C44 Ponziani Opening and Scotch Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bb4+ 5.c3 dxc3 6.O-O)

Ah, the Scotch Gambit it was once one of the openings that I hated to face over the board especially, then it became something I liked to face as I got to know it better and lately it has probably come something that I hate again as my knowledge of it has disintegrated over the time I was inactive and did nothing chess related in months. This year I have become more active again though still avoiding close chess as much as possible. Long tournament games where I would need to sit several hours per game and think constantly my moves has not been my ideal way of wasting time. That being said I have become completely nuts as it comes to correspondence chess, I have currently 141 games in progress and more on the way as tournaments that I have joined start. I know that I am not even close to some of my opponents games in progress, I have seen some at Red Hot Pawn that have over 800 games in progress... They have to love the game really much. Even with all the games I have underway my feelings toward chess are more neutral than they were in my youth, then I really loved it and wanted to play it.

Game number two. There are a couple of opening variations where I never remember what to do after the theoretical moves have been played and this line is one of them. I think I should switch to playing 4...Be7 from now on, maybe that way of playing suits me better because I often find myself in trouble after I play 4...Bb4+. The game below was played on round 2 of the Smaller Tournament. This short and silly game was the last game I played on this round and in this tournament, because I was unable to advance to the next round. I was third in the final standings and I was able to get 4.5 points in 8 games. The saddest part is that all of my four wins came from timeout wins where a maximum of one move was played. Only the draw was really hard fought. Obviously I did play as well as I can in those three losses, well apart from the game below where I just played like an idiot.

I messed up in this game as early as move 6, when I played Qf6. I sometimes just play moves from memory, but the problem is my memory is not always correct, so mistakes can happen. Well, maybe I can get away with Qf6, but Qg6 was pushing it too far. I should have played 7...cxb2 instead. Maybe the final mistake was 8...Ba5, after that the game was completely lost. I just made things even worse for myself with my 9th move and had to resign after 10.Nh4 as my queen is trapped.

[Event "Let's Play!"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2011.08.11"] [Round "?"] [White "kodiakns"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C44"] [WhiteElo "1935"] [BlackElo "1825"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (5s), TV"] [PlyCount "45"] [EventDate "2011.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Bb4+ {C44 Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit. London Defense} 5. c3 dxc3 6. O-O {-0.31/23 C44 Ponziani Opening and Scotch Gambit} (6. bxc3 $11 {0.24/21} Bd6 7. O-O) 6... Qf6 $2 {1.20/19 [#]} (6... Nf6 $15 {-0.31/23 stays ahead.}) 7. e5 $1 {-0.55/21} (7. a3 cxb2 8. Bg5 bxa1=Q 9. Bxf6 Nxf6 10. axb4 O-O 11. Qb3 Nd4 12. Qd3 Nxf3+ 13. gxf3 Qe5 14. Kh1 d6 15. Qd2 Be6 16. Bd3 Nh5 17. Rg1 Nf4 18. Bc2 Rad8 19. Nc3 c6 20. Ne2 Nxe2 21. Qxe2 d5 {Rygg,A (1633)-Morling,A (1512) Helsingor 2017 0-1 (33)}) 7... Qg6 $2 { 1.38/22} (7... cxb2 $15 {-0.55/21 keeps the upper hand.} 8. exf6 bxa1=Q 9. Qe2+ Kf8) (7... Nxe5 8. Nxe5) (7... Qe7 8. Nxc3 Bxc3 9. bxc3 Na5 10. Bd5 Qc5 11. Be3 Qe7 12. Re1 c6 13. Bb3 b5 14. Bg5 Qc5 15. Nd2 Nxb3 16. axb3 Ne7 17. Ne4 Qd5 18. Nd6+ Kf8 19. Bxe7+ Kxe7 20. Qg4 Rg8 21. Qg5+ Ke6 22. c4 {Ernst,S (2504) -Antoniadou,P Kalamaria 2006 1-0}) 8. Nxc3 $146 ({Don't play} 8. bxc3 Be7 $14 ( 8... Bc5 9. Qd5 (9. Bd3 Qh5 10. Nbd2 Nge7 11. Re1 O-O 12. Nb3 Bb6 13. Re4 Ng6 14. Be2 Qf5 15. Bd3 Qh5 16. g4 d5 17. gxh5 dxe4 18. hxg6 exd3 19. gxh7+ Kxh7 20. Qxd3+ g6 21. Be3 Bf5 22. Qe2 {1-0 (22) Filipowicz,A (1852)-Obrusnik,P (86) Polanica Zdroj 2007}) 9... Be7 10. Bf4 Nh6 11. Nbd2 O-O 12. Bd3 Qh5 13. Qe4 g6 14. h3 d6 15. Qe3 Nf5 16. Bxf5 Bxf5 17. g4 Bxg4 18. hxg4 Qxg4+ 19. Bg3 Nxe5 20. Nxe5 dxe5 21. Kg2 Bd6 22. Ne4 f5 23. Qh6 {Morganti,N (1678)-Terzi,S (1686) Bastia 2007 0-1}) 9. Re1 Nh6 10. Nbd2 O-O 11. Nf1 d6 12. Ba3 Bg4 13. Bd3 Qh5 14. Ng3 Bxf3 15. gxf3 Qh3 16. Bf1 Qd7 17. f4 Rad8 18. e6 fxe6 19. Bh3 Nf5 20. Qb3 d5 21. Bxe7 Ncxe7 22. Qxb7 Qd6 23. Qb2 Rf6 {Negele,M (2175)-Klasmeier,H (1965) Germany 1988 1-0 (42)}) 8... Bxc3 {White is better.} 9. bxc3 {0.92/22} ( 9. Bd3 $142 {1.55/20} Qe6 10. bxc3) 9... Nh6 $2 {2.45/21} (9... Nge7 $16 { 0.92/22}) 10. Ba3 $2 {0.82/20} (10. Re1 $18 {2.45/21}) 10... b6 11. Bd3 $36 { White has strong compensation. White is really pushing.} Qg4 {1.20/21} ({ Better is} 11... Qh5 {0.78/24}) 12. h3 {0.57/20} (12. Re1 $16 {1.20/21}) 12... Qh5 $1 $14 13. Qa4 {0.14/19} (13. Re1 $16 {0.91/19 Re4 is the strong threat.} Bb7 14. Re4) 13... Bb7 $11 14. Be4 {-0.79/19} (14. Rfe1 $11 {0.26/20}) 14... a5 $2 {3.90/19} (14... O-O-O $17 {-0.79/19 stays on course.}) 15. c4 $2 {1.48/21} (15. Rab1 $18 {3.90/19 and White stays clearly on top.} g5 16. Nd4) 15... O-O-O $2 {5.84/20} (15... g5 $16 {1.48/21}) 16. c5 $18 Nxe5 17. Nxe5 Qxe5 18. Bxb7+ $1 Kxb7 19. cxb6 cxb6 20. Rfd1 {2.32/25} (20. Rab1 $142 {5.67/20}) 20... d5 $2 {8.15/23} (20... Rhe8 {2.32/25} 21. Rxd7+ Rxd7 22. Qxd7+ Ka6) 21. Rab1 { [#] White threatens Rxb6+! and mate.} d4 22. Rb5 Qe2 23. Rdb1 {Accuracy: White = 14%, Black = 18%.} 1-0 [Event "Smaller Tournament - Round 2"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.03.19"] [Round "?"] [White "_Henry_"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C44"] [WhiteElo "1926"] [BlackElo "1862"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (5s), TV"] [PlyCount "19"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Bb4+ {C44 Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit. London Defense} 5. c3 dxc3 6. O-O {-0.47/23 C44 Ponziani Opening and Scotch Gambit} (6. Nxc3 $11 {0.27/20} Nge7 7. O-O) 6... Qf6 $2 {1.11/22} (6... cxb2 $1 $15 {-0.47/23 stays ahead.} 7. Bxb2 Nf6) 7. e5 ({Of course not} 7. bxc3 $6 Bd6 $11) (7. a3 cxb2 8. Bg5 bxa1=Q 9. Bxf6 Nxf6 10. axb4 O-O 11. Qb3 Nd4 12. Qd3 Nxf3+ 13. gxf3 Qe5 14. Kh1 d6 15. Qd2 Be6 16. Bd3 Nh5 17. Rg1 Nf4 18. Bc2 Rad8 19. Nc3 c6 20. Ne2 Nxe2 21. Qxe2 d5 {Rygg,A (1633)-Morling,A (1512) Helsingor 2017 0-1 (33)}) 7... Qg6 {2.08/20} (7... cxb2 $16 {1.01/24} 8. exf6 bxa1=Q 9. Qe2+ Kf8) (7... Qe7 8. Nxc3 Bxc3 9. bxc3 Na5 10. Bd5 Qc5 11. Be3 Qe7 12. Re1 c6 13. Bb3 b5 14. Bg5 Qc5 15. Nd2 Nxb3 16. axb3 Ne7 17. Ne4 Qd5 18. Nd6+ Kf8 19. Bxe7+ Kxe7 20. Qg4 Rg8 21. Qg5+ Ke6 22. c4 {Ernst,S (2504)-Antoniadou,P Kalamaria 2006 1-0}) 8. bxc3 {0.85/23} (8. Nxc3 $18 {2.08/20 is the precise move to win. Nh4 is the strong threat.} Bxc3 9. bxc3) 8... Ba5 $146 {2.35/21} ( 8... Be7 $16 {0.85/23 is a better defense.} 9. Re1 Nh6 10. Nbd2 O-O 11. Nf1 d6 12. Ba3 Bg4 13. Bd3 Qh5 14. Ng3 Bxf3 15. gxf3 Qh3 16. Bf1 Qd7 17. f4 Rad8 18. e6 fxe6 19. Bh3 Nf5 20. Qb3 d5 21. Bxe7 Ncxe7 22. Qxb7 Qd6 23. Qb2 Rf6 { Negele,M (2175)-Klasmeier,H (1965) Germany 1988 1-0 (42)}) (8... Bc5 9. Qd5 (9. Bd3 Qh5 10. Nbd2 Nge7 11. Re1 O-O 12. Nb3 Bb6 13. Re4 Ng6 14. Be2 Qf5 15. Bd3 Qh5 16. g4 d5 17. gxh5 dxe4 18. hxg6 exd3 19. gxh7+ Kxh7 20. Qxd3+ g6 21. Be3 Bf5 22. Qe2 {1-0 (22) Filipowicz,A (1852)-Obrusnik,P (86) Polanica Zdroj 2007}) 9... Be7 10. Bf4 Nh6 11. Nbd2 O-O 12. Bd3 Qh5 13. Qe4 g6 14. h3 d6 15. Qe3 Nf5 16. Bxf5 Bxf5 17. g4 Bxg4 18. hxg4 Qxg4+ 19. Bg3 Nxe5 20. Nxe5 dxe5 21. Kg2 Bd6 22. Ne4 f5 23. Qh6 {Morganti,N (1678)-Terzi,S (1686) Bastia 2007 0-1}) 9. Re1 $18 {[#] And now Nh4 would win. White has strong compensation.} Bb6 $2 {8.09/19 } (9... h6 {2.01/23} 10. Nh4 Qh7) 10. Nh4 1-0