B44 Sicilian: Taimanov: 5.Nb5 (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Be3 e6 6.Be2 Qc7)

The Sicilian Defense is something that I face a lot these days as most of my opponents like to answer 1.e4 with c5. I personally do not like to play it but it is something that I can't fully avoid as long as I play 1.e4 mainly these days. 1.c4 or 1.d4 do not interest me all that much either so I guess I have to play the Sicilian in almost every game. As I briefly looked at the stats that I have for the games that I have published here, I am actually done quite well in the Sicilian even though I think it is something I know quite badly because there are loads of theory and different variations that can be played. From the 38 games that have featured one variation or the other of the Sicilian, I have won 25, drawn 3 and lost 10. These are stats from the published games in this blog and I included this game as well. I am quite surprised of the result even though games that have started 1.e4 c5 have been going quite well recently. This is not even close to the amount of all the games that I have played in the Sicilian, so this might be quite far from the real result. Only when I have published most of my games and gone through what openings have been played in them can I get more realistic success rate in this opening. The game below was played in a team match called Friendly match. It was played between Daleks of Skaro and Chess Titans. I played board 3 for the Daleks of Skaro and managed to get a win and a loss. The match, played on 10 boards, ended 10,5 - 9,5 in favor of Daleks of Skaro! I have added two mate in ones, one mate in two, one mate in three and one mate in five today.

[Event "Friendly match - Board 3"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2014.10.30"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "Anwarrash"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B44"] [WhiteElo "1830"] [BlackElo "1769"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (5s), TV"] [PlyCount "118"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6 (2... Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 {0-1 (50) Mach,J-Plesnivy,M Prague 2005}) (2... e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Be2 (5. Be3) 5... Qc7 6. Be3 { 1/2-1/2 (52) Mingo Fernandez,M (2120)-De la Riva Aguado,J (2375) Tárrega 1995}) 3. d4 {B28 Sicilian Defense: O'Kelly Variation. Normal System} cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Be3 e6 6. Be2 Qc7 {0.85/19 B44 Sicilian: Taimanov: 5.Nb5} (6... Nf6 $14 { 0.42/20 should be considered.}) 7. O-O {0.28/21} (7. Nc3 $16 {0.85/19}) 7... Bd6 {1.25/17} (7... Nf6 $11 {0.28/21} 8. Nd2 (8. f3 Bd6 9. h3 Nh5 10. Nc3 Bh2+ 11. Kh1 Ng3+ 12. Kxh2 Nxf1+ 13. Kg1 Nxe3 14. Qd2 Nxd4 15. Qxd4 Nxc2 16. Qxg7 Qc5+ 17. Kh1 Qd4 18. e5 Rf8 19. Rd1 Qf4 20. Ne4 Ne3 21. g3 Qxe4 22. fxe4 Nxd1 { Marsh,L (1723)-Renzies,E (1424) Cammeray 2018 1-0 (34)}) 8... Be7 9. f4 d6 10. Bf3 O-O 11. c3 Bd7 12. Qe1 Rfe8 13. Qf2 Rab8 14. Rad1 Bf8 15. g4 e5 16. Nf5 Bxf5 17. exf5 exf4 18. Bxf4 Ne5 19. g5 Nd3 20. Qd4 Nxf4 21. Qxf4 Qc5+ 22. Qd4 Nd7 {Mingo Fernandez,M (2120)-De la Riva Aguado,J (2375) Tárrega 1995 1/2-1/2 (52)}) 8. g3 $146 {-0.14/21} (8. Nxc6 $16 {1.25/17 Black must now prevent e5.} dxc6 9. Nd2) (8. f4 Bc5 9. e5 Nge7 10. Nc3 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 Nf5 12. Bf2 Ne3 13. Bxe3 Bxe3+ 14. Kh1 b5 15. Qd3 Bb6 16. Rae1 Bb7 17. Bf3 Bxf3 18. Rxf3 Rc8 19. Re2 Qc5 20. Rf1 Qd4 21. Rd2 Rc4 22. Rfd1 Qxd3 {Mach,J-Plesnivy,M Prague 2005 0-1 (50)}) 8... Nf6 $11 9. Nc3 {-0.25/20} (9. Nd2 $14 {0.56/18}) 9... O-O $2 { 3.16/22 [#]} (9... Be7 $1 $11 {-0.25/20 and Black is okay.}) 10. Qd2 $2 { -0.24/23} (10. Ncb5 $1 $18 {3.16/22} axb5 11. Nxb5) 10... Bb4 11. Nxc6 { -0.53/20} ({Better is} 11. f3 $11 {0.00/22}) 11... dxc6 {0.00/22} (11... bxc6 $15 {-0.53/20} 12. f3 d5) 12. Bf3 Rd8 13. Qe1 b5 {0.75/21} (13... h6 $15 { -0.44/24 keeps the upper hand.}) 14. a3 $2 {-0.95/20 [#]} (14. Nxb5 $1 $16 { 0.75/21 and life is bright.} cxb5 15. Qxb4) 14... Be7 {-0.26/22} (14... Bd6 $1 $17 {-0.95/20}) 15. Rd1 {-0.88/20} (15. Bg2 $11 {-0.26/22}) 15... Rxd1 { -0.29/25} (15... Nd7 $17 {-0.88/20}) 16. Qxd1 {-0.70/21} (16. Nxd1 $11 { -0.29/25} a5 17. e5) 16... Bb7 {-0.14/24} (16... e5 $15 {-0.70/21}) 17. Qe2 c5 {-0.17/23} (17... a5 $17 {-0.87/18 And now ...b4 would win.} 18. Ra1 h6) 18. Bf4 {-0.75/18} (18. e5 $11 {-0.17/23} Nd5 19. Nxd5 Bxd5 20. Bxd5 exd5 21. Bd2) 18... Qb6 {-0.15/23} (18... Qc6 $1 $17 {-0.75/18}) 19. Rd1 c4 $2 {1.50/21} ( 19... Rd8 $15 {-0.52/23}) 20. Be5 $2 {-0.48/22} ({White has to play} 20. e5 $16 {1.50/21} Nd5 21. Nxd5 (21. Bxd5 exd5 22. Nxd5 Qe6 $14) 21... exd5 22. Bxd5) 20... Ne8 {0.32/22} (20... Rd8 $15 {-0.48/22}) 21. Rd7 Bf6 22. Bxf6 $1 Nxf6 23. Rd2 {-0.09/25} (23. Rd1 $1 $14 {0.56/23}) 23... e5 24. Bg2 h6 25. Qd1 a5 26. Rd6 Qc5 27. h3 {-0.87/24} (27. Rd8+ $11 {0.00/24 keeps the balance.} Kh7 28. Rxa8 Bxa8 29. Nd5) 27... Nh5 $2 {3.30/22} (27... b4 $17 {-0.87/24} 28. Rd8+ Rxd8 29. Qxd8+ Kh7) 28. g4 $2 {0.00/24} (28. Rd7 $18 {3.30/22} Bc6 29. Rc7) 28... Nf4 29. Bf1 $2 {-2.60/22} (29. Rd8+ $11 {0.00/24 and White has nothing to worry.} Kh7 30. Rxa8 Bxa8 31. Qd7) 29... Nd3 $1 $19 30. Rxd3 (30. cxd3 Qxd6) 30... cxd3 31. Bxd3 Bc6 32. Qe2 b4 33. Nb1 bxa3 34. Nxa3 Rb8 35. Nc4 Bb5 { -2.10/28} (35... a4 $142 {-3.65/23} 36. Qe1 Qd4) 36. b3 Bxc4 37. Bxc4 {Endgame KQR-KQB} Rd8 38. Qf3 Rd7 39. Qf5 Qd4 $2 {0.00/26} (39... Rc7 $19 {-2.36/25 Threatens to win with ...a4!} 40. Bd3 Rc6) 40. Kg2 {-1.23/22} (40. Bd5 $1 $11 { 0.00/26 remains equal.} Rc7 41. c4) 40... Rc7 {0.00/28} (40... Qd6 $1 $17 { -1.23/22}) 41. Bd3 $2 {-2.36/24} (41. Bd5 $11 {0.00/28}) 41... Rc6 42. Qf3 Rf6 43. Qe2 Rf4 44. Kg3 a4 45. bxa4 Qxa4 46. Qd2 {-2.44/25} (46. Bc4 {-1.97/28 might work better.}) 46... Qd4 47. Qe2 Qd8 48. Qe3 h5 $1 49. f3 $2 {-4.11/25} ( 49. Be2 {-2.47/24 is a better defense.}) (49. gxh5 Qg5+) 49... Qf6 50. c4 h4+ 51. Kg2 Qc6 52. Qf2 {-3.64/25} (52. c5 $142 {-2.34/26}) 52... g5 53. Qa7 $2 { -3.80/24} (53. c5 {-2.22/26}) 53... Qd6 54. Qe3 Qd4 {-2.05/28} (54... Qa3 $142 {-3.51/28} 55. Kf2 Kh7) 55. Qe2 $2 {-7.46/24} (55. Qxd4 {-2.05/28} exd4 56. e5) 55... Kg7 {Black is clearly winning.} 56. Qc2 Rf6 57. Be2 Rb6 58. Qc1 Kh6 59. Kf1 Ra6 {Accuracy: White = 13%, Black = 35%.} 0-1