League Chess

PLAYED on board six (of eight) for Battersea against Albany in London League division two last night.

Spanton (1984) - Chris Todd (1870)

Scandinavian

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd8!?

This move has experienced something of a revival, almost certainly thanks to recent books and DVDs, including international master Robert Ris's Fritztrainer The Smooth Scandinavian Defence. Stockfish17 prefers the text over the traditional 3...Qa5; Dragon1 disagrees.

4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.Bc4!?

Much more popular are 6.h3!? and especially 6.Be2.

6...e6 7.h3!? Bxf3!? 8.Qxf3

How should Black proceed?

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8...c6

Having given up the light-square bishop, Black puts pawns on light squares for a solid, but passive, setup. Note that 8...Qxd4?? loses to 9.Qxb7.

9.Be3 Bd6 10.0-0-0 Nbd7 11.Rhe1 0-0

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

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White is well ahead on development, but Black's queenside pawns are better placed than White's kingside ones for rolling forwards. The engines give White a slight edge.

12.Bg5 Qa5 13.Bd2 Qc7

The result of the last two moves is that White has effectively played Be3-d2, while Black has got in ...Qd8-c7. You might think the sequence should favour Black, but the engines reckon it marginally favours White.

14.g4 b5 15.Bd3 b4 16.Ne4 Nxe4 17.Bxe4 Rfc8?!

This apparent-novelty leaves the kingside a little short of defenders, but Black has a defensive plan in mind.

18.g5 Nf8!?

An old rule-of-thumb - coined by Bent Larsen? - has it that Black will never get mated with a knight on f8

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However the engines strongly dislike the text, preferring Black starts using the knight on the queenside with 18...Nb6!?

19.h4 Rab8 20.h5 Qe7?!

Covering the f6 square in the event of White pushing the h pawn. The engines prefer 20...c5 or 20...g6!?, but reckon White is positionally winning.

21.Bxc6!?

Also strong is 21.h6 anyway.

21...a5 22.d5 Qc7 23.Ba4 b3?!

Objectively bad, but it creates complications in what is anyway a lost position

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24.Bxb3 a4!? 25.Bxa4 Ra8 26.Bb3 Rxa2! 27.Bc3?!

Probably best is 27.Kb1.

27...Bf4 28.Re3?

This throws away all of White's advantage. Correct is 28.Kb1, and if 28...Ra1+!? 29.Kxa1 Ra8+ 30.Kb1 Qa7 White has 31.Ba5! Qxa5 32.c3, emerging the exchange and two pawns up.

28...Ra1+ 29.Kd2 Rxd1+ 30.Kxd1 Bxe3 31.fxe3

How would you assess this imbalanced middlegame?

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White has two bishops and two pawns for rook and knight, which is a material advantage, but the white king is exposed and the engines find the imbalance difficult to judge. Stockfish17 starts by calling the position completely equal, but comes to give Black a slight edge, while Dragon1 starts by marginally favouring Black, only to re-evaluate the position as completely equal.

31...exd5?

The engines like 31...Qh2 or 31...Rd8.

32.h6?

Correct is 32.Bxd5, winning a pawn, pressurising f7 and improving the defence of the king (the move e4 will solidify the bishop's outpost).

32...Rd8?

Necessary is 32...Ne6.

33.Bxg7 Qd6 34.Bd4 Ng6 35.Bf6? Rd7 36.Qf5?!

Probably better is 36.Ba4.

36...Qe6 37.Qd3?!

Probably better is 37.Qxe6!?, which improves Black's pawn-structure, but, with queens off the board, king safety is no longer an issue, and the engines reckon that change strongly favours White.

37...Qg4+ 38.Kd2 Qg2+ 39.Qe2 Qe4

Exchanging queens would be a big mistake, according to the engines.

40.Qh2 Qb4+?

The engines reckon Black had to play 40...Nf8!?

41.Bc3 Qb5 42.Qf2?!

The engines reckon 42.Qh3 and 42.Qg3 are winning, eg 42.Qh3 Qc6 43.Qf5 Rd6 44.Ba2!? Qc7 45.b4 etc.

42...Rd6?

Missing the chance to reduce White's advantage by 42...d4! 43.Bxd4 Qxg5.

43.Qf5 Qe8 44.Bd4 Qe6 45.Qd3?

As CT pointed out afterwards, this fundamentally misjudges the queens-off ending. Good is 45.Qf6!?, forcing queens off without improving Black's structure.
45...Ne5 46.Qb5 Rd8 47.Qa5 Nf3+?

Black is completely equal after 47...Nc6, according to the engines.

48.Kc1 Qe8

White to win, lose or draw

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49.Qc3??

Winning is 49.Ba7!, while 49.Ba4, among other moves, draws. After 49.Ba7! Black's best try is probably 49...d4!?, but 50.Bxf7+! Kxf7 (forced) 51.Qf5+ Kg8 52.Qxf3 leaves White with three pawns for the exchange. The second-best try is probably 49.Ba4, but the engines show 49...Qe7! draws as White cannot defend g5 (without giving up e3).

49...Ra8 50.Ba7

Too late.

50...d4! 51.exd4

Or 51.Qc7 Qxe3+ 52.Kb1 Nd2+ 53.Ka2 Nxb3 54.cxb3 d3 etc.

51...Rxa7 52.Kb1 Qe1+ 53.Qxe1 Nxe1 54.c3 Nf3 0-1

Albany defaulted on board one, Battersea on board four. Albany won the match 5-3.

MY BATTERSEA SEASON 2024-5

DATE.....EVENT...........................COL..RATING..OPP'S RATING..SCORE..SEASON PERF

12/9/24..Central London League....W......1933..........1886................1............2286

26/9/24..Central London League....B.......1933..........2112................1............2399

15/10/24.Club Championship.........W......1968..........1578................1............2259*

31/10/24.Central London League...B.......1968..........1867................0...........2061*

19/11/24.London League...............W.......1957..........1991................1.............2127*

21/11/24.Central London League...B.......1957..........2035................=............2112*

27/11/24.London League...............W.......1957..........1723................=............2056*

12/12/24.Central London League...B.......1965..........2153................0............2018*

7/1/25.....Club Championship.........B.......1958..........1785................1............2037*

9/1/25.....Central London League...B.......1958..........1851................0............1978

14/1/25....Eastman Cup.................B........1958..........2052................1............2021*

28/1/25....London League..............B........1958..........1766................1............2033*

4/2/25......London League..............B........1980..........1757................1............2043*

6/2/25......Central London League..W.......1980..........1932................0............2006*

11/2/25....Central London League..B........1986..........2178................=............2018*

13/2/25....Central London League.W........1986..........1998................1............2042*

27/2/25....Central London League..B........1986..........1996................0............2015*

13/3/25....Central London League..B........1984..........2286................0............2008*

17/3/25....London League..............W........1984..........1870................0............1980*

*My season's performance is slightly better than this as my win against a 1578 was a 1978 performance, lowering my average despite me winning.

Win, Lose or Draw?

IN ROUND seven of Bad Wörishofen U2000 I met a player I lost against in 21 moves in 2016 and in 14 moves in 2017.
This year's game lasted considerably longer, but take a look at the critical endgame position reached with White to make his 48th move in Spanton (1890) - Michael Walda (1913).

Is this position a win for White, a draw or a win for Black?

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48.Bxc5??
The game is easily drawn after 48.Ke2 as the try 48...e4?? loses to 49.fxe4 Kxe4 and now 50.Bxc5. The text is an attempt to win, but only succeeds in losing.
48...Kg3 49.Be3 Bxe3 50.Kxe3 a5
Black wins because White's queenside pawns are not fast enough.
51.c5
51.b4 comes to the same thing.
51...Kxg2 52.c6 bxc6 53.b4 Kxh3 54.b5 cxb5 55.axb5 a4 56.Kd3 a3 57.Kc3 a2 58.Kb2 a1=Q+ 59.Kxa1 Kg2 60.b6 h3 61.b7 h2 62.b8=Q h1=Q+ 63.Ka2 Qe1 (0-1, 76 moves)

Rook v Pawns

REACHED another tricky ending in today's round seven at the Hastings Masters.

White to make his 41st move in Spanton (1954) - Laurence Butt (1635), but what should the result be: win, lose or draw?

I have just given up a rook on f1 to capture a promoted pawn, and Black has recaptured with his king.
A simple material-count in the resulting position gives Black a big advantage, but Black's king is well away from the centre of the action on the queenside.
One factor to always bear in mind is that two pawns safely abreast on the sixth rank will beat a rook even if the pawns' king cannot help them (and provided the rook's king cannot interfere).
If you do not know this rule, to which there are NO exceptions, try placing white pawns on e6 and d6 on an otherwise empty board (including no kings). It is White to move, but before he can do so Black is allowed to place a rook anywhere on the board. You will quickly find the black rook cannot prevent a white pawn from queening.
The position in the diagram is complicated by Black still having a pawn left, but, with correct play, should White win, lose or draw?
41.b5
This is non-controversial - almost any sensible-looking White move keeps the game moving towards its proper conclusion.
41...axb5
Not 41...a5? as it wastes a tempo that White can use to get a second pawn to the fifth rank with 42.c5.
42.cxb5
It seemed sensible to keep the white pawns as far from the black king as possible, but it 42.axb5 was probably equally good.
42...Re3+!?
This surprised me, but analysis with the engines Komodo9 and Stockfish10 suggests the move is just as legitimate as the perhaps-more obvious 42...Ra2. Both moves clear the e2 square for the black king to take a straight diagonal towards the white pawns.
43.Kb4 Re4+?
But this drives the white king in the direction it wants to go while not giving any benefit to Black.
Correct was 43...Ke2, when Black is a tempo up on the game continuation. As we shall see, White eventually wins the game by a single tempo.
44.Ka5 Ke2 45.b6 Kd3 46.b7 Re8 47.Kb6 Kc4 48.a5 Re6+ 49.Ka7
More precise is 49.Kc7.
Komodo9 reckons the position is drawn after the text, but it is not as Black cannot prevent White returning to the correct plan.
49...Re7 50.Kb6
Not 50.a6? as 50...Kb5 51.Ka8 Re8+ leaves White with nothing better than  a draw after 52.b8=Q Rxb8+ 53.Kxb8 Kxa6.
50...Re5
Setting a little trap.
Equally losing. but requiring accurate play by White, was 50...Re6+ (returning to the position after Black's 48th move) 51.Kc7 Re7+ 52.Kc6! (but not 52.Kc8? Kc5! when White cannot make progress, eg 53.a6 Kc6 54.Kb8 Kb6=) Re6+ 53.Kd7 etc (analysis by the engines).
51.a6
51b8=Q?? Rb5+ is a draw.
51...Re6+ 52.Ka7 1-0
So, to get back to the original question, the diagram position seems to be a draw with correct play, but one wasted tempo (43...Re4+?) tips the balance.

Win, Lose or Draw?

IT is Black to move in this position from round four at Jersey. With best play, should Black win, lose or draw?

White has just played 43.Nh5-g7+ in Spanton (1851) - Sheila Jackson (2108)

The game saw:
43...Kg6 44.Ne6
Forced.
44...Kxf7
Forced.
45.Nxg5+
Forced.
45...Kg6
45...Kf6 46.Ne4+ Ke6 47.Nxd6 Kxd6 48.Ke3 is a drawn pawn ending.
46.Ne4 Bf8 47.a4 bxa4 48.Nd2
... and the game was drawn.

 43...Kf6?? loses trivially to 44.Ne8+.

43...Ke4?? also loses to 44.Ne8, eg 44...Be7 45.Nf6+ Kf5 46.Nd7 etc.
But 44.Ne6? seems to only draw after 44...g4 eg 45.f8Q Bxf8 46.Nxf8 g3 47.Ne6 g2 48.Ng5+ Kf4 49.Nf3 Ke4 50.Nd2+ Kf4 51.Kf2 a4 52.Kxg2 Ke3 53.Nf1+ (other moves lose) Kd3 54.Kf2 Kc2 55.Ke2 Kxb2 56.Kd2 Kxa3 57.Kc2 b4 58.Nd2 Ka2 (if 58...b3+ then 59.Kb1 b2 60.Nxc4+ Kb3 61.Nxb2 a3 62.Nd1 a2+ 63.Ka1=) 59.Nxc4 b3+ 60.Kc1 a3 61.Nd2 b2+ 62.Kc2 Ka1 63.Nb3+ Ka2 64.Nd2 c4 65.Nb1 Ka1 66.Nxa3 Ka2 67.Nb1 Ka1.

Black seems to be winning after my analysis engines' suggestion of 43...Ke5!
The main line runs 44.Kf3 Bf8 45.Nh5 Be7 46.Kg4 Ke6 47.Ng3 Kxf7.
Or 44.Ne8 Be7 45.Kf3 b4 46.Kg4 Ke6 47.Nc7+ Kxf7 48.Nd5 bxc3 49.bxc3 Bd8 50.Kf5 Kg7 51.Ne3 Kh6 52.Nxc4 Kh5 53.Ne5 Bc7 54.Nd7 c4 55.a4 Kh4 56.Nf6 Bd6 57.Ng4 Bf4 58.Nf6 Bc1 59.Ng4 Bf4 60.Nf6 Bd2 61.Ne4 Bc1 62.Nf2 Bb2.

So the answer to the question seems to be: Black should win (with the caveat that one of the winning lines is rather long, so there may be mistakes in analysis).