Food For Thought

MY one loss at Newmarket came in round two as White in a Veresov that began 1.Nc3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.Bg5 Nbd7 4.e3 - somewhat insipid stuff, at least by White.
Quite a few players are reluctant to play 1...d5 in this sequence because they are uncomfortable against what is by far White's most popular second move here, ie 2.e4!?
The mainline after 2...d4 runs 3.Nce2 e5 4.Ng3. The first person to have apparently reached this position as White was Lasker, albeit in a simul. One idea in the position is that Black's set-up is ripe for the pawn-lever f4, which Lasker did indeed play in the game (Lasker - Ewers, 1909).
Black's main alternative to pushing on with 2...d4 is to exchange with 2...dxe4. After 3.Nxe4, White can claim he has gained a tempo (it is Black to move, but only White has tempi on the board - N-c3-e4).
In a handful of games, including a win by 2300 over a 2370, Black has tried to punish White with the extravagant  3...f5!?, intending to meet 4.Nc3 or 4.Ng5 with 4...e5!? A word of warning - my main analysis engines, Stockfish10 and Komodo9, are not impressed with Black's play. On the other hand, engines are not very reliable in many early-opening positions.
Supposing, however, White is not happy with the lines after 2.e4!? (and wants to avoid the familiar lines starting with 2.d4)?
One possibility is 2.e3. After 2...e5, White can try 3.d4, when he is playing a French Defence with colours reversed and an extra tempo.
His extra tempo (the move Nc3) is not bad - after all, in the French proper, after 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3, one option for Black is 3...Nc6!? Carlsen is among strong players who have tried it, albeit, in his case, as far as I know, only in a rapid game.
One "problem" with this is that after 1.Nc3 d5 2.e3 e5 3.d4 (3.Qh5!? is worth investigating), Black can reply 3...exd4, when 4.exd4 transposes to a French Exchange that is more usually reached via 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nc3. In this sequence the moves 4.Bd3 and 4.Nf3 are much more popular (and arguably more flexible).
However, instead of 4.exd4, White can get on with development with 4.Qxd4!?, threatening Black's d pawn.
The most natural defence is 4...Nf6, after which 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Bb5 Bd7 7.Bxc6 Bxc6 looks absolutely fine for Black, although Stockfish10 likes 8.b3 for White.
This last line is not very forcing. Indeed, White can vary right at the start with 5.e4!? My idea is that if Black wins a pawn, and holds on to it, with 5...dxe4 6.Qxd8+ Kxd8 7.Bg5 Bf5, White gets good compensation with 8.0-0-0+ (the engines reckon 8.Bc4 is even better).
You might think this is getting a bit far-fetched - I know I did when I was musing on it earlier this evening. So imagine my surprise when I checked the lines with ChessBase's 2019 Mega database and found 5.e4!? was played in Nimzowitsch - Tarrasch, Bad Kissingen 1928.
Tarrasch did not try to win a pawn, preferring 5...Nc6.
The game continued: 6.Bb5 Bd7 7.Bxc6 Bxc6 8.e5 Ne4 9.Nxe4 dxe4 10.Ne2 Be7 11.Be3 Qxd4 12.Nxd4 Bd7.

Position after Black preserved the bishop-pair with 12...Bc6-d7

Black has the bishop-pair but Nimzowitsch went on to positionally outplay his great rival, with Tarrasch suffering the embarrassment of losing an opposite-coloured bishops ending that I suspect many people would instinctively regard, at first sight, as being rather drawish (whether it really should have been drawn is another matter).

Newmarket - Day Three

WON in round four when my opponent, a 1567 junior, blundered an exchange and a pawn in a position that was at least equal for him.
In the fifth and final round I reached the following position as Black against Chris Davison (2048):

White to make his 24th move

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24.Bxe4?
White needed to bail out with 24.Qxe7, allowing a perpetual by 24...Qf2+ etc (there is no mate).
24...Rxe4 25.Qg3?
After this, White ends up in an eternal pin. It was better to give up a pawn by 25.Nc3, although after 25...Qxf4+ 26.Qg3 Qxg3+ 27.Kxg3 Rxe1 28.Rxe1 Kf8, Black has excellent winning chances.
25...Rae8
White can never free himself. The game continued:
26.Qxe3 Rxe3 27.Rd2 c5 28.Kg2 d4 29.Kf2 Bb5 30.b4!?
This is best, according to Stockfish10, but clearly hopeless.
30...cxb4 31.Nxd4 Rxe1 32.Nxb5 a5 (0-1, 59 moves)
My final score of +3=1-1 saw me gain 30.8 elo (and £60 prize money).

Newmarket - Day Two

EXPERIENCED contrasting fortunes in my two games today at the East Anglian Chess Union congress in Newmarket, Suffolk.

White to make his 21st move in the round-two game Spanton (1880) - Roy Hughes (2027)

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Black has a powerful bishop, but White is still in the game after a sensible move such as 21.a3 or 21.Ne5. Instead I played the horrendous …
21.Kf2??
… but RH missed winning the exchange by 21...b4 22.Na4 Ne4+.
However, 21.Kf2?? is so bad that Black is still much better after the move played in the game, viz:
21...Rac8?
To his credit, RH spotted a less-obvious combination three moves later:

Black to make his 24th  move

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24...Rxc3+! 25.bxc3 Rxc3+ 26.Rd3 Rxc2 27.Rd2 Nd5+ 28.Ke2 Rc3 (0-1, 43 moves)
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THIS afternoon I scored my first ever win - from four tries - against Roger de Coverly.

Black to make his 35th move in de Coverly (1977) - Spanton (1880)

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35...Kd7!
35...Rxe3+ 36.Kxe3 Kd7 37.Kd4 Kd6 is a simple draw, but the text gives White a chance to go wrong.
36.Rb3?
The losing move. I guess RdC rejected 36.Rxe5 because of 36...fxe5 37.Ke4?! Kd6, when the weakness of White's queenside makes it a tricky ending. But after 36.Rxe5 fxe5, White equalises with 37.g4, eg 37...Kd6 38.gxh5 gxh5 39.Ke4 - both players queen, with the engines confirming the position is drawn.
36...g5
Not the only winning move, but good enough.
37.Rb2 f5 38.Rc2 Kd6 39.h4
The engines' choice, but not enough to save the game.
39...gxh4 40.gxh4?
The engines' idea is 40.Kf4 hxg3 41.fxg3 Re4+ 42.Kxf5, but 42...Rg4 wins for Black (although I suspect most people would play on over the board).
40...Re4 41.Rc1 Rxh4 42.Re1 Rxc4 0-1

Newmarket

AM playing at the East Anglian Chess Union congress, being held in the King Edward VII Memorial Hall, Newmarket.
Martin Walker (FM2179) - Spanton (1880)
Open Spanish
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 a6!?
Heading for a Berlin Wall with 5...Nd6 is overwhelmingly more popular, but the text has been tried by quite a few strong players, including Carlsen and Ivanchuk. Also popular - more so than the text - is 5...Be7.
6.Ba4
White's commonest choice, according to ChessBase's 2019 Mega database, but also critical is 6.Bxc6, with Ivanchuk this time being on the White side along with Topalov.
6...b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6
Via a slight transposition, we have reached the main tabiya of the Open Spanish.
9.Nbd2 Nc5 10.c3 Be7
Winning the bishop-pair with 10...Nxb3!? is generally frowned upon here, because, I believe, White gets good control over the d4 square with 11.Nxb3! (rather than half-opening the a file with 11.axb3). Nevertheless, 10...Nxb3!? has been played by Short and Sokolov.
11.Bc2 0-0
Most popular is 11...Bg4, as seems to have been first played by Levenfish against Alekhine at Carlsbad 1911.
12.Re1
MW's suggestion of 12.Nb3 looked strong in the postmortem, but the text has been played by Anand.
12...d4
A thematic move in the Open Spanish when White does not take control of the d4 square.
13.Ne4?!
Probably not the best, although again it has been played by some strong players. Fellow Battersea club-member Aldo Camilleri played the superior-looking 13.cxd4 in a win against me in a Central London League match (Battersea 1 v Battersea 2) earlier this year.
13...dxc3 14.bxc3
14.Nxc5 looked better in the postmortem, but Stockfish10 and Komodo9 reckon the two moves are roughly equal, in both cases slightly preferring Black.
14...Qxd1 15.Rxd1

Black to make his 15th move

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15...Rad8?!
I thought it was important to rule out a pin on my c6 knight, but it seems even stronger was 15...Bf5. Black wins a pawn after Stockfish10's 16.Nf6+ Bxf6!, while Komodo9's 16.Re1 Rfd8 certainly looks nicer for Black.
16.Be3?!
A natural-looking move, but MW's postmortem suggestion of 16.Bg5 appears to keep any Black edge to a minimum. The engines give 16...Nxe4 17.Bxe4 h6 18.Bxe7 Nxe7 19.Nd4, when White is probably OK despite his isolated queenside pawns.
16...Rxd1+ 17.Rad1 Nxe4 18.Bxe4 Rd8
This may have been the move MW missed in his calculations.
19.Rxd8+
White offered a draw.
19...Nxd8 20.Bb1 c5
Played to prevent 21.Nd4, but now White wins the bishop-pair.
The engines give 20...Nc6! For quite some time, Stockfish10 reckons the move wins for Black, although it eventually calms down a bit (Komodo9 gives Black a slight edge). The strength of the move lies in that it prevents both 21.Nd4 and 21.Ng5.
21.Ng5
A complete equaliser. The game finished:
21...Bxg5 22.Bxg5 Nc6 23.Be3 Nxe5 (as MW pointed out, White is better after 23...c4? 24.f4) 24.Bxc5 Nc4 25.Bc2 g6 26.Kf1 Kg7 27.Ke2 Kf6 28.Bd4+ Ke7 29.a4 Kd6 30.axb5 axb5 31.Bd3 Kd5 32.Bxc4+ ½–½