D35 Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 O-O 7.Bd3 Nc6)

The game below was played in a team match called ☼ The Farm ☼ vs Historical Association. It was played on 72 boards and I played on board 8 for Historical Association. Luckily other members of Historical Association were in better shape than I was during this match and we ended up winning the match with a score of 67 - 77! I was only able to get a draw out of the two games I played against MENTAC, though I had chances to win the game below. My poor technique meant that I had to agree to a draw on move 78. I might have had some small chances in the position where the game ended but as I saw or at least thought I saw that my opponent could easily draw this position, I agreed to his draw offer.

Today I played in the first round of a tournament at the chess club where I occasionally play over the board chess. The time controls in the tournament are 1 hour for 40 moves and 15 minutes to the end of the game. I played with the black pieces against a friend of mine who likes to play the King's Gambit. Before the game I thought I probably should avoid it completely, but when we started to play, I replied his 1.e4 with 1...e5. It was no surprise that his second move was f4. I think I managed to get an ok position from the opening but later I did one careless move which gave him a bit too much initiative that I would have liked. When the first time scramble started he made a sacrifice that I believed to be completely losing for him and it would have probably been the losing sequence if I had played correctly after the smoke cleared but I did not and kept making bad moves and in the final time scramble, I had to resign.

[Event "N The Farm N vs Historical Associati"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2015.01.21"] [Round "?"] [White "MENTAC"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D35"] [WhiteElo "2038"] [BlackElo "1967"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "155"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 O-O 7. Bd3 Nc6 { D35 Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation} 8. Nge2 Bg4 (8... Be6 9. O-O Qd7 10. Ng3 h6 11. Bf4 Rfc8 12. Rc1 Bf8 13. Bb1 Ne7 14. Qd3 g6 15. e4 dxe4 16. Ncxe4 Nxe4 17. Nxe4 Nd5 18. Be5 b6 19. Qg3 Bf5 20. Rfe1 Bg7 21. h4 Re8 22. Bxg7 Kxg7 23. h5 {De la Rosa,D (2125) -Johansen,M (2210) Tjele 1995 1-0 (40)}) 9. h3 $146 (9. f3 Be6 (9... Bh5 10. Ng3 Bg6 11. O-O Nb4 12. Bxg6 hxg6 13. a3 Nc6 14. Qb3 Na5 15. Qb5 c6 16. Qd3 Nc4 17. Rf2 Kh8 18. Bxf6 Bxf6 19. Rd1 Qd6 20. e4 Bh4 21. e5 Qe7 22. f4 Bxg3 23. hxg3 Qe6 24. b3 {Morus,A (1159)-Halmajan,I (1273) Baile Felix 2017 1/2-1/2}) 10. O-O h6 11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. Rc1 Bg5 13. f4 Be7 14. Bb1 f5 15. a3 Rf6 16. Ng3 Qd7 17. Qc2 Raf8 18. Na4 Rg6 19. Nc5 Bxc5 20. Qxc5 Rg4 21. Qb5 Rb8 22. Rc3 a6 23. Qb3 Na5 {Boos,P (1442)-Marquardt,P (1269) Willingen 2004 1-0 (34)}) (9. O-O Re8 (9... a6 10. f3 Bh5 11. Bh4 Qd6 12. Bxf6 Bxf6 13. Nf4 Bg6 14. Bxg6 fxg6 15. Nfxd5 Rae8 16. Nxf6+ Qxf6 17. Qb3+ Rf7 18. Ne4 Qe7 19. Qxb7 Nd8 20. Qxa6 Ne6 21. Qd3 Ref8 22. Qc3 Rf5 23. b4 Rh5 24. a4 { Schrik,R-Koning,B Hengelo 1996 1-0}) 10. a3 a6 11. Bc2 Ne4 12. Bxe7 Rxe7 13. f3 Nxc3 14. bxc3 Bd7 15. e4 dxe4 16. fxe4 Re8 17. Qd3 Qg5 18. Nf4 Rad8 19. e5 g6 20. Qf3 Bf5 21. Bb3 Rf8 22. Nd5 Be6 23. Nf6+ Kg7 {Yang,D (2124)-El Felo,S Kemeri 2007 1-0}) 9... Be6 10. Nf4 {White is better.} h6 11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. Nxe6 fxe6 13. O-O Be7 14. Qb3 b6 {1.18/24} (14... Bd6 $14 {0.56/26}) 15. Qc2 { 0.06/25} (15. Qa4 $16 {1.18/24} Nb4 16. Be2) 15... Nb4 $11 16. Bh7+ Kh8 17. Qb1 Rc8 18. Ne2 Bd6 19. a3 Nc6 20. Bd3 Ne7 21. e4 c5 22. Bb5 Nc6 {0.58/24} (22... Bc7 $11 {0.07/28}) 23. Qa2 {-0.37/25} (23. e5 $14 {0.58/24} Bb8 24. Ba6) 23... Be7 {0.19/26} (23... cxd4 $15 {-0.37/25} 24. exd5 exd5) 24. dxc5 bxc5 25. Rad1 d4 {0.91/25} (25... Ne5 $11 {0.04/29} 26. exd5 c4) 26. Qxe6 $16 Rf6 27. Qc4 { 0.00/26} (27. Qg4 $1 $16 {1.00/24}) 27... Qb6 {0.81/22} (27... Ne5 $11 {0.00/26 } 28. Qa4 Rb8) 28. Qa4 {0.32/31} ({Better is} 28. Bxc6 $16 {0.81/22} Rfxc6 29. b3) 28... Ne5 $14 29. f4 Ng6 {1.45/23} (29... c4 $11 {0.23/28} 30. Kh2 (30. fxe5 $2 d3+ 31. Nd4 Rxf1+ 32. Rxf1 Qxd4+ 33. Kh1 Qxe5 $19) (30. Nxd4 Nd3 $17) ( 30. Rxd4 $2 Bc5 $19) 30... a6) 30. Bd7 {0.00/27} (30. e5 $16 {1.45/23} Rff8 31. Kh2) 30... Rb8 31. e5 Rff8 32. Bg4 {-1.02/26} (32. Qc4 $11 {0.01/29}) 32... Qxb2 {0.07/27} (32... d3 $17 {-1.02/26} 33. Ng3 (33. Rxd3 $2 c4+ 34. Rd4 Nxf4 $19) 33... Nxf4) 33. Qxa7 $11 Ra8 34. Qd7 Qxa3 {0.73/23} (34... c4 $11 { 0.08/29 remains equal.} 35. Qxd4 (35. Nxd4 Nxf4 36. Bf3 Rae8 $11) 35... Qxd4+ 36. Nxd4 Nxf4) 35. Rf3 {0.00/28} (35. Kh2 $1 $16 {0.73/23}) 35... Qa4 36. Qxa4 Rxa4 37. e6 {-0.94/22} (37. Kh1 $11 {0.00/29 keeps the balance.}) 37... Ra2 { -0.40/28} ({Black should play} 37... Bf6 $17 {-0.94/22} 38. Rfd3 Rd8) 38. Rff1 Bd6 {0.06/28} (38... Bf6 $15 {-0.45/24}) 39. g3 {-0.87/24} (39. Nc3 $1 $11 { 0.06/28} Raa8 (39... dxc3 40. Rxd6) 40. Ne4 Bxf4 41. Nxc5) 39... Ne7 {0.09/27} (39... Ra3 $17 {-0.87/24 aiming for ...d3.} 40. Rf3 Rfa8) 40. Nc1 $2 {-1.68/24 [#]} (40. Nc3 $1 $11 {0.09/27} Ra3 (40... dxc3 41. Rxd6) 41. Ne4) 40... Ra3 $19 41. Nd3 Nd5 {-0.64/28} (41... g6 $19 {-1.70/23} 42. Be2 Rc8) 42. Rf3 Ne3 $36 { Black is in control.} 43. Ne5 {-1.87/25} (43. Rxe3 $1 $17 {-0.80/30} dxe3 44. Ne5 Bxe5 45. e7) 43... Bxe5 $1 44. fxe5 Rxf3 45. Bxf3 {[#] Endgame Intending e7 and mate. KRB-KRN} Ra6 $1 ({Don't go for} 45... Nxd1 $2 46. e7 $18) 46. Rc1 {-2.40/27} (46. e7 $17 {-1.50/34} Re6 47. Ra1 Rxe7 48. Ra8+ Kh7 49. Be4+ g6 50. Rc8) 46... c4 ({Worse is} 46... Rxe6 47. Rxc5 Kg8 48. Kf2 $14) 47. Rb1 Rxe6 48. Rb8+ {-2.90/31} (48. Rb5 $142 {-2.05/30}) 48... Kh7 49. Be4+ g6 50. Rb7+ Kg8 51. Rb8+ $2 {-3.43/26} (51. Kf2 $17 {-1.60/30 is a better defense.}) 51... Kf7 52. Rb7+ {-4.97/25} (52. Rd8 $142 {-3.42/28} Rxe5 53. Rd7+ Kf6 54. Rxd4) 52... Ke8 53. Rb8+ Kd7 54. Rb7+ Kc8 55. Rg7 $2 {-8.51/27} (55. Rb5 {-3.31/30} d3 56. Rc5+ Kd7 57. Bf3) 55... g5 56. Rh7 c3 57. Rh8+ Kc7 58. Rh7+ Kb6 59. Rb7+ Kc5 60. Rc7+ Kb4 61. Rb7+ Ka3 62. Ra7+ Kb2 63. Rb7+ Kc1 64. Rd7 Rxe5 65. Rxd4 Rc5 $2 {-2.77/28} (65... Rxe4 $1 {-7.56/26} 66. Rxe4 c2 67. Rxe3 Kd2) 66. Rd3 { -4.31/29} (66. Kf2 $142 {-2.77/28} Nf5 67. Rd8) 66... Nd1 67. Rd6 c2 $2 { -0.72/36} (67... h5 $19 {-3.07/23 And now ...c2 would win.} 68. Rh6 g4 69. hxg4 hxg4) 68. g4 {-1.68/28} (68. Rxh6 $17 {-0.72/36} Re5 69. Bh7) 68... Kb2 { -0.72/38} (68... Rc4 $1 $19 {-1.68/28 and Black stays clearly on top.} 69. Bxc2 Rxc2 70. Rxh6 Kd2) 69. Rb6+ $17 Kc3 70. Bxc2 $1 Kxc2 {KRN-KR} 71. Kf1 Ne3+ 72. Ke2 $2 {-2.41/33} (72. Kf2 $17 {-0.73/35}) 72... Ng2 $19 {...Nf4+ is the strong threat.} 73. Rxh6 Nf4+ $2 {-0.69/33} (73... Rc8 $19 {-2.33/33 White must now prevent ...Rf8.} 74. Rf6 Rc4) 74. Kf1 $2 {-12.06/31} (74. Kf2 $15 { -0.69/33}) 74... Rc3 75. h4 gxh4 $2 {-0.69/32} ({Black should try} 75... Rf3+ $19 {-46.14/30} 76. Kg1 Kd2 77. hxg5 Ke3) 76. Rxh4 $15 {Black is slightly better.} Rf3+ 77. Kg1 Kd2 78. Rh6 {Accuracy: White = 31%, Black = 34%.} 1/2-1/2