1.f4 f5

Some explanation is needed at this point. The move recommended by opening theory is 1...d5, but I don't have confidence in that move. This goes back many years to an interschool competition in 1971. My school, Takapuna Grammar, played a match on six boards against the fearsome Auckland Grammar. I was top board, which in itself is eloquent testimony to just how weak our team was. We were crushed 6-0. All I remember of my game was that my opponent, D. Glue, played 1.f4 and I replied with 1...d5 and lost in just 16 moves. I have never heard of Glue since; perhaps he moved overseas. Then, in the 1980s, I read an article in the British magazine "Chess" by the winner of the British Correspondence Chess Championship in which he stated that he had consistently played 1.f4 as White and this was a crucial part of his victory. He believed that 1.f4 d5 is better for White, despite opening theory's endorsement of 1...d5.  2.e4 White plays a promising-looking gambit line against my symmetrical response to 1.f4.   2...fxe4 3.d3 Nf6 3...exd3 4.Bd3 looked too risky for Black.   4.dxe4 e5

I played this move to make the position murkier and hopefully trigger a long think by my opponent, as Paul Spiller has a reputation for being prone to time trouble. In recent times I came across Cyrus Lakdawala's massive book on Bird's Opening and he does analyse the position after 1.f4 f5 2.e4 fxe4 3.d3 Nf6 4.dxe4, which he considers better for White. However, he doesn't mention my move 4...e5. After Black's 4th move both players were on their own - all known opening theory had already been left behind even before White's 5th move!   5.fxe5 Nxe4 6.Nf3 From memory this is where Paul had his first long think, of about half-an-hour. After the game he said that he spent some time on analysis of 6.Qd5 (the move Stockfish 11 favours) but in the end decided against it. After 6.Qd5, 6...Qh4+ doesn't work for Black because after 7.g3 Nxg3? 8.hxg3 the h1 rook is protected.  (6.Qd5 Nc5 7.Nc3 d6 8.exd6 Qxd6 9.Be3 Be6 10.Qxd6 Bxd6 11.Nb5 Ne4 12.O-O-O Nd7 13.Nf3 Ndf6 14.Ng5 Nxg5 15.Nxd6+ cxd6 16.Bxg5 O-O-O is better for White - two bishops and a better pawn structure. ) 6...d5 7.exd6 Bxd6 Stockfish considers that the position is about equal.   8.Bc4 Possibly best was 8.Bd3 or 8.Nbd2.   8...Bc5 This move is unlikely to be best, as it moves the same piece twice in an open position, whereas after 8...Nc6 the position may even be slightly better for Black.  (8...Nc6 9.Nbd2 Qe7 10.Qe2 Bf5 11.Bd3 Nxd2 12.Qxe7+ Nxe7 13.Bxd2 Bxd3 14.cxd3 O-O and Black may be slightly better. ) 9.Qe2 Qe7 10.Nc3 (10.Nbd2 Nd6 11.Qxe7+ Kxe7 12.Be2 Re8 13.Nb3 Bb6 14.Bf4 Kf8 15.Rf1 Kg8 with equality. ) 10...Nxc3 11.bxc3 Nc6 12.Bf4 (12.Qxe7+ Bxe7 13.Bf4 Na5 14.Bd3 c6 15.Nd4 O-O 16.O-O Bd7 with equality. Black's knight is not well placed but White has doubled isolated pawns. ) 12...Bf5 (12...Qxe2+ 13.Bxe2 O-O 14.Bc4+ Kh8 15.Bxc7 Bh3 16.gxh3 Rxf3 17.O-O-O Rxc3 18.Bb3 Rxh3 19.Bg3 Nd4 20.Rhe1 Rh5 with equality. ) 13.Bxc7 There are also other significant possibilities: 13.Qxe7+ and 13.O-O-O. The former move gains an advantage for White by preventing castling by Black and enabling rook entry into Black's position.. (13.Qxe7+ Bxe7 14.Bxc7 Bxc2 15.O-O Kd7 16.Be5 Nxe5 17.Nxe5+ Kc7 18.Rf7 Kd8 19.Rxg7 Re8 20.Re1 Rc8 21.Re2 Ba4 22.Rxh7 and White has a definite advantage. ) (13.O-O-O Qxe2 14.Bxe2 O-O 15.Bxc7 Ba3+ 16.Kb1 Rac8 17.Bc4+ Kh8 18.Bd6 Bxd6 19.Rxd6 Na5 20.Bd3 Bxd3 21.cxd3 Rxc3 22.Rc1 Rxc1+ 23.Kxc1 Kg8 with equality. ) 13...Bxc2

There is now an unusual assemblage of pieces on the c-file.  14.Qxe7+ Bxe7 It might be better to recapture with the king.  (14...Kxe7 15.Kd2 Bf5 16.Rhe1+ Kd7 17.Be5 Rad8 18.Bxg7 Kc8+ 19.Ke2 Rhe8+ 20.Kf1 Rg8 21.Bh6 Rg4 22.Be6+ Bxe6 23.Rxe6 Ra4 24.Re2 Rd3 25.Rc1 and Black has activity to compensate for the pawn minus. ) 15.O-O Rc8 Stockfish prefers 15...Rf8 followed by ...Kd7.  (15...Rf8 16.Rae1 Kd7 17.Bg3 Bc5+ 18.Bf2 Bxf2+ 19.Rxf2 Bg6 20.Bb5 Rfe8 21.Ne5+ Kc7 22.Bxc6 bxc6 with approximate equality. It's White's well-placed knight versus Black's bishop. ) 16.Bg3 Na5 This is not the best, but both players were short of time. Black has difficulty in achieving castling. It might be best to bring the king's rook into the game via f8.  (16...Rf8 17.Rfe1 Rf6 18.Rac1 Bg6 19.Bh4 Rf4 20.Bd5 Kf8 21.Bxe7+ Nxe7 22.Bxb7 Rc7 23.Ba6 Bf7 when White is a pawn up but Black has reasonable activity. ) 17.Bb5+ Nc6 18.Rae1 With this move, White lets his advantage slip. He could have achieved a significant advantage with 18.Nd4. (18.Nd4 Bg6 19.Ne6 Bf7 20.Nxg7+ Kf8 21.Nf5 Bc5+ 22.Kh1 h5 23.Rab1 and White is winning. His bishops and rooks are exerting significant pressure on Black's position. ) 18...O-O 19.Kh1 White now threatens to win a piece with Bxc6.  19...Bf6 20.Bc4+ Kh8 The position has returned to equality and the players agreed to a draw. The game might not seem very long at just 20 moves but the players had made 16 moves each after leaving opening theory behind at move 4 and the open position was continually full of tactical possibilities. Both players had used up a lot of time. There was no increment when the game was played, just a fixed time in which to reach the time control at move 45. So both players would have had to make another 25 moves to reach the time control, and White had just 3 minutes left in which to achieve this and Black just 5 minutes. At the time, the rule was no draws by agreement permitted in less than 20 moves, so the players took advantage of the first opportunity available to escape from the impending time scramble. 1/2-1/2