D03 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bg5, including Torre Attack with early ...d5 (1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.Bg5 e6 4.e3 c5 5.c3 Nc6 6.Bd3 Be7 7.Nbd2)

I wonder if I learn the openings I play ever well enough that I would be able to know all of them by heart and know what a certain variation is called. Sure it might not be necessary to know them by name or exact move order but still it would be nice if I could. Yes, I know that it is probably much more important to know the ideas behind openings and not the moves. The game I share with you now is a good example of an opening I know very little about but after doing some research about it for this blog post, it turns out there is not all that much to learn. At least in the resources I have used to look at openings. Until next time, my dear readers, may you be plenty in the future... ;-) The analysis was updated December 22nd, 2019.

[Event "Rated game, 15m + 0s"] [Site "Main Playing Hall"] [Date "2008.05.26"] [Round "?"] [White "Tocklin, Tomi"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D03"] [WhiteElo "1525"] [BlackElo "1736"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (5s), TV"] [PlyCount "118"] [EventDate "2008.03.02"] 1. Nf3 (1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 (2. Bg5 e6 3. e3 c5 4. Nd2 d5 5. c3 Nc6 {1-0 (34) Tkachiev,V (2625)-Dragojlovic,A (2320) Nice 2005}) 2... e6 3. Bg5 {1-0 (52) Bartha,S (2255)-Papp,G Hungary 1994}) 1... d5 (1... Nf6) 2. d4 Nf6 3. Bg5 { D03 Queen's Pawn Game: Torre Attack} e6 4. e3 (4. Nbd2 c5 (4... Be7 5. e3 c5 6. c3 {1-0 (57) Menna Barreto,F (2339)-Nunes,S (2060) Florianopolis 2018}) 5. e3 Nc6 6. c3 Be7 {1-0 (52) Bartha,S (2255)-Papp,G Hungary 1994}) 4... c5 5. c3 Nc6 6. Bd3 Be7 7. Nbd2 {0.00/23 D03 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bg5, including Torre Attack with early ...d5} (7. O-O $14 {0.42/19}) 7... b6 {0.42/18} (7... c4 $11 {0.00/23} 8. Bc2 h6) 8. O-O $14 Bb7 9. Rc1 {-0.11/20} (9. h3 $14 {0.52/20}) (9. Qe2 Qc7 (9... h6 10. Bh4 O-O 11. Ne5 Nxe5 12. dxe5 Ne4 13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14. Rad1 Nxd2 15. Rxd2 Rad8 16. Rfd1 f6 17. Qh5 fxe5 18. Qxe5 Qf6 19. Qxf6 Rxf6 20. e4 Kf8 21. exd5 Rxd5 22. Bc4 Rxd2 23. Rxd2 Ke7 24. f3 {Menna Barreto,F (2339) -Nunes,S (2060) Florianopolis 2018 1-0 (57)}) 10. Rad1 O-O 11. Bf4 Bd6 12. Bxd6 Qxd6 13. e4 dxe4 14. Nxe4 Nxe4 15. Qxe4 f5 16. Qe2 cxd4 17. Bc4 Kh8 18. Nxd4 Nxd4 19. Rxd4 Qc6 20. f3 Rf6 21. Qe5 Rg6 22. Be2 Qc5 23. Rfd1 h6 {Tkachiev,V (2625)-Dragojlovic,A (2320) Nice 2005 1-0 (34)}) 9... h6 {0.56/20} (9... O-O $11 {-0.11/20}) 10. Bh4 {-0.24/21} (10. Bf4 $14 {0.56/20}) 10... O-O $11 11. Bb1 {-0.57/20} (11. Bc2 $11 {0.30/22}) 11... Qc7 $146 {0.44/18} (11... Ne4 $15 {-0.57/20} 12. Bxe7 Nxe7) (11... Nd7 12. Bxe7 Qxe7 13. c4 Rac8 14. cxd5 exd5 15. dxc5 Nxc5 16. Nb3 Ne5 17. Nxe5 Qxe5 18. Nd4 Ne4 19. Bxe4 Qxe4 20. Qa4 a6 21. Qd7 Rxc1 22. Rxc1 Bc8 23. Qd6 f5 24. Nc6 Re8 25. h3 Qe6 26. Qg3 {Bartha,S (2255)-Papp,G Hungary 1994 1-0 (52)}) 12. Qc2 {0.03/22} ({Much worse is} 12. Bxf6 Bxf6 13. Re1 Rac8 $11) (12. a3 $14 {0.44/18}) 12... g6 13. Rfe1 {0.13/20} (13. b4 $14 {0.56/18}) 13... e5 {With the idea ...e4.} (13... Rfc8 {feels hotter.} 14. Qd1 a5 15. Bg3 Qd8 16. h3 Nh5) 14. dxe5 {-0.40/22} (14. c4 $14 { 0.50/21}) 14... Nxe5 $15 15. Nxe5 {-0.41/21} (15. b4 $11 {0.12/23}) 15... Qxe5 16. Bg3 {-0.73/20} (16. h3 $11 {0.14/21}) 16... Qe6 $17 17. Nf3 {-1.11/18} (17. h3 $11 {-0.11/22 remains equal.}) 17... Ne4 18. Qd1 {-1.25/19} (18. Rcd1 $142 { -0.72/19}) 18... Nxg3 {-0.60/20} ({Black should try} 18... Bf6 $17 {-1.25/19} 19. Bf4 g5) 19. hxg3 $15 Rad8 {-0.17/21} (19... Bf6 $17 {-0.99/21}) 20. Nh4 { -1.13/18} (20. Qa4 $11 {-0.17/21}) 20... Kg7 {-0.63/23} (20... Bf6 $17 { -1.13/18}) 21. Qd3 {-1.32/20} ({White should play} 21. Nf3 $15 {-0.63/23}) 21... Qe4 {-0.69/24} (21... f5 $17 {-1.32/20} 22. Nf3 Ra8) 22. Nf3 Bf6 { -0.57/22} (22... Qxd3 $17 {-1.02/20} 23. Bxd3 Bf6) 23. Rcd1 Rfe8 24. Rd2 { -1.35/18} (24. Qe2 $142 {-0.81/23} Qa4 25. a3) 24... Qg4 {-0.69/22} (24... a6 $17 {-1.35/18} 25. Red1 b5) 25. Red1 {-1.80/20} (25. Bc2 $15 {-0.69/22}) 25... Bc8 {-0.44/22} (25... h5 $19 {-1.80/20} 26. Qf1 h4) 26. Qe2 {-1.17/21} (26. Qb5 $15 {-0.44/22}) 26... Bb7 $17 27. Nd4 {-1.34/21} (27. Bd3 $142 {-0.83/23}) 27... Qxe2 {-0.42/22} (27... Qc8 $17 {-1.34/21} 28. Nf3 a6) 28. Nxe2 $15 Kf8 { 0.00/23} (28... h5 $15 {-0.42/22 deserves consideration.}) 29. Bc2 Ba6 30. Nf4 {-0.40/26} (30. a3 $11 {0.10/27}) 30... d4 $1 31. cxd4 cxd4 32. exd4 {-0.75/23} (32. e4 $1 $11 {-0.09/26}) 32... Rd6 {0.19/24} (32... g5 $1 $17 {-0.75/23} 33. Nh5 Bh8) 33. Bb3 $11 Red8 34. d5 Bb7 35. Rc1 Bg5 (35... b5 {is more complex.} 36. a3 a6 37. Ba2 Bg5 38. Rc7 Bxf4 39. gxf4 Bxd5 40. Bxd5 Rxd5 41. Rxd5 Rxd5 42. g3 Rd2) 36. Rc7 (36. Rc4 {seems wilder.} b5 37. Rc5 a6 38. a3 h5 39. Rd3) 36... Bxf4 37. gxf4 Bxd5 38. Bxd5 Rxd5 39. Rxd5 Rxd5 40. Rxa7 {Endgame KR-KR} Rd1+ $1 41. Kh2 Rd2 42. b3 Rxf2 43. Kg3 Rd2 44. Kf3 Rc2 45. g4 Rc3+ 46. Ke4 h5 47. gxh5 gxh5 48. f5 h4 49. f6 {[#] Threatening mate with Ra8+.} Kg8 50. Rd7 h3 51. Rd2 Kh7 52. Ke5 {-1.01/24} (52. Kf5 $11 {0.00/29 keeps the balance.}) 52... Rg3 {0.00/26} (52... Kg6 $17 {-1.01/24 Strongly threatening ...Kg5.} 53. Kf4 b5 ) 53. Rh2 Kg6 {[#] ...Kg5 is the strong threat.} 54. b4 {-1.45/26} (54. Kf4 $11 {0.00/26 was the only way to keep the balance.} Rg2 55. Rxh3) 54... Kg5 55. a4 {-2.73/25} (55. Kd6 $17 {-1.54/28}) 55... Kg4 56. a5 $2 {-11.61/23} (56. Kd6 { -2.32/26} Re3 57. Kc7) 56... bxa5 $19 57. bxa5 Ra3 $2 {-1.31/24} (57... Re3+ $19 {-7.87/23 has better winning chances.} 58. Kd4 Ra3) 58. Kd6 $17 Rxa5 { 0.00/34} ({Better is} 58... Kg3 $17 {-1.14/24} 59. Rd2 Rxa5) 59. Ke7 $11 Ra7+ { Accuracy: White = 17%, Black = 34%. . Loss on time!?} 0-1