B01 Scandinavian Defence (1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.Nf3 Bg4)

The more usual move order for this variation is likely 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.d4 Nc6 4.Nf3 Bg4. Today I accepted two chess960 challenges and in the first one I was pretty much lost after two moves... For some reason I do not look at the board properly when it comes to chess960. I guess I have played chess mostly recently and because of that I have forgotten that in some chess960 starting positions White will be able to threaten to take a pawn for free after his first move. Even if White were to take that pawn for free, it might not cost the game, but in the starting position I have in that game, my opponent was also able to take the exchange on his third move. So after three moves, he was up the exchange and a pawn, which is too much to give for almost no compensation. This might also mean that I need that break from chess more badly than I thought. Well, I should not make all that big decisions based on one game. I have mostly played on a decent level lately, maybe around 1900 level on average, at least on Chess.com and at Red Hot Pawn. Everywhere else the ratings that I have are farther away towards both directions, so I can't really compare them. I have been back over 1900 at Chess.com again for a few days now but around the time that happened, I dropped my rating at Red Hot Pawn below 1900, so that was a rather weird coincidence.

The game below was played in a team match called Happy New Year 2015 Romeo and Juliet vs Kasparov Chess Club !! The match is played on 62 boards and I played on board 11 for Romeo and Juliet. I won my both games on time. Neither of those games were actually winning for me in the position the game ended but instead close to equal. The score has not changed in the match during the time I posted yesterday and this post, so the score is still 89 - 33 in favor of Romeo and Juliet. I have added one mate in one, two mate in twos, one mate in five and one mate in seven puzzle.

[Event "Happy New Year 2015 Romeo and Juliet vs"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2015.01.07"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "Jhopes"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B01"] [WhiteElo "1895"] [BlackElo "1685"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (5s), TV"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 Nc6 (1... d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. d4 {1/2-1/2 (42) Plunge,G (2163)-Garnelis,J (2109) Vilnius 2007}) 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 {B00 Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation. Exchange Variation} 4. Nf3 Bg4 {B01 Scandinavian Defence} 5. Be3 e5 {0.37/22} (5... Bxf3 $11 {-0.18/22} 6. Qxf3 (6. gxf3 e5 $11) 6... Qxf3 7. gxf3 e6) 6. dxe5 {-0.51/20} (6. Nc3 $14 {0.37/22} Bb4 7. Be2 (7. dxe5 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 Qxe5 9. Qd2 Rd8 10. Qe2 Nge7 11. Bd2 Qf5 12. Qc4 Nd5 13. O-O-O Bxf3 14. gxf3 {0-1 (14) Chirila,R (2247)-Manciu,N (2102) Bucharest 2000}) ) 6... Qxd1+ $15 7. Kxd1 Nxe5 8. Be2 {-0.64/22} (8. Nbd2 $11 {-0.14/20}) 8... O-O-O+ $146 (8... Nxf3 9. gxf3 Be6 10. Nd2 Ne7 11. Bc4 Nd5 12. Ke2 Bd6 13. Rad1 O-O-O 14. Bb3 Be5 15. c3 Rhe8 16. Nc4 Bf4 17. h4 b5 18. Na5 Bxe3 19. Bxd5 Bxd5 20. fxe3 Re6 21. a3 c5 22. b4 c4 23. Rd4 {Plunge,G (2163)-Garnelis,J (2109) Vilnius 2007 1/2-1/2 (42)}) 9. Kc1 {-0.87/21} (9. Nbd2 $15 {-0.43/25 is more appropriate.} Nxf3 10. Bxf3) 9... Nxf3 10. gxf3 Bh5 11. Nc3 Nf6 {0.00/23} ( 11... a6 $17 {-0.86/19}) 12. Rd1 {-1.00/20} (12. Bxa7 $11 {0.00/23} Bb4 13. Rg1 ) 12... Bb4 (12... Be7 {is more complex.} 13. Rg1 a6 14. a4 Kb8 15. a5 Bg6) 13. Bd2 {-1.35/21} (13. Nb5 $142 {-0.74/24}) 13... Rhe8 {[#] aiming for ...Bxc3.} 14. Re1 {-2.12/21} (14. Be3 $17 {-0.97/20}) 14... Bc5 {-1.26/22} (14... Bg6 $19 {-2.12/21} 15. a4 Bc5) 15. Rf1 {-2.20/20} (15. Ne4 $17 {-1.26/22} Nxe4 16. fxe4 Bxe2 17. Rxe2) 15... Nd5 {...Nxc3 is the strong threat.} 16. Bd1 {-2.39/21} ( 16. Ne4 {-1.72/22 keeps fighting.}) 16... Nxc3 17. Bxc3 f6 18. b4 Bd4 19. Kb2 Bxc3+ 20. Kxc3 g5 $2 {-0.50/21} (20... Rd5 $19 {-2.02/20} 21. a3 c5) 21. a4 { -1.57/22} (21. f4 $1 $15 {-0.50/21} Bg6 22. fxg5) 21... Re6 {-1.13/25} ({ Better is} 21... Bf7 {-1.57/22} 22. b5 h5) 22. Kb2 {-2.49/22} (22. f4 $1 $17 { -1.13/25} Rc6+ (22... gxf4 23. Bxh5) 23. Kb2 Bxd1 24. Rfxd1) 22... Rd2 { -1.25/23} ({Black should try} 22... Rd4 $19 {-2.49/22} 23. c3 Rd2+ 24. Kc1 Red6 ) 23. Kc1 {-2.46/20} (23. f4 $1 $17 {-1.25/23} Rxd1 (23... gxf4 24. Bxh5) 24. Rfxd1 Bxd1 25. Rxd1) 23... Red6 $36 {Keeping White busy.} 24. Ra3 {-2.46/20} ( 24. b5 $142 {-1.75/23}) 24... Bg6 25. Re3 {-2.16/22} (25. f4 $17 {-1.48/24}) 25... R2d4 26. c3 Rd2 {-0.81/23} (26... Rh4 $19 {-1.89/22 and Black stays clearly on top.} 27. Rh1 b6) 27. Re2 {-1.77/20} (27. Bb3 $17 {-0.81/23}) 27... R2d3 $19 28. Rc2 {-2.50/21} (28. Re3 {-1.66/24 might work better.}) 28... Rc6 29. Kb2 Rcd6 30. Kc1 Bf7 $2 {0.00/33} (30... Rc6 $19 {-2.72/21} 31. Kb2 Rd8) 31. Be2 $11 Bg6 32. Bxd3 Bxd3 33. Re1 {[#] And now Rd2 would win.} Bxc2 34. Kxc2 {Endgame KR-KR} Kd7 35. Re4 {-1.06/21} (35. h4 $11 {-0.09/25 keeps the balance.}) 35... c6 {0.00/25} (35... Rd5 $17 {-1.06/21}) 36. h3 f5 37. Re5 Rf6 {0.00/27} (37... Rd5 $1 $15 {-0.49/24} 38. Re1 a5) 38. Kd3 Kd6 39. Re8 { -0.59/25} (39. Ra5 $11 {0.22/26}) 39... Rf7 {0.44/26} (39... Rh6 $15 {-0.59/25} ) 40. Rg8 {0.00/31} (40. Kd4 $14 {0.44/26}) 40... Ke5 41. Rxg5 Kf4 42. Rg3 h5 { White must now prevent ...h4.} 43. h4 Rd7+ 44. Ke2 Re7+ 45. Kd2 Re3 {0.68/21} ( 45... a5 $11 {0.00/29}) 46. Rg5 {0.00/29} ({White should play} 46. Rg7 $14 { 0.68/21} Rxf3 47. Rxb7) 46... Rxf3 47. Rxh5 Rxf2+ 48. Kd3 {Threatening Rh7.} Kg4 {0.60/22} (48... Rf3+ $11 {0.09/27} 49. Kc2 Ke4) 49. Rh7 {Accuracy: White = 22%, Black = 22%.} 1-0