B41 Sicilian: Kan Variation: 5.c4 (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Be2 b5)

This game went first slightly worse for me on move 12 and move after that I blundered so badly that the game would have been resignable at that point. I tried to continue a bit longer but on move 20 I resigned as my position was completely hopeless. This game was played in the first round of the LA BELLE FRANCE TOURNAMENT 3. The tournament has 16 players on round one and they are divided in to groups of four. Two best players from each group will advance to the next round. I have only finished one game on round one so far, the loss you see below. Rating range in the tournament is 1751-2050 and the time control is 3 days per move. Around the time I played that horrible move, I also blundered in some other games as well and lost a couple of games under 20 moves. I played last weekend in a over the board tournament and the results there were somewhat promising that I may be able to get back to level of play that I once had. Well, talking about my rating to be exact, I think when I am able to concentrate on the games properly, I play better chess than I have ever played. My over the board rating has had some roller-coaster movement the past few years, I get it to my highest ever rating and then I plummet down a couple hundred points. This has happened a few times, usually ending with me taking a long break from chess. Since I started doing this blog, I think I have been able to improve my play quite a bit. I was able to get two wins against International Masters and one draw against a FIDE Master in 2014 and those results did gave me a confidence boost. Maybe I am doing something right when playing chess. The only problem I have is that my level of play is not all that consistent, some positions I play much better than others. I have added two mate in one, one mate in four, one mate in six and one mate in nine puzzle today.

[Event "LA BELLE FRANCE TOURNAMENT 3 - Roun"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2014.12.26"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "luismiguelmonreal"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B41"] [WhiteElo "1872"] [BlackElo "1812"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (5s), TV"] [PlyCount "38"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 {B41 Sicilian Defense: Kan Variation} 5. Be2 b5 {1.10/16 B41 Sicilian: Kan Variation: 5.c4} (5... Nf6 $11 {-0.02/20 keeps the balance.}) 6. Be3 {-0.24/22} (6. O-O $16 {1.10/16}) 6... Bb7 $11 7. Bf3 {-0.08/22} ({Better is} 7. f3 $14 {0.51/17}) (7. Nd2 Nf6 {1/2-1/2 (25) Kun, I (1969)-Uzonyi,D (2060) Hungary 2012} 8. f3 Nc6 (8... Qc7 9. a4 b4 10. a5 d5 11. O-O Bd6 12. h3 O-O 13. exd5 Bxd5 14. Bd3 Nh5 15. Ne2 Nd7 16. Ne4 Bh2+ 17. Kh1 Be5 18. c3 bxc3 19. N4xc3 Bxc3 20. bxc3 Ne5 21. Bb6 Qc8 22. Ra4 Qc6 23. Rh4 {Darwisch,K (2026)-Althoff,R (1965) Germany 2015 1-0 (39)}) 9. a4 Nxd4 10. Bxd4 Bc6 11. axb5 axb5 12. c3 Be7 13. O-O O-O 14. Qc2 d6 15. f4 Qc7 16. e5 Nd7 17. Rxa8 Rxa8 18. Bd3 h6 19. Bh7+ Kh8 20. Ne4 dxe5 21. fxe5 Nxe5 22. Rxf7 Nxf7 { Paez Renteria,Z (2196)-Milov,V (2652) Merida 2005 0-1}) 7... Nf6 {0.37/20} ( 7... Nc6 $11 {-0.08/22}) 8. Nd2 {-0.32/20} (8. Nc3 $14 {0.37/20}) 8... Nc6 $146 {1.61/20 [#]} (8... Qc7 $15 {-0.32/20 keeps the upper hand.} 9. Rc1 Nc6 10. Nxc6 Bxc6 11. O-O Bd6 12. g3 Be5 13. c3 Qb7 14. Qc2 O-O 15. Bd4 Bc7 16. e5 Bxf3 17. exf6 gxf6 18. Bxf6 Bg2 19. Rfe1 Bd8 20. Bxd8 Raxd8 21. Ne4 Bxe4 22. Rxe4 f5 23. Re5 Rc8 {Kun,I (1969)-Uzonyi,D (2060) Hungary 2012 1/2-1/2}) 9. O-O $2 { -0.48/19} (9. e5 $1 $18 {1.61/20}) 9... Ne5 $15 10. b3 {-1.24/19} (10. a4 $11 { -0.08/21}) 10... Nxf3+ {-0.25/21} ({Black should try} 10... Qc7 $17 {-1.24/19}) 11. Qxf3 $11 Qc7 {-0.19/21} (11... Bd6 $17 {-0.87/17}) 12. Bg5 {-1.18/18} (12. c4 $1 $11 {-0.19/21 remains equal.}) 12... Be7 {-0.61/21} (12... Qe5 $17 { -1.18/18} 13. Bxf6 gxf6) 13. Qd3 $2 {-3.52/17} ({White should play} 13. Rfe1 $15 {-0.61/21}) 13... Ng4 $1 $19 {[#]} 14. f4 {Black should prevent Bxe7.} Bxg5 15. Qg3 {-5.94/19} (15. h3 $142 {-4.01/21} Bxf4 16. hxg4) 15... Bf6 {Black is clearly winning.} 16. e5 Nxe5 $1 17. fxe5 Bxe5 18. Qg4 h5 19. Qh4 Qc5 { Accuracy: White = 16%, Black = 38%.} 0-1