Summing Up Telford

MY score of +2=0-0 in weekend two of the Four Nations Chess League's fourth division gained 11 ECF elo and 12.8 Fide elo.

4NCL 2023-4 Round Four

PLAYED on board four (of six) for Wessex B against an Iceni 2 junior (born 2009) in division four of the Four Nations Chess League today.

Spanton (1884 ECF/1736 Fide) - Rowan Kent (1688 ECF/1355 Fide)

Spanish Exchange

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.d4 exd4 6.Qxd4 Qxd4 7.Nxd4 Bc5 8.Be3 Nf6 9.f3 0-0 10.Nf5!? Bxe3?!

For comments, by me and Alexander Alekhine, on the moves so far, see my round-eight game earlier this month in Kraków.

11.Nxe3 Be6 12.Nc3 Rad8 13.Rad1 Rxd1+ 14.Kxd1 Rd8+!?

Black's drawing chances are probably improved by keeping a pair of rooks on the board, in which case this may be a waste of time.

15.Ke2 Kf8 16.Rd1 Rxd1

This is the top choice of Stockfish16 and Komodo14.1.

17.Nexd1

How would you assess this minor-piece ending?

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

Black has the only long-range piece, but this is trumped by White's superior pawn-structure. The engines give White a slight edge.

17...Ke7 18.Ke3 Nd7 19.f4 f6 20.Nf2 Kd6 21.Nd3 Bc4 22.a3 Bxd3!?

Counterintuitive, but not necessarily bad. Certainly, in my experience, Spanish Exchange endings that get down to bishop and seven pawns versus knight and seven pawns are very difficult for Black to hold.

23.Kxd3 Nc5+ 24.Kd4 Ne6+ 25.Ke3 Nc5 26.Ne2 Ne6?!

The engines, especially Komodo14.1, are not overly unhappy about this, at least at first, but it lets White force a pawn-ending.

27.Nd4 Nxd4 28.Kxd4

How would you assess this pawn-ending?

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

White is winning, according to Stockfish16, but only has a slight edge, according to Komodo14.1. The former is almost certainly correct, but care needs to be taken to bring home the full point.

28...c5+ 29.Ke3 a5 30.c4!?

The engines much prefer 30.a4.

30...a4!?

Komodo14.1 now gives Black equality, although Stockfish16 reckons White has the upper hand.

31.g4?!

A slower approach, eg 31.Kf3, is probably advisable.

How should Black proceed?

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

31...g5?

Both 31...h6 and 31...g6 give complete equality, according to the engines. The point, it seems, is White has no way to break into Black's position unless a corridor is created in the centre, which is exactly what the text allows.

32.e5+!? Ke6

32...fxe5? 33.fxg5 makes is easy for White.

33.exf6 Kxf6

What should White play?

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

34.f5?!

Not 34.fxg5+, which turns a win into a loss, eg 34...Kxg5 35.Kf3 Kh4 36.Kf4 Kh3 etc. However 34.Kf3 makes the win relatively straightforward, eg 34...h6 35.Kg3 c6 36.h4 etc, although the text is also good enough with perfect play (but see the next diagram).

34...Ke5 35.Kd3 c6 36.Kc3 b5 37.Kd3 b4

White has a study-like win

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

38.Ke3

It seems only the engines' 38.Kc2!! wins, after which best-play continues something like 38...b3+ 39.Kd3 h6 40.Ke3 h5 (if 40...Kf6 then 41.Ke4 etc) 41.gxh5 Kxf5 42.h3 Ke5 43.Kf3 Kf5 44.Kg3 Ke5 45.h6 Kf6 46.Kg4 etc.

Black to play and draw

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

38...h6

The engines show both king retreats draw, eg 38...Kf6! 39.Ke4 b3 40.Ke3 Ke7!, the point being as soon as White plays Ke4 Black answers ...Kf6, preventing progress.

39.Kd3 h5

White to (again) play and win

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

40.h3?

40.gxh5 wins in a similar way as to the note to White's 38th move, ie 40...Kxf5 41.h3 Ke5 42.Kf3 Kf5 43.Ke3 Ke5 44.Kg4 Kf6 45.h6 etc.

Black to (again) play and draw

40...Kf4?

Presumably hoping for stalemate tricks, but Black had a draw with 40...hxg4 41.hxg4 Kf6, eg 42.Ke4 b3 43.Kd3 Ke7! etc.

The game finished:

41.f6 hxg4 42.hxg4 Kxg4 43.f7 Kh3 44.f8=Q g4 45.Qf1+ Kh2 46.Qf2+ Kh1 47.Qh4+ 1-0

Wessex B won the match 4.5-1.5.

4NCL 2023-4 Round Three

PLAYED on board four (of six) for Wessex B against Coventry in division four of the Four Nations Chess League this afternoon.

Ben Graff (1732 ECF/1775 Fide) - Spanton (1884 ECF/1736 Fide)

French Exchange

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Bd3 c5!?

This aggressive thrust is less popular than 4...Nf6, 4...Nc6 and especially 4...Bd6, but scores a much better percentage in ChessBase's 2024 Mega database (38%, while the 43% of 4...Nc6 is the best of the more-popular moves).

5.c3 Nc6 6.Qe2+ Qe7 7.Qxe7+ Bxe7 8.Nf3 Nf6 9.0-0 0-0

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

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

As is often the case in the early stages of the Exchange Variation of the French Defence, there is probably very little in it.

10.Bg5 c4!?

Timing is everything with this move. It is easy for Black to get over-extended and end up with an isolated d pawn if the later reply b3 has to be answered with ...cxb3, but equally it is is easy for White to simply end up with a space disadvantage on the queenside. In this particular instance Stockfish16 and Komodo14.1 like the move, but are unsure if it gives Black a significant advantage (if any advantage at all).

11.Bc2 h6 12.Bh4 Be6!? 13.Ne5 g5!? 14.Nxc6 bxc6 15.Bg3

BG offered a draw.

Should I have accepted?

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

Black has a damaged pawn-structure, but has more queenside space and seems set to win the bishop-pair. The engines give Black a slight edge.

15...Nh5 16.Nd2

White can save the bishop-pair with 16.Bc7!?, but after 16...Rfc8 17.Ba5 White's dark-square bishop is probably out of play.

16...Nxg3

How should White recapture?

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****]

17.hxg3

I thought 17.fxg3!? was a promising attempt to give White more activity, but the engines disagree, giving 17...c5 as leaving Black with the upper hand.

17...Rab8 18.b3 c5 19.Nf3 Bf6 20.Rad1?!

The engines prefer 20.Ne5.

20...Rfd8

Even stronger, according to the engines, is 20...cxb3!? 21.axb3 Rfc8, after which the pressure on the white queenside is, the engines reckon, more than White can bear.

21.Ne5!?

If the engines are given long enough, this becomes their top choice.

21...Bxe5

Giving up the bishop-pair, but getting a mobile pawn-majority and bringing Black's light-square bishop to life.

22.dxe5 d4 23.cxd4 cxd4 24.bxc4 Bxc4 25.Bd3 Bxa2 26.Rd2

Almost certainly much better than 26.Ra1?! Rb2.

26...Bd5 27.Ra1 Rb7 28.Ra4 Bc6 29.Ra6 Bb5

How should White respond?

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****
30.Rxh6?!

Tempting, at least at first glance, but dubious. The engines give 30.Bxb5 Rxb5 31.f4, claiming complete equality.

30...Bxd3 31.Rxd3

BG offered a draw in my time, just, but quickly apologised.

31...Kg7

White to play and lose

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

32.Ra6??
White keeps the game going with, say, 32.Rh5 Kg6 33.g4, although White's pieces are badly uncoordinated.

32...Rb1+ 33.Kh2 Rh8+ 0-1

Coventry won the match 3.5.-2.5.