Hampstead Concluded

MY Sunday-afternoon round-five game from Hampstead U2200.
Spanton (1840/170) - Niall Clarke (1646/154)
Jobava-Prié (aka Barry Attack)
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bf4 c6 4.e3 Bf5 5.f3
Alekhine preferred 5.Bd3 in a 1933 simul.
5...e6 6.g4 Bg6 7.h4 h6
NC in the postmortem said he had previously played 7...h5, which is marginally more popular in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database.
8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3
The analysis engines Stockfish10 and Komodo10 prefer a move such as 9...Nbd7, and if 10.Bxh7, then 10...Nxh7, intending a later ...Ng5.
10.Qxd3 Bd6 11.Nge2

Position after 11.Nge2

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11...Qc7
Baadur Jobava (2716) - Iván Salgado López (2605), EU Championship (Yerevan) 2014, saw 11...Bxf4 12.exf4!? Nbd7 13.Qe3!? (1-0, 62 moves).
12.0-0-0 Nbd7 13.Bxd6 Qxd6 14.e4 dxe4 15.Nxe4N Nxe4 16.fxe4 0-0-0 17.Rhf1 Rhf8
The engines prefer 17...f6!?, which I am fairly sure NC suggested in the postmortem.
18.Kb1 Kb8 19.e5 Qb4?!
Probably better is 19...Qe7 as then 20.Qh7 can be met by 20...Qg5 or 20...f6.
20.Qh7 Nb6
Possible is 20...Rg8!? as 21.Rxf7?! is met by 21...Nxe5!
21.c3
The engines prefer 21.a3, the point being that the black queen cannot stay on the b file as 21...Qb5 is simply answered by 22.Nc3.
21...Qb5 22.Qd3 Nc4?!
Probably better is 22...Qxd3+ 23.Rxd3 c5, although the engines like White.
23.b3 Na3+?
Unpleasant, but less bad than the text, is 23...Nb6 24.Qxb5 (24.c4!?) cxb5.
24.Kb2 Qa5
Black offered a draw.
The engines prefer the text, even though the knight will be imprisoned, over 24...Qxd3 25.Rxd3 Nb5 26.Rdf3, which indeed looks grim for Black.
25.c4 b5 26.Qc3 b4 27.Qf3 Qc7 28.Qe4 Rfe8 29.Nc1 c5
29...a5 30.Nd3 with Nc5 to come is also very good for White.
30.dxc5 Rxd1 31.Rxd1 Rd8
Black may have planned 31...Qxc5, but both 32.Nd3 and 32.Rd7 win.
32.Rd6 Rxd6 33.cxd6 Qd8
If 33...Qc5, then 34.Nd3.
34.Nd3 Qa5 35.Qc6
The game finished:
35...Nc2!? 36.Kxc2 Qxa2+ 37.Nb2 Qa5 38.c5 Qd8 39.Nd3 a5 40.Qb6+ Qxb6 41.cxb6 Kc8 42.Nc5 1-0

Fiery Dragon

My Sunday-morning round-four game from Hampstead U2200.
Shahjahon Saidmurodov (1915/191) - Spanton (1840/170)
Sicilian Accelerated Dragon
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.h4!?
This has been tried by grandmasters.
4...Nf6 5.d4!?
Playing on the flank and opening the centre is somewhat unusual, but the analysis engines Stockfish10 and Komodo10 are not unduly bothered.
5...cxd4 6.Nxd4 Nc6
More circumspect is 6...d6, which has been played by grandmaster Yunguo Wan.
7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.e5 Nd5!?
The engines prefer 8...Ng8 to this pawn-sac.
9.Nxd5 cxd5 10.Qxd5 Rb8 11.Bd2?!
The engines suggest 11.Qc5 0-0 12.h5, with a slight edge for White according to Stockfish10, but Komodo10 reckons Black has full compensation for the pawn.

How should Black proceed?

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11...Qc7?
I rejected 11...Rxb2 because of 12.Ba5, missing 12...Bb7, when Black is better.
12.Bc3 Bb7 13.Qd4 0-0 14.h5 Qc6?!
The engines give 14...d6 15.hxg6 hxg6 16.Qxa7 dxe5, but with advantage - a winning one, according to Stockfish10 - for White.
15.hxg6 fxg6 16.Bc4+ e6 17.f3 Rf5 18.f4?
18.0-0-0 is strong as 18...Bxe5? 19.Qxd7 Qxd7 20.Rxd7 Bd5 21.Bxe5 Rxe5 22.Rdxh7 wins for White.
18...Qe4+?!
I rejected 18...Qxg2 because of 19.0-0-0, but the engines point out 19...Qg4, when Black has good counterplay.
19.Qxe4 Bxe4 20.0-0
Castling long is also good.
20...Bxc2 21.Rac1 Be4 22.Rcd1 Bc6?
White now gets a winning initiative with his kingside pawns.
Correct is 22...Rf7, when White is better but the game is far from over.
23.g4 Rff8 24.f5 gxf5 25.gxf5 Bb5?
Better is 25...Kh8, but 26.fxe6 leaves White on top.
26.Bxb5 Rxb5 27.f6 Bh6 28.Rxd7 (1-0, 41 moves).

?? Or !! Or Something In-Between?

MY round-three game from the weekend's Hampstead U2200.
Spanton (1840/170) - Julia Volovich (1662/164)
Jobava-Prié (aka Barry Attack)
 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bf4 e6 4.e3
The most-popular alternative is the thematic 4.Nb5!?
4...c6!?
This has been played by Russian grandmaster Valentina Gunina, but seems slow.
5.Bd3 Bd6 6.Nf3 0-0
A critical test of White's set-up is surely 6...Bxf4, but that does not mean the text is necessarily inferior.
7.Ne5
All three games in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database saw 7.0-0.
7...Qc7 8.Qf3 h6?!
This gives White a target for a quick kingside attack.
9.g4 Nfd7!?
The choice of the analysis engines Stockfish10 and Komodo10, but it leaves Black's kingside looking awfully bare.
10.Qg3
The engines reckon 10.g5!? is even stronger, their mainline running 10...hxg5 11.Rg1 Nxe5 12.dxe5 Bxe5 13.Bxe5 Qxe5 14.Qh5 f5 15.0-0-0 with a huge attack for two pawns.
10...Bxe5

I recaptured on e5 with the d pawn. How would you annotate the move?

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11.dxe5!
I played the text without seeing Black's bishop-trapping reply, so in a way the move, or at least my playing it, deserves double-question marks. But the engines reckon it is White's best move in the position, which is why I have given it an exclamation mark.
11...g5 12.0-0-0?!
The best follow-up seems to be 12.Qh3, when 12...gxf4? loses to 13.Qxh6 f5 14.Qg6+ Kh8 15.Qh5+ Kg8 16.gxf5 etc. So Black has to try 12...Nxe5, but the engines continue 13.Bxe5 Qxe5 14.Qxh6 (14.Qh5!? also has its points) Qg7 15.Qh5 Nd7 16.h4 Nf6 17.Qxg5 Qxg5 18.hxg5 Nxg4 19.Ke2 with advantage for White.
12...gxf4 13.Qxf4?
White had to play 13.exf4, when the engines give 13...Kg7 14.Rhg1 with a position hard to assess - Stockfish10 has White winning, but Komodo10 reckons the position is equal if Black finds 14...Rh8!? (Stockfish10 strongly disagrees).
13...Qxe5 14.Qxh6 Qg7 15.Qh4 b5 16.Ne2 Nc5 17.Ng3 Nbd7 18.Nh5 Nxd3+ 19.Rxd3 Qg6 20.f4 Nc5?
This loses control of the f6 square, and so allows White to draw. Black is winning after, for example, 20...f6.
21.f5 Nxd3+ 22.cxd3 exf5 23.Nf6+ Kg7 24.gxf5 Bxf5 25.Nh5+ Kg8
Black offered a draw.
26.Nf6+ Kg7 27.Nh5+ Kg8 ½–½

Is This A Record?

WHITE made six consecutive moves with the same piece in the opening in my round-two game from the weekend's Hampstead U2200.
Six moves on the trot with the same piece in an ending is probably not all that remarkable, although I cannot think of an example off the top of my head.
But six moves in the opening (I am taking the opening as continuing until one player has castled and cleared the back rank of minor pieces and the queen) is another matter.
Unfortunately I have been unable to find anything relevant on the internet.
Stephen Berkley (1391/121) - Spanton (1840/170)
Albin Countergambit
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.g3
Still the main line, although 5.a3 is fast catching up despite not doing as well percentage-wise, at least in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database.
5...Nge7 6.Bg2 Ng6 7.0-0 Ngxe5 8.Nxe5 Nxe5 9.b3 Be7
So far the game has followed what could easily be considered the modern mainline, but here the most-popular move is 9...Bc5.

White to start a knight tour

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10.Nd2
The first of six consecutive moves with this piece. Much more popular is 10.Bb2.
10...c5 11.Nf3
Komodo10's top choice.
11...Nc6 12.Ne1
The second choice, marginally behind 12.e3, of Komodo10 and Stockfish10.
12...0-0 13.Nd3
A great blockading square for the knight, so not surprisingly this is also the engines' pick.
13...Bd7 14.Nf4
Heading for d5. Stockfish10 is not keen on this move, but Komodo10 raises no objections.
14...Rc8 15.Nd5 b6
I partly played this, rather than, for example, 15...Bd6, in the hope White would reply 16.Nxe7+, making it seven consecutive moves with the same piece.
16.e3 Re8 17.exd4 Nxd4 18.Be3 Nf5 19.Bf4 Bd6 20.Bxd6 Nxd6 21.Re1 Nf5 22.Qd2 Nd4 23.Rxe8+ Qxe8 24.Qg5
I had not anticipated this, but luckily there is an answer.
24...Kf8 25.Qh4 Bf5
The engines' 25...Qe5 centralises the queen and gives Black a small edge.
26.Rd1 h6 27.Ne3 Bg6 28.Rd2 Nf5 29.Qf4 Nxe3 30.Qd6+?!
30.fxe3 is fine for White, according to the engines.
30...Kg8 31.Re2 Qd8 32.Qxd8+ Rxd8 33.fxe3
Black has a small edge, but White has good drawing chances and it may well be the game should be drawn with correct play.
But not 33.Rxe3? Rd1+ 34.Bf1 Ra1.
33...Bh5 34.Rf2?!
The rook needs to stay on White's second rank, but it should not obstruct the white king.
34...Rd1+ 35.Rf1 Rd3 36.e4 f6?
36...Bg6 is obviously strong.
37.e5!
The very move ...f6 was aimed at preventing!
37...Kf7
The engines prefer 37...Be2 38.Rf5 Rd1+ 39.Kf2 Bg4 40.Rf4 Rd2+ 41.Kg1 Be6 42.exf6 Rxa2 with roughly even chances.
38.Bd5+ Ke7 39.exf6+ gxf6 40.Re1+ Kd8 41.Re6 Rd1+ 42.Kf2 Rd2+ 43.Kg1 Rxa2?!
I probably should have settled for a draw by repetition, but was influenced by how I had been slightly better and was playing someone much-lower rated.
44.Rxf6 Bd1 45.Rxh6 Bxb3 46.g4 Re2?
Black cannot stop White's kingside pawns, so should go for 46...Rc2 47.g5 Bxc4 48.Bxc4 Rxc4 49.Kf2 Rg4 50.h4 Ke7 with an even position, according to the engines.
47.g5
Black is lost. The game finished:
47...Bc2 48.h4 Re7 49.h5 Rg7 50.g6 a5 51.Bf7 Ke7 52.Rh8 a4 53.Rb8 a3 54.Rxb6 a2 55.Ra6 Bb1 56.h6 Rxf7 57.Ra7+ Ke8 58.gxf7+ Kf8 59.Rxa2 Kxf7 60.Ra5 Kg6 61.Rxc5 Kxh6 62.Re5 Kg6 63.c5 Kf6 64.Re3 Bf5 65.c6 Be6 66.c7 Bd7 67.Kf2 Kf7 68.Ke1 1-0

Smooth Start

HERE is my round-one game from Saturday.
Spanton (1840/170) - Ethan B Li (1522/141)
79th Hampstead U2200
Pirc Defence
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.e4 d6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Be2 0-0 6.0-0 Nbd7
By no means Black's most-popular choice, but it has been played by Emanuel Lasker, Pirc, Simagin, Robatsch, Tigran V Petrosian, Nunn, Svidler and many other strong players.
7.e5 Ne8
Some masters have played 7...dxe5 8.dxe5 Ng4, but it looks problematic after 9.e6!?
8.Bf4 e6?!
The mainline move seems to be 8...c6, when Stockfish10 and Komodo10 like the obscure 9.Qc1!?
9.Qd2 d5 10.Rfe1 f6
This is the engines' choice.
On 10...c5, the engines give 11.dxc5 Nxc5 12.Qe3 with a large advantage for White.
11.exf6 Ndxf6
Probably best - it keeps c7 well-defended and gives e6 a defender. However, Black's position gives the impression of a French Defence gone wrong.
12.Ng5 Nd6 13.Rad1 b6 14.Bb5

How should Black proceed?

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14...Qe7?
14...Nxb5 15.Nxb5 h6! 16.Nf3 Ne4 17.Qe3 Bd7 is good for White, but Black is still in the game as 18.Nxc7? g5 19.Nxa8 gxf4 and ...Qxa8 favours Black.
15.Bc6 Rb8 16.Nxd5 Nxd5 17.Bxd5 Kh8
17...Rf6 can be met by 18.Nxe6 Bxe6 19.Rxe6 Rxe6 20.Re1.
18.Nxe6 Bxe6 19.Bxe6 Qd8 20.c3 Nf5 21.Bg5 Bf6 22.Bxf6+ Qxf6 23.Bxf5 Qxf5 24.Re5
Black is two pawns down and with the more-exposed king (1-0, 48 moves).

79th Hampstead (day two)

FACED two more juniors today, losing to a 1915/191 this morning and beating a 1646/154 this afternoon.
My final score of +2=1-2 saw me lose 23.4 Fide elo, and was an ECF grading performance of 156.
Now to get down to some annotating ...

79th Hampstead (continued)

IN round two this afternoon I lost to a senior (1391/121), and this evening in round three I drew with a junior (1662/164).
Both were interesting games, and I am looking forward to annotating them, but I am much too tired to do that now (and anyway I have to annotate round-one first).
This afternoon's game featured my opponent moving the same piece on six consecutive moves while the game was still in the opening.
I am wondering if that could be a record, but have been unable to find anything relevant on the internet.

Weekend Warrior

AM playing in Adam Raoof's 79th Hampstead weekend congress, which has a format of three sections of five rounds over two days.
The time control is an hour with a 30-second increment, which allows the games to be Fide-rated as standardplay as long as players are U2200.
In the top section, which accordingly is U2200, I am seeded ninth of 32 players, and this morning beat a junior (Fide 1522/ECF 141).

Hampstead Highlights

IN this post I intend to highlight the moment the result of each of my games was decided in the weekend's five-round Hampstead U2200.
Round One
Spanton (1884/171) - Gavith Dharmasena (1560/154)

White to play and win

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67.Kd5?
This only draws.
Interestingly, the analysis engine Komodo9 reckons the position is drawn, while Stockfish10 assesses it as winning for White. The latter engine is correct, as can be checked with the Nalimov endgame tablebase. The winning method is 67.Nd4 Kc4 (only now does Komodo9 recognise the win) 68.Ke5 (68.Ke3 also wins) Kc5 69.Nf3 Kc4 70.Nd2+ Kc3 71.Nb1+! (the key move, diverting Black's king as far as possible from a8) Kb2 (71...Kc4 does not help as Black's king soon has to give way to White's) 72.Kd4 Kxb1 73.Kc3 Kc1 74.Kb4 Kc2 75.Kxa4 Kc3 76.Kb5, and Black's king cannot reach a8.
The game saw:
67...Kxc2 68.Kc4 Kd2 69.Kb4 Kd3 70.Ka4 Kc4
This is drawn because White's king cannot escape the a file while simultaneously protecting the pawn and keeping Black's king out of a8. The remaining moves were:
71.Ka5 Kc5 72.Ka6 Kc6 73.a4 Kc7 74.Ka7 Kc6 75.a5 Kc7 76.a6 Kc8 ½–½
Round Two
Theodore Slade (2125/no ECF) - Spanton (1884/171)

Black to play and equalise

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20...Nb4?
Correct was 20...g6, which equalises, according to the engines, eg 21.N5d4 Nb4 22.Rd7 Nd3 23.Nf5!? Nxb2, when neither 24.Nh6+ nor 24.e6!? seem to give any appreciable advantage. In any event, 20...g6 was much better than the text.
The game continued:
21.Rd7 Nxa2?
Another mistake, although White is well on top after any continuation.
22.Ng5 (1-0, 52 moves)
Round Three
Spanton (1884/171) - Wolfgang Jekel (1684/148)
I have already covered this game in the post https://beauchess.blogspot.com/2019/06/73rd-hampstead-u2200-round-three.html
Round Four
Ethan Sanitt (1723/159) - Spanton (1884/171)

Black to play and win

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54...c4??
Somehow, in my mind's eye, White's bishop had captured on h7. After the text, White played 55.Bxc4 with an instant draw.
Instead, Black wins easily with 54...Kd3, eg 55.Bxh7 Be5 followed by ...c4 etc.
Round Five
Alex Barlov (1740/154) - Spanton (1884/171)

White to play and win

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45.Bf1
This does not spoil the win but, after making the move, AB pressed his clock and almost immediately offered a draw, which I accepted.
White wins with 45.c5, eg 45...bxc5 46.bxc5 Kd5 47.Bb5 Kxc5 48.Bd7 etc.

73rd Hampstead U2200 Concluded

ROUND five this afternoon saw me draw with a 1740/154 junior in a game in which I was winning out of the opening, soon went wrong in the early middlegame, and carried on pushing much too long in an ending which, it seems from inputting the game into ChessBase, I was completely losing.
I finally could see no way of making progress, so when my apparently draw-focussed opponent, for the third time, offered a draw while my clock was running, I accepted.
I have much to look at and think over from this weekend's games, but whichever way I look at it my tournament score of +1=3-1 saw me lose 14.6 Fide elo.

73rd Hampstead U2200 Day Two

DREW this morning against a junior (1723/159) when I blundered a one-pawn advantage while pushing for a win in an opposite-coloured bishops ending.
I will need to look at this in detail to see if I was indeed winning - it was certainly fascinating, and deserved a better effort from me.
I am now losing 10.8 Fide elo in this tournament.

73rd Hampstead U2200 Round Three

Spanton (1884/171) - Wolfgang Jekel (1684/148)
Tiviakov Scandinavian
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd6 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 c6 6.g3
The mainline runs 6.Ne5 Nbd7 7.Nc4 Qc7 8.Qf3 Nb6 9.Bf4 Qd8 10.Be5 Be6 11.Ne3 with a position that is supposed to be a little better for White, but with plenty of play left. What surprises me about this line, and lines like it, is why Black is apparently happy spending several tempi to get his queen back to d8 when he could have put it there without it being harassed on move three.
6...Bg4 7.Bg2 e6 8.0-0 Be7 9.Bf4 Qd8
Again, I do not understand how this line, with the queen ending up back on d8, can be considered good for Black.
10.Re1 0-0 11.h3 Bxf3
This was Tiviakov's choice in a similar position, but without the moves Re1 and ...0-0.
12.Bxf3 Bd6 13.Be5 Qc7?!
A better way to get rid of White's bishop-pair was 13...Bxe5, when 14.dxe5 leaves White with a small edge.
14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.Ne4 Be7 16.Bg2
Clearing a way for White's queen to get to the kingside.
16...f5
The choice of Stockfish10 and Komodo9, but the position of Black's king looks increasingly draughty.
17.Nc3
This gives the option of the knight going to f4 via e2.
17...Nd7

White to make his 18th move

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18.d5!?
Komodo9's choice; Stockfish10 prefers 18.Ne2.
18...e5?
Neither capture is satisfactory for Black: 18...exd5?? loses a piece to 19.Rxe7, while 18...cxd5 19.Nxd5 Qd8 (or 19...Qc5 or 19...Qd6) 20.Nxe7+ Qxe7 is problematic for Black after 21.Qf3 (Stockfish10) or 21.c3 (Komodo9).
It seems Black's best try was 18...Nc5, although White has a pleasant choice between 19.dxc6, 19.dxe6 and Stockfish10's ambitious 19.b4!?
19.dxc6 bxc6 20.Qf3 (1-0, 30 moves)
My tournament rating loss is now 6.6 Fide elo.

73rd Hampstead U2200 (cont)

LOST this afternoon to a teen rated 2125 (no ECF) who, naturally, did not make even a single draw offer. That cost me a further four Fide elo, bringing my tournament loss to 11.4.

Drawing To A Close

AM playing at the Adam Raoof-run 73rd Hampstead weekend congress, which has a time control of 60 minutes with a 30-second increment.
This morning in the U2200 section I played a junior (1560/154) who four times offered me a draw while my clock was running.
Ironically, once he had equalised, he stopped offering draws, although the game did end in a draw after 76 moves, costing me 7.4 Fide elo.

How To Offer A Draw

I WAS offered eight draws in my five games in the U2200 section of the 71st Hampstead weekend congress.
Only one player - Stephen Prior (2075 Fide/190 ECF) - managed to (almost) make his offer in the prescribed manner, which is:
1. Make your move.
2. Say words to the effect of: "Would you like a draw?"
3. Press the clock.
4. Write the move on your scoresheet and follow it with '(=)'.
It really is not very difficult, but SP was the only one who came close to following procedure (and even he missed out step four).

Adult Shocker

I WAS on top board against a non-junior in the last round of the 71st Hampstead U2200, drawing with a player rated 2075/190. My final score of +3=1-1 means a Fide rating gain of 0.2 elo and an ECF performance of 186.2

71st Hampstead - Day Two

I WAS paired against my fourth junior in the fourth round of the 71st Hampstead U2200 this morning, winning in 44 moves against a played rated 1720/190.

Another Two Rounds, Another Two Juniors

IN rounds two and three of the U2200 section at Hampstead's 71st weekend congress yesterday I faced juniors rated 1733/156 and 1537/141. I won both games, albeit in 68 and 78 moves respectively.

71st Hampstead - Round One

WHITE to play and win in Spanton (1914/171) - Alex Barlov (1676/154).

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The game went 38.Rxd2?? Qxd2+ (I had missed that this was with check) 39.Bxd2 Rxf3 (0-1, 44 moves)
Correct was 38.Bxd2, when Black can resign as 38...Rxf3 is simply met by 39.Bxe1.

Hampstead

AM playing at Adam Raoof's 71st Hampstead weekend congress, and in round one have white against a 1676/154 junior.
The carriage of the Northern Line train I caught from Moorgate had the serial number 51681, which makes for an interesting Tube Puzzle.
As usual, each number should be used once, and once only, and must be added, subtracted, multiplied or divided to make a balanced equation.
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My solution: 6 ÷ (8 - 5) = 1 + 1