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.

[Event "Let's Play!"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2010.11.21"] [Round "?"] [White "vliet"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E21"] [WhiteElo "1671"] [BlackElo "1858"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (5s), TV"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] 1. d4 (1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. d4 b6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. a3 Bxc3+ {0-1 (22) Faraj,Y (2284)-Neverov,V (2568) Amman 2008}) 1... Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 {E24 Nimzo-Indian Defense: Saemisch Variation. Accelerated} b6 6. Nf3 { -0.56/18 E21 Nimzo-Indian: 4.Nf3} (6. e3 $14 {0.41/22}) 6... Ba6 {0.21/22} ( 6... Bb7 $15 {-0.56/18}) 7. e3 {-0.37/20} ({Better is} 7. Nd2 $11 {0.21/22}) 7... Nc6 8. Bd3 Na5 {Black is slightly better.} 9. O-O {-1.10/21} (9. Nd2 $11 { -0.08/23 remains equal.} c5 10. O-O O-O 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 {0-1 (22) Faraj,Y (2284)-Neverov,V (2568) Amman 2008}) (9. Qe2 Qc8 10. e4 d6 11. Bg5 Nd7 12. Nd2 h6 13. Bf4 e5 14. Bg3 Nc6 15. Nb3 O-O 16. O-O f6 17. f4 f5 {0-1 (17) Achour,A-Moueden,M (1997) Staoueli 2014}) 9... Bxc4 $17 10. Ne5 $146 {-1.18/19} ({White should play} 10. Bxc4 {-0.73/25} Nxc4 11. Qa4) (10. Re1 d5 11. Bc2 O-O 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 {Perez Fajardo,D (1580)-Tolosana Esteban,E (1799) Madrid 2012 1-0 (64)}) 10... Bxd3 11. Nxd3 {-1.80/20} (11. Qxd3 $17 { -1.14/22} d6 12. Nc4) 11... O-O $19 12. Rb1 {-1.94/21} (12. f3 $17 {-1.36/24}) 12... Nc4 {-1.14/24} (12... d5 $19 {-1.94/21} 13. f3 Rc8) 13. Qe2 {-1.88/19} ( 13. Ne5 $17 {-1.14/24} Nxe5 14. dxe5) 13... Ne4 {-1.14/22} (13... d5 $19 { -1.88/19} 14. f3 c5 $1) 14. Nf4 {-2.29/21} (14. f3 $17 {-1.14/22 was necessary. } Nxc3 15. Qc2 Nxb1 16. Qxc4) 14... d5 ({Not} 14... Nxc3 15. Qxc4 Nxb1 16. Qd3 $15) 15. Rb3 {-3.01/18} (15. Qc2 {-1.98/23 was worth a try.}) 15... a5 16. f3 Ned6 17. e4 a4 18. Rb1 Ra5 19. e5 {-3.20/24} (19. Qd3 $142 {-2.10/21}) 19... Nb5 20. Qd3 Nbxa3 21. Ra1 Nb5 22. Nh3 Na7 $2 {-0.95/23} (22... h6 $19 {-3.93/ 21 has better winning chances. Hoping for ...a3.} 23. Nf4 a3) 23. Ng5 $17 {[#]} g6 24. Nh3 b5 $2 {0.78/20} (24... Qh4 $17 {-1.53/20 keeps the pressure on. White must now prevent ...a3.} 25. Rf2 h6) 25. Bg5 $1 $16 {White has strong compensation.} Qd7 {1.12/20} (25... Qa8 $14 {0.55/22}) 26. Bf6 {0.00/26} (26. Nf2 $1 $16 {1.12/20}) 26... Nc6 $11 27. Qb1 {[#] Qc1 is the strong threat.} Rb8 {aiming for ...Qe8.} ({Don't go for} 27... Nd2 $2 28. Qc1 $1 $18) 28. Qc1 $40 { Threatening mate with Qh6. White attacks.} Qe8 {And now ...b4 would win.} 29. Qh6 $2 {-3.59/24} (29. Nf2 $1 $11 {0.00/26}) 29... Qf8 $19 30. Qh4 Ne3 31. g4 $2 {-7.23/19} (31. Rfc1 {-2.49/24}) 31... Nxf1 {Black is clearly winning.} 32. Ng5 h6 33. Kxf1 b4 34. cxb4 Rxb4 35. Nh3 a3 {Accuracy: White = 34%, Black = 49%.} 0-1 [Event "Sarah's Mini Cooper Tournament (No 52)"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.01.08"] [Round "?"] [White "quequeg"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E21"] [WhiteElo "1697"] [BlackElo "1851"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (5s), TV"] [PlyCount "114"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 (3. Nf3 b6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. a3 Bxc3+ {0-1 (59) Braguine, V-Yin,W (1926) Cammeray 2013}) 3... Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 {E24 Nimzo-Indian Defense: Saemisch Variation, Accelerated} b6 6. Nf3 {-0.46/21 E21 Nimzo-Indian: 4.Nf3} (6. e3 $14 {0.36/22}) 6... Ba6 {0.06/23} (6... O-O $15 {-0.46/21}) 7. Qa4 {-0.75/17} (7. Nd2 $11 {0.06/23}) (7. e3 Nc6 8. Qa4 Na5 9. Bd3 O-O 10. O-O {0-1 (59) Braguine,V-Yin,W (1926) Cammeray 2013}) 7... Qc8 {0.32/22} (7... Bb7 $17 {-0.75/17}) 8. e3 {-0.74/20} (8. Nd2 $1 $14 {0.32/22 keeps the upper hand.} ) 8... O-O {-0.25/21} (8... c5 $17 {-0.74/20}) 9. Bd3 {-0.85/20} (9. Nd2 $1 $11 {-0.25/21}) 9... Nc6 $2 {0.86/22} (9... c5 $17 {-0.85/20 keeps the pressure on. }) 10. O-O {-0.62/19} (10. e4 $1 $16 {0.86/22}) 10... Na5 $1 $15 11. Ne5 $146 { -1.48/22} (11. e4 $15 {-0.40/20} d5 12. exd5 exd5 13. Ne5 dxc4 14. Nxc4 Nxc4 15. Bxc4 Bxc4 16. Qxc4 Qd7 17. a4 Rfe8 18. Bf4 c6 19. Rfe1 h6 20. h3 a6 21. Kf1 b5 22. axb5 axb5 23. Qc5 Rxe1+ 24. Rxe1 Qd5 25. Bd6 Qxc5 26. Bxc5 {Braguine, V-Yin,W (1926) Cammeray 2013 0-1 (59)}) 11... d6 $17 12. Nf3 d5 13. Ne5 c5 14. Bb2 {-2.03/21} (14. cxd5 $17 {-1.12/24 was necessary.} Bxd3 15. Nxd3 cxd4 16. c4) 14... Qc7 $2 {0.00/21} (14... dxc4 $19 {-2.03/21} 15. Bc2 Qc7) 15. Rfd1 $2 {-1.90/18} (15. cxd5 $11 {0.00/21} Bxd3 16. d6 Qxd6 17. Nxd3) 15... cxd4 $1 $19 16. exd4 {-2.14/21} (16. cxd4 {-1.64/22 is a better defense.} dxc4 17. Qc2) 16... Bxc4 ({Don't take} 16... Nxc4 17. Qxa6 Nxb2 18. Rdc1 $17) 17. Nxc4 { -2.36/20} (17. Bxc4 {-1.83/27 might work better.} Nxc4 18. Nxc4 dxc4 19. Bc1) 17... Nxc4 {-1.35/23} ({Black should play} 17... dxc4 $19 {-2.36/20} 18. Be2 Nb3) 18. Rab1 Rfc8 {-1.30/22} (18... Rfe8 $19 {-1.71/21} 19. Bc1 h6) 19. Bc1 $17 Qc6 {-0.94/24} (19... h6 $19 {-1.91/19} 20. f3 Re8) 20. Qxc6 Rxc6 21. f3 Rac8 (21... Nd6 {keeps more tension.} 22. Bd2 Nc4 23. Bc1 Kf8 24. a4 Ke7) 22. Bxc4 {-2.31/23} (22. a4 $17 {-0.83/24}) 22... Rxc4 $19 23. Bd2 Ne8 24. f4 { -3.63/23} (24. Rb3 $142 {-2.28/26}) 24... Nd6 25. h4 Ra4 26. Rb3 Nc4 27. Kf2 Rxa3 28. Rxa3 Nxa3 {Endgame KRB-KRN} 29. Ra1 Nb5 30. Rc1 Nd6 31. g4 Kf8 32. Ke3 Ke7 33. Ra1 Rc7 34. Ra4 Kd7 35. Kd3 Kc8 36. Ra1 Kb7 37. h5 Rc4 38. g5 a5 39. Re1 b5 40. g6 hxg6 ({But not} 40... fxg6 41. Rxe6 Ne4 42. Re5 $19) 41. hxg6 fxg6 42. Rxe6 Ne4 43. Be1 a4 {[#] White must now prevent ...b4!} 44. Kc2 $2 { -6.47/20} (44. Rxg6 {-2.15/25} Rc7 45. Rg2) 44... b4 45. Rxg6 Rc7 46. Kb2 bxc3+ 47. Kc2 a3 {[#] ( -> ...a2)} 48. Bh4 Kb8 {-3.57/25} (48... Ka7 $142 {-8.70/25} 49. Rg1 Rb7) 49. Rg1 $2 {-14.93/22} (49. Ra6 {-3.57/25}) 49... Ra7 {-5.37/26} ( 49... Rb7 $142 {-14.93/22} 50. Ra1 Rb2+ 51. Kc1 a2) 50. Ra1 Kc7 51. Be1 Kd6 52. Bxc3 Nxc3 53. Kxc3 {KR-KR} Ke6 54. Kd3 a2 55. Ke3 Kf5 56. Kf3 Ra3+ 57. Kf2 Kxf4 {Accuracy: White = 19%, Black = 44%.} 0-1 [Event "Grand Split Three Seven"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2015.12.21"] [Round "1"] [White "IyoKobat"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E21"] [WhiteElo "1698"] [BlackElo "1957"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (5s), TV"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 (2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 b6 4. Nc3 {0-1 (33) Karagiannis,A-Sokolov,I (2570) Corfu 1991}) 2... e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 (4. Nf3 b6 5. a3 Bxc3+ {0-1 (25) Boyer,E (1510)-Germain,M (1524) Montreal 2008}) 4... Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 {E24 Nimzo-Indian Defense: Saemisch Variation, Accelerated} b6 6. Nf3 {-0.47/21 E21 Nimzo-Indian: 4.Nf3} ({White should play} 6. e3 $14 {0.33/22}) 6... Ba6 { 0.08/22} ({Better is} 6... d6 $15 {-0.47/21}) 7. Qd3 $146 {-0.54/19} (7. Nd2 $11 {0.08/22}) (7. e3 Nc6 (7... c5 8. Bd3 Nc6 9. O-O Na5 10. Nd2 Rc8 11. Qe2 cxd4 12. cxd4 Qc7 13. Bb2 Bxc4 14. Rfc1 d5 15. a4 O-O 16. Ba3 Rfe8 17. Bb4 Bxd3 18. Qxd3 Qxc1+ 19. Rxc1 Rxc1+ 20. Nf1 Nc4 21. f3 Ra1 22. Qb3 {Schmalisch, B-Bender,L (2016) Berlin 2017 0-1}) (7... O-O 8. Bd3 d6 9. O-O Nc6 10. Qa4 Na5 11. Nd2 Qe8 12. Qd1 e5 13. Re1 d5 14. Bf1 dxc4 15. a4 Qe6 16. e4 c6 17. Nf3 exd4 18. cxd4 h6 19. Qc2 Rfe8 20. Nd2 Nb3 21. Nxb3 cxb3 22. Qb2 {Gonzalez, H-Reinhardt,E Mar del Plata 1974 0-1 (35)}) 8. Bd3 Na5 9. Ne5 O-O 10. c5 Bb7 11. Ng4 d6 12. Nxf6+ Qxf6 13. Qc2 Qh4 14. e4 f5 15. g3 Qg4 16. f3 Qxf3 17. Rf1 Qh5 18. Be3 fxe4 19. Rxf8+ Rxf8 20. Bxe4 d5 21. Bd3 e5 {Boyer,E (1510)-Germain, M (1524) Montreal 2008 0-1}) (7. Ne5 d6 8. Qa4+ Kf8 9. Nd3 Qd7 10. Qb3 Nc6 11. c5 bxc5 12. dxc5 Rb8 13. Qc2 d5 14. Nb4 Bc4 15. Rb1 Ke7 16. g3 a5 17. Nxc6+ Qxc6 18. Bg2 Rxb1 19. Qxb1 Qxc5 20. O-O Bxe2 21. Re1 Qb5 {Karagiannis, A-Sokolov,I (2570) Corfu 1991 0-1 (33)}) 7... Nc6 {0.05/22} (7... Bb7 $15 { -0.54/19}) 8. e4 $11 d5 {0.09/22} (8... Na5 $15 {-0.51/18}) 9. Qc2 $2 {-1.62/20 } (9. exd5 $11 {0.09/22} exd5 10. Qe3+ Kf8 11. Ne5) 9... dxe4 {-0.66/25} (9... Nxe4 $19 {-1.62/20} 10. cxd5 (10. Qa4 Bb7 $17) 10... Bxf1 11. Qxe4 Bxg2) 10. Ng5 {-1.17/19} (10. Nd2 $15 {-0.66/25}) 10... Na5 11. Nxe4 Nxe4 ({But not} 11... Bxc4 $2 12. Nxf6+ gxf6 13. Bxc4 $18) 12. Qxe4 O-O {-0.75/21} ({Black should try} 12... Rc8 {-1.20/19} 13. Be2 O-O) 13. Bd3 $17 {[#]} g6 14. Bh6 Re8 $1 15. O-O Bxc4 16. Bxc4 {-1.35/20} (16. Rfd1 $142 {-0.72/24}) 16... Nxc4 17. Qe2 Qd5 18. f4 $2 {-2.61/21} (18. Rfe1 $17 {-1.09/22}) 18... c5 $19 19. Rfd1 Rad8 {-1.29/21} (19... f6 $19 {-2.77/20} 20. g4 Nd6) 20. Rd3 {-2.75/20} (20. Bg5 $17 {-1.29/21}) 20... Na5 {-1.41/22} (20... f6 $19 {-2.75/20} 21. Rad1 cxd4 ) 21. Rad1 Rc8 22. dxc5 Qxc5+ 23. Kf1 $2 {-2.95/20} (23. Kh1 $17 {-1.35/23 is a better defense.}) 23... Nc6 {-1.63/22} (23... Nc4 $142 {-2.95/20} 24. a4 b5 25. axb5 Qxb5) 24. Rd7 {-2.76/20} (24. Qf2 {-1.63/22 was necessary.}) 24... Re7 {-1.26/23} ({Don't take} 24... Qxc3 25. R7d3 $19) (24... a5 $19 {-2.76/20} 25. a4 Qxc3) 25. c4 {-2.60/19} (25. Qd3 $17 {-1.26/23}) 25... Rxd7 26. Rxd7 Qxa3 27. Qd2 {-2.65/23} (27. Qe4 $142 {-1.80/24} Qc5 28. g4) 27... Qa1+ 28. Kf2 Qf6 {[#] Strongly threatening ...Qh4+.} 29. g3 {-3.41/21} (29. Kg3 {-1.96/24 was called for.}) 29... Rd8 $2 {0.00/29} (29... Ne5 $19 {-3.41/21} 30. Bg5 Ng4+ 31. Ke2 Qf5) 30. Rxd8+ $4 {-3.55/26} (30. Qd6 $1 $11 {0.00/29 and White is okay.} Qb2+ 31. Kg1 Qb1+ 32. Kg2 Qe4+ 33. Kh3) 30... Qxd8 31. Qc3 Qd4+ 32. Qxd4 Nxd4 { Endgame KB-KN} 33. Bg5 Kf8 34. Bd8 {-4.83/24} (34. g4 {-3.31/28 was worth a try.}) 34... Ke8 35. Bc7 $2 {-6.05/23} (35. Bf6 {-3.59/29} Nf5 36. Ke2) 35... Kd7 36. Bb8 Nc6 37. Be5 Nxe5 38. fxe5 {KP-KP} Kc6 39. Ke3 Kc5 {Black is clearly winning.} 40. Kd3 a5 41. Kc3 a4 42. h3 a3 43. Kb3 a2 $1 44. Kxa2 Kxc4 { Accuracy: White = 17%, Black = 29%.} 0-1