A42 Modern Defence: Averbakh Variation (1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.c4 d6 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.g3 e5 7.Bg2 exd4 8.Nxd4 Nc6 9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.O-O Nd7 11.Qc2)

This is the first game of mine where the ratings of both players are over 2200. This also might be the only one for quite some time unless I am able to somehow get back over 2200, since this game dropped my rating four points. It is good to get these tough opponents on regular basis, to test my skills against them. I have now played five correspondence games against players who are rated over 2400 and my score in them is zero wins, one draw and four losses. I may not be strong enough to give these players much in the way of resistance but that draw might be sign of it being possible, how ever rarely it might occur. The game below was played in the second round of the AUTO-MASTER-2088 tournament. It is a tournament that was open to only rated players between 1900 and 2300. It is rare that tripled pawns are any good but maybe this game showed that having tripled paws might not be always that bad. This loss of mine made certain that my opponent in this game, Luke2015, wins the tournament no matter what happens in the last remaining game of the tournament between the same two players who fought in this game. I did secure my place as the second in the tournament already when I drew and won against the third participant in this second round some time ago. I have added three mate in ones, one mate in three and one mate in four puzzle today.

[Event "AUTO-MASTER-2088"] [Site "http://www.queenalice.com/gam"] [Date "2014.10.18"] [Round "2"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "Luke2015"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A42"] [WhiteElo "2201"] [BlackElo "2483"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (5s), TV"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. e4 (1. d4 d6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 Nd7 5. c4 e5 6. Nc3 (6. O-O Ne7 { 0-1 (52) Senthil,M (2043)-Ritviz,P (2205) Pune 2014}) 6... Ne7 7. O-O O-O 8. e4 exd4 9. Nxd4 Nc6 10. Nxc6 {0-1 (57) Rozic,V (2258)-Solomon,K (2461) Nova Gorica 2012}) 1... g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. c4 d6 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Nf3 {E90 King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation. Rare Defenses} O-O 6. g3 e5 7. Bg2 exd4 8. Nxd4 Nc6 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. O-O Nd7 11. Qc2 {0.04/22 A42 Modern Defence: Averbakh Variation} (11. Bd2 $14 {0.62/19}) 11... a5 {0.49/18} (11... Ne5 $11 {0.04/22}) 12. Bf4 {-0.21/21} (12. Rb1 $14 {0.49/18}) (12. f4 Nb6 13. b3 a4 14. Be3 axb3 15. axb3 Rxa1 16. Rxa1 Qf6 17. Rc1 c5 18. Qf2 Re8 19. Nb5 Qd8 20. Rd1 Bg4 21. Rd3 Bd7 22. e5 dxe5 23. fxe5 Qc8 24. Nc3 Bf5 25. Be4 Bxe4 26. Nxe4 Nd7 { Schandorff,L (2563)-Hansen,C (2610) Esbjerg 2003 1/2-1/2}) (12. Be3 Rb8 13. Rad1 Ne5 14. b3 Qf6 15. f4 Nxc4 16. Bd4 Qxd4+ 17. Rxd4 Bxd4+ 18. Kh1 Ne3 19. Qd3 c5 20. Rf3 Nxg2 21. Kxg2 Bb7 22. Ne2 Rfe8 23. Nxd4 Bxe4 24. Qd2 cxd4 25. Qxd4 Rb5 26. Kf2 Bxf3 {Senthil,M (2043)-Ritviz,P (2205) Pune 2014 0-1 (52)}) 12... Qe7 $146 {0.76/19} (12... Bb7 $11 {-0.21/21 keeps the balance.}) (12... Rb8 13. Rac1 Nc5 14. Be3 Ne6 15. Qd2 c5 16. b3 Bd7 17. f4 Nd4 18. Ne2 Nxe2+ 19. Qxe2 a4 20. Rb1 Re8 21. Qc2 Qe7 22. bxa4 Ra8 23. e5 Ra7 24. Rb5 f6 25. Be4 fxe5 26. f5 gxf5 27. Bxf5 {Rozic,V (2258)-Solomon,K (2461) Nova Gorica 2012 0-1 (57) }) 13. Rad1 {0.34/21} (13. Bd2 $16 {0.76/19}) 13... Rb8 {White is slightly better.} 14. b3 {0.17/21} (14. Bd2 $14 {0.61/17 feels stronger.}) 14... Nc5 $11 15. Rfe1 Bg4 16. Rd2 {0.00/23} (16. f3 $14 {0.49/19} Bd7 17. Qc1) 16... Rfe8 { 0.49/22} (16... h5 $11 {0.00/23}) 17. f3 {-0.23/23} ({White should play} 17. Qc1 $14 {0.49/22}) 17... Bd7 18. Be3 a4 19. Bxc5 axb3 20. axb3 {[#] Be3 is the strong threat.} dxc5 21. Ne2 Red8 22. Red1 Be6 {0.52/21} (22... g5 $11 { -0.06/24}) 23. f4 {0.00/23} (23. Rxd8+ $1 $14 {0.52/21} Rxd8 24. Rxd8+ Qxd8 25. h3) 23... Rxd2 24. Rxd2 Bg4 25. e5 {-0.99/19} (25. Rd3 $11 {0.08/26 remains equal.}) 25... f6 $1 $17 26. exf6 {-1.42/22} (26. Bxc6 $15 {-0.68/23} fxe5 27. Qe4) 26... Qe3+ ({Resist} 26... Qxf6 27. Qe4 $15) ({Don't play} 26... Bxf6 27. Qe4 $15) 27. Kf1 Bxf6 28. Rd3 {-2.39/22} (28. Qd3 $17 {-1.17/25} Qe6 29. Qe4) 28... Qe6 $19 29. Rd2 {-3.89/22} (29. Bf3 $142 {-2.46/26} Bf5 30. g4 Bxd3 31. Qxd3) 29... Bf5 30. Qa2 $2 {-7.51/21} (30. Qd1 {-3.77/26} Qe3 31. g4 Bxg4 32. Rd3) 30... Re8 {[#] And now ...Qe3 would win.} 31. Rd1 Bg4 32. Rd2 Qe3 { Black mates.} 33. Bxc6 Bh3+ 34. Bg2 Qf3+ {Accuracy: White = 9%, Black = 44%.} 0-1