D16 Slav Defence: 5.a4: Lines with 5...Bg4 and 5...Na6 (1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.a4 e6 6.e4 Be7 7.Bxc4 O-O 8.O-O Nbd7)

This was played in the second round of a tournament called 2014 August Banded Quartets I 1700-1800. In this second round I only won three games and lost five. That unfavorable result meant that I finished in fourth place in this five player group that decided the winner of the tournament. Timeout in these games was 3 days and there was a timebank of 7 days. After a momentary drop in my rating due to a draw I played against a lower rated player, I have managed to get my rating again close its peak at Red Hot Pawn as I am now one point away from the peak. If I would be able to get my rating to 2000 or above there, I should admit to myself that I have improved my basic playing strength to some extent at least. My lowest rating in a years time is 1695 which means that I have been doing quite well for the most part there. I have also finished a lot more games there since August 2014 than in the previous ten years before that. Lately I have been cutting down the amount of games I play there and I only have about half of the games left since my most active times there. I might reactivate myself on the site but at the moment I need to get a bit of a break from correspondence chess and organise my time better with all the things I need to do. I have added four mate in fours and one mate in seven puzzle today.

[Event "Banded Quartets"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2014.12.20"] [Round "2"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "jeremy reid"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D16"] [WhiteElo "1914"] [BlackElo "1678"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (5s), TV"] [PlyCount "47"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 (3. Nf3 Nf6 {0-1 (33) Guseinov,D (1928)-Djafarov,D (1809) Moscow 2009}) 3... Nf6 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. a4 e6 {D16 Slav Defense: Soultanbeieff Variation} 6. e4 Be7 (6... c5 7. Bxc4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Nc6 9. Be3 Bd7 10. O-O Bb4 11. f3 O-O 12. Rf2 Qe7 13. Nb3 Rfd8 14. Rd2 Be8 15. a5 Qc7 16. a6 bxa6 17. Bxa6 Ne5 18. Rxd8 Rxd8 19. Qe2 Ng6 20. g3 h5 21. Rc1 {Bhat,V (2473) -Finegold,B (2513) Lubbock 2009 1/2-1/2 (52)}) 7. Bxc4 O-O (7... Nbd7 8. O-O { 0-1 (33) Guseinov,D (1928)-Djafarov,D (1809) Moscow 2009}) (7... Na6 8. O-O O-O 9. Qe2 Nb4 10. Rd1 Qa5 11. Bg5 Re8 12. e5 Nfd5 13. Bxe7 Rxe7 14. Ng5 h6 15. Nge4 Nxc3 16. bxc3 Nd5 17. Qf3 Qd8 18. Rd3 Bd7 19. Qg4 Kh8 20. Rh3 Qf8 21. Rf3 b5 22. Bb3 {Brinck Claussen,B (2227)-Winther,B (1784) Ballerup 2017 1-0 (32)}) 8. O-O Nbd7 {1.85/20 D16 Slav Defence: 5.a4: Lines with 5...Bg4 and 5...Na6} ( 8... c5 $16 {0.91/21 was called for.}) 9. Bf4 $146 {1.27/22} (9. Qe2 $18 { 1.85/20}) (9. e5 Nd5 10. Nxd5 cxd5 11. Bd3 b6 12. g3 Nb8 13. Qc2 h6 14. Qe2 Bb7 15. Bd2 Nc6 16. Rac1 Nb4 17. Bxb4 Bxb4 18. h4 Rc8 19. Bb1 Bc6 20. Qd3 g6 21. h5 Be8 22. hxg6 fxg6 23. Nh4 Rxc1 {Guseinov,D (1928)-Djafarov,D (1809) Moscow 2009 0-1 (33)}) 9... a5 {1.75/20} (9... h6 $16 {1.27/22}) 10. Qd3 {1.10/22} ({ White should play} 10. h3 $18 {1.75/20}) 10... Nb6 {1.91/20} (10... b6 $16 { 1.10/22}) 11. Bb3 {1.39/21} (11. Ba2 $18 {1.91/20}) 11... Bb4 {2.43/21} (11... Nbd7 $16 {1.39/21}) 12. Bc2 {e5 is the strong threat.} Nh5 $2 {3.76/20 [#]} ( 12... c5 {1.73/20 was worth a try.} 13. b3 cxd4) 13. Bd2 $2 {1.48/19} (13. e5 $18 {3.76/20 and White stays clearly on top.} g6 14. Bh6) 13... Re8 $2 {4.68/20 } (13... f5 $16 {1.48/19} 14. exf5 exf5) 14. e5 g6 15. Bg5 {1.78/21} (15. g4 $142 {3.47/20}) 15... Qd7 $2 {4.38/20} (15... Be7 {1.78/21}) 16. Rfd1 {2.53/23} (16. g4 $142 {4.38/20}) 16... Nd5 $18 17. g3 {1.30/20} (17. Ne4 $18 {3.10/19 is more deadly.}) 17... b5 {2.31/19} (17... b6 $16 {1.30/20}) 18. axb5 cxb5 19. Ne4 Bb7 $2 {3.32/20 [#]} (19... Be7 {1.76/23} 20. Bxe7 Rxe7) 20. Nh4 $2 { 0.70/23} (20. g4 $1 $18 {3.32/20}) 20... Qc6 {2.18/19} (20... a4 $14 {0.70/23}) 21. Rdc1 $2 {0.62/22} (21. Rac1 $18 {2.18/19}) 21... Rac8 $2 {2.50/20} (21... Rec8 $14 {0.62/22}) 22. Bd1 $2 {0.48/23} ({White has to play} 22. Qf3 $18 { 2.50/20}) 22... Qxc1 $4 {9.45/19} (22... Ndf4 $14 {0.48/23} 23. Rxc6 Nxd3 24. Rxc8 Rxc8) 23. Rxc1 Rxc1 24. Bxc1 {Accuracy: White = 11%, Black = 2%.} 1-0