Miniatures 25

IN this occasional series I am going through my decisive games of 20 moves or fewer.

Spanton (151 BCF) - Paul Dargan (173 BCF)

British Major (Eastbourne) 1990

Morra Gambit (Delayed)

1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Bc4!? e6 5.0-0 Nf6 6.Qe2!?

Stockfish17.1 and Dragon1 are not keen on this, preferring 6.Re1 or 6.e5.

6...Qc7

Spanton (2015) - Kristian Schmidt (2272), Politiken Cup (Helsingør, Denmark) 2013, went 6...Nxe4!? 7.Qxe4 d5 8.Bxd5 Qxd5 9.Qxd5 exd5 10.Re1+ Be7, with Black enjoying the upper hand, according to the engines (0-1, 50 moves).

7.c3!? dxc3 8.Nxc3

How should Black proceed in this position, which occurs 484 times in ChessBase's 2026 Mega database?

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8...Ng4

Springing the Siberian Trap.

How should White respond?

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9.Nb5

Avoiding 9.h3? Nd4!

9...Qb8 10.Be3?

Possibly best is 10.h3 h5!? 11.e5!? with complicated play, eg 11...Ngxe5 12.Bf4 d6, and here the engines suggest what seems to be a novelty in 13.Rad1, claiming White has full compensation for being two pawns down.

10...a6 11.Nbd4 Nxe3 12.fxe3?!

Probably better is 12.Qxe3.

12...b5!? 13.Nxc6 dxc6 14.Bb3

The engines suggest 14.Ng5!?, albeit much preferring Black after 14...Ra7.

14...Be7 15.Ng5??

Presumably I missed that after ...

15...Bxg5 16.Qh5

... Black has ...

16...Bf6

This would have been a good point for White to resign.

17.g4 Qe5 18.Rf5!? Qxb2 19.Rff1 Qe5 20.Qh3 0-1

LESSON: backward bishop moves can be hard to spot.

Miniatures 24

IN this occasional series I am going through my decisive games of 20 moves or fewer.

D James (189 BCF) - Spanton (151 BCF)

British Major (Eastbourne) 1990

Queen's Pawn Game

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 Nbd7 5.0-0 e6

This position is not as obscure as might be thought, occurring 1,090 times in ChessBase's 2026 Mega database

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6.b3 Bd6 7.Bb2 Qc7 8.Nbd2 0-0

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

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White's game has a slightly freer look to it, at least to me, and gives White a slight edge, according to Stockfish17.1 and Dragon1.
9.c4 Re8 10.Qc2 b6 11.e4 Nxe4 12.Nxe4 dxe4 13.Qxe4 Bb7 14.Qc2 e5?!

This is probably too ambitious. The engines recommend 14...Be7!? or 14...h6.

15.Rad1 Re7??

The engines give 15...exd4 16.Nxd4 Bf8, but reckon White has the upper hand.

16.Ng5 Nf6 17.c5 1-0

LESSON: pieces need breathing room.