B00 Queen's Fianchetto Defence, Nimzowitsch Defence (1.e4 a6 2.d4 h6)

There are some players who have been able to play lines that I have not previously covered here more than once and my opponent in this game, SpottedCow, is one of those players. Or rather will be maybe tomorrow or some time later in the near future when I post the game I played with the black pieces against him. The game below was played in the 2014 August Grand Seven Fourteen II tournament at Red Hot Pawn. It is the tournament in which I am the closest of winning of all the tournaments that I have played or am playing. If I win my only remaining game, I will also win the tournament. If I do not win that game, I will need some assistance from other players. My main rival, caissad4, will need to either lose or play two draws, so that I would be a guaranteed winner. Actually, in case that I would lose my game against him and in the other two games he has left, he would draw both of them, then we would share the win of the tournament in points. I have added two mate in twos, one mate in five and two mate in six puzzles today. Until tomorrow, my fellow chess enthusiasts! And thank you all who have spend their precious time by visiting this blog, it is much appreciated!!

Game number two. This was also played against SpottedCow, who for some reason likes to play this way based on the two games with White that I have played against him. The game below was played in the 2014 August Grand Seven Fourteen III tournament at Red Hot Pawn. It is a tournament where I have secured fourth place very tightly and I have two games left to finish. I have still some influence on who wins the tournament though, as the remaining two games I have are against caissad4, who has chances of winning the tournament as long as he does not lose a game against me. The game you see below was quite one-sided as you might guess from the huge difference in rating. Rating difference, no matter how huge, is not always a guarantee for victory as I have shown by losing some games against much lower rated players in the past.

[Event "Grand Seven Fourteen"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2014.08.11"] [Round "1"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "SpottedCow"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B00"] [WhiteElo "1887"] [BlackElo "1160"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (5s), TV"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. e4 a6 {B00 St. George Defense: General} 2. d4 h6 {B00 Queen's Fianchetto Defence, Nimzowitsch Defence} 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 d6 5. Nf3 Nf6 {1.53/18} (5... Ne7 $142 {0.78/20}) 6. Bd3 {1.02/22} (6. Be2 $142 {1.53/18}) 6... Be7 $146 (6... Nc6 7. O-O e5 8. d5 Ne7 9. Nh4 g5 10. Nf5 Nxf5 11. exf5 Bg7 12. Ne4 O-O 13. g4 Nxe4 14. Bxe4 Qf6 15. Be3 Re8 16. Qd2 Bf8 17. h4 Be7 18. hxg5 hxg5 19. Kg2 Bd7 20. Rh1 Kg7 21. Rh5 {Funderburg,J (2114)-Oca Homer,N Reno 2008 1-0}) 7. O-O { 1.00/21} ({White should play} 7. h3 {1.41/18}) 7... Nc6 {1.47/18} (7... c5 $142 {1.00/21}) 8. Bf4 {0.44/21} (8. Re1 $16 {1.47/18}) 8... Nh5 {1.65/19} (8... Nxd4 $1 $14 {0.44/21} 9. Nxd4 e5) 9. Be3 {1.19/21} (9. Bd2 $18 {1.65/19}) 9... Nf6 $16 10. a3 {1.24/21} (10. e5 $18 {1.85/17}) 10... Ng4 {1.81/19} (10... Nd7 $16 {1.24/21 was worth a try.}) 11. Bf4 {0.55/20} (11. Bc1 $18 {1.81/19}) 11... e5 $14 12. dxe5 $1 dxe5 {1.22/20} (12... Ngxe5 $14 {0.44/21} 13. Nxe5 dxe5) 13. Bg3 {0.33/20} (13. Bc1 $1 $16 {1.22/20}) 13... Bc5 $2 {2.85/20 [#]} (13... h5 $1 $14 {0.33/20} 14. h4 f6) 14. h3 Nf6 15. Nxe5 Nxe5 16. Bxe5 O-O 17. Nd5 Nxd5 18. exd5 ({Don't take} 18. cxd5 Qg5 $16) 18... Bd6 {2.29/21} (18... Bxh3 $142 { 1.63/23} 19. Qf3 (19. gxh3 Qg5+ 20. Qg4 Qxe5 $11) 19... Bd7) 19. Bc3 Re8 { 2.53/22} (19... Qg5 $16 {1.56/23}) 20. Bc2 $18 Qg5 {With the idea ...Bxh3.} 21. Qd3 g6 $2 {4.13/24} (21... f5 {2.29/22 keeps fighting.} 22. b4 b6) 22. Rfe1 ({ Worse is} 22. Qd4 Be5 $14) 22... Bf5 23. Qd4 {[#]} f6 24. Bxf5 Qxf5 25. Qxf6 $40 {White wants a kill.} Qxf6 26. Bxf6 Rxe1+ 27. Rxe1 {Endgame KRB-KRB} Kf7 28. Bc3 Re8 29. Kf1 g5 30. Rxe8 Kxe8 {KB-KB} 31. Bg7 Kf7 32. Bd4 b6 {4.87/20} ( 32... c5 $142 {3.44/25} 33. Bc3 b5) 33. Ke2 a5 34. Kf3 Kg6 35. Ke4 h5 36. Be5 Bxe5 37. Kxe5 {KP-KP} a4 38. Ke6 {White mates.} g4 39. hxg4 hxg4 40. Kd7 Kf6 41. Kxc7 Ke7 42. d6+ {Accuracy: White = 46%, Black = 22%.} 1-0 [Event "Grand Seven Fourteen"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2014.08.11"] [Round "1"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "SpottedCow"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B00"] [WhiteElo "1887"] [BlackElo "1160"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (5s), TV"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. e4 (1. d4 h6 2. e4 {1-0 (25) Bernstein,J (1443)-Sivertsen,S (1584) Oslo 2016 }) 1... a6 {B00 St. George Defense: General} 2. d4 h6 {B00 Queen's Fianchetto Defence, Nimzowitsch Defence} 3. Bc4 (3. Nf3 d6 4. Bc4 {1-0 (25) Bernstein,J (1443)-Sivertsen,S (1584) Oslo 2016}) 3... e6 4. Nf3 d6 5. O-O Nc6 {1.51/19} ({ Black should try} 5... Nf6 $14 {0.61/21}) 6. d5 $146 {0.71/23} (6. Re1 $142 { 1.51/19}) (6. Nc3 Bd7 7. d5 Nce7 8. dxe6 fxe6 9. Nd4 e5 10. Qf3 Nf6 11. Ne6 Qc8 12. Nxf8 Rxf8 13. Qg3 g5 14. b3 Nh5 15. Qd3 c6 16. Qxd6 b5 17. Be2 Nf4 18. Qxe5 Bg4 19. Ba3 Ra7 20. f3 Nxe2+ {Bernstein,J (1443)-Sivertsen,S (1584) Oslo 2016 1-0}) 6... Ne5 7. Nxe5 dxe5 8. dxe6 {White is better.} Bxe6 9. Bxe6 $40 { [#] Qh5 is the strong threat. White attacks with force.} fxe6 $2 {2.49/19} ( 9... Qxd1 $16 {0.85/23} 10. Bxf7+ (10. Rxd1 fxe6 11. Be3 Ne7 $14) 10... Kxf7 11. Rxd1 Nf6) 10. Qh5+ $18 Ke7 11. Qxe5 {2.04/22} (11. Rd1 $142 {3.42/20} Qe8 12. Qxe5) 11... Nf6 12. b3 Qd6 $2 {10.00/18} (12... Kf7 {1.75/21}) 13. Ba3 Rd8 14. Bxd6+ Rxd6 15. Nc3 Kd8 16. Rad1 Kc8 17. Rxd6 Bxd6 18. Qxe6+ Kb8 19. e5 Re8 20. Qf7 Bxe5 21. Nd5 Rd8 22. Nxf6 gxf6 23. g3 b6 24. Re1 Kb7 25. Re4 Rd1+ 26. Kg2 Rd2 27. Qc4 Rd6 28. Rh4 b5 29. Qe4+ Kb8 30. Rg4 {[#] Intending Rg8+ and mate.} Rd8 31. Rg7 Rf8 32. Rh7 Rd8 33. Rxh6 Rf8 34. Qc6 Bd6 35. Qxa6 b4 36. Rh5 f5 37. g4 $1 {White mates.} Bc5 (37... fxg4 38. Rb5#) 38. Rxf5 Rxf5 39. gxf5 Bd6 40. f6 Bf8 41. Qb5+ Ka7 42. f7 1-0