C42 Petroff Defence: 3.Nxe5 and unusual White 3rd moves (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Bc4 d5)

The game you will see now was played in the second round of a 15 minute rapid tournament at the FIDE Online Arena. This was one of the many times when I have encountered a player that is clearly underrated and lost against them. I think Podusova's unmonitored rating at the time we played this game was over 2200, so definitely a higher quality player than I have been able to be so far. This of course based on my memory as I can't check from anywhere that those ratings were actually where I remember them to be but I think my memory serves me right on this occasion. I have adjusted my thoughts a bit so that when these type of things happen in the future, it will not bother me that much. At the time it did annoy me that I was facing players whose official elo ratings are very low but are clearly much better players. I will go and see what will happen in the tournament today at the FIDE Online Arena but I am quite convinced at this point that the highest title that I will be able to get is that of a Arena FIDE Master or AFM for short. I think I should be able to get the Arena International Master title later as well but it will take a lot longer than I previously thought. I basically underestimated the skill levels of other players while maybe overestimated my abilities in this player pool at least. Well, I may have learned my lesson in that regard and think about the games more realistically from now on. I have added three mate in twos, one mate in three and one mate in four today. Until tomorrow, my fellow chess enthusiasts!

[Event "Tournament 28070887"] [Site "online arena"] [Date "2015.03.19"] [Round "2"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "Podusova"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "1791"] [BlackElo "1325"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (5s), TV"] [PlyCount "100"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 {C42 Russian Game: General} 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Bc4 d5 {C42 Petroff Defence: 3.Nxe5 and unusual White 3rd moves} 6. Bb3 Nc6 { 0.19/19} (6... Be6 $142 {-0.27/19}) (6... Bg4 7. d3 Nc5 8. O-O Be7 9. Re1 { 1/2-1/2 (33) Markgraf,J-Langrock,M Germany 1995}) 7. O-O (7. Nc3 {with more complications.} Be6 8. Qe2 Nf6 9. d4 h6 10. O-O) 7... Bg4 {0.98/22} (7... Be7 $11 {0.00/23} 8. Nc3 Nxc3 9. dxc3 Be6 10. Bf4 O-O 11. Re1 Na5 12. Ba4 Nc4 13. Rb1 c6 14. Nd4 Bd7 15. b4 Bf6 16. Qd3 Bg4 17. f3 Bh5 18. Bb3 Bg6 19. Qe2 Na3 20. Rbd1 Qd7 21. Bc1 Rfe8 22. Qf1 Bxd4+ {Beneded Blazquez,D (2210)-Moreno Cervera,J Zaragoza 1995 0-1 (32)}) 8. Re1 $2 {-1.06/23 [#]} (8. Nc3 $1 $16 { 0.98/22}) 8... Be7 $2 {0.74/22} (8... Bc5 $1 $17 {-1.06/23 and life is bright.} 9. d3 Bxf2+ 10. Kh1 O-O) 9. d3 {-0.26/20} (9. Nc3 $1 $16 {0.74/22}) 9... Nc5 $11 10. Nbd2 $146 {-0.87/20} (10. h3 $11 {0.04/22 remains equal.} Bxf3 11. Qxf3 ) (10. Be3 Nxb3 11. axb3 O-O 12. Nbd2 Bf6 13. Qc1 Re8 14. c3 d4 15. cxd4 Nxd4 16. Bxd4 Rxe1+ 17. Qxe1 Bxd4 18. Nxd4 Qxd4 19. Ra4 Qd7 20. Qe4 Bf5 21. Qxb7 Re8 22. Rxa7 Bxd3 23. Ra8 Bb5 24. Rxe8+ Qxe8 {Markgraf,J-Langrock,M Germany 1995 1/ 2-1/2 (33)}) 10... O-O {-0.38/21} (10... a5 $17 {-0.87/20} 11. h3 Bh5) 11. a3 { -1.21/22} (11. h3 $15 {-0.38/21} Bh5 12. Nf1) 11... Nxb3 {-0.69/23} ({Black should play} 11... Bh5 $17 {-1.21/22}) 12. Nxb3 $15 Bd6 13. h3 Bh5 $1 14. Be3 { -1.46/18} (14. c4 $142 {-0.90/22}) 14... Qf6 {0.00/23} (14... f5 $17 {-1.46/18} 15. d4 Qf6) 15. c3 $2 {-2.95/22} (15. g4 $11 {0.00/23 and White is okay.} Bg6 16. Nbd4) 15... Bxf3 $2 {-1.00/22} (15... Ne5 $1 $19 {-2.95/22} 16. Nbd2 Nxd3) 16. Qxf3 $17 Qxf3 17. gxf3 Ne5 18. Kg2 $1 Nxd3 {-0.58/22} (18... b6 $17 { -1.40/21} 19. Rab1 f5) 19. Reb1 {-1.90/21} ({Better is} 19. Re2 $1 $15 { -0.58/22}) 19... c5 {-0.41/23} (19... Rfe8 $19 {-1.90/21 And now ...c6 would win.} 20. Ra2 Ne5) 20. Nc1 $2 {-2.89/19} (20. Rd1 $15 {-0.41/23} c4 21. Nc1) 20... Nf4+ $2 {-1.14/23} (20... Ne1+ $19 {-2.89/19} 21. Kf1 Nc2) 21. Kg3 { -2.25/20} (21. Bxf4 $17 {-1.14/23 was necessary.} Bxf4 22. Ne2) 21... g5 22. Bxf4 Bxf4+ 23. Kg2 Rfe8 {-1.33/22} ({Black should try} 23... Rad8 $19 {-1.80/22 } 24. b4 Be5 25. bxc5 Bxc3) 24. Nd3 Bd6 25. Re1 f6 26. Re3 {-2.05/22} (26. f4 $17 {-1.60/23 keeps fighting.}) 26... Kf7 27. Rae1 {-2.30/19} (27. Rd1 { -1.64/23 might work better.}) 27... b5 28. h4 {-3.09/23} (28. Rd1 $142 { -1.93/24}) 28... a5 29. hxg5 fxg5 30. Rh1 Kg6 31. Kh3 $2 {-4.47/21} (31. Rd1 { -1.82/26}) 31... c4 $19 32. Nc1 Bf4 33. Ree1 Kf5 $2 {-1.66/25} (33... b4 $1 { -4.39/22} 34. Kg2 (34. axb4 axb4) 34... Rxe1 35. Rxe1 bxc3 36. bxc3 Bd2) 34. Ne2 Be5 {-0.75/25} (34... b4 $19 {-1.88/20 is more deadly.} 35. Kg2 Kg6 36. Nxf4+ gxf4) 35. Ng3+ $2 {-2.53/23} (35. Kg2 $17 {-0.75/25}) 35... Bxg3 36. fxg3 {Endgame KRR-KRR} Rad8 37. Kg2 $2 {-4.27/22} (37. Rxe8 {-1.69/25} Rxe8 38. Rd1) 37... Rxe1 38. Rxe1 {KR-KR} d4 39. cxd4 Rxd4 40. Re2 h5 41. Kf2 b4 42. axb4 axb4 43. Ke3 Rd3+ 44. Kf2 {White hopes to continue with Re4.} c3 45. bxc3 bxc3 {...Rd2 is the strong threat.} 46. Rc2 {-#21/25 [#]} (46. Re4 $19 {-4.50/27} g4 47. Rf4+ Ke5 48. fxg4) 46... h4 {-7.11/23} (46... Rd2+ $142 {-#21/25} 47. Ke3 Rxc2 48. Kd3 Rf2 49. g4+ Ke5 50. Kxc3 Rxf3+ 51. Kc2 hxg4 52. Kd2 g3 53. Ke2 g4 54. Kd1 g2 55. Ke2 g1=Q 56. Kd2 Qg2+ 57. Ke1 Rf1#) 47. gxh4 gxh4 {-54.99/24} ( 47... Rd2+ $142 {-#15/26} 48. Ke3 Rxc2 49. Kd3 Rg2 50. Kxc3 gxh4 51. Kd4 h3 52. Kd5 h2 53. Kd4 h1=Q 54. Kd5 Rd2+ 55. Kc5 Qc1+ 56. Kb5 Rb2+ 57. Ka6 Qa1#) 48. Ke2 Rd2+ $1 {Black mates.} 49. Rxd2 cxd2 50. Kxd2 h3 {Accuracy: White = 18%, Black = 20%.} 0-1