1986-02-16 - Dilleigh, Stephen ½-½ Copeland, Graham
A sharp theoretical line from a Catalan Opening. Ultimately Black wins the White Queen for two Rooks and the players agree a draw in a finely balanced position.
[Event "BRISTOL LEAGUE CONGRESS"] [Site "?"] [Date "1986.02.16"] [Round "5"] [White "Dilleigh, Stephen"] [Black "Copeland, Graham"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E04"] [Annotator "Mordue,Tyson"] [PlyCount "55"] {Annotated by Graham Burgess (GKB) in BCT Issue 56, April 1986. His initial comment was "The following game showed that the Catalan is not a boring opening."} 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 a6 6. O-O b5 7. Ne5 Nd5 {"7...c6 8 Nxc6 Qb6 9 Ne5!? Bb7 10 a4 Bxg2 11 Kxg2 Qb7+ 12 Kg1 Nbd7 13 axb5 is good for White - Cebalo-Sveshnikov, Athens 1983." GKB. Deep Rybka says the position at the end of this is level and the game was drawn in a fairly uneventful 22 moves.} 8. Nc3 Bb7 9. Nxd5 {"9.e4 Nf6 10.d5 Be7 11.dxe6 fxe6 12.Qxd8+ Bxd8 13.a4 gave White sufficient compensation in Rogers-Speelman, British Champs, Southport 1983 - Rogers went on to win." GKB.} exd5 10. e4 { "10 b3 is a better try for an advantage. 10...f6 11 e4! g6 (11...fxe5 12 Qh5+ Kd7 13 e4 Kc8 14 dxe5 gives White a dangerous attack for his piece.) 12 e5!! fxe5 13 dxe5 Bg7 14 Ba3 - Gulko-Novikov, Volgodonsk 1983 - and White is much better due to Black's King position and the two giant centre Pawns." GKB. Gulko did actually go on to lose but that was not the fault on the opening.} dxe4 11. Qh5 g6 12. Nxg6 fxg6 13. Qe5+ Qe7 14. Qxh8 Nd7 {"Thus far as in Sosonko-Korchnoi, Bad Kissingen 1981. Black has sufficient compensation since White's Queen is trapped. White tries to obtain as much as material as possible for Her Majesty." GKB. Actually the Sosonko-Korchnoi game followed Dilleigh-Copeland for another two moves each, although it doesn't appear on the main database! Black does seem to have a good record in this line and the only White win seems to be as a result of Black carelessness. This game, Taylor-Brown, Vancouver 1982, is worth noting as it's the only one to feature 15 d5 Bxd5 16 Qd4 which seems to strongly suggest that the White Queen is not trapped. However, after 16...c6 Black has two Pawns for the Exchange and a better position to boot.} 15. h4 O-O-O 16. Bg5 Qf7 17. Bxd8 {Sosonko-Korchnoi went on 17 Bh3 Re8 18 Rad1 Kb8 19 d5 Bc5 20 Be6 Rxh8 21 Bxf5 Nd3 with a messy position that Korchnoi won in 37 moves.} Bg7 18. Qxh7 Nf8 19. Qxg7 Qxg7 20. Bg5 Bd5 {"[Not] 20...Qxd4 21 Rad1 [wins]." GKB.} 21. Be3 Ne6 22. Rad1 Qf8 23. Rd2 Qb4 24. Rc1 Kb7 25. Bh3 Qe7 26. Bg4 Qf7 27. Be2 c6 28. a3 {"Surely Black can try to win. For his slight material deficit he has a mass of Queenside Pawns which could always threaten to advance. White's Kingside has light-square weaknesses and [his] d-Pawn needs constant defence. Of course, an attempt to win would entail certain risks, but it is very difficult to imagine Black losing." GKB. Actually I don't see any advantage for Black here. White's Pawns contain Black's tidily, the d4 Pawn is adequately protected and the light-square weaknesses on the Kingside are covered by the Bishop. Deep Rybka says the position is level. I think the opening variation is fun with scope for investigation.} 1/2-1/2
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