I Am #1!

THERE is a silly but fun pastime at the end of a college football season in the United States when boosters of even the lowliest university set out to prove their school is really number one or, as it is usually written, #1!

For example, in 2022 the national championship game was won by the team I support, Georgia Bulldogs.

But during the season they lost to Alabama Crimson Tide, who in turn had lost to Texas A&M, who lost to Mississippi State, who lost to Memphis Tigers, etc, etc.

Eventually the chain leads to one of the lowliest teams in the land, which can thus make a claim to be #1!

It is possible to play a similar game in chess, by which you trace your wins up to a victory over a reigning world champion, thus putting yourself in position to claim, however far-fetched the claim may be, to be #1!

My chain starts with the following game in round two of the 1996 US Open at Alexandria, Virginia.

George Kramer (2312) - Spanton (2054)*

QGD Semi-Tarrasch

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 c5 5.cxd5 cxd4!? 6.Qa4+!?

Most popular in ChessBase's 2024 Mega database is 6.Qxd4. The point of the text is to oblige Black to put a piece on d7 where, White hopes, its positioning will be awkward.

6...Bd7 7.Qxd4 exd5

How should White proceed?

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8.Bg5

This is the commonest move in Mega24, but the game's move-order lets White grab a pawn with 8.Nxd5!? However, after 8...Qa5+ 9.Nc3 Nc6 Black has obvious compensation; Stockfish16 and Komodo14.1 reckon chances are equal.

8...Nc6 9.Qe3+!?

This seems to have been a novelty. Known moves were 9.Bxf6 and 9.Qd2.

9...Be6 10.0-0-0?

The white king proves too vulnerable on the queenside. The engines prefer 10.Nd4, when Humpy Koneru (2574) - Anna Muzychuk (2534), Women's Candidates (Monaco) 2022, continued 10...Bc5 11.Nxe6 Bxe3 12.Nxd8 Bxg5 13.Nxc6 bxc6, with an equal position, according to the engines (½–½, 34 moves).

10...Be7 11.h3

My notes show Fritz5 recommended 11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.Rxd5!? Qe7 13.Rb5, claiming equality. However Stockfish16 and Komodo14.1 reckon Black is winning.

11...0-0 12.Qd2 Qa5 13.e3 Rac8 14.Kb1 Nb4

Black's attack is coming first.

15.a3 Bf5+ 16.e4

Not 16.Kc1?? Na2#, and also no improvement is 16.Ka1 Nc2+ 17.Ka2 Bxa3!

16...dxe4 17.axb4 Bxb4 18.Bd3!? exf3

Capturing on c3, with rook or bishop, is even stronger, according to the engines.

19.Bxf6 gxf6 20.Qf4

This is better than 20.Bxf5?!, which allows 20...Bxc3 etc.

20...Bxd3+ 21.Rxd3 Bxc3 22.bxc3 Rxc3 23.Rxc3 Qxc3 24.gxf3

The complications are over, and Black's extra pawns (and the exposed white king) should decide matters unless White can somehow conjure a draw by repetition or provoke a blunder

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24...Rc8 25.Rg1+ Kh8 26.Qg4 Qd3+ 27.Ka1 Qa6+ 28.Kb1 Qb5+ 29.Ka1 Qe5+ 30.Kb1 f5 31.Qg5 Qb5+ 32.Ka1 Qa6+ 33.Kb1 Qg6 0-1

*US Chess Federation ratings.

Chess Scalps (part four)

Spanton (2096) - Viesturs Meijers (IM 2418*)

Lausanne (Switzerland) 1999

Philidor Defence

1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Nf3

I remember I wanted to play some kind of Scotch, while avoiding a Latvian or Elephant Gambit, but instead VM transposes into a Philidor.

3...d6 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Be7 6.Bc4 0-0 7.0-0 Nc6 8.Bf4!?

Not a popular choice but liked by the analysis engines Stockfish13 and Komodo12.1.1.

8...Nxd4 9.Qxd4 Nd7!?

Another far-from-popular choice. One idea, presumably, is to hit the white queen with 10...Bf6, although this is easily countered.

10.Nd5 Bf6 11.Nxf6+ Qxf6 12.Qxf6 Nxf6

The exchanges have taken pressure off the black position, but the white bishop-pair should be worth something.

13.Rfe1 Be6 14.Bb5

Anatoly Ozgibcev (2368) - Alexandr Ponomarenko (2231), Russian Team Blitz Championship 2018, saw 14.Bd3 (Stockfish13's choice) Nd7!? 15.b3 Ne5 16.Bf1 with a slight edge for White (1-0, 61 moves). Komodo12.1.1 prefers the text.

14...a6 15.Ba4 Ng4 16.e5?!

I was fixated on drawing.

16...Nxe5 17.Bxe5 dxe5 18.Rxe5 Rad8 19.Re2!?

This allows a little combination, but worse, according to the engines, is 19.a3?! Rd2.

Position after 19.Re2!?

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19...Bxa2

The engines prefer 19...c5 20.c3 g6, giving Black a slight edge.

20.b3 b5 21.f3 bxa4 22.Rxa2 axb3 23.cxb3 Rd6

Black is a pawn up but his weaknesses mean White has equality, according to the engines.

24.Re7 Rc6 25.Rd2 Rc3 26.Rdd7 Rxb3 27.Rxc7 Rb6 28.Ra7 h6

Stockfish13 reckons the position is dead-equal, but Komodo12.1.1's verdict of a slight edge for Black makes more sense to me.

29.Kf2 Rf6 30.h4 Rb8 31.g4 Rb2+ 32.Re2!?

As a general rule, two rooks are better than one when it comes to converting an extra pawn, but that is not so clear here as the white rooks were well-coordinated.

32...Rxe2+ 33.Kxe2 Rb6 34.h5 Kf8 35.Kd3 g6 36.hxg6 fxg6 37.Rh7 g5 38.Kc4 a5 39.Ra7 Rf6 40.Rxa5 Rxf3

The position is a tablebase draw, although older engines, eg Fritz5, tend to reckon Black's advantage is almost winning.

41.Ra6 Rf4+ 42.Kd3 Kg7 43.Ra7+

The only move to maintain the draw, but pretty obvious.

43...Kg6 44.Ra6+ Rf6 45.Rxf6+!?

VM's body language suggested he was surprised at this exchange, but I had correctly calculated the pawn-ending as drawn. According to the Syzygy tablebase, White also draws with 45.Ra1 and 45.Ra8.

45...Kxf6 46.Ke4 Kg6

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47.Kf3!

The only drawing move.

47...Kf7

Or 47...h5 48.gxh5+ Kxh5 49.Kg3=

48.Ke3 Ke7 49.Ke4 Ke6 50.Kd4

Again an only-move, but not a difficult one.

50...Kf7 51.Ke3 Kg7 52.Ke4 Kf6

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53.Kf3

Komodo12.1.1 incorrectly gives 53.Ke3? as also drawing, but White is lost after 53...Ke5.

53...Ke5 54.Ke3 Kd5 55.Kd3 Ke5 ½–½

More detailed notes to this ending can be found at https://beauchess.blogspot.com/2020/01/when-it-paid-to-trade-down-to-pawn.html

*VM, who is Latvian, became a grandmaster in 2004.

Knight v Bishop (part 10)

Black has just captured on d8 in Spanton (2008) - Norman Hutchinson (2175), Isle of Man 2002. Who stands better, and by how much?

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The position is dead-equal, according to the analysis engines Stockfish12 and Komodo11.01.

27.Bf4?

It was better to start centralising with 27.Kg2.

27...Ke8?

Black should hit the bishop with 27...Ne6. After 28.Bd6+ Kg8!? Black threatens to win a pawn with ...Nd4. White can prevent immediate loss of material with 29.e3, but then 29...Ng5 is strong, eg 30.Kg2 Nf3 31.Kg3 g5, when ...f6 and ...Kf7-e6 etc follow. Instead of 29.e3 the engines prefer 29.Kf1!?, but then Black has 29...Nd4 30.b4 Nc2 and ...Nxb4.

28.f3!?

My original notes show Fritz5 did not like this, but it comes to be Stockfish12's choice (Komodo11.01 also likes it, but equally likes 28.Kg2 and 28.b4).

28...Ne6 29.Be3 exf3 30.exf3 Nc7 31.Kf2 Kd7 32.Bd4 f6 33.Ke3

I offered a draw.

33...Ke6

The position is completely even, according to the engines, but why not play on when you are much the higher-rated player?

34.Ke4 g5 35.Be3 Nd5 36.Bd2

In the postmortem NH suggested 36.f4?, but it loses to 36...Nxe3 37.Kxe3 Kd5 etc.

36...Ne7 37.Be3 Ng6 38.Bd4 Nf8 39.Be3 Nd7 40.Bd4 g6 41.Be3?!

This makes the defence difficult. There were plenty of simple moves that kept the balance, eg 41.b4.

41...f5+ 42.Kd4?

Losing a pawn and the game. After 42.gxf5+ gxf5 43.Kd3 Kf6 Black is better but there is a lot of play left.

The game finished:

42...Ne5 43.gxf5+ gxf5 44.f4 Nf3+ 45.Kc4 g4 0-1

Opposite Exceptions (part four)

Black has just captured on d5 in Vitali Braun (2224) - Spanton (2039), Hastings Challengers' 2001-2. How big is White's advantage?

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White has a slight edge, according to Stockfish12; the upper hand, according to Komodo 11.01.

35.a3 Ke6 36.Ke3 f6

From my original notes I see Fritz5 preferred 36...f5?!, but giving White an entry square at g5 is almost certainly wrong.

37.Bf8 Bc6 38.Kf4 d5 39.g4

The engines agree White has the upper hand, but Black seems to have a defence.

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39...Kf7?

Correct is 39...Be8, when I do not see how White makes progress.

40.Bd6?

This gives Black time to set up the best defence, so White needs to play 40.Bc5, the difference being the bishop is protected on c5. Then 40...Be8 41.g5 (this seems stronger than 41.gxh5?!, although Komodo11.01 disagrees) Ke6 42.gxf6 Kxf6 43.Bb6 Bg6 44.Bd8+ Ke6 45.Kg5 Bd3 46.Kg5 appears to be winning. The engines give best-play as something like (there are a lot of alternatives along the way) 45...Bc2!? 46.Kxh5 Kf5 47.Kh6 Bd1 48.f4 Kxf4 49.Kg6 Bc2+ 50.Kg7 Bd1 51.Kf6 Ke3 52.Ke5 Bf3 53.Bb6 (53.h5?! Bxh5 54.Kxd5 Kf4 is a dead-draw, according to Stockfish12, although Komodo11.01 gives White the upper hand) Kd3 54.Kd6 Kc3 55.Bc5 Kb3 56.Kc7 Kxa3 57.Kb7 Kb3 58.Kxa6 Be2 59.Kb6 Kc3 60.Kc6 Kc4 61.Kd6 Bf3 62.Ke5 etc. This is a very long line but I think it illustrates the winning method.

40...hxg4?

Ensuring defeat. After 40...Ke6 41.Bc5 Black has 41...Be8, getting back to the correct defence, eg 42.Bb6 Bg6 43.Bd8 Be8 44.g5 f5 45.g6!? Bxg6 46.Kg5 Be8, when White cannot make progress. White can try 41.gxh5!? but 41...Be8 42.h6 Bg6 43.Bc7 Bh7 seems to hold.

41.fxg4 Bd7 42.h5 Kg7 43.Be7 Bc8 44.Be8 Kh6?!

This cannot be right, but Black is lost anyway, eg 44...Bd7 45.g5 fxg5+ 46.Kxg5 Bh3 47.h6+ Kh7 48.Bf6 Bd7 49.Be5 Bh3 50.Bf4 Bc8 51.Kf6 Bh3 52.Ke7 etc.

45.Bxf6 Be6 46.Kg3 1-0

My Best Ever Tournament (part six)

Spanton (2096) - Thorsten Cmiel (2260)
Lausanne Round 6
Sicilian Irregular/English Symmetrical
1.e4 c5 2.c4!?
Sticking with the system I lost with in the previous round, but I felt the loss had little or nothing to do with the opening.
2...g6 3.Ne2 Nc6 4.d4 Bg7!?
4...cxd4 is much more popular.
5.d5 Nd4 6.Nxd4
Vladimir Georgiev (2555) played 6.Nbc3!? in a win over a 2365 in a Danish open eight years ago, but I would be very surprised if the text is not better.
6...cxd4
Vasily Smyslov's choice in a 1962 draw with Ludek Pachman.
7.Bd3 e5?!
Smyslov preferred 5...d6. The problem with the text is it creates a lever for a white kingside attack.
8.0-0 d6 9.f4 exf4?!
From my original notes: "Helping White's development, weakening Black's pawns and making room for White to play e5 cannot be right."
Jan Timman once lost an Olympiad game as White after his Argentine opponent here played 9...f6. The analysis engines Stockfish10 and Komodo10 like 9...Nh6!?, which was played by an unrated in 1986.
10.Bxf4 Nf6 11.e5
Even stronger may be 11.Qa4+, going after the d6 pawn.
11...Nh5 12.exd6?!
Almost certainly better is 12.Qf3, one point being 12...dxe5 can be met by 13.Bxe5. So instead Black should probably play 12...Nxf4 13.Qxf4 0-0, when 14.exd6 transposes to the game, as does 12...0-0 13.exd6 Nxf4 14.Qxf4.
12...0-0?!
Probably better was 12...Nxf4 (however, Komodo10 only comes to prefer this after being shown it on the board) 13.Qe1+ Ne6 14.dxe6 Bxe6 15.Qg3 with a roughly level position.
13.Qf3 Nxf4 14.Qxf4 Qb6!?
The engines slightly prefer the more cautious (read: passive, if Black goes on to lose) 14...Qe8.

How should White proceed?

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15.Nd2!
15.b3 Bf5 gives Black a small edge, according to the engines.
15...Qxb2
The engines approve, but now White gets a strong attack.
16.Rab1
16.Rfb1?! hands the initiative to Black after 16...Qc3.
16...Qa3
This is better than 16...Qxa2 17.Ra1 Qb2 18.Ne4, according to the engines. My original notes have Frtiz5's recommendation of 17.d7?! Bxd7 18.Rb7, which Frtiz5 reckoned was slightly better for White, but the modern engines rate it as level. Note that here 16...Qc3 is well-met by 17.Rf3 or 17.Rb3.
17.Rb3 Qa5
If 17...Qxa2, the engines reckon White is much better after 18.c5, eg 18...Qa5 19.Rc1 b6 (best, according to the engines) 20.c6! Qxd5 21.Rb5 Qe6 22.Nf3 (22.Ne4!?) with strong play despite being two pawns down.
18.Rb5?!
My notes show I was hoping for 18...Qd8? 19.c5, which is indeed strong for White. However, the engines come to very much prefer 18.d7!? Bxd7 19.Rxb7 with an initiative.
18...Qa3
18...Qxa2!? 19.Rbb1!? leaves White with more than enough compensation for his pawn deficit, according to Stockfish10, but Komodo10 reckons the position is balanced.
19.Rb3 Qa5
Clearly TC was ready to acquiesce to a draw.
20.Ne4!?
Komodo10's second choice (behind 20.d7!?, as in the note at White's move 18).
20...Qxa2
Correct, according to the modern engines.
Fritz5 reckoned 20...f5 21.Ng5 b6 22.Qh4 h6 23.Ne6 Bxe6 24.dxe6 Qe5 is equal, but Stockfish10 and Komodo10 continue 25.e7 Rfe8 26.c5! bxc5 27.Bc4+ Kh7 28.Qg3! Qxg3 29.Rxg3 Be5 30.Bf7 Bxd6 (or 30...Bxg3 31.Bxe8 Bxd6 32.Bc6) 31.Bxg6+ Kh8 32.Bxe8, when Black has a pawn for the exchange but little hope of saving a half-point. This is a long line, but much of it is forced.
21.Rbb1 b6?!
This stop's White central attack beginning with 22.c5, but now White gets time for a kingside attack. The engines reckon White's advantage is smaller after 21...Bf5!? 22.Rxb7.
22.Nf6+ Bxf6
Not 22...Kh8? 23.d7, eg 23...Bb7 24.Rf3 etc.
23.Qxf6 Qa3?!
This could have worked out well for Black, but objectively better is the engines' 23...Bd7 24.Rbe1 Qd2, although White is well on top after the simple 25.Qxd4.
24.Bxg6?
I originally gave this an exclamation mark, even though my engines at the time thought it loses.
Today's engines reckon the calm 24.Rf3 is much better, eg 24...Qa2 25.h3 (this is more about preventing …Bg4 rather than creating a bolthole for the white king, I believe) Qd2 26.Qe7.
24...hxg6 25.Rf4 Bh3?
Stockfish10 and Komodo10 reckon 25...Bg4! 26.Rxg4 Qe3+ leaves White the equivalent of just half-a-pawn or so better. Probably coming to the same thing is 25...Qe3+ 26.Kh1 Bg4, but then White has the extra option of 27.Rbf1!?
26.Rh4 Qe3+ 27.Kh1 Bxg2+ 28.Kxg2 1-0

My Best Ever Tournament (part three)

Josef Gheng (FM 2326) - Spanton (2096)
Lausanne 1999 Round 3
Sicilian Hyper-Accelerated Dragon
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.c3 Bg7 4.Bc4 e6 5.0-0 Ne7 6.d4 cxd4 7.cxd4 d5 8.exd5 Nxd5 9.Nc3!?
This move makes its first appearance in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database in 2001. Two previous, high-level, games saw 9.Bg5, with both games ending in quick draws.
9...Nxc3 10.bxc3 0-0 11.Qe2 b6?

I completely missed White's threat

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12.Qe4 Ba6 13.Qxa8 Bxc4 14.Qxa7!?
Komodo10 comes to rate this equally with 14.Rd1, but Stockfish10 reckons White should keep the exchange. Generally speaking, in my opinion, Komodo10 gives greater weight to positional considerations over material ones when compared with Stockfish10's evaluations.
14...Nc6 15.Qa4 b5 16.Qd1 Bxf1 17.Qxf1 Qd5!?
My original notes show Fritz5 preferred 17...b4 18.cxb4 Nxb4, and Komodo10 comes to agree with this. Stockfish10 prefers the text, but both modern engines reckon best for Black, albeit by a small margin, is 17...Qa5.
18.Rb1 Ra8 19.Qxb5 Qxb5 20.Rxb5 Rxa2 21.Bb2?!
JG suggested 21.Bd2 in the postmortem, and this does seem to leave White less tied-up.
21...Na5?!
Stockfish10 and Komodo10 reckon 21...Bf8 equalises, eg 22.g3 Nb4! 23.cxb4 Rxb2 etc.
22.Rb8+ Bf8 23.Ne5
Walking into a pin with 23.Nd2! is better, according to the modern engines. The point is that after 23...Nc6 24.Rb6 Nb4, White does not have to capture the black knight, with a line similar to the previous note, but can instead play 25.Nc4, with advantage.
23...Kg7 24.Nd3 Nc4 25.g3 Bd6 26.Rb5 Kf6 27.Kg2 h5 28.h4
As my original notes say: "All Black's pieces are better than White's, so there really should be good drawing chances."
28...e5 29.Bc1
Best, according to Stockfish10 and Komodo10.
29...Rc2 30.Bg5+ Ke6 31.Nc5+ Bxc5 32.Rxc5 Rxc3 33.dxe5 Rc2 34.Bf4 Kf5
Not 34...Ne3+?? as White's rook is protected after 35.Bxe3.
35.Kh3
Not 35.Rc7?? as now ...Ne3+ works.
35...Na3 36.Ra5
36.Rxc2? allows an easy draw as White cannot hold on to the e pawn.
36...Nc4 37.Ra7 Nxe5 38.Bxe5 Kxe5 39.Rxf7
White has maintained an extra pawn, but the position is one of the easier pawn-down book draws. Having said that, Stockfish10 reckons White has the upper hand, while Komodo10, whose endgame evaluations I tend to trust more, has White the equivalent of 0.62 pawns ahead.
39...Rc4 40.Rf8 Ra4 41.Kg2 Rb4 42.Ra8 Kf6 43.Ra6+ Kf5 44.Ra5+ Kf6 45.Kh3 Rc4 46.Rg5 Rc2 47.Kg2 Rc4
There was a lot more like this until JG conceded the draw after 82 moves.