C54 Giuoco Piano: 4.c3 Nf6, main lines with 5.d4 and 5.d3 (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 Nxe4 8.Bxb4 Nxb4 9.Bxf7+ Kxf7 10.Qb3+ d5 11.Qxb4)

I tried after a long break to do some Chess Mentor training at Chess.com but I was surprised to see my rating go down there even though I did find all the correct moves. As there is no time involved in the training that I would know of, it does seem weird to me. Admittedly I did not find the correct answer they were looking for at first but something that was equally good. It has not been a problem before so I don't know what has changed. The game below was played in the first round of the 2014 August Banded Quartets I 1700-1800 tournament. This is almost completed tournament, only one game remains on round two and that is my game where I try to win my opponent so I could finish in shared third place. Even though this should be a tournament where there are only four players on each group, I did not get into any group in this tournament that would have had only four players, instead on both rounds I was playing in groups where there were five players. All other groups were groups of four though. This tournament was won by a player called chessicle with a perfect score on round two as he won all his games. Interestingly he suffered a loss and a draw in his first round group even though the average rating of the players was lower then. I have added today one more puzzle to mate in two, three, seven, eight and eleven. If you have something to ask from the puzzles or my posts, maybe some clarifications or something, please leave a comment and I will gladly answer them. Until tomorrow, my fellow chess enthusiasts!

[Event "Banded Quartets"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2014.08.16"] [Round "1"] [White "Penguin303"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "1614"] [BlackElo "1827"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (5s), TV"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 {C54 Italian Game: Classical Variation. Greco Gambit Traditional Line} Bb4+ 7. Bd2 Nxe4 8. Bxb4 Nxb4 9. Bxf7+ Kxf7 10. Qb3+ d5 11. Qxb4 {-0.10/22 C54 Giuoco Piano: 4.c3 Nf6, main lines with 5.d4 and 5.d3} (11. Ne5+ $14 {0.70/20} Ke6 12. Qxb4) 11... Re8 {0.44/22} (11... Rf8 $11 {-0.10/22}) 12. Ne5+ {-0.71/24} (12. O-O $1 $14 { 0.44/22 was the only good move.} Qd6 13. Qxd6 Nxd6 14. Nc3 c6 15. Rfe1 Bf5 16. Ne5+ {1-0 (77) Brinkmann,F (1684)-Korte,H (1616) Germany 2004}) 12... Kg8 $17 { [#] Strongly threatening ...Qg5.} 13. O-O Qd6 {0.22/21} (13... c5 $1 $17 { -0.88/19} 14. Qa4 (14. dxc5 Rxe5) 14... b5 $1) 14. Qxd6 $11 Nxd6 15. Nc3 c6 16. Rfe1 {0.00/21} (16. Rae1 $14 {0.41/19}) 16... Bf5 {0.60/18} (16... g6 $11 { 0.00/21}) 17. Re3 $146 {-0.35/22} (17. g4 $14 {0.60/18} Be6 18. h3 Nf7 19. Nd3 Rad8 20. Re3 Bc8 21. Rae1 Kf8 22. Kg2 Rxe3 23. Rxe3 Re8 24. Nd1 Rxe3 25. Nxe3 Ke7 26. Kg3 Kd6 27. Nf4 b6 28. h4 Nd8 29. Nh5 Ne6 30. Nf5+ Kc7 31. Nhxg7 Nxg7 32. Nxg7 {Brinkmann,F (1684)-Korte,H (1616) Germany 2004 1-0 (77)}) 17... h6 { 0.61/18} (17... Nc4 $15 {-0.35/22}) 18. Rae1 {0.00/23} (18. g4 $14 {0.61/18}) 18... Rf8 {0.45/20} (18... Bh7 $11 {0.00/23}) 19. Ne2 {-0.20/22} ({White should try} 19. h4 $14 {0.45/20}) 19... Ne4 {0.85/19} (19... Nc4 $11 {-0.20/22} ) 20. Ng3 {0.00/24} (20. g4 $16 {0.85/19} Bh7 21. f4) 20... Nxg3 {1.08/21} ( 20... a5 $11 {0.00/24}) 21. Rxg3 {0.39/22} ({Don't play} 21. fxg3 $6 Rfe8 $11) (21. hxg3 $16 {1.08/21} Rae8 22. g4) 21... Kh7 {1.15/20} (21... Rac8 $14 { 0.39/22}) 22. Ree3 {0.30/26} (22. Rb3 $16 {1.15/20}) 22... Rad8 {0.77/21} ( 22... Rac8 $11 {0.30/26}) 23. h3 Be4 {1.75/20} (23... Rde8 $14 {0.53/22}) 24. Kf1 {0.27/24} (24. Rb3 $18 {1.75/20}) 24... Rf6 25. Ng4 {-0.20/23} (25. Kg1 $16 {0.71/20}) 25... Rg6 {0.42/21} (25... Re6 $11 {-0.20/23}) 26. Ne5 $14 Rxg3 { 0.96/20} ({Black should play} 26... Rf6 $14 {0.39/23}) 27. Rxg3 {Endgame KRB-KRN} Rf8 {1.81/20} (27... Bb1 $14 {0.69/23}) 28. f3 $2 {0.00/27 [#]} ({ Better is} 28. Rb3 $18 {1.81/20}) 28... Bb1 $11 29. a3 Rf4 {Hoping for ...Bf5.} 30. Rg4 Rxg4 (30... Rf8 {looks sharper.} 31. h4 g6 32. Nd7 Rf7 33. Ne5) 31. Nxg4 {KB-KN} Kg6 32. Ke2 Kf5 33. Ke3 Ba2 {0.56/24} (33... a5 $11 {0.09/27}) 34. g3 {0.09/26} (34. Ne5 $14 {0.56/24}) 34... Bc4 {0.57/27} (34... a5 $11 { 0.09/26 feels stronger.}) 35. Ne5 Bf1 36. h4 Ke6 37. Kf4 {0.00/29} (37. b4 $14 {0.69/23}) 37... Be2 {0.62/26} (37... c5 $11 {0.00/29} 38. Ke3 g5) 38. g4 Bd1 { 0.77/23} (38... Bb5 $11 {0.29/26}) 39. g5 {-0.29/30} (39. b4 $16 {0.77/23}) 39... hxg5+ 40. Kxg5 $2 {-2.49/25} (40. hxg5 $11 {0.00/29 and White is okay.} a5 41. b4) 40... Bc2 $2 {0.00/30} (40... c5 $1 $19 {-2.49/25} 41. Nd3 (41. dxc5 Kxe5) 41... cxd4) 41. f4 Be4 {0.78/26} (41... Kd6 $11 {0.00/31 remains equal.}) 42. h5 {0.00/27} (42. b4 $16 {0.78/26}) 42... Bc2 $2 {2.42/22} (42... c5 $11 { 0.00/27 and Black stays safe.} 43. dxc5 d4) 43. Kg4 $2 {0.00/34 Accuracy: White = 8%, Black = 21%.} (43. b4 $18 {2.42/22}) 1/2-1/2