Lessons From South Wales II

IN round two at the South Wales International I had black against a 2190.

The full game can be seen at S2 but here I will concentrate on the early opening.

The game began with 1.Nf3, and I replied 1...Nc6, one point of which is that 2.g3 is well-met by 2...e5.

Instead the commonest continuation is 2.d4, when 2...d5 prevents both 3.e4 and 3.d5.

Most popular now is 3.c4, bringing about a mainline of the Chigorin, but the game saw 3.g3, when my reply 3...Bg4 is in the spirit of the Chigorin, although 3...Bf5 and 3...Nf6 are popular alternatives.

After 4.Bg2 I played 4...Qd7, which is easily the commonest continuation in ChessBase's 2022 Mega database and strongly hints at opposite-side castling.

How should White proceed?

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Normal is 5.h3, but the game's 5.0-0!? is also popular and is the choice of the analysis engines Stockfish15 and Komodo13,02.

Black usually responds by castling long, but I preferred 5...h5!?, which is rare but has been played by a 2653.

After 6.c4 the game Meri Arabidze (2438) - Aleksandr Rakhmanov (2653), Chess.com blitz 2021, saw 6...e6 7.Nc3 dxc4 8.Qa4 h4 9.Qxc4, when Black blundered with 9...hxg3?? Both players missed the winning 10.Ne5, eg 10...Nxe5 11.dxe5 gxh2+ 12.Kh1, when the black light-square bishop is hanging and White also threatens Bxb7 followed by Bc6. The engines give 9...Bxf3 10.Bxf3 0-0-0, claiming an advantage for White.

However 6...e6 is probably better than my 6...Bxf3?!

After 7.Bxf3 I should probably have continued with 7...dxc4, when 8.d5 Ne5 9.Bg2 allows 9...h4. The engines reckon White has the upper hand, but Black is a pawn up and the position is not completely clear.

Instead my 7...h4? was met b7 8.cxd5, when White is a pawn up and winning, according to the engines.

CONCLUSION: Chigorin set-ups are ambitious, but easier to play for White, many of whose moves are intuitive, as in this game, while Black often has to find unusual and accurate ideas.

South Wales Round Two

THIS is my second game from yesterday's double-round.

Alistair Hill (2190) - Spanton (1889)

Pseudo-Chigorin

1.Nf3 Nc6 2.d4 d5 3.g3 Bg4 4.Bg2 Qd7 5.0-0!?

More popular is 5.h3 to avoid ...Bh3, but Stockfish15 and Komodo13.02 prefer the text.

How should Black proceed?

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5...h5!?

The mainline runs 5...0-0-0 6.c3 (6.c4 is also common) f6 7.b4 with advantage to White, according to the engines, which reckon 5...Bh3 6.c4 Bxg2 7.Kxg2 e6 also favours White.

6.c4 Bxf3?!

This may be a novelty. Known moves are 6...e6 and 6...e5?, while 6...dxc4 7.d5 0-0-0?! 8.Nc3 strongly favours White, according to the engines.

7.Bxf3 h4?

Better is 7...dxc4, and if 8.d5 then 8...Ne5.

8.cxd5 Nb4

I had originally intended 8...hxg3 9.hxg3 Qh3, missing the simple 10.Re1, and also missing that White could play 9.fxg3 Qh3 10.Rf2.

9.Qb3 e6 10.dxe6 fxe6 11.Bd2 Nd5?

As AH pointed out in the postmortem, better is 11...a5, meeting 12.a3 with 12...a4.

12.Qxb7

Preventing long castling as well as grabbing a pawn.

12...Rd8 13.Nc3 hxg3 14.hxg3 Ngf6 15.Bg5 Be7 16.e4 Nxc3 17.bxc3 e5 18.Bg2

The engines point out also possible is 18.dxe5 as 18...Qh3 19.Rfd1 Ng4 can be met by 20.Qc6+ Kf7 21.Qc4+ Ke8 22.Rxd8+ Bxd8 23.Qe6+ Kf8 24.Bg2 Qh2+ 25.Kf1 Bxg5 26.Rb1. If in this line 21...Kg6 then 22.Qe6+, eg 22...Kxg5 23.Qf5+ Kh6 24.Bxg4.

18...0-0 19.dxe5 Ng4 20.Qb3+ Kh8 21.Rad1 Qe8 22.Rxd8 Bxd8 23.Bxd8 Qxd8 24.Qe6

White has a massive advantage.

The game finished:

24...Nxf2 25.Rxf2 Qd1+ 26.Bf1 Rxf2 27.Rxf2 1-0

Doncaster Round One

FACED a Scottish teenager (born 2004) on board one in the Doncaster open this evening.

Jake M Sanger (*) - Spanton (2042)

Pseudo-Chigorin

1d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.g3 Bf5!?

There is quite a debate among Chigorin afficionados of whether to meet 3.g3 with the text or 3...Bg4.

4.Bg2 e6 5.0-0 Be7 6.c4 dxc4!?

The main move is 6...Nf6, when Stockfish14.1 and Komodo12.1.1 reckon 7.Ne5 gives White a slight edge.

7.Qa4 Qd7 8.Nc3 Nf6 9.Bg4 0-0

The engines prefer a complicated line, namely 9...Nd5!? 10.Bxe7 Nb6! 11.Ne5 Nxa4 12.Nxd7 Nxc3 13.bxc3 Kxd7 14.Ba3, when Black is a (doubled) pawn up but White has the bishop-pair and possibly a slight edge, according to the engines.

10.Ne5!?

The engines like the straightforward 10.Qxc4, claiming an advantage for White.

10...Nxe5!?

Possibly better is 10...Qxd4 11.Nxc6 bxc6, when Stockfish14.1 reckons 12.Be3 Qd6 13.Bxc6 Rab8 14.Rfd1 Qb4 15.Bxa7 Qxa4 16.Nxa4 Rb4 17.Bc5 Bxc5 18.Nxc5 is equal, while Komodo12.1.1 gives 13.e4 Bg6 14.Be3 Qe5 15.Qxc6 Ng4 16.Bf4 Qc5 17.Qxc5 Bxc5 18.h3 Nf6 19.e5 Nd5 20.Nxd5 exd5 21.Bxd5 Rab8 22.Bxc4 Rxb2, again with an assessment of equality. Both of these lines are long with plenty of non-forcing moves, but they do suggest the position after 10...Qxd4 is roughly balanced.

11.dxe5 Qxa4 12.Nxa4 Nd5 13.Bxe7 Nxe7 14.Bxb7 Rab8 15.Nc5 Rfd8

How would you assess this position?

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White has regained his pawn and has the better remaining pawn-structure, but Black's pieces are active. The engines reckon White possibly has a slight edge.

16.b3!?

The engines prefer 16.Rfd1, when they reckon 16...Bc2?! 17.Rxd8+ Rxd8 followed by 18.Rc1, or 18.Kf1 and then Rc1, is very good for White. However Black can keep White's advantage to a minimum with 16...g5!?, according to the engines.

16...cxb3!?

Perhaps 16...Rd2 is better.

17.axb3 Bc2?

Better is 17...Rd2. I played the text under the aberration that after ...

18.Rxa7

... I could play ...Bxb3, as the white knight and bishop would be on the same file after the reply Nxb3, but I somehow missed that the bishop is protected by a rook. After 18.Rxa7 White is only a doubled pawn up, materially, but the engines reckon White is winning.

18...Rd1?!

Almost certainly better is the engines' 18...Nc8, but after 19.Ra3 they still have White winning.

19.Ra2 Rxf1+ 20.Kxf1 Bf5 21.Rd2 Ng6 22.f4 Nf8

This prevents immediate loss of a second pawn, but the respite is temporary.

23.b4 h6 24.b5 g5 25.e3 Kg7 26.Bc6 Kg6 27.Kf2 h5 28.Na6 Rc8 29.Bb7 Re8 30.e4

Also winning is 30.Nxc7 Re7 31.b6 Nd7 32.Rxd7!? Rxd7 33.e4 Bh3 34.Bc6 Rd8 35.b7 with Na6 etc to come.

30...Bg4 31.Ke3

White had many winning moves but there was a surprising trap in 31.Kg2 h4 32.h3 hxg3, when 33.hxg4? gxf4 is only a draw, according to the engines. However other lines win, eg 33.f5+ exf5 34.hxg4.

The game finished:

31...gxf4+ 32.gxf4 Re7 33.Rc2 Bd1 34.Rxc7 Rxc7 35.Nxc7 Nd7 36.Bc6 Nb8 37.Na6 Nxc6 38.bxc6 Ba4 Nb8 1-0

*Sanger has no no ECF over-the-board standard rating but had an "F" rating of 2343 last month. He also has an ECF online standard rating of 2343, which is rather a coincidence.

Champion Of Champions: Challenge

VLADIMIR Kramnik won my Champion Of Champions tournament, in which the 16 classical world champions faced off in a knockout format.
'Games' were decided by choosing each player's most-popular move in any given position in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database.
There is no reason why such an event should be restricted to world champions - anyone can take part as long as there is a reasonable number of a player's games in Mega20.
I have 923 games in Mega20, so here I will be taking on the Champion Of Champions in a two-game match.

Vladimir Kramnik - Spanton
Pseudo-Chigorin
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3!?
There are 157 games with this move by Kramnik in Mega20, compared with 152 for 2.c4.
2...Nc6!?

Kramnik has not faced this move, so this is as far as we can go

The analysis engines Stockfish11 and Komodo11.01 give White an averaged advantage of +57.5, which means I have it all to do in the next game.

Spanton - Vladimir Kramnik
Spanish Four Knights Rubinstein
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nd4

I have not faced Rubinstein's 4...Nd4 in Mega20, so again the 'game' comes to a quick conclusion

The analysis engines give me an averaged advantage of +25.5 - not bad, but not enough to overcome Kramnik's game-one advantage.
So Kramnik wins with a score of +32 - closer than I feared.

Jim MacRae RIP

I HAVE just discovered through the ECF newsletter that Jim MacRae died in a care home earlier this year, three days after his 84th birthday.

We played eight times from 1992-2017, including six games at Hastings, where he was a popular fixture.

Jim always seemed to have a sunny disposition, whatever the weather on the Sussex coast. Then again, he was apparently raised on Barra in the Outer Hebrides, so I guess he was one person who regarded Hastings over New Year as a weather upgrade.

It is fair to say Jim played some offbeat lines with the black pieces, but could be a little more mainstream when playing white. Here is our shortest game.

MacRae (1736) - Spanton (2008)

Hastings 2013-14

London System/Pseudo-Chigorin

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bf4 Bg4 4.Nbd2 e6 5.e3 Bd6 6.Bxd6 cxd6 7.Be2

Karpov preferred 7.h3 in a 1998 blinfold-rapidplay draw with Ivanchuk.

7...Nf6 8.Nh4!?

This seems to have been a novelty. Normal is 8.0-0.

8...Bxe2 9.Qxe2 Ne4 10.Nhf3 0-0 11.0-0 f5

How should White proceed?

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12.c4

This seems best - White needs to create counterplay in the centre and/or on the queenside before he gets crushed on the kingside.

12...Ne7 13.Rac1 Kh8 14.Rc2 Rg8? 15.Rfc1?

White has a big advantage after 15.Nxe4 followed by Ng5.

15...g5 16.Nxe4 dxe4 17.Ne1 g4 18.Kh1 Rg6 19.g3 Rh6 20.Ng2 Qe8 21.Qf1 Ng6?

Both sides have chances after a move such as 21...Nc6 or 21...Qh5. But there is no quick kingside breakthrough after the text, so White gains time to get his rooks into the black position via the c file.

22.c5! d5 23.c6 bxc6

No improvement is 23...b6 24.c7.

24.Rxc6 Ne7

There seems nothing better.

25.Rc7 Rf6 26.R1c5 Rf8 27.Qa6 Nc8 28.Qb7 1-0

Rest in peace, Jim.

Learn From The Greats (part 13)

Justin Tan (2523) - Spanton (1923)
Tunbridge Wells 2018
Pseudo-Chigorin
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nc6 3.d4 Bg4 4.Nbd2!?
Kramnik has played this, but it is hard to see what advantage it has over the normal 4.Bg2.
4...Qd7 5.h3 Bf5!?
This is more popular in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database than 5...Bh5.
6.c3 Nf6 7.Bg2 e6 8.Nh4 Bg6!?
Stockfish10 and Komodo10 reckon the bishop should either be left where it is or moved to e4.
9.Nxg6 hxg6 10.e4 dxe4 11.Nxe4 Nxe4 12.Bxe4 e5

How should White proceed?

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13.dxe5!
White is probably slightly better after 13.d5, but the text opens the position for White's bishop-pair, while not worrying about losing castling rights.
13...Qxd1+ 14.Kxd1 0-0-0+ 15.Kc2
A nice square for the king, which is better placed than its black counterpart.
15...Nxe5 16.Bf4 Bd6 17.Rad1 Rde8
This rook, so as to leave the king's rook pressurising h3.
18.Bd5 Re7
18...f6!? may well be better.
19.Bg5?!
The engines reckon White is better after a move such as 19.Rd2 or 19.b4!?
19...Rd7?
Black is only a little worse after the obvious 19...f6.
20.Rhe1 a6?
Not 20...Rxh3? - the back rank is too weak, so White wins a piece with 21.f4. But better than the text is 20...c6 or 20...f6.
21.Rxe5! Bxe5 22.Bxb7+ Kxb7 23.Rxd7 Rxh3 24.Rxf7 Rh5 25.f4 Kc6 26.Bh4 1-0
LESSONS FROM THIS GAME
I am not sure there is much to be learnt from this game - I was outplayed positionally in the opening and tactically in the middlegame. One thing that does stand out, however, is how the grandmaster at moves 13 and 21 was able to come up with a strong continuation by seeing beyond the immediately obvious.

Handy Advice

MY round-one opponent in the Bad Wörishofen U2000 tournament today turned out to be a doctor - a skin specialist, he said - who pointed out that some 20,000 people a year die from influenza in Germany.
I had earlier declined to shake hands, which is the official advice for the congress, but quickly changed my mind.
Detlev Keymling (1602) - Spanton (1837)
Pseudo-Chigorin
1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nc6 3.e3 Bg4 4.Bd3?! e5
Black's dream in the Pseudo-Chigorin, as in the Chigorin proper, is to get in this move, which White's last has made trivially possible.
5.dxe5 Nxe5 6.Be2

Looks familiar?

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The game has transposed to a very popular line of the Classical French, but with colours reversed.

Position in the Classical French usually reached by the move-order 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Be7

6...Bxf3 7.gxf3 Nf6 8.Nc3
Normal, allowing for the reversed colours, is 8.f4 or 8.b3.
8...Be7 9.b3 Qd7 10.Bb2 0-0-0 11.Nxd5??
DK suggested 11.Qd4 in the postmortem, meeting 11...Nc6 with 12.Qa4, when Stockfish10 and Komodo10 reckon Black has much the better game.
11...Nxd5 12.Bxe5 Qe6 13.Bc4? Qxe5
White could in all conscience resign here, or even a move earlier, which would have put me in a good position to win the 40-euro shortest-game kitty that Paul Stokes, Vic Rumsey, Ray Kearsley and I are competing for. Instead DK played on until move 31.

Winter Break

THERE was a smattering of snow in Mariánské Lázně overnight, but it probably will not last long as sunshine is forecast for much of the rest of the congress.

Snow in the town's central park

Here is my round-two game from the 50+ seniors this afternoon.
Jan Bartos (FM 2123) - Spanton (1854)
Pseudo-Chigorin
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.g3 Bg4 4.Bg2 Qd7 5.0-0
More popular is 5.h3, but the text has been played by Caruana and Topalov.
5...Bh3?!
This gets rid of White's fianchettoed bishop, but it costs time. The main move in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database is 5...0-0-0, one point being that avoiding an exchange of light-square bishops with 6.Re1 may not be a good use of a tempo, although it was played by Tony Miles in a 1994 game.
6.c4 Bxg2 7.Kxg2 e6
7...dxc4 8.d5 Nb4 9.Nc3 is good for White.
8.Qa4 Nf6 9.Nc3 Be7 10.Rd1N 0-0 11.cxd5 exd5 12.Ne5

How should Black reply to White's knight thrust - accept doubled c pawns or sac a pawn for active play?

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12...Nxe5?!
I rejected 12...Qe6 13.Nxc6 Qxc6?! 14.Qxc6 bxc6 as being obviously good for White, which it is. Indeed, Stockfish10 and Komodo10 narrowly prefer the text to this line, but they reckon White's advantage is much more manageable after 13...bxc6!?
13.dxe5 Qxa4 14.Nxa4 Ng4 15.Rxd5 Rfd8 16.Nc3 c6 17.Rxd8+ Rxd8 18.f4
Black has temporary activity for the pawn, but it is easily neutralised.
18...Bc5 19.h3 Ne3+ 20.Bxe3 Bxe3 21.Rd1 Rxd1 22.Nxd1 (1-0, 38 moves)

Memorable Finish

MY performance at this year's Gibraltar congress was mostly memorable for all the wrong reasons.
I played in the U1900 morning tournaments, Amateurs A (Jan 22-26) and B (Jan 27-31).
My scores of +1=3-1 and +2=1-2 were enough to lose 18 and 24.6 Fide elo.
The following game, one of my three wins, was memorable for a better reason, at least for me. There are some instructive moments during the game, and a sudden finish that is well worth memorising if you have not seen the idea before.
Brian Izzard (1657) - Spanton (1888)
Gibraltar U1900 B (Rd 4), 2018
1.d4 d5 2.Bg5
The game starts as a Pseudo-Trompowsky ...
2...Nf6 3.e3 Nc6 4.Nf3
... morphs into a Torre Attack ...
4...Bg4
... and becomes, at least from Black's viewpoint, a Pseudo-Chigorin.
5.Be2 e6 6.Nbd2 h6 7.Bh4 Be7 8.h3 Bf5 9.Bb5
Black was threatening to win a pawn, which I thought explained this move. However, after ...
9...a6
... instead of playing Bxc6, Ba4 or Bd3, White chose ...
10.Be2?
The game continued ...
10...Nb4 11.0-0
11.Rc1? Nxa2 is no improvement.
11...Nxc2?
The wrong capture. Correct was 11...Bxc2, forcing White to spend a tempo moving his queen.
12.Rc1 Nb4

Position after Black's 12th move

I had seen that 13.Bg3 was simply met by 13...Nc6. However, it was only after moving that I saw White had ...
13.Qb3
Then came ...
13...Bd6
I played this partly to set a trap that White eventually falls into. The key point is that the bishop protects c7.
But better was 13...a5! and if 14.a3, then 14...a4 15.Qd1 Nd3.
It turns out that 13.Qb3 was not the best move. Instead, Stockfish8 gives 13.Ne5! getting ready to capture twice on c6 after Black's knight on b4 is forced to retreat.
14.Ne5 g5 15.Bg3 0-0
I could see nothing better than to give back the pawn.
16.f4
White is in no hurry to restore material equality. Instead, he hopes to open lines against Black's weakened king.
16...Ne4
Stockfish8 prefers 16...Rb8, but I did not have much faith in Black's resulting passivity.
17.Nxe4 Bxe4 18.a3 Nc6
White has two ways to regain the pawn.
In the post-mortem we looked at lines such as 19.Nxc6 bxc6 20.Rxc6 Rb8 21.Qc3 Rb6 22.Rxb6 cxb6 23.Bxa6, when Black has gone from a pawn up to a pawn down.
Stockfish8 prefers to go a pawn down by 20...Qd7 21.Rxa6 Rxa6 22.Bxa6 c5,when it reckons Black's activity and better piece-coordination give full compensation for the material deficit.
In the game, White chose ...
19.Qxb7??

Black to play and force immediate resignation

19...Na5 0-1