B73 Sicilian Dragon: Classical System without 9.Nb3 (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be2 Bg7 7.O-O O-O 8.Be3 Nc6 9.Nb3 Bd7 10.Qd2)

The only site where I am currently at my peak rating is Red Hot Pawn, I went over 1900 there finally today! My new peak rating there is 1905. Not sure how long I can keep it over 1900 but I think I will be able to get it back there if it drops under it some point. As they keep track of different statistics at RHP, I looked at my winning percentages and noticed that I have better chances to win with the black pieces (79%) than I have with the white pieces (75%)!? My chances of losing the game is actually the same with both colors (17%) but the difference comes from the drawing chance. I also checked my statistics at Chess.com and there my winning chance is pretty much the same (63% with black & 64% with white) no matter what color I play with. Interestingly at both sites I have played more games with the black pieces than with white.

The game below is from the second round of a 15 minute tournament played at the FIDE Online Arena on March 23rd 2015. After two quite decent games, I had two wins in this tournament. Admittedly both of my opponents were almost 300 points lower rated than me so I was supposed to do well against them. I have added one mate in two, two mate in threes, one mate in four and one mate in five. Tomorrow I will most likely get back to my Red Hot Pawn games in order to get my latest games from there analysed as soon as possible. I have quite a lot of other games I would like to get analysed as well but there really is not enough time in a day to do everything I would like to do.

[Event "Tournament 28205545"] [Site "online arena"] [Date "2015.03.23"] [Round "2"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "Vandel"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B73"] [WhiteElo "1711"] [BlackElo "1436"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (5s), TV"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 (2... Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Nb3 d6 8. Be2 O-O {0-1 (52) Poels,G (1594)-Laruelle,L (1771) Leander Laruelle 1999} ) 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 (5... Nc6 6. Be2 g6 7. Be3 Bg7 8. O-O { 1/2-1/2 (20) Groenegress,W (2204)-Wittelsberger,H (2040) Essen 2005}) 6. Be2 Bg7 7. O-O (7. Be3 O-O {1-0 (29) Velkin,E (1363)-Buchholz,M (1384) Eschborn 2018}) 7... O-O 8. Be3 Nc6 9. Nb3 {B74 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation. Classical Variation Normal Line} (9. Qd2 Bd7 {1/2-1/2 (20) Groenegress,W (2204) -Wittelsberger,H (2040) Essen 2005}) 9... Bd7 10. Qd2 {0.10/23 B73 Sicilian Dragon: Classical System without 9.Nb3} (10. h3 $16 {0.85/19}) 10... Ng4 { 1.12/18} (10... a6 $11 {0.10/23}) 11. Bf4 {0.00/20} (11. Bg5 $1 $16 {1.12/18} Re8 12. h3 Nf6 13. Rad1 a6 14. Rfe1 Be6 15. f3 Na5 16. Nd4 Nc4 17. Nxe6 Qb6+ 18. Qd4 fxe6 19. Bxc4 Qxb2 20. Bxe6+ Kh8 21. Qd2 Nh5 22. Nd5 Rab8 23. Bh6 Bxh6 24. Qxh6 Qxc2 25. Bf7 e6 26. Bxg6 {Velkin,E (1363)-Buchholz,M (1384) Eschborn 2018 1-0}) (11. Bxg4 Bxg4 12. f4 Be6 13. Rad1 Na5 14. Nxa5 Qxa5 15. Nd5 Qd8 16. Bd4 Bxd5 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. exd5 Qb6+ 19. Qd4+ Qxd4+ 20. Rxd4 {1/2-1/2 (20) Groenegress,W (2204)-Wittelsberger,H (2040) Essen 2005}) 11... a6 $146 {0.78/20 } (11... Rc8 $11 {0.00/20}) (11... a5 12. h3 Nf6 13. Bb5 Nb4 14. Bxd7 Nxd7 15. a3 Nc6 16. Be3 Nb6 17. Bxb6 Qxb6 18. Nd5 Qd8 19. c3 e6 20. Ne3 Qb6 21. Qc2 Ne5 22. Rfd1 Bh6 23. Re1 Bxe3 24. Rxe3 Nc4 25. Re2 Rfd8 26. Rb1 {Poels,G (1594) -Laruelle,L (1771) Leander Laruelle 1999 0-1 (52)}) 12. h3 $16 Nf6 {0.82/18} ( 12... Nge5 $11 {0.25/19}) 13. Bh6 {-0.12/23} (13. Bg5 $16 {0.82/18}) 13... Re8 {0.67/19} (13... Bxh6 $11 {-0.12/23} 14. Qxh6 Qb6) 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. Rad1 Ne5 { 1.25/21} ({Black should play} 15... Be6 $14 {0.38/23}) 16. f4 Nc6 17. Bf3 { 0.87/21} (17. g4 $18 {1.78/19 has better winning chances.}) 17... Rc8 {1.77/19} (17... Be6 $16 {0.87/21}) 18. Kh2 {0.64/21} (18. Qf2 $18 {1.77/19}) 18... Qc7 { 1.69/21} (18... Be6 $14 {0.64/21}) 19. Nd4 $2 {-0.28/23 [#]} (19. Nd5 $18 { 1.69/21} Nxd5 20. exd5) 19... Nxd4 $11 20. Qxd4 Red8 {0.72/19} (20... e5 $15 { -0.39/21 keeps the upper hand.} 21. Qd2 Qb6 22. Qxd6 Qxd6 23. Rxd6 exf4) 21. Rd2 {0.20/23} (21. g4 $16 {0.72/19 And now g5 would win.} Qc5 22. e5 Qxd4 23. Rxd4) 21... Kg8 {1.03/21} (21... h5 $11 {0.20/23}) 22. Rdf2 {0.17/20} (22. g4 $16 {1.03/21}) 22... Bc6 {0.92/19} (22... h5 $11 {0.17/20}) 23. Kh1 {-0.23/22} (23. a3 $16 {0.92/19}) 23... e5 {0.98/21} (23... Qa5 $11 {-0.23/22 keeps the balance.}) 24. Qd2 {0.22/22} (24. fxe5 $1 $16 {0.98/21} dxe5 25. Qe3) 24... exf4 25. Qxf4 Nd7 {0.96/21} (25... Qe7 $11 {0.00/24 remains equal.}) 26. Be2 $36 {0.46/20 Black is under pressure.} ({White should try} 26. Bg4 $16 {0.96/21 } Rf8 27. Bxd7 Qxd7 28. Rd1) 26... Ne5 $14 27. Nd1 {-0.13/22} (27. a4 $16 { 0.96/19}) 27... Rf8 28. Ne3 Be8 $2 {3.82/20 [#]} (28... Rce8 $11 {-0.16/23 and Black is okay.}) 29. c3 $2 {0.36/19} (29. Nd5 $18 {3.82/20} Qd8 30. Qh6 (30. Nf6+ Kg7 $16)) 29... Nd7 $2 {4.12/23} (29... Bc6 $14 {0.36/19}) 30. Nd5 $18 Qd8 31. Qxd6 Rc6 $2 {6.69/20} (31... Kg7 {2.90/22} 32. b3 Qg5) 32. Ne7+ {White is clearly winning.} Kh8 33. Nxc6 bxc6 34. Qxc6 Ne5 35. Qf6+ Qxf6 36. Rxf6 Nd7 37. Rxa6 Nc5 38. Ra8 Nxe4 39. Kh2 Bc6 40. Rxf8+ {Accuracy: White = 22%, Black = 10%.} 1-0