B44 Sicilian: Taimanov: 5.Nb5 (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e6 5.c3)

Yesterday I got a bit excited of the fact that I can now get a FIDE title quite easily. Well, actually most people can get a some kind of title without that much effort. As the new FIDE titles address players in the 1100-2000 rating range it should not be all that difficult to get a title if you happen to want one. I am one those who really want one, so I started playing yesterday the game requirement for the title. In order to get the titles you need to play 50 rapid games or 100 blitz games or 150 bullet games. If you want to get a certain title, for example, Arena International Master, you need to maintain a rating of 1700 or above for the amount of games that are required for the game speed. All the games are to be played at FIDE Online Arena in order to qualify for that title. I started to get the rapid games going yesterday but out of the six games I played, only two were classified as proper elo games. I think this might have something to do with my opponents not having an official elo rating yet, not sure but two of the tournament games were counted for the 50 games and two were not. I am trying to get the Arena Grandmaster title later but as my rating at the moment only qualifies for Arena International master title, I might get that when those 50 games are completed, provided of course that I will keep my rating high enough. I think there should not be any reason why I would not be able to do that unless I started blundering many games in a row. My current rapid rating is 1839 and just need to try and climb up the ratings toward 2000 and once there keep it there for 50 games.

The game I am sharing with you today is one that was played at Red Hot Pawn in a tournament called 2014 August Grand Seven Fourteen II. I am currently second in the tournament, seven points behind the current leader but I can still overtake him if everything goes well in the remaining games. There are 21 players in this tournament and the rating range is 922-1840, so a lot of difference there, maybe a bit too much to my liking. One of the reasons I might only start in the future tournaments with some rating restrictions on them. I have added one mate in three, two mate in five, one mate in six and one mate in nine puzzle today.

[Event "Grand Seven Fourteen"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2014.08.11"] [Round "1"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "gq80nn"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B44"] [WhiteElo "1827"] [BlackElo "1156"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (5s), TV"] [PlyCount "47"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 (2. c3 e6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. d4 cxd4 {0-1 (62) Ljahovetsky,I (2040) -Savvopulo,A (2149) Alushta 2006}) 2... Nc6 (2... e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 { 0-1 (46) Cibik,J (1848)-Krajnak,R (2068) Slovakia 2016}) 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e6 {B44 Sicilian Defense: Paulsen Variation} 5. c3 {B44 Sicilian: Taimanov: 5.Nb5} d5 {0.34/18} (5... Nf6 $11 {-0.22/21}) 6. Bd3 {-0.26/22} (6. exd5 $14 {0.34/18} Qxd5 7. Nxc6 Qxd1+ 8. Kxd1 bxc6 9. Bf4) (6. Bb5 Nge7 7. exd5 Qxd5 8. O-O Bd7 9. Be3 Nxd4 10. Bxd7+ Qxd7 11. Bxd4 Nf5 12. Qg4 Nxd4 13. cxd4 Rd8 14. Rd1 h5 15. Qe2 Be7 16. Nc3 Kf8 17. d5 Rh6 18. dxe6 Qxe6 19. Rxd8+ Bxd8 20. Re1 Qc6 { Ljahovetsky,I (2040)-Savvopulo,A (2149) Alushta 2006 0-1 (62)}) 6... h6 $146 { 0.62/19} ({Black should try} 6... Nxd4 $11 {-0.26/22} 7. cxd4 dxe4 8. Bxe4 Nf6) (6... Nf6 7. Qc2 dxe4 8. Bxe4 Nxd4 9. cxd4 Qxd4 10. Bf3 Bb4+ 11. Bd2 Bxd2+ 12. Nxd2 O-O 13. O-O Bd7 14. Bxb7 Rab8 15. Nb3 Qb4 16. Ba6 Rb6 17. Qe2 Rfb8 18. Rfc1 Be8 19. Rc2 Nd5 20. g3 Qa4 21. Bc4 {Cibik,J (1848)-Krajnak,R (2068) Slovakia 2016 0-1 (46)}) 7. Be3 {-0.28/20} (7. exd5 $14 {0.62/19} Qxd5 8. O-O) 7... Nf6 {0.22/20} ({Better is} 7... dxe4 {-0.28/20} 8. Bxe4 Nf6) 8. Nd2 { -0.46/21} (8. exd5 $11 {0.22/20} Nxd5 9. O-O) 8... Nxd4 {0.90/19} (8... e5 $15 {-0.46/21 stays ahead.} 9. Nxc6 bxc6) 9. Bxd4 $16 b6 {2.09/18} (9... dxe4 $16 { 0.93/22 was necessary.} 10. Nxe4 (10. Bxe4 Be7 $14) 10... Be7) 10. O-O {0.86/22 } (10. Bxf6 $18 {2.09/18 and White stays clearly on top.} Qxf6 11. Bb5+ Bd7 12. Bxd7+ Kxd7 13. Qa4+ Kc7 14. O-O) 10... Be7 {1.37/18} (10... Bc5 $142 {0.86/22}) 11. Qe2 {0.76/22} (11. e5 $142 {1.37/18}) 11... O-O 12. Rae1 {0.80/23} (12. Rfe1 $142 {1.33/18}) 12... dxe4 13. Nxe4 Nxe4 $4 {7.75/20 [#]} (13... Bb7 $16 { 0.78/23}) 14. Bxe4 $2 {2.25/25} (14. Qxe4 {7.75/20} g6 15. Qxa8) 14... Rb8 $18 15. Qg4 $2 {0.08/23} (15. Be5 $18 {2.53/21} Bd6 16. Rd1 Bxe5 17. Rxd8 Rxd8 18. g3) 15... e5 $11 16. Qg3 f6 $2 {4.60/20} (16... exd4 $11 {-0.09/23} 17. Qxb8 Ba6 18. Qxa7 Bxf1 19. Rxf1 dxc3 20. bxc3 Bc5) 17. Bc2 {2.48/24} (17. Qg6 $142 { 4.60/20}) 17... Ba6 $2 {4.76/19} (17... Qe8 {2.48/24} 18. Rxe5 fxe5 19. Qxe5 Bf6 20. Qxb8 Bxd4 21. cxd4 Qe2 22. Bb3+ Kh7) 18. Be3 $40 {2.39/22 Black is in trouble.} (18. Qg6 $142 {4.76/19} Bd6 19. Rd1) 18... Bxf1 $2 {5.01/19} (18... g5 {2.39/22}) 19. Kxf1 $2 {1.33/23} (19. Qg6 $18 {5.01/19 Threatening mate with Bxh6.} f5 20. Bxh6) 19... Qd7 $2 {5.21/20} (19... g5 $16 {1.33/23 is more resistant.}) 20. Bxh6 $18 {[#]} Rf7 21. Bb3 Qd3+ $2 {#9/22} (21... g5 $18 { 3.81/23} 22. Qf3 Rd8) 22. Qxd3 {White mates.} a5 23. Qg6 Rbf8 24. Qxg7# { Accuracy: White = 4%, Black = 9%.} 1-0