C41 Philidor Defence (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Bc4 Bg7)

The game below was played in the 2014 September Octet I 1700-1800 tournament at Red Hot Pawn. This game and my other game against veca were the last games left in this tournament but now all games are complete and I finished second after the clear winner AttilaTheHorn, who only drew one game and won the rest. These two remaining games decided the second and third place and those two games were long battles and in some ways unnecessarily long. Then again if people want to play to the very end, they have every right to do so. I personally would not continue a game that is completely lost and has no hope of a win or a draw. That being said, it is sometimes hard for me to hit that resign button. Accepting the fact that I have lost after a long battle is very hard for me to do, it used to be much harder, but with every loss it may come a little bit easier. Yesterday I briefly increased my peak rating to 1935 but almost immediately afterwards I had to resign a game and drop my rating eight points. I have added one mate in one, three mate in threes and one mate in six today. I have also added one game to my post C41 Philidor Defense: Exchange Variation 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4.

Apart from some inaccuracies, the game was played reasonably well by both players until it came time for veca to play his or her 17th move N7c6 in the position below. More advisable moves are 17...g5 and 17...Kh8.

I responded with the move 18.Nc4 and after that the game was firmly in my grasp, despite some inaccurate moves I made. The game ended in my favor when I played 60.Qc8#.

Game number two. This was played in the 2014 September Grand Seven Fourteen III tournament that is still ongoing at Red Hot Pawn. This tournament started September 11th 2014 with all the games that are played in the tournament but due to the long time controls, there are still unfinished games. I, for instance, have three games still left to finish and all the games have 46 or 47 moves played in them so far. The winner of the tournament has been already decided though and the winner is a player called kopsov (2013). Kopsov has one more game left to finish in the tournament. The second place is currently in possession of a player called Luft (1978) but that might change as the remaining games finish. A player called Reverb (1702) is on third place at the moment and is the only player who can still overtake Luft and take the second place. I am currently in fourth place and I can only get to third place if all goes well in the remaining games.

This game followed the first game in this post up to the move 5...Bg7. In the first game I played 6.c3, but in this game I decided to play 6.Be3. Both moves should lead to an even position. The game went wrong for veca when my opponent played 7...c5 in the position below. I played 8.Nb5, which was the best reply.

I should be clearly better after my 8th move. If the game was not lost for veca after 7...c5, then it surely was lost after veca's next move 8...Be6?? My opponent never recovered from these early blunders and lost the game with the move 45.Qa8#.

Game number three. This was played on the first round of a tournament called 2014 October Glacial Super Casual Banded I 1650+, which is partly still in progress at Red Hot Pawn. 23 players started this tournament and players were divided into two groups, one consisting of 12 players and the other consisting of 11 players. I am playing in group 1, which is the slightly bigger one of the two. Both groups have been decided and therefore the second and final round has already started. All of the games in this tournament at the same time, on November 3rd, 2014. The game below ended on February 10th, 2016. I still have two games in progress from the games that started well over a year ago... That is some real dedication to the game in my opinion. The thinking times in this tournament have been the longest that I have ever experienced, timeout is 21 days and in addition to that there are 21 days in the bank. I am currently on fourth place and I will also be on fourth place in the final standings because the remaining games are not enough to change anything. Because I am currently the third highest rated player in the group, I am slightly disappointed by the way the tournament went. Then again when the tournament started, I may have been further down in the ratings, so at least something has gone in the right direction.

This game followed the first game in this post up to the move 6.c3. In the first game veca played 6...Ne7, but in this game veca chose to play 6...Nf6. The first move that changed the game clearly in favor of either player was seen in position below. Veca played 16...c5 for some reason and lost a pawn.

Due to my sloppy moves I was not able to keep all of my advantage and in the position below, I played 22.Qd2 and allowed my opponent back into the game. Veca replied to 22.Qd2 with the move 22...Qb6 and I was on the clearly better side of the board again. The best chance for veca was 22...d4 and my oppoent could have been quite close of holding on to a draw.

The final mistake of the game was seen a few moves later in the position you can see below. Veca played 27...axb4. It gave me two connected passed pawns on the queenside and made the rest of the game really easy for me.

The game ended when I played 54.Qe5#.

[Event "Octet"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2014.09.10"] [Round "1"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "veca"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C41"] [WhiteElo "1914"] [BlackElo "1703"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "119"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 g6 {Philidor Defense: Larsen Variation} ( 4... Nf6 {Philidor Defense: Exchange Variation}) 5. Bc4 Bg7 {C41 Philidor Defence} 6. c3 Ne7 (6... Nf6 7. Nd2 O-O 8. O-O b6 9. Re1 Bb7 10. f3 Nbd7 11. Nf1 d5 12. exd5 Nxd5 13. Bxd5 Bxd5 14. Nf5 Be6 15. Nxg7 Kxg7 16. Be3 h5 17. Qd2 Re8 18. b3 f6 19. Rad1 Qe7 20. Bf2 Rad8 21. Qc2 {Fanouraki,N (2095)-Ninov,N (2445) Ikaria 1997 0-1 (46)}) 7. O-O (7. Be3 O-O 8. O-O Nbc6 9. Nd2 Ne5 10. Bb3 c5 11. N4f3 Bg4 12. h3 Bh5 13. Bc4 Nxc4 14. Nxc4 Bxf3 15. Qxf3 b5 16. Nd2 f5 17. Bf4 Be5 18. Qe3 Bxf4 19. Qxf4 fxe4 20. Qxe4 d5 21. Qe6+ Rf7 {Silber,S (1514)-Denk,C (1221) Magdeburg 2014 1-0 (58)}) 7... Nbc6 $146 (7... O-O 8. Bg5 b6 9. Re1 Qd7 10. Qb3 Nbc6 11. Nxc6 Nxc6 12. Qc2 Ne5 13. Be2 c5 14. f4 f6 15. Bh4 Nc6 16. Nd2 b5 17. Nf3 Re8 18. Rad1 Qe7 19. e5 {1-0 (19) Vidyaev,A-Yumatov, R (1840) Nizhnij Novgorod 2012}) 8. Be3 a6 {Secures b5} 9. Qf3 {White has a mate threat} (9. Nd2 O-O $11) 9... O-O (9... Ne5 10. Qe2 $11) 10. Bb3 Na5 11. Bc2 c5 12. Ne2 Nac6 (12... f5 13. Bg5 $11) 13. Nf4 (13. Nd2 f5 $11) 13... Ne5 14. Qe2 Bg4 {Black threatens to win material: Bg4xe2} 15. f3 {White threatens to win material: f3xg4} Bd7 16. Nd2 (16. Rd1 Qc7 $11) 16... f5 (16... Bb5 17. c4 Bd7 18. Rad1 $11) 17. Rad1 (17. Bb3+ $142 Kh8 18. Ne6 Bxe6 19. Bxe6 $14) 17... N7c6 $4 {Black is ruining his position} (17... g5 $142 {would bring relief} 18. Bb3+ Kh8 $11) 18. Nc4 (18. exf5 {makes it even easier for White} Bxf5 19. Ne4 c4 $18) 18... Nxc4 (18... g5 19. Nh5 f4 20. Bc1 $18) 19. Qxc4+ Kh8 20. Rxd6 fxe4 (20... Ne5 21. Qxc5 Rc8 22. Qb4 $18) 21. Bxe4 (21. Rfd1 $5 { seems even better} Ne5 22. Qxe4 Re8 23. Rxg6 hxg6 24. Nxg6+ Nxg6 25. Qxg6 Qh4 $18) 21... Qe7 (21... Ne5 22. Qxc5 Qc8 23. Qxc8 Raxc8 24. Bxb7 $18) 22. Rdd1 ( 22. Rxg6 $142 {and White has prevailed} Ne5 23. Rxg7 Qxg7 24. Qxc5 $18) 22... Ne5 23. Qe2 (23. Qb3 Bb5 24. Nd5 Qf7 $18) 23... Bc6 (23... Bb5 $5 24. Nd3 Rf6 $16) 24. Bxc6 Nxc6 (24... bxc6 25. Rfe1 $18) 25. Qf2 (25. Nd5 $142 Qe5 26. Rfe1 $18) 25... Rae8 $4 {leading to a quick end} (25... Rf5 $142 $18) 26. Bxc5 Qf7 27. Bxf8 Qxf4 (27... Bxf8 {hoping against hope} 28. Nd5 Rd8 $18) 28. Bxg7+ Kxg7 29. Rd7+ Re7 30. Rfd1 Kf7 (30... Qg5 {does not win a prize} 31. Rxe7+ Qxe7 32. Qd2 $18) 31. Qb6 Rxd7 32. Rxd7+ Ne7 33. Rd1 Qb8 (33... Qc4 {doesn't change the outcome of the game} 34. Qxb7 Qe2 35. Qb3+ Kg7 36. c4 $18) 34. g3 (34. Rd6 $5 { keeps an even firmer grip} Qc8 35. Rf6+ Ke8 $18) 34... Qe5 (34... Qc8 {doesn't improve anything} 35. Rd8 Qc4 36. Rd4 $18) 35. Kf2 Qb5 (35... Qf5 {the last chance for counterplay} 36. Qb3+ Qe6 37. Qxb7 Qh3 38. Qb3+ Kg7 $18) 36. Qxb5 axb5 37. Rd7 Ke6 38. Rxb7 h5 39. Rxb5 Nd5 (39... Kd7 {cannot change what is in store for White} 40. Rb7+ Kd6 41. Rxe7 Kxe7 42. b4 g5 43. a4 Ke6 44. f4 g4 45. a5 Kd6 46. c4 h4 47. a6 hxg3+ 48. hxg3 Kc6 49. b5+ Kc7 50. f5 Kb6 51. f6 Ka5 52. f7 Ka4 53. a7 Ka3 54. a8=Q+ Kb2 55. f8=Q Kc3 56. Qfa3+ Kxc4 57. Qc6+ Kd4 58. Qac3#) 40. c4 Nc7 41. Rb6+ Kf5 (41... Ke7 {hardly improves anything} 42. Rxg6 Kf7 43. Rh6 Ne8 44. b4 Ke7 45. b5 Nc7 46. Rh7+ Kd8 47. Rxc7 Kxc7 48. c5 Kc8 49. g4 hxg4 50. fxg4 Kd7 51. g5 Ke8 52. b6 Kd7 53. b7 Kc7 54. c6 Kb6 55. b8=Q+ Kxc6 56. g6 Kd7 57. g7 Kc6 58. g8=Q Kc5 59. Qc7+ Kb4 60. Qb3#) 42. a4 g5 (42... h4 {cannot change destiny} 43. gxh4 g5 44. a5 g4 45. Rc6 Ne6 46. a6 Nd8 47. Rc8 g3+ 48. hxg3 Nf7 49. a7 Ne5 50. a8=Q Nd3+ 51. Ke2 Nc1+ 52. Kd1 Nd3 53. Qe4+ Kf6 54. Rc6+ Kg7 55. Qe7+ Kh8 56. Rc8#) 43. a5 Ke5 44. Ke3 Ne6 (44... h4 { is not the saving move} 45. Rc6 hxg3 46. hxg3 Ne6 47. Rxe6+ Kxe6 48. a6 g4 49. fxg4 Kf7 50. a7 Ke6 51. a8=Q Kf7 52. Kf4 Ke6 53. Qd5+ Ke7 54. Ke5 Kf8 55. Kf6 Ke8 56. c5 Kf8 57. Qa8#) 45. a6 Nc7 46. a7 Na8 (46... h4 {doesn't do any good} 47. gxh4 g4 48. Rc6 Na8 49. fxg4 Nb6 50. h5 Na8 51. h6 Nb6 52. a8=Q Nxc4+ 53. Rxc4 Kf6 54. Qe8 Kg5 55. Qe7+ Kxh6 56. Rc6#) 47. Rb8 Nc7 48. a8=Q (48. Rc8 Kd6 49. Ke4 g4 50. Rxc7 Kxc7 51. a8=Q Kd6 52. Qa6+ Kc7 53. Kd5 h4 54. Qa7+ Kd8 55. Kd6 h3 56. Qd7#) 48... Nxa8 49. Rxa8 h4 (49... Kd6 {does not improve anything} 50. Rd8+ Kc5 51. f4 gxf4+ 52. gxf4 h4 53. f5 h3 54. f6 Kb4 55. f7 Kc5 56. f8=Q+ Kxc4 57. Qf7+ Kb4 58. Qb7+ Kc5 59. Rd5+ Kc4 60. Qb5#) 50. Rd8 hxg3 51. hxg3 Ke6 (51... Kf6 {does not save the day} 52. Rd4 g4 53. fxg4 Ke5 54. c5 Kf6 55. c6 Ke5 56. c7 Kf6 57. c8=Q Kg5 58. Qf5+ Kh6 59. Qf7 Kg5 60. Qg7#) 52. c5 g4 (52... Ke7 {doesn't get the bull off the ice} 53. Rd6 g4 54. fxg4 Kf7 55. c6 Ke7 56. Rd7+ Ke6 57. Kf4 Kf6 58. c7 Kg6 59. c8=Q Kh6 60. Qa6#) 53. c6 Ke7 (53... gxf3 { does not help much} 54. c7 f2 55. c8=Q+ Kf7 56. Qf5+ Kg7 57. Rd7+ Kg8 58. Qe6+ Kh8 59. Qe8#) 54. c7 gxf3 55. c8=Q f2 56. Kxf2 Kf6 (56... Kf7 {cannot change what is in store for White} 57. Qc6 Kg7 58. Rd7+ Kh8 59. Qc8#) 57. Rd5 (57. Qc6+ Ke5 58. Rd5+ Ke4 59. Qc4#) 57... Ke7 58. Qc6 Kf7 (58... Kf8 {is not the saving move} 59. Rd7 Kg8 60. Qc8#) 59. Rd7+ Ke8 (59... Kg8 {is not much help} 60. Qc8#) 60. Qc8# 1-0 [Event "Grand Seven Fourteen"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2014.09.11"] [Round "1"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "veca"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C41"] [WhiteElo "1869"] [BlackElo "1478"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 g6 {Philidor Defense: Larsen Variation} ( 4... Nf6 5. Nc3 Be7 6. Be2 O-O 7. O-O c5 8. Nf3 Nc6 9. Bg5 Be6 10. Re1 { Philidor Defense: Berger Variation}) 5. Bc4 Bg7 {C41 Philidor Defence} 6. Be3 { Black is behind in developement} (6. c3 Nf6 7. Nd2 O-O 8. O-O b6 9. Re1 Bb7 10. f3 Nbd7 11. Nf1 d5 12. exd5 Nxd5 13. Bxd5 Bxd5 14. Nf5 Be6 15. Nxg7 Kxg7 16. Be3 h5 17. Qd2 Re8 18. b3 f6 19. Rad1 Qe7 20. Bf2 Rad8 {Fanouraki,N (2095) -Ninov,N (2445) Ikaria 1997 0-1 (46)}) 6... Ne7 $146 {Black has a cramped position} (6... Nf6 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nxe4 (8... Re8 9. f3 Nbd7 10. O-O Ne5 11. Bb3 a6 12. Bh6 c5 13. Nde2 Bxh6 14. Qxh6 c4 15. Ba4 b5 16. Bxb5 axb5 17. Nxb5 Qb6+ 18. Kh1 Qxb5 19. Qg5 Kg7 20. f4 Nxe4 21. fxe5 Nxg5 {0-1 (21) Jacobsen,C (1586)-Hvenekilde,J (2089) Helsingor 2011}) 9. Nxe4 d5 10. Nc3 dxc4 11. O-O-O c5 12. Ndb5 Qxd2+ 13. Rxd2 Na6 14. Nd6 b6 15. Nxc4 Be6 16. Nd6 Nb4 17. a3 Bxc3 18. bxc3 Nd5 19. Bh6 Rfd8 20. Ne4 Bf5 21. Bg5 {Pruja Ramirez de Cartagen,E (1834)-Roig Ruiz,C (1774) Llinars del Valles 2014 1/2-1/2 (61)}) (6... c5 7. Nb5 Bxb2 8. N1c3 Bxa1 9. Nxd6+ Ke7 10. Nxc8+ Qxc8 11. Nd5+ Ke8 12. Qxa1 f6 13. Nxf6+ Nxf6 14. Qxf6 Rf8 15. Qe5+ Kd8 16. Bg5+ {1-0 (16) Rimala, E-Mariano,F Vadso 1992}) (6... Nf6 7. Nc3 $11) 7. O-O (7. Qd2 $16) 7... c5 $2 (7... O-O $142 $5 $14 {and Black has air to breath}) 8. Nb5 $16 Be6 $4 {Black has lost his nerve... understandable when you consider his position} (8... O-O $142 9. N1c3 Nbc6 $16) 9. Bxe6 (9. Nxd6+ $142 {seems even better} Qxd6 10. Qxd6 Bxc4 11. Rd1 $18) 9... fxe6 (9... O-O {the last chance for counterplay} 10. Bd5 Nxd5 11. Qxd5 Bxb2 $18) 10. Nxd6+ Kf8 11. c3 (11. Qf3+ $142 {keeps an even firmer grip} Nf5 12. Bxc5 Kg8 13. exf5 Nc6 $18) 11... b6 (11... h6 {there is nothing better in the position} 12. Nxb7 Qxd1 13. Rxd1 Nbc6 $18) 12. Qf3+ Nf5 13. exf5 Qxd6 14. fxg6+ Ke8 15. Qxa8 (15. Qf7+ $142 {and White has it in the bag} Kd8 16. Qxg7 hxg6 17. Qxh8+ Kc7 18. Na3 $18) 15... hxg6 16. g3 Kf7 17. Qxa7+ Nd7 18. Nd2 (18. Na3 $142 {and White can already relax} Qe7 19. Nc4 Rd8 $18) 18... Re8 19. Rad1 Re7 20. Ne4 Qc6 21. Ng5+ Kg8 22. Rd2 Bf6 23. Rfd1 Ne5 24. Rd8+ Kg7 25. Nxe6+ (25. Qb8 Nf3+ 26. Nxf3 Qxf3 27. Rh8 Qxd1+ 28. Kg2 Re8 29. Qxe8 Be7 30. Rh6 Qd5+ 31. f3 Qh5 32. Qxe7+ Kg8 33. Rxh5 c4 34. Bh6 b5 35. Qg7#) 25... Qxe6 $18 26. Qa8 Rd7 (26... Nf7 {is still a small chance} 27. Rb8 Be5 28. Rg8+ Kh7 $18) 27. R8xd7+ Nxd7 28. Qb7 g5 29. Qxd7+ Qxd7 (29... Qf7 {doesn't do any good} 30. Rd6 Qxd7 31. Rxd7+ Kg6 32. a4 Kf5 33. Rd6 Be7 34. Rxb6 Bd8 35. a5 Ke5 36. Rb5 Kd5 37. Rxc5+ Ke6 38. a6 Kd6 39. a7 Bb6 40. a8=Q Bxc5 41. Qf8+ Kd5 42. Qxc5+ Ke6 43. Bxg5 Kf7 44. Qc6 Kg8 45. Qd7 Kh8 46. Bf6+ Kg8 47. Qg7#) 30. Rxd7+ Kg6 31. Rd6 Kf5 32. Rxb6 Be7 (32... Bd8 {does not improve anything} 33. Rb8 Bc7 34. Rb5 Bd8 35. a4 Ke6 36. a5 Kd7 37. a6 Kc6 38. c4 Bb6 39. b4 g4 40. Bxc5 Ba7 41. Bxa7 Kd7 42. Bc5 Kc6 43. Rb6+ Kd7 44. a7 Kc7 45. a8=Q Kd7 46. Qa7+ Ke8 47. Qe7#) 33. Rb5 Kg6 (33... Ke6 {is not much help} 34. a4 Kd7 35. Rb7+ Kd6 36. Bxc5+ Kxc5 37. Rxe7 Kc4 38. Rb7 Kd3 39. a5 Kc4 40. a6 Kc5 41. a7 Kd5 42. a8=Q Ke4 43. Rd7+ Kf5 44. Qc6 g4 45. Rd6 Kg5 46. Qd5#) 34. Bxc5 Bxc5 (34... Bd8 { is no salvation} 35. Bb6 Bf6 36. a4 Be7 37. a5 Bd6 38. a6 Bb8 39. Bc5 Kf5 40. Rxb8 Ke4 41. a7 Kd3 42. a8=Q g4 43. Qd5+ Kc2 44. Qb3+ Kb1 45. Rd8 Ka1 46. Rd1#) 35. Rxc5 Kf6 (35... Kh5 {doesn't improve anything} 36. f4 Kg6 37. Rxg5+ Kf6 38. h4 Kf7 39. h5 Ke6 40. h6 Kf7 41. h7 Ke6 42. h8=Q Kf7 43. Qh6 Ke8 44. Rg7 Kf8 45. Qh8#) 36. a4 g4 (36... Kg6 {does not help much} 37. a5 Kf6 38. a6 Ke7 39. a7 Kd6 40. b4 g4 41. a8=Q Ke6 42. Qe8+ Kf6 43. Rc6+ Kg7 44. Qe7+ Kh8 45. Rc8#) 37. a5 Ke6 (37... Ke7 {does not win a prize} 38. b4 Kd6 39. c4 Ke7 40. a6 Kd6 41. a7 Ke7 42. a8=Q Kd6 43. Rc6+ Ke7 44. Qb7+ Kf8 45. Rc8#) 38. a6 Kd6 39. b4 Kd7 (39... Ke6 {a fruitless try to alter the course of the game} 40. a7 Kd7 41. a8=Q Ke6 42. Qa6+ Kd7 43. Rb5 Ke8 44. Rb7 Kf8 45. Qa8#) 40. a7 Kd6 (40... Ke6 { does not save the day} 41. a8=Q Kd6 42. Qb7 Ke6 43. Qb6+ Kf7 44. Rc7+ Kg8 45. Qb8#) 41. a8=Q Ke6 42. Qa6+ Kd7 43. Rb5 Kc7 (43... Kd8 {does not solve anything } 44. Rb7 Ke8 45. Qa8#) 44. Rb7+ Kc8 (44... Kd8 {hardly improves anything} 45. Qa8#) 45. Qa8# 1-0 [Event "Glacial Super Casual Banded"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2014.11.03"] [Round "1"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "veca"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C41"] [WhiteElo "1897"] [BlackElo "1745"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "107"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 g6 {Philidor Defense: Larsen Variation} ( 4... Nf6 5. Nc3 Be7 6. Be2 O-O 7. O-O c5 8. Nf3 Nc6 9. Bg5 Be6 10. Re1 { Philidor Defense: Berger Variation}) 5. Bc4 Bg7 {C41 Philidor Defence} 6. c3 Nf6 7. Qd3 $146 (7. Bg5 O-O 8. O-O h6 (8... Nc6 9. f4 Qe8 10. Nd2 Nxd4 11. cxd4 Ng4 12. Qb3 Bxd4+ 13. Kh1 Nf2+ 14. Rxf2 Bxf2 15. Bh6 Bd4 16. Bxf8 Qxf8 17. Nf3 Bf6 18. e5 Be7 19. Rf1 h6 20. h3 Kg7 21. Nd4 c6 22. exd6 Bxd6 23. f5 {Grierson, J-Kelling,F Auckland 1914 1-0 (67)}) 9. Bxf6 Bxf6 10. f4 Nd7 11. Nd2 c6 12. Qc2 Nb6 13. Bb3 d5 14. e5 Bg7 15. Rad1 c5 16. N4f3 c4 17. Bxc4 dxc4 18. Nxc4 Qc7 19. Ne3 Nc4 20. Nd5 Qc5+ 21. Kh1 Ne3 {Staunton,H-Horwitz,B London 1846 0-1 (55) }) (7. Nd2 O-O 8. O-O b6 (8... Nbd7 9. f4 Nc5 10. Qc2 a6 11. b4 Ncd7 12. a4 c5 13. bxc5 dxc5 14. N4f3 h6 15. e5 Ng4 16. Ne4 Ndxe5 17. fxe5 Nxe5 18. Nxe5 Bxe5 19. Bxh6 Qh4 20. Bg5 Qxh2+ 21. Kf2 Bf5 22. Bc1 Qh4+ 23. Ke3 {Feratovic, F-Bajkovic,S Andrijevica 2012 0-1}) 9. Re1 Bb7 10. f3 Nbd7 11. Nf1 d5 12. exd5 Nxd5 13. Bxd5 Bxd5 14. Nf5 Be6 15. Nxg7 Kxg7 16. Be3 h5 17. Qd2 Re8 18. b3 f6 19. Rad1 Qe7 20. Bf2 Rad8 21. Qc2 a5 {Fanouraki,N (2095)-Ninov,N (2445) Ikaria 1997 0-1 (46)}) (7. O-O O-O 8. f3 Nbd7 $11) 7... Nc6 8. Nxc6 bxc6 9. O-O O-O 10. Bg5 h6 {Black threatens to win material: h6xg5} 11. Be3 Be6 (11... a5 12. f3 $11) 12. Nd2 (12. Bxe6 fxe6 13. h3 Qe8 $14) 12... d5 $11 13. exd5 cxd5 14. Ba6 (14. Bb3 $5 $11) 14... Qd6 $15 15. h3 {Secures g4} Rfd8 (15... c5 $5 { is noteworthy} 16. Rfd1 Rab8 $17) 16. Nb3 $11 c5 (16... Nd7 $142 $11 {and Black hangs on}) 17. Bxc5 $16 Qc6 18. Be3 Ne4 19. Nd4 Bxd4 (19... Qd6 $5 20. Qe2 Bd7 $16) 20. Bxd4 $18 ({Not} 20. cxd4 Rd6 21. Bb5 Qb7 $16) 20... Nc5 (20... Kh7 $142 $18) 21. Bxc5 $4 {forfeits the advantage} (21. Qe3 $142 {White would have gained the upper hand} Kh7 22. Be2 $18) 21... Qxc5 $16 22. Qd2 {White threatens to win material: Qd2xh6} (22. b4 Qb6 23. b5 Bf5 $16) 22... Qb6 (22... d4 $5 $14) 23. Be2 Kg7 24. Rfd1 a5 (24... Rac8 25. Rac1 $16) 25. Qd4+ (25. b3 Rac8 $16) 25... Qxd4 26. Rxd4 Rab8 27. b4 axb4 $2 (27... Rdc8 $142 $16) 28. cxb4 $18 Rb6 $4 {the pressure is too much, Black crumbles} (28... Kf6 29. a4 Ke5 $18) 29. a4 {White prepares b5} Kf6 30. f4 (30. b5 {seems even better} Ke5 31. Rb4 Ra8 $18) 30... Rdb8 (30... Rc6 {doesn't get the cat off the tree} 31. Rd2 Rc3 32. a5 $18) 31. b5 Ra8 (31... Rd6 {doesn't change anything anymore} 32. a5 $18) 32. a5 Rd6 (32... Ke7 {does not save the day} 33. Rda4 (33. axb6 $6 { is a weaker possibility} Rxa1+ 34. Kf2 Kd6 $16) 33... Rbb8 34. Rb4 $18) 33. Kf2 Ke7 34. Ke3 (34. Rb4 $142 {makes it even easier for White} Rb8 35. b6 Bc8 $18) 34... f6 (34... Bc8 {does not help much} 35. Rb4 $18) 35. Rb4 Kd7 (35... Bc8 { hoping against hope} 36. Kd4 Rb8 $18) 36. Kd4 g5 37. fxg5 hxg5 38. a6 (38. b6 $142 {it becomes clear that White will call all the shots} Rc8 39. a6 Rc4+ 40. Bxc4 dxc4+ 41. Ke3 Rxb6 42. Rxb6 Bd5 43. a7 Ba8 44. Rb8 Bxg2 45. Ra6 Ke7 46. Rc8 Kf7 47. Rcc6 c3 48. a8=Q Bxc6 49. Rxc6 c2 50. Rc7+ Ke6 51. Kd4 g4 52. Qd5#) 38... Rb6 39. Kc5 Rbb8 (39... Kc7 {otherwise it's curtains at once} 40. Bf3 Rab8 $18) 40. b6 {White plans a7} Rc8+ 41. Kd4 Rc2 42. Bf3 (42. b7 Rh8 43. a7 Rxe2 44. b8=Q Rh4+ 45. g4 Rd2+ 46. Kc3 Rd3+ 47. Kxd3 Rxh3+ 48. Kd4 Rd3+ 49. Kxd3 Ke7 50. Rb7+ Bd7 51. a8=Q d4 52. Re1+ Kf7 53. Qg8#) 42... Kd6 43. b7 Rb8 ( 43... Rac8 {is not much help} 44. bxc8=N+ Rxc8 45. a7 g4 46. hxg4 f5 47. a8=Q Rxa8 48. Rxa8 fxg4 49. Ra7 Bd7 50. Rb6+ Ke7 51. Bxg4 Kd8 52. Rxd7+ Kc8 53. Ra7+ Kd8 54. Rb8#) 44. a7 Rxb7 (44... Rd2+ {doesn't change anything anymore} 45. Ke3 Rxb7 46. Rxb7 Rc2 47. a8=Q d4+ 48. Kxd4 Rc4+ 49. Kd3 Bd5 50. Rb6+ Kc7 51. Qb8+ Kd7 52. Ra7+ Bb7 53. Raxb7+ Rc7 54. Rxc7#) 45. Rxb7 (45. Ra6+ Ke7 46. Rxb7+ Bd7 47. a8=Q Rd2+ 48. Ke3 Rc2 49. Rxd7+ Kxd7 50. Qxd5+ Ke7 51. Ra7+ Rc7 52. Rxc7+ Kf8 53. Qd8#) 45... Rc4+ 46. Ke3 Rc3+ 47. Kf2 (47. Kd2 Rc8 48. Rb8 g4 49. Rxc8 Bxc8 50. a8=Q gxf3 51. Qxc8 f2 52. Ra6+ Ke5 53. Qe6+ Kd4 54. Ra4+ Kc5 55. Ra5+ Kb4 56. Qb6+ Kc4 57. Ra4#) 47... Rc2+ (47... Rc8 {cannot change what is in store for White} 48. Rb8 Rc2+ 49. Kg3 g4 50. a8=Q gxf3 51. Rb6+ Ke5 52. Qe8 Rxg2+ 53. Kxf3 Rg3+ 54. Kxg3 Kf5 55. Rxe6 Kg5 56. h4+ Kh6 57. Qh8+ Kg6 58. Rxf6#) 48. Kg1 f5 (48... Rc8 {doesn't do any good} 49. Rb8 Ke5 50. Rxc8 Bxc8 51. a8=Q Be6 52. Qb8+ Kf5 53. g4+ Kg6 54. Ra7 d4 55. Qe8+ Bf7 56. Qxf7+ Kh6 57. Qxf6#) 49. a8=Q Rc4 (49... Rc8 {doesn't improve anything} 50. Ra6+ Ke5 51. Rxe6+ Kxe6 52. Qxc8+ Ke5 53. Qc7+ Kd4 54. Rb3 f4 55. Qc3#) 50. Ra6+ (50. Qb8+ Kc5 51. Rd1 Bd7 52. Rxd5+ Kc6 53. Qc7#) 50... Ke5 (50... Rc6 {does not solve anything} 51. Qb8+ Kc5 52. Qe5 Kc4 53. Rxc6+ Kd3 54. Qc3#) 51. Qh8+ (51. Rxe6+ Kd4 52. Qa1+ Kd3 53. Rb3+ Kc2 54. Qd1#) 51... Kf4 52. Rxe6 (52. Qb8+ Ke3 53. Qe5+ Kd2 54. Qe2+ Kc3 55. Qe3+ Kc2 56. Ra2#) 52... Rc1+ 53. Kh2 Rc4 (53... Rh1+ {cannot undo what has already been done} 54. Kxh1 g4 55. Qb8+ Kg5 56. Rg7+ Kh5 57. Qh8#) 54. Qe5# 1-0