A38 Symmetrical English vs ...g6: 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.Nf3 Nf6 (1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 Nc6 5.Bg2 Nf6 6.O-O O-O 7.d3 d5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Bd2 Nc7)

It has been so long since the last time that some variation of the English Opening has been covered here that I can't even remember it. It would easy to find out that information of course but I am not going to do that now. Today was quite a busy day, I needed to analyse some of my games in the database, go and try to teach some chess at the high school and make moves at my correspondence chess games and post nine other games before it was time for this game. As I am not all that verbally talented as you might have noticed if you have been visiting this blog before, it is quite a time consuming process to type these blog posts. And even then they might not be the most interesting ones that you would see somewhere else. I would like to think that the games at least are interesting that I am posting here. I am aware that it does hold true for all of the games but there are some that I personally enjoy and maybe you could enjoy some of them as well. I have added two mate in ones, one mate in two, one mate in three and one mate in five.

[Event "Grand Seven Fourteen"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2014.08.11"] [Round "1"] [White "2advent"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A38"] [WhiteElo "1720"] [BlackElo "1895"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (5s), TV"] [PlyCount "74"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. c4 (1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 (3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. O-O {1-0 (56) Fridh, A-Horberg,B Gothenburg 1964}) 3... d5 (3... Bg7 4. d3 O-O 5. g3 c5 6. Bg2 Nc6 { 0-1 (44) Kearns,T-Bonin,J (2385) Irland Long 1988}) 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. d3 Bg7 6. Bd2 O-O 7. g3 c5 8. Bg2 Nc6 {1/2-1/2 (16) Petrosian,T-Kortschnoj,V Tbilisi 1956 }) 1... c5 (1... Nf6) 2. Nc3 (2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. O-O O-O 6. Nc3 (6. d3 Nc6 {1-0 (56) Fridh,A-Horberg,B Gothenburg 1964}) 6... d5 7. d3 { 1/2-1/2 (33) Taimanov,M (2580)-Grigorian,K (2520) Vilnius 1975}) 2... g6 (2... Nf6 3. g3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bg2 Nc7 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. O-O g6 8. d3 Bg7 9. Bd2 { 1/2-1/2 (41) Schoeneberg,M-Petkov,I Dresden 1969}) 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 Nc6 5. Bg2 Nf6 6. O-O O-O 7. d3 {A38 English Opening: Symmetrical Variation. Duchamp Variation} d5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Bd2 Nc7 {0.09/22 A38 Symmetrical English vs ... g6: 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.Nf3 Nf6} (9... b6 $15 {-0.52/20}) 10. h3 $146 {-0.93/19} (10. h4 $11 {0.09/22}) (10. Qa4 Bd7 (10... Nd4 11. Nxd4 cxd4 12. Ne4 Bd7 13. Qc2 Bc6 14. Rfc1 Nd5 15. Qb3 e6 16. Rc5 h6 17. Rc4 Kh7 18. Rac1 a5 19. Be1 Re8 20. a3 Nb6 21. Rxc6 bxc6 22. Rxc6 Nd5 23. Qa4 Qb8 24. Qc2 Rc8 25. Rxc8 {Kearns, T-Bonin,J (2385) Irland Long 1988 0-1 (44)}) 11. Qh4 e6 12. Qxd8 Raxd8 13. Rab1 Nd5 14. Rfc1 b6 15. a3 Rfe8 16. Kf1 Nce7 {1/2-1/2 (16) Petrosian,T-Kortschnoj, V Tbilisi 1956}) (10. a3 b6 11. Rb1 Bb7 12. b4 Nd4 13. bxc5 Nxf3+ 14. Bxf3 Bxf3 15. exf3 bxc5 16. Ne4 Ne6 17. Be3 Qa5 18. a4 Rab8 19. Qc2 Bd4 20. Bd2 Qa6 21. Qc4 Qxc4 22. dxc4 f5 23. Nc3 Bxc3 24. Bxc3 Nd4 {Taimanov,M (2580)-Grigorian,K (2520) Vilnius 1975 1/2-1/2 (33)}) (10. Rc1 Rb8 (10... Bg4 11. Na4 b6 12. a3 Nb5 13. b4 Ncd4 14. bxc5 Nxf3+ 15. exf3 Bf5 16. cxb6 axb6 17. Bb4 Ra7 18. g4 Bd7 19. f4 Nxa3 20. Nc3 Nb5 21. Nd5 Be6 22. Ne3 Nd4 23. Bc3 Bb3 24. Qe1 Ra2 25. Bxd4 {Schoeneberg,M-Petkov,I Dresden 1969 1/2-1/2 (41)}) 11. a3 b6 12. Qa4 Bd7 13. Qh4 e5 14. Bg5 f6 15. Bh6 Ne7 16. Bxg7 Kxg7 17. Qc4 Qe8 18. Ne4 Be6 19. Qc2 Ncd5 20. e3 Qd7 21. Rfe1 Rbc8 22. b3 Nc6 23. Qb2 Bg4 24. Ned2 Rfe8 {Fridh, A-Horberg,B Gothenburg 1964 1-0 (56)}) 10... e5 {-0.34/21} (10... b6 $17 { -0.93/19}) 11. a3 {-0.75/18} (11. Qc1 $15 {-0.34/21}) 11... Be6 {0.11/22} ( 11... b6 $17 {-0.75/18}) 12. Ng5 {-0.52/23} (12. Re1 $11 {0.11/22}) 12... Qd7 { 0.65/19} (12... Bd7 $1 $15 {-0.52/23}) 13. Nxe6 {0.12/20} (13. b4 $14 {0.65/19} ) 13... Nxe6 $11 14. Kh2 {-0.07/22} (14. Rc1 $14 {0.45/18}) 14... Rad8 {0.38/21 } (14... Rfd8 $11 {-0.07/22}) 15. Rb1 {-0.63/23} (15. Qa4 $14 {0.38/21}) 15... b6 {0.43/21} (15... c4 $1 $15 {-0.63/23}) 16. Nd5 {-0.62/22} (16. h4 $14 { 0.43/21}) 16... Nc7 $2 {1.29/21 [#]} (16... f5 $15 {-0.62/22 keeps the upper hand.}) 17. Nc3 {-0.21/22} (17. Nxc7 $16 {1.29/21 Hoping for Nb5.} Qxc7 18. b4) 17... Nd4 {0.45/21} (17... Ne6 $11 {-0.21/22}) 18. Be3 {-0.33/20} (18. h4 $14 { 0.45/21}) 18... f5 $15 19. Bd2 {-0.94/18} (19. Bg5 $11 {0.00/22 remains equal.} ) 19... Ndb5 {0.39/21} (19... Nde6 $17 {-0.94/18} 20. Qb3 Kh8) 20. Qc1 { -0.38/19} (20. b4 $14 {0.39/21}) 20... Nxc3 21. Bxc3 Nb5 22. Bd2 Kh8 {-0.08/25} (22... Nd4 $15 {-0.52/20 was preferrable.}) 23. Bh6 {-0.58/19} (23. b4 $11 { -0.08/25}) 23... Nd4 24. Bxg7+ $1 Kxg7 {0.23/22} (24... Qxg7 $15 {-0.57/23} 25. e3 Ne6) 25. Re1 $2 {-2.14/18} (25. e3 $11 {0.23/22}) 25... Rde8 $2 {0.62/22} ( 25... f4 $19 {-2.14/18} 26. Kh1 Qf7 27. gxf4 exf4) 26. b4 $2 {-1.22/21} (26. e3 $14 {0.62/22 was forced to keep a grip.}) 26... Rc8 $2 {0.30/24} (26... f4 $1 $17 {-1.22/21} 27. bxc5 Rc8) 27. bxc5 $2 {-1.26/20} (27. e3 $1 $11 {0.30/24} cxb4 28. Qd2) 27... Rxc5 {-0.48/23} ({Black should play} 27... f4 $1 $17 { -1.26/20}) 28. Qd1 $2 {-2.12/21} (28. Qxc5 $15 {-0.48/23} bxc5 29. Rb7 Qxb7 30. Bxb7) 28... Nc2 29. Rf1 Nxa3 {-0.84/23} (29... f4 $19 {-1.68/20} 30. Qd2 Nxa3) 30. Ra1 {-2.26/19} (30. Rc1 $17 {-0.84/23} Rfc8 31. Rxc5 Rxc5 32. Qb3) 30... Nb5 $36 {Black is really pushing.} 31. Re1 {-2.41/23} (31. f4 $17 {-1.40/23 was worth a try.}) 31... Qd4 {-1.08/22} (31... Rfc8 $19 {-2.41/23 and Black stays clearly on top.} 32. Qa4 a5) 32. e3 $17 Qd7 {0.00/24} (32... Qd6 $1 $17 { -1.15/20} 33. Qb3 Rf7) 33. Qd2 $2 {-1.66/19} (33. d4 $1 $11 {0.00/24 and White is okay.} exd4 34. exd4) 33... Rd8 {-1.03/25} ({Better is} 33... Rfc8 $19 { -1.66/19 Threatens to win with ...Rc2.} 34. Rec1 Nc3) 34. Bf1 Rdc8 {[#] Strongly threatening ...Rc2.} 35. Ra2 {-1.59/19} (35. Kg1 $142 {-1.01/23}) 35... R8c7 36. Rd1 $2 {-4.06/21} (36. d4 $17 {-1.57/24} exd4 37. Bxb5 Rxb5 38. Rd1) 36... Nc3 $19 37. Rxa7 {-8.62/23} (37. d4 $142 {-4.17/24} R5c6 38. d5) 37... Rxa7 {Accuracy: White = 8%, Black = 13%.} 0-1