rcf8

The engines strongly dislike this, suggesting 17...h6!?

18.Re2

White gets the upper hand after 18.Ng5 and 19.f4, according to the engines.

18...Rg6 19.Ne5 Nxe5

How should White recapture?

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20.Rxe5

The engines prefer 20.dxe5!?, a possible continuation being 20...Bc5 21.Kh1 Qf7!? 22.f4 Qf5 23.Rf3, claiming a slight edge for White despite Black's protected passer.

20...Bd6 21.Rg5 Rh6 22.h3

Also possible is 22.g3!?, blunting Black's dark-square bishop, but leaving light-square weaknesses around the white king.

22...Bc7 23.Bb4 Bd6!?

An exchange of dark-square bishops eases the pressure on White's position.

24.Bxd6 Qxd6 25.Re5 Qb6

How would you assess this heavy-piece middlegame?

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The d4 pawn is weak, but the e pawn is probably even weaker as it is backward on a half-open file. The engines give White a slight edge.

26.b4 Rf4 27.Rd1 Rhf6!?

The engines prefer this over 27...Rhh4 as then, after 28.Qc3 Rxd4 29.Rxd4 Rxd4 30.Qc8+ Kf7 31.Qd7+ Kf6 32.Re3, White seems to have more than enough for a pawn, the key feature being Black's vulnerable king.

28.f3 Qc6 29.Kh2 Qc7 30.Kh1!? Qb6

TT offered a draw.

31.Qc3 Qd8 32.Rde1 Kf7 33.a4 Qb6?!

Despite appearances, Black is not really threatening the d4 pawn, so probably better are the engines' 33...a6 and 33...Qd7.

34.Rd1

The engines reckon 34.b5! is winning, the idea being to take away the c6 square from the black queen and so make Qc8 a big threat. Black cannot reply 34...Rxd4?? as that loses to 35.a5, and 34...Qxd4 allows 35.Qc7+ followed by 36.Rxe6.

34...Ke7?!

Black probably should block the c file with 34...Qc6.

35.a5

Possibly even stronger is 35.Rc1!?

35...Qc6 36.Qd3

Black is at least equal after 36.Qxc6? bxc6.

36...g6 37.b5 Qc7?!

Probably better is 37...Qc4 as 38.Qxc4 bxc4 39.Rc5 is met by 39...R6f5.

38.a6 bxa6 39.bxa6 Rf8?

Undefending e6 is a mistake, although the engines reckon their suggestions of 39...Kf8 and 39...Qd6 leave White with the upper hand.

40.Rb1 Rb8 41.Qa3+?!

Even stronger is 41.Rbe1, when Black has no answer to the threat of Rxd5.

41...Kf7 42.Rbe1?!

The engines strongly prefer 42.Rxb8 Qxb8 43.Qc5.

42...Rb6 43.Qe3 Rf6 44.g4?!

Another probably sub-par choice. After 44.Qh6 Kg8 White has 45.Rxd5!, although the weakness of a6 means Black is still in the game.

44...Qd7 45.Qd3 Qa4!? 46.Rc1 Qxa6 47.Rc7+ Kg8

How should White proceed?

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48.Qxa6!?

There is really no choice as the white king is too weak to allow queens to stay on the board.

48...Rxa6

How would you assess this rook-and-pawn ending?

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Black is a passed pawn up, but the black king is cut off on the back rank. Stockfish16 calls the position equal, although Komodo14.1 gives Black a slight edge.

49.Re3 h6!? 50.Kg2 Rf7 51.Rec3 Rxc7 52.Rxc7 Ra4 53.Re7 a5 54.Rxe6 Kf7 55.Ra6 Rxd4

The engines agree the position is now completely equal. Komodo14.1 reckons 49...h5 or 49...Rf7 would have maintained a slight edge, but Stockfish16 disagrees.

56.Rax5 Kf6

The black king has become active, but at the cost of a pawn - the position remains equal.

57.Ra6+ Kg5?

But this is too active. The king should drop back to the seventh rank.

58.Kg3 h5

White to play and win

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59.f4+

59.h4+? Kh6 is a draw.

59...Kh6

Or 59...Rxf4 60.h4+ etc, but not 60.Rxg6+? Kxg6 61.Kxf4=.

60.f5

The pin on g6 is decisive.

60...hxg4 61.hxg4 Rd1 62.Rxg6+ Kh7 63.Kf4 d4 64.Rd6 1-0

Three Certainties

TRAVELING around Europe, one gets the impression three things in life are certain: death, taxes and Irish bars.

Sure enough, Davos has the Irish-themed Sonas pub

But frequently there is a fourth certainty - an English-built or inspired public building.

Sometimes this is a hotel, often called Bristol, or a church.

In Davos the most obvious English landmark is the Englische Kirche, built in 1882.

According to the official guide: "The Church of England is all about health tourism.

"Around 1880, tuberculosis, which was still often fatal at the time, was raging in Europe.

"So many English people sought the mountain air of Davos in the hope of getting well.

"To express faith in Jesus Christ and life after death, the English Church was planned, built and consecrated in 1882 in a central location on the promenade."

Today the church is run by Switzerland's Free Evangelicals

A plaque near the main entrance is a reminder of the English connection

Davos Round Two

FACED a Ukrainian.

Kyrilo Zaitsev (2225) - Spanton (1942)

QGD Normal Position

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 Nf6 4.e3 c5 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.a3 a6 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.b4 Ba7 9.Bb2 0-0 10.cxd5

More popular in ChessBase's 2024 Mega database are 10.Be2 and especially 10.Qc2.

10...Nxd5!?

All 70 games in Mega24 featured 10...exd5.

How should White respond?

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11.Ne4

Stockfish16 and Komodo14.1 reckon 11.Bd3 and 11.Qc2 give a slight edge.

11...Qe7 12.Qc2 Bd7 13.Rd1 Rfc8?!

Probably the wrong rook.

14.Qb1

The engines give 14.Neg5 f5 (if 14...g6 then 15.Qe4 looks strong) 15.Qb3, after which Stockfish16 awards White the upper hand, but Komodo14.1 calls the game completely equal.

14...f5!? 15.Ng3 f4!? 16.exf4 Nxf4 17.Qe4 e5?

The game is equal after 17...Rf8, according to the engines.

18.Bc4+

Even stronger, according to the engines, is 18.Rxd7!? Qxd7 19.Bc4+ Kh8 20.Ng5.

18...Be6 19.Nf5 Qf7?

Better is 19...Qf6, although the engines reckon 20.Rd7 is winning.

20.Ng5! Qg6

Not 20...Qxf5? 21.Qxf5.

21.Nxe6 Nxe6 22.Rd7 Kh8

There is nothing better.

23.Bxe6 Qxe6 24.Rxg7 Rf8 25.g4 Rxf5!?

Desperation - Black is completely lost.

26.gxf5 Qh6 27.Rxb7 Bd4

How should White proceed?

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28.Bxd4?

Several moves win, including 28.Rc7 and 28.f6.

28...Qc1+ 29.Ke2 Nxd4+ 30.Qxd4 Qc2+ 31.Qd2 Qe4+ 32.Qe3 Qg4+?

Drawing is 32...Qc2+ as White cannot escape the checks.

33.f3 Qg2+ 34.Qf2 Qxh1 35.Qg3 1-0

Davos Venue

THE tournament is being held at Davos's Mountain Plaza hotel, which reopened yesterday after its post-winter break.

The playing hall

Davos Round One

FACED a Singaporean.

Spanton (1942) - Hui Kwang Ng (1434)

Sicilian (Bb5+)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Qc7!?

This is seventh-most popular in ChessBase's 2024 Mega database, but there are 1,657 examples of the move and it has been played by grandmasters.

How should White respond?

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4.Nc3

This is second in popularity to 4.0-0.

4...e6 5.Bxc6!?

Again, castling is more popular. The idea of the text is to capture on c6 before Black is in position to recapture with the king's knight.

How should Black recapture?

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5...bxc6!?

This is almost as popular as 5...Qxc6, and is preferred by Stockfish16 and Komodo14.1. After 5...Qxc6 the mainline in Mega24 runs 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4, when the engines reckon White's lead in development gives the upper hand.

6.e5!?

Preventing 6...e5, which would allow Black to open the c8-h3 diagonal for the light-square bishop, but more popular are 6.0-0 and 6.d3. The engines also like 6.b3!?, which does not appear in Mega24.

6...h6?!

This seems to be a novelty, and probably not a good one. The engines give 6...f6, claiming at least equal chances.

7.d3 d6!?

The engines are OK with this, but after ...

8.exd6

... Black is saddled with doubled pawns, and they are weak, or at least the front one is, even though they are not on a half-open file.

8...Bxd6 9.Ne4 Bb7?!

The engines suggest 9...Be7!?, the idea being to meet 10.Be3 Nf6 11.Nxc5 with 11...Nd5, when at least some lines have been opened for the bishops.

10.Be3 Qe7

Again the engines suggest ...Be7!?, one point being 11.Bxc5?? loses to 11...Bxc5 12.Nxc5 Qa5+ etc.

11.Qd2

Sealing the fate of the c5 pawn.

11...Nf6 12.Nxd6+ Qxd6 13.Qc3 c4!?

The engines are happy enough with this as there is no way to save the pawn (without giving up the g7 pawn after 13...Nd7).

14.Qxc4

Black is a pawn down, and has the weaker pawn-structure

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14...Nd7 15.0-0 0-0 16.Rfe1 c5 17.Qg4 Nf6

The engines' 17...f5!? seems to give better chances.

18.Qg3 Qxg3 19.hxg3 Rac8 20.a4!? a6 21.Ne5 Rfd8 22.Ra3 Rd5 23.Nc4 Nd7 24.Rb3 Bc6 25.Nb6 Nxb6 26.Rxb6 Bxa4 27.b3 Rc6??

A blunder, but the engines reckon Black was already lost.

28.Rb8+ (1-0, 36 moves).

Remarkably, all 26 games in round one went to form.

Davos

THE town of Davos, which is really two villages joined together alongside the Landwasser river, lies at 1,560 metres (1,118 feet).

It is best known as a ski resort and as the host of the annual World Economic Forum.

But the settlement dates back more than 800 years, when it had the name Tavaus, ultimately deriving from a Latin word for ravine.

Now is very much the off-season, with several small businesses shutting down between the end of winter sports and the coming of summer walking.

However most of Davos's bars are open, including Mountain's Akt, which is unusual in using an English apostrophe in its name and in stocking 10 non-alcoholic beers

Getting There (Davos)

I CAUGHT British Airways' 11:45 flight from London City to Zurich.

Then I took a train to Zurich main station, switched to a train to Landquart, and finally caught one to Davos.

That is plenty of locomotives for one day, especially when the Docklands Light Railway is added, but the scenery, from lakes to snow-capped mountains, was stunning.

I reached my hotel, with its somewhat quaint entrance, at 18:05 local time

Swiss

AM making final preparations for traveling tomorrow to Davos, the Swiss town that hosts the annual World Economic Forum.

I am one of 49 entries in the Swiss Alpine Open, a five-round weekender that starts on Friday evening.

The time control is 90 minutes, with a 30-second increment, and there are players from 16 countries (15 if Guernsey does not count as a country).