E21 Nimzo-Indian: 4.Nf3 (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 b6 6.Nf3)
For the first time for some weeks I was able to move in enough games at Red Hot Pawn that there were only like 14 games in which it was my turn to move. I will try to do the same at Chess.com there I usually have 50+ games that are waiting for my move, compared to Red Hot Pawn it is not that much as in RHP there are over 70 games every day waiting my move. For a brief moment I was under 200 games in progress today but after couple of team matches started, I am back around 200 games. I wonder if I can get clearly under 200 games at some point as it does seem that new games end up starting in the place of the finished ones.
Game number two. The game below was played on the third round of the Sarah's Mini Cooper Tournament (No 52). With this win I had finished all but one game in group 4 and I was one full point away from advancing to the next round. I did manage to win my last game and that meant that I ended up on second place in the final standings of group 4. Our group was won by erimus (2195) with a score of 8 out of 8! I tied second place with quequeg, we both gathered 4.5 points in 8 games. Our group might be the only one where three players advanced, but two groups are still in progress and it is not clear yet what will happen in those groups. It has been somewhat tougher each round to advance to the next round, so fourth round might mean the end of the tournament for me, depending on who will play on the same group with me. I would really like to end up in the final round and have a chance to win one of those special trophies that this tournament offers.
It is kind of weird to think that castling and bringing your king to safety can be considered a bad move, but there has been numerous examples in my games where castling has been in fact a bad move, sometimes even the game losing move. When quequeg played 10.O-O, his position started to go downhill and was not able to recover during the rest of the game. He should have gone for 10.e4, which might be the best chance for White to keep the game in balance. It is probably important to note that 10.O-O was not the losing move of the game, quequeg did have chances to hold a draw after that move. With his next move he goes further down the drain. Even after that quequeg does get to a position where he is only slightly worse after I played the move 14...Qc7. The losing move of the game was most likely 22.Bxc4 after which I played well enough not to give anymore chances to my opponent to equalize the game.
Game number three. This game was played on the first round of the 2015 October Grand Split Three Seven I 1800+ tournament that is being played at Red Hot Pawn. I have gathered 45 points so far and I have only one game left to finish. My last game is against funkydunky71 (1960), who is also at 45 points. However, funkydunky71 has 4 games left to finish and therefore has chances to overtake me in the standings. I am on the shared 5th place at the moment with funkydunky71. My opponent in this game, IyoKobat, has gathered 24 points so far and has one game left, which means IyoKobat can get to 27 points in case he wins his last game. IyoKobat is currently on 11th place but by winning that last game, he can get to 10th place in the final standings.
The move 5...b6, the first move that is out of theory, is something I like to play in that position. Well, I guess it could have transposed into a theoretical position had my opponent played 6.e3 and I would have continued with 6...c5. The reason I go for 5...b6 is that I want to play my bishop either to b7 or a6 as soon as possible and if I would wait, then maybe my opponent could play g3, followed by Bg2. However, there is a problem for White if he decides to fianchetto the bishop and that is the c4-pawn. After the bishop has been fianchettoed, it is much harder to defend the c4-pawn. I usually play for Ba6, Nc6, followed by Na5 to increase pressure towards that pawn. The idea is also to play d5 at a convenient moment to increase pressure towards the pawn.
I think the first questionable move from my opponent is Qd3 in response to Ba6. The queen does protect the pawn, but it is very badly placed at d3, allowing me to play d5 and possibly win the pawn from c4. After the moves 8.e4 d5, my opponent noticed the akwardly placed queen and played Qc2. At this point the accident had already happened and only if I am not up to the task, can my opponent get some counterplay and maybe even the game. There are a few options to consider after 8.Qc2, 8...Nxe4, 8...dxe4, 8...dxc4 and 8...Bxc4. Neither 8...dxc4 or 8...Bxc4 seem to do all that much because to dxc4 White can play Qa4 and if Bxc4, then Bxc4 followed up with Qa4, should be good for White. The other two options Nxe4 and dxe4 seemed better to me at first, but I had to dismiss the idea of Nxe4 in view of cxd5, after which I would be in huge trouble. That only left dxe4, which I think is the best move in the position. IyoKobat played 10.Ng5, which I think is not the ideal move, even though it does get a pawn back. The problem is that I can win the c4-pawn now. Hmm, maybe there was nothing better because the alternative Nd2 followed by Qa4, g3 and Bg2 is a bit slow and passive way to handle the position. In the game continuation I am able to win the pawn after some preparatory moves. I had to wait until move 15 to start capturing on c4 because had I done that immediately after Qxe4, then Qc6+ would have won the game for my opponent. Even after I had won the pawn, the position was not all that easy to play due to the fact that I had weak dark squares around my king. After 24.Rd7 I was in some difficulties and I thought that my opponent certainly had some compensation for the pawn. I think I was able to play quite well and after 29.g3 I was very confident about my winning chances because I was able to first trade the menacing rook on the 7th rank and after I saw the move 31.Qc3 from my opponent, I knew that I will win the game because I can trade queens and the rest of the game should be risk free to play for the win as I was two pawns up in material. 31.Qc3 is basically the last try from my opponent to win the game as he threatens mate in one. I may have been falling to such threats in the past, but not anymore.
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1.d4 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.d4 b6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.a3 Bxc3+ 1...Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 b6 6.Nf3 6.e3 6...Ba6 6...Bb7 7.e3 7.Nd2= 7...Nc6 8.Bd3 Na5 9.0-0 9.Nd2= c5 10.0-0 0-0 11.Qe2 d5 12.cxd5 Bxd3 13.Qxd3 Qxd5 14.e4 Qd8 15.f4 Rc8 16.Rf3 Re8 17.Bb2 c4 18.Qc2 Nb3 19.Nxb3 cxb3 20.Qxb3 Nxe4 21.c4 Nd6 22.Rc1 9.Qe2 Qc8 10.e4 d6 11.Bg5 Nd7 12.Nd2 h6 13.Bf4 e5 14.Bg3 Nc6 15.Nb3 0-0 16.0-0 f6 17.f4 f5 9...Bxc4 10.Ne5N 10.Bxc4 Nxc4 11.Qa4 10.Re1 d5 11.Bc2 0-0 12.Ne5 Nd7 13.f4 f5 14.Nf3 Qf6 15.Nd2 Qh4 16.Nf3 Qh5 17.Qd2 Nb7 18.Bd1 Qh6 19.Be2 Nd6 20.Bxc4 Nxc4 21.Qe2 Nf6 22.Ne5 Nxe5 23.fxe5 Ne4 24.c4 c6 10...Bxd3 11.Nxd3 11.Qxd3 d6 12.Nc4 11...0-0-+ 12.Rb1 12.f3 12...Nc4 12...d5-+ 13.f3 Rc8 13.Qe2 13.Ne5 Nxe5 14.dxe5 13...Ne4 13...d5-+ 14.f3 c5! 14.Nf4 14.f3 Nxc3 15.Qc2 Nxb1 16.Qxc4 14...d5 14...Nxc3 15.Qxc4 Nxb1 16.Qd3 15.Rb3 15.Qc2 15...a5 16.f3 Ned6 17.e4 a4 18.Rb1 Ra5 19.e5 19.Qd3 19...Nb5 20.Qd3 Nbxa3 21.Ra1 Nb5 22.Nh3 Na7? 22...h6-+ 23.Nf4 a3 23.Ng5 23...g6 24.Nh3 b5? 24...Qh4 25.Rf2 h6 25.Bg5!± Qd7 25...Qa8 26.Bf6 26.Nf2!± 26...Nc6= 27.Qb1 27...Rb8 27...Nd2? 28.Qc1!+- 28.Qc1 Qe8 29.Qh6? 29.Nf2!= 29...Qf8-+ 30.Qh4 Ne3 31.g4? 31.Rfc1 31...Nxf1 32.Ng5 h6 33.Kxf1 b4 34.cxb4 Rxb4 35.Nh3 a3 0–1 - Start an analysis engine:
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| vliet | 1671 | Vierjoki,T | 1858 | 0–1 |
| quequeg | 1697 | Vierjoki,T | 1851 | 0–1 |
| IyoKobat | 1698 | Vierjoki,T | 1957 | 0–1 |
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