C44 Ponziani Opening and Scotch Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Bc4 Nc6 4.c3 dxc3 5.Nf3 d6)

The game below was played in the fifth round of a rapid chess tournament at the FIDE Online Arena. This was one of the rare occasions where I finished the tournament without losing a single game. I won three games and drew two games. My fourth round game I won on time and I will not share it here because the game did not feature any moves. It was a somewhat of a disappointment that I could not win this game but then again after the poor start I had to this game, I could have also lost this, so maybe draw was an okay result.

After a few months, I do not even know how long it has been, I have only 148 games in progress again. The last time I had this amount of games was sometime last year. I remember when I got to 300 games in progress January 12th 2015 that I had played 270+ games for several months at that point. It may very well be that it has been over a year since my game load was as low as it is now. It still is not low enough and I do not start anymore challenges or team matches for quite some time. I might even see the rest of the year without any new additions like that. I know that the games I have in progress might get back over 150 before it starts to descent more again. This is because at least one tournament I can remember might get to the next round before I reduce enough games for it not to go over that limit. I have added three mate in twos and two mate in threes today.

[Event "Tournament 28239678"] [Site "online arena"] [Date "2015.03.24"] [Round "5"] [White "lafitsal"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C44"] [WhiteElo "1817"] [BlackElo "1829"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (5s), TV"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. d4 (2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. c3 dxc3 {0-1 (13) Guerrero Sanmarti,R (2224)-Mestre Bellido,H (2379) Barcelona 2011}) 2... exd4 3. Bc4 {C21 Center Game: Von der Lasa Gambit} (3. c3 dxc3 4. Bc4 {0-1 (62) Glaser,H-Denda,R Bad Liebenzell 1996}) 3... Nc6 4. c3 dxc3 5. Nf3 d6 {0.28/21 C44 Ponziani Opening and Scotch Gambit} (5... cxb2 $15 {-0.50/18} 6. Bxb2 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 Nf6) 6. O-O { -0.44/21} (6. bxc3 Nf6 $17) (6. Nxc3 $11 {0.28/21} Nf6 7. Qb3) 6... Be6 { 0.43/23} (6... Nf6 $1 $15 {-0.44/21}) 7. Bxe6 $14 fxe6 8. Qb3 {-0.86/21} (8. Nxc3 $11 {0.28/21} Be7 9. Qb3) 8... Qc8 $2 {0.70/18 [#]} (8... cxb2 $1 $17 { -0.86/21} 9. Bxb2 Qd7 10. Ng5 Nd8 11. f4 h6 12. Qh3 e5 13. f5 {0-1 (13) Guerrero Sanmarti,R (2224)-Mestre Bellido,H (2379) Barcelona 2011}) 9. Ng5 { -0.17/22} (9. Nxc3 $14 {0.70/18} h6 10. Bd2) 9... Nd8 {0.28/19} (9... c2 $142 $1 {-0.17/22} 10. Nc3 (10. Qxc2 h6) 10... Nd4 11. Qa4+ Nc6) 10. Nxc3 $146 (10. Qxc3 Nf6 11. Re1 h6 12. Nf3 e5 13. Nh4 g5 14. Ng6 Rg8 15. Nxf8 Rxf8 16. Nd2 Qd7 17. Nf1 Ne6 18. Qa5 b6 19. Qc3 a5 20. Bd2 Kf7 21. f3 Kg6 22. Rac1 Rfc8 23. Ne3 b5 24. a3 c5 {Glaser,H-Denda,R Bad Liebenzell 1996 0-1 (62)}) 10... Nf6 { 0.83/20} (10... Ne7 $11 {0.00/23}) 11. f4 {0.34/21} (11. Rd1 $16 {0.83/20}) 11... Be7 $1 12. e5 {0.11/21} (12. h3 $14 {0.69/19}) 12... Ng8 $2 {1.91/18} ( 12... Ng4 $11 {0.11/21}) 13. Qc2 {0.62/23} (13. f5 $18 {1.91/18}) 13... Bxg5 $2 {2.50/20} (13... d5 $14 {0.62/23}) 14. fxg5 $18 {Hoping for Nb5.} Ne7 15. Qf2 $2 {-0.25/24} (15. Nb5 $1 $18 {2.15/18} dxe5 16. Qxc7 (16. Nxc7+ $2 Kd7 $19)) 15... Nf5 {1.01/18} (15... d5 $11 {-0.25/24}) 16. g4 {-0.37/22} (16. g6 $1 $16 {1.01/18}) 16... Ne7 $15 17. Be3 {-0.80/19} (17. h4 $11 {0.00/22}) 17... Ng6 18. exd6 cxd6 19. Rac1 {-1.22/22} (19. Qe2 $11 {-0.12/23 keeps the balance.}) 19... Qd7 {-0.52/22} (19... Qc4 $1 $17 {-1.22/22} 20. Qg2 Qd3) 20. Bxa7 $2 { -2.07/22} (20. Qe2 $15 {-0.52/22}) 20... Rf8 21. Qe3 Rxf1+ 22. Rxf1 Nc6 $2 { -0.93/24} (22... e5 $19 {-2.55/20 has better winning chances.} 23. Bb6 Ne6) 23. Bb6 $17 Nce5 {-0.57/24} (23... Nce7 $1 $17 {-1.08/21}) 24. Bd4 $15 Nxg4 { 0.00/25} ({Better is} 24... Qc6 $17 {-0.87/21} 25. Qh3 O-O-O) 25. Qf3 {-0.91/23 } (25. Qh3 $11 {0.00/25 remains equal.} N4e5 26. a4 (26. Qxh7 O-O-O $11)) 25... N4e5 $36 {Black fights for an advantage.} 26. Bxe5 $2 {-1.78/21} (26. Qh3 $11 { -0.16/21}) 26... dxe5 $19 27. Rd1 {-1.96/17} (27. Qh3 $17 {-1.37/24} O-O-O 28. Qxh7 Qd4+ 29. Kh1) 27... Qc6 {-0.60/23} (27... Qc7 $19 {-1.96/17} 28. Qe2 Nf4 29. Qb5+ Ke7) 28. Ne4 $2 {-2.23/20} (28. Qxc6+ $15 {-0.60/23} bxc6 29. Kf2) 28... Ke7 29. a3 Ra4 30. b4 Ra8 31. Qe3 {-2.25/21} (31. a4 $17 {-1.58/25}) 31... Rd8 {-1.08/23} (31... Nf4 $19 {-2.25/21 is more deadly.} 32. Qc5+ Qxc5+ 33. Nxc5 b6 34. Rd7+ Kf8) 32. Rc1 {-1.87/20} (32. Rxd8 $17 {-1.08/23 might work better.} Kxd8 33. Nc5) 32... Qd5 {-1.00/22} ({Much less strong is} 32... Rd3 33. Qc5+ Qxc5+ 34. Nxc5 $15) ({Black should try} 32... Qd7 $1 $19 {-1.87/20 } 33. Qc5+ Ke8) 33. Rc7+ $17 Rd7 34. Rxd7+ {-1.97/20} (34. Qc5+ $17 {-1.16/23 was called for.} Qxc5+ 35. Rxc5) 34... Qxd7 $2 {0.00/29} ({Black should play} 34... Kxd7 $19 {-1.97/20} 35. Kf2 Nh4 36. Nc5+ Kd6) 35. Qc5+ $11 {The position is equal.} Kd8 36. Qb6+ Ke7 {[#] aiming for ...Qd1+.} 37. Qc5+ Kd8 38. Qb6+ Ke7 {White must now prevent ...Qd1+.} 39. Nc5 Qd4+ 40. Kf1 Qd1+ 41. Kf2 Qd2+ 42. Kf1 Qd1+ {Accuracy: White = 17%, Black = 33%.} 1/2-1/2