B45 Sicilian Four Knights (1.Nf3 c5 2.e4 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Be2)

Today I finally ended my winning streak at Chess.com, it had become pretty ridiculous to be honest, I had won 19 games in a row there. It may be actually the longest streak I have had at any site ever before. The longest winning streak I remember having was many, many years ago when I still played chess at Yahoo, I think I got to 17 then. My longest losing streak is, well I do not even know how long that is, somehow that has never been something I want to acknowledge... The first sign of trouble for jonax12 was the first move that was considered as a novelty when I analysed this game. That move is 7...b6.

I did not find the strongest move, which according to Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT is 8.Bf4 at depth 33. I moved the right piece, but I chose the much more defensive square of e3 for the bishop. I am still on a bit better side of the board in the game continuation, but with accurate play the game would likely end in a draw. The next clear blunder was played by my opponent on move 9. Jonax12 pushed the pawn one square too far when my opponent played 9...d5.

It was a blunder that could have been the losing move, but I did mess up big time when I played 26.Qb7. It threw all my advantage away with the move, but at least I did not end up on the worse side of the board. Jonax12 had then two good options, which would have lead to an even position, 26...Rxd1 and 26...Nd3, neither of which my opponent played in the game.

Unfortunately jonax12 played 26...f4 and my opponent's downfall started again. My opponent did get a chance to get a draw from the game later in the game, maybe a couple of times, but the best chance was also the last chance that jonax12 got. When I moved my pawn to a3 on move 44, it was so bad of a move that my chances to win the game could have evaporated.

Luckily for me, my opponent then made the game losing blunder 44...a5. I replied with 45.Rd6+, of course, and the rest of the game was smooth sailing for me.

[Event "Let's play chess"] [Site "http://gameknot.com/chess.pl?"] [Date "2014.10.01"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "jonax12"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B45"] [WhiteElo "1694"] [BlackElo "1676"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "96"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. Nf3 c5 2. e4 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 {Sicilian Defense: Four Knights Variation} 6. Be2 {B45 Sicilian Four Knights} (6. Ndb5 Bc5 {Sicilian Defense: Four Knights Variation, Cobra Variation}) (6. Nxc6 {Sicilian Defense: Four Knights Variation, Exchange Variation}) 6... h6 (6... Qb6 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. O-O d5 9. exd5 cxd5 10. Be3 Qb8 11. Bb5+ Bd7 12. Bxd7+ Kxd7 13. f4 Bd6 14. Qd2 Rc8 15. Bd4 Bc5 16. Bxc5 Rxc5 17. Rad1 Qc7 18. f5 e5 19. Qg5 Rg8 20. Rfe1 Kc8 21. a4 {Vouldis,A (2285)-Skembris,S (2545) Rhodos 1993 0-1 (41)}) 7. O-O b6 $146 (7... Bb4 8. Qd3 (8. Ndb5 O-O 9. a3 Be7 10. Bg4 e5 11. Be3 d6 12. a4 Be6 13. f4 exf4 14. Bxf4 Ne5 15. Be3 a6 16. Nd4 Rc8 17. Nf5 Nc4 18. Nxe7+ Qxe7 19. Qc1 d5 20. Bd4 Nxe4 21. Nxe4 dxe4 22. b3 Nd6 {Maestracci,O (1620)-Carrot,P (1841) Loire 2008 0-1 (36)}) 8... Bxc3 9. bxc3 O-O 10. c4 d5 11. exd5 exd5 12. Re1 dxc4 13. Qg3 Ne4 14. Qf4 Qxd4 15. Rb1 Nc3 16. Qg3 Nxe2+ 17. Rxe2 Qd1+ 18. Re1 Qxe1# {0-1 (18) Sharovskaya,O-Shchipanova,S Ukraine 2000}) (7... a6 8. Nxc6 bxc6 9. Be3 Qc7 10. f4 g5 11. f5 e5 12. a3 Bb7 13. Bf3 Rd8 14. Na4 c5 15. Nc3 Be7 16. Nd5 Bxd5 17. exd5 e4 18. Be2 Qe5 19. c3 Nxd5 20. Bf2 Bd6 21. Bg3 Nf4 22. Bxa6 {Zaksaite,S-Baltramiejunaite,L Panevezys 1995 0-1 (52)}) (7... d5 8. exd5 exd5 9. Bb5 $14) 8. Be3 {White has a very active position} (8. Nxc6 dxc6 9. Qxd8+ Kxd8 10. Rd1+ Nd7 $16) 8... Bb7 {Black should quickly conclude development.} 9. Ndb5 d5 $2 (9... d6 $142 $16) 10. exd5 $18 Nxd5 $2 (10... exd5 11. Bf4 Bc5 12. Nc7+ Kf8 13. Nxa8 Bxa8 $18) 11. Nxd5 exd5 12. Qxd5 (12. Bf4 { and White can already relax} Be7 13. Nc7+ Kf8 14. Nxa8 Bxa8 $18) 12... Be7 ( 12... Qxd5 13. Nc7+ Kd7 14. Nxd5 $18) 13. Rad1 (13. Qe4 {might be the shorter path} O-O 14. Rad1 Na5 $18) 13... O-O 14. Qh5 Qb8 $2 (14... Qc8 $18) 15. Bd3 ( 15. Rd7 $142 {and White wins} Bf6 16. Bf3 $18) 15... Ne5 (15... Qe5 $142 16. Qxe5 Nxe5 $16) 16. Be2 $4 {weakening the position} (16. Bxh6 Nxd3 17. Rxd3 Be4 $18) 16... Be4 $4 {allows the opponent back into the game} (16... Nc6 17. Rd7 Bf6 $18) 17. c3 (17. Bf4 Bf6 18. Bd3 Bg6 19. Bxg6 fxg6 $18) 17... Ng6 (17... a6 18. Bf4 axb5 19. Bxe5 $16 (19. Qxe5 $6 Qxe5 20. Bxe5 Rxa2 $11)) 18. Bf3 (18. Rfe1 Nf4 19. Bxf4 Qxf4 $18) 18... Bxf3 $16 19. Qxf3 (19. gxf3 $6 Re8 $11) 19... Qe5 20. Nd4 Bd6 (20... Rfe8 21. Rfe1 Bf8 22. h3 $16) 21. g3 f5 $2 (21... Bc5 $142 $16) 22. Rfe1 $18 Qf6 (22... Rae8 23. Bxh6 $1 {Decoy: h6} Qxe1+ 24. Rxe1 Rxe1+ 25. Kg2 $18) 23. Nb5 (23. Qd5+ $142 {keeps an even firmer grip} Kh7 24. Ne6 Rfe8 $18) 23... Be5 24. Bd4 (24. Qd5+ $142 $5 {makes it even easier for White} Qf7 25. f4 Qxd5 26. Rxd5 Bf6 $18) 24... Rad8 25. Bxe5 Nxe5 26. Qb7 $4 { releasing the pressure on the opponent} (26. Qe2 Rxd1 27. Qxd1 Rd8 $18) 26... f4 (26... Rxd1 $142 {and Black is still in the game} 27. Rxd1 f4 28. Qd5+ Kh8 $11) 27. Rxd8 $16 Rxd8 28. Nd4 fxg3 29. hxg3 Nd3 30. Re2 Rf8 31. Qd5+ (31. f4 Nc5 32. Qc6 Qf7 $16) 31... Kh8 (31... Qf7 32. Qxf7+ Kxf7 33. Kg2 $16) 32. Ne6 Re8 $4 {simply worsens the situation} (32... Qf5 33. Qxf5 Rxf5 34. Nd4 $16) 33. Qxd3 (33. Qd7 $142 {and White can celebrate victory} Rxe6 34. Qxe6 (34. Rxe6 $6 Qxf2+ 35. Kh1 Qf1+ 36. Kh2 Qf2+ 37. Kh3 Nf4+ 38. gxf4 Qf3+ 39. Kh4 Qxf4+ 40. Kh3 Qf3+ 41. Kh2 Qf2+ 42. Kh3 Qf3+ 43. Kh2 Qf2+ 44. Kh3 Qf3+ $11) (34. Qxd3 $6 Rxe2 35. Qxe2 Kh7 $16) 34... Qxe6 35. Rxe6 Nxb2 36. Kg2 $18) 33... Rxe6 $16 34. Rd2 (34. c4 Rxe2 35. Qxe2 Qg6 $18) 34... Qg5 (34... Re1+ 35. Kg2 $16) 35. Qd8+ Qxd8 36. Rxd8+ Kh7 37. Rd2 Kg6 38. Kg2 Kf6 (38... Re1 39. Rc2 $16) 39. Kf3 h5 40. Rd4 (40. Rd7 $5 a6 41. c4 $16) 40... g5 41. Rd2 Re7 (41... Re1 42. b3 Rc1 43. c4 $14) 42. c4 $16 Rc7 (42... Re5 43. b4 $16) 43. b3 Re7 44. a3 (44. Rd6+ $142 Kf5 45. Rd5+ Kf6 46. c5 bxc5 47. Rxc5 $18) 44... a5 $4 (44... Re1 $142 $14 {the only rescuing move}) 45. Rd6+ $18 Re6 (45... Ke5 46. Rxb6 a4 47. Rb5+ Kf6 48. bxa4 g4+ 49. Kf4 Re2 50. Rxh5 Rxf2+ 51. Kxg4 Rc2 $18) 46. Rxe6+ Kxe6 47. Ke4 h4 (47... g4 {doesn't change the outcome of the game} 48. b4 Kd6 49. Kf5 Ke7 50. Kg6 Ke6 51. Kxh5 Kf5 52. bxa5 bxa5 53. a4 Ke4 54. Kxg4 Ke5 55. f4+ Kd4 56. f5 Ke5 57. c5 Kd5 58. f6 Ke6 59. Kg5 Kd5 60. f7 Kxc5 61. f8=Q+ Kc4 62. Kf4 Kd5 63. Qd8+ Kc4 64. Ke4 Kc3 65. Qc8+ Kb2 66. Kd3 Ka1 67. Qb8 Ka2 68. Kc3 Ka1 69. Qb2#) 48. gxh4 gxh4 1-0