C78 Spanish Game: Archangelsk and Möller Defences (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Bc5 6.c3 O-O 7.d4 exd4 8.cxd4 Bb6)

My opponent in this game was probably the highest rated player that I had ever faced in correspondence chess for a very long time. Recently I was challenged by a player who was at the time of the challenge slightly below 2500 and I think that he is currently around 2550. I of course accepted the challenge as I had little to lose in that match up and possibly a lot to gain. There were two games, one with each color and I was completely outplayed and actually missed even the mate in one that concluded the first game. The second game is still in progress but it might very well be a short game as well. I will share those games some time in the future but there is a lot still to share from the Chess.com games. If you have any questions or maybe improvement suggestions about the blog, please leave a comment, I will answer to them the best I can.

[Event "Chessvideos.tv exclusive - Round 2"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2009.10.03"] [Round "?"] [White "Paddee"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C78"] [WhiteElo "2451"] [BlackElo "1682"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (5s), TV"] [PlyCount "37"] [EventDate "2009.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 (3... Bc5 4. c3 a6 {1-0 (20) Vishnjakova,S (2223) -Zolotov,A Armavir 2011}) 4. Ba4 Nf6 (4... Bc5 5. c3 (5. O-O) 5... Nf6 { 1-0 (23) Thanabalasingam,A (1871)-Von Koslowski,U (1691) Osnabrück 2012}) 5. O-O Bc5 {C78 Spanish Game: Morphy Defense. Neo-Archangelsk Variation} 6. c3 O-O 7. d4 exd4 8. cxd4 Bb6 {C78 Spanish Game: Archangelsk and Möller Defences} 9. e5 Nd5 10. Bb3 (10. Bc2 d6 11. Bxh7+ Kxh7 12. Ng5+ Kg8 13. Qd3 Re8 14. Qh7+ Kf8 15. Qh8+ Ke7 16. Qxg7 Rf8 17. exd6+ Qxd6 18. Re1+ Kd7 19. Nxf7 Bxd4 20. Qg4+ { 1-0 (20) Vishnjakova,S (2223)-Zolotov,A Armavir 2011}) (10. Nc3 Nxc3 11. bxc3 d5 12. Bc2 h6 13. Qd3 g6 14. Bxh6 Re8 15. Bg5 Ne7 16. Qe3 Kh7 17. Qf4 Rh8 18. Qxf7# {1-0 (18) Zhou,L (1454)-Fischer,D (1196) Willingen 2017}) 10... Nce7 11. Bg5 {[#] Bxd5 is the strong threat.White is better.} Qe8 12. Nbd2 $146 (12. Nc3 Nxc3 13. bxc3 h6 14. Bf4 Ng6 15. Bg3 Ba5 16. Qd3 Kh8 17. h4 f5 18. exf6 Rxf6 19. Rae1 Qf8 20. h5 Ne7 21. Bh4 d6 22. Bxf6 gxf6 23. Nh4 {1-0 (23) Thanabalasingam,A (1871)-Von Koslowski,U (1691) Osnabrück 2012}) 12... d6 { 1.36/21} (12... h6 $14 {0.61/18}) 13. Nc4 {0.73/25} (13. Re1 $142 $1 {1.36/21 And now exd6 would win.} dxe5 14. Rxe5) 13... dxe5 $16 14. Nxb6 ({Of course not } 14. Ncxe5 f6 $15) 14... Nxb6 15. Re1 Ng6 $2 {2.23/18 [#]} (15... Ned5 $16 { 0.72/22 was worth a try.}) 16. Nxe5 $18 {White is clearly better.} Nxe5 17. Rxe5 ({Don't take} 17. dxe5 $6 Be6 $16) 17... Qc6 18. Rc1 Qg6 19. Bc2 { Accuracy: White = 59%, Black = 43%.} 1-0