C96 Closed Spanish Game: Chigorin Defence: 11.d4, replies other than 11...Qc7 (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Nd7 12.Nbd2 exd4 13.cxd4)

This was played in the second round of the WORLD OPEN RAPID tournament that was held at the FIDE Online Arena on April 13th 2015. This is the last tournament I played there for now at least and it started quite badly, I lost my first two games. On the last three rounds I did manage to be victorious, so this was an ok tournament for me. Third round game I assume won on time, it is the only game missing from my database but I think I might have deleted it because there were no moves played in that game. This game started to go wrong for me on move 17 and I did make the losing move on move 18. After that there was no real chances for a comeback.

I have found something new to post on Friday, so I am still able to find new openings to cover even though the chances for new things to appear decreases with each post I make. I need to go through more and more games per week and I would assume that the amount of games I post in this blog will be each week far greater than I can complete these days. This should not be all that big of a problem for quite some time, because there are thousands of games to go through still. And I would even prefer a situation where I would need to play games in order to get games posted here to the current situation where I can't play all that many games because I seem to have very little time for them.

[Event "Tournament 28908568"] [Site "online arena"] [Date "2015.04.13"] [Round "2"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "guverner"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C96"] [WhiteElo "1695"] [BlackElo "1887"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "110"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Nd7 12. Nbd2 exd4 13. cxd4 {C96 Closed Spanish Game: Chigorin Defence: 11.d4, replies other than 11...Qc7} Nc6 14. Nf1 Bf6 15. Be3 Bb7 16. Ng3 {LiveBook: 3 Games} Rc8 {0.58/25} (16... g6 $11 {0.00/27}) 17. a3 $146 {-1.03/24 [#]} (17. Nf5 $14 {0.58/25}) (17. Rc1 Re8 18. Bb1 g6 19. b3 ( 19. Qd2 Qa5 20. e5 cxd4 21. Rxc6 Qxd2 22. Bxd2 Bxc6 23. exf6 Bxf3 24. Rxe8+ Rxe8 25. gxf3 d5 26. b3 Ne5 27. Kf1 Nxf3 28. Bb4 Re6 29. Ne2 Rxf6 30. Kg2 Kg7 31. Kg3 g5 32. Kg2 Nh4+ 33. Kf1 Rc6 {Giri,A (2690)-Nakamura,H (2774) Monte Carlo 2011 1-0 (54)}) 19... Bg7 (19... cxd4 20. Nxd4 Nxd4 21. Rxc8 Qxc8 22. Bxd4 Be5 23. Qd2 Bxd4 24. Qxd4 d5 25. Rd1 Qc5 26. Qxc5 Nxc5 27. exd5 f5 28. Rc1 f4 29. Nf1 Ne4 30. Bxe4 Rxe4 31. d6 Rd4 32. Rc7 Be4 33. d7 Kf8 34. g3 { McClymont,B (2262)-Morris,J (2398) Adelaide 2013 0-1 (53)}) 20. Qd2 Qa5 21. Qxa5 Nxa5 22. Red1 c4 23. Bd2 Nc6 24. bxc4 Nxd4 25. Nxd4 Bxd4 26. Bb4 Be5 27. cxb5 axb5 28. Rxc8 Rxc8 29. Bd3 Nf6 30. Bxb5 h5 31. a4 h4 {Froeyman,H (2308) -Kazhgaleyev,M (2568) France 2004 0-1 (58)}) 17... cxd4 18. Nxd4 $2 {-3.49/30} (18. Bf4 $17 {-1.06/26}) 18... Nxd4 19. Bxd4 Bxd4 20. Qxd4 Rxc2 21. Nf5 {[#]} Qf6 22. Qa7 $2 {-7.27/28} (22. Qxf6 {-3.50/29} Nxf6 23. Nxd6) 22... Bxe4 $1 23. Nxd6 (23. Rxe4 Qxf5) 23... Qxd6 24. Rxe4 Nf6 25. Re3 Qd2 26. Rg3 Rc1+ 27. Rxc1 Qxc1+ 28. Kh2 Qxb2 29. Qxa6 Ne4 30. Rf3 Nxf2 31. Qb6 Qe5+ 32. Kg1 Ne4 {-7.15/30 } (32... Qe1+ $142 {-#22/26} 33. Kh2 Qh1+ 34. Kg3 Ne4+ 35. Kf4 Qxg2 36. Qc6 Ng5 37. h4 Ne6+ 38. Ke3 Rd8 39. Qc3 Nd4 40. Qxd4 Qg1+ 41. Rf2 Qg3+ 42. Ke4 Qg4+ 43. Rf4 Qe2+ 44. Qe3 Re8+ 45. Kd5 Qxe3 46. Kc6 Qxf4 47. Kd7 Re6 48. Kd8 Qb8+ 49. Kd7 Rd6+ 50. Ke7 Qf8#) 33. Re3 Qc5 34. Qxc5 Nxc5 $19 {Endgame KRN-KR} 35. Re5 Rc8 36. Kf1 f6 37. Rd5 Kf7 38. Ke2 Ke6 39. Rh5 h6 40. Rh4 Ra8 41. Rb4 Rxa3 42. Rxb5 Nd7 43. Rb7 Ra2+ 44. Kf3 Ne5+ 45. Kg3 g5 46. Rh7 Nf7 {Black mates.} 47. Rg7 f5 48. Rg6+ Ke5 49. Rg7 Kf6 50. Rg8 f4+ 51. Kf3 Ne5+ 52. Ke4 Rxg2 53. Rh8 Re2+ 54. Kd4 Kg7 55. Ra8 f3 {Precision: White = 8%, Black = 54%.} 0-1

B56 Classical Sicilian: Unusual Lines (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bd7)

This is my latest game from GameKnot and admittedly it went on a bit longer than necessary. Sometimes clicking that resign button is just something I just avoid because making the decision that I have indeed lost is not easy for me. After I have seen that my opponent is up to the task of converting his or her material advantage or other advantage into a win, I resign. When that time comes during a game varies a bit of course. The game below was played in the mike5972p's mini-tournament VII. This was the last game in progress in the tournament, so after this I finally got my first mini-tournament points. In the final standings I am on fourth place but because I ended up having the same amount of points as the player who finished third, I shared the min-tournament points with that player. Had I been clearly on fourth place, I would have received only five mini-tournament points, but because I shared third place, I received 6 points. This then worked out well for me, however, it did not work out that well for ledinscak, the player that finished third. This is because the shared third place meant that ledinscak also received 6 points, had he been on undivided third place, he would have received 7 points. There were originally 11 players who started this tournament, but because two players withdrew from the tournament, I did not get to play all 20 games and instead played only 16 games. Which might have been a good thing because otherwise the tournament would still be in progress... This post was named B56 Sicilian Defense: Kupreichik Variation in the past, but as I classify openings with Fritz 16 these days I renamed this post.

[Event "mike5972p's mini-tournament VII"] [Site "http://gameknot.com/chess.pl?"] [Date "2015.09.25"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "calenzana"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B56"] [WhiteElo "1758"] [BlackElo "1840"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "158"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bd7 {B56 Classical Sicilian: Unusual Lines. LiveBook: 894 Games} 6. Bd3 g6 (6... e6 7. O-O (7. Bg5 Be7 8. Qd2 a6 9. O-O-O b5 10. a3 h6 11. Bh4 Qb6 12. Nf3 a5 13. Nb1 b4 14. Rhe1 Nc6 15. h3 Rb8 16. Qe3 Qb7 17. Bf1 bxa3 18. Qxa3 d5 19. Qa2 Nxe4 20. Bxe7 Nxe7 21. Bd3 Nxf2 {Assankhan,L-Sultanbek,Z (1634) Pavlodar 2016 0-1}) 7... Nc6 8. Nb3 Be7 9. Kh1 O-O 10. f4 Rc8 11. Bd2 a6 12. Qf3 b5 13. a3 Qb6 14. Rae1 b4 15. Na4 Qc7 16. axb4 Rb8 17. e5 Nd5 18. exd6 Bxd6 19. Nac5 Ncxb4 20. Nxd7 Qxd7 21. Be4 { Bartel,M (2237)-Olszewski,M (2498) Warsaw 2008 0-1 (70)}) 7. O-O Bg7 8. Nde2 $146 {The position is equal.} (8. h3 O-O 9. Be3 Nc6 10. Re1 a6 11. a4 Rc8 12. Nxc6 Bxc6 13. a5 Nd7 14. Qd2 Re8 15. Ra3 Ne5 16. f4 Nxd3 17. cxd3 d5 18. Bb6 Qd7 19. e5 e6 20. Ne2 f6 21. Nd4 fxe5 22. fxe5 Qe7 {Sleczka,B (1886) -Mucha,R (2181) Dobczyce 2010 0-1 (38)}) 8... O-O 9. Be3 Nc6 10. Qd2 Ng4 11. Bf4 e5 12. Bg3 Nf6 13. Kh1 Be6 14. Bh4 {-1.05/25} (14. Bb5 $11 {-0.21/26}) 14... Nb4 $2 { 0.48/25 [#]} (14... Nxe4 $1 $17 {-1.05/25} 15. Bxe4 (15. Nxe4 Qxh4) 15... Qxh4) 15. Bg5 {-0.15/27} (15. f4 $14 {0.48/25}) 15... Rc8 {0.45/23} (15... d5 $11 { -0.15/27}) 16. a3 Nxd3 17. Qxd3 h6 $36 {Black is pushing.} 18. Be3 d5 19. exd5 Nxd5 20. Nxd5 Bxd5 21. Rad1 Bc4 22. Qd2 Qc7 {Strongly threatening ...Rfd8.} 23. Rfe1 Rfd8 24. Qc1 b6 25. Rxd8+ Rxd8 26. Nc3 Kh7 27. Rd1 f5 28. f3 Rxd1+ 29. Qxd1 Qc6 30. Qd2 Ba6 31. Qd5 {-1.10/27} (31. h3 $11 {-0.25/30}) 31... Qxd5 $17 32. Nxd5 {Endgame KBB-KBN} Bb7 {-0.75/31} (32... e4 $142 $1 {-1.30/27} 33. fxe4 Bxb2 34. exf5 Bxa3 35. fxg6+ Kxg6) 33. Nc7 e4 {-0.68/34} ({Black should try} 33... f4 $1 $17 {-1.15/29} 34. Bc1 e4 35. fxe4 Bxe4) 34. fxe4 $15 Bxe4 35. c3 Bd3 36. Nd5 Be5 37. Nb4 {-0.81/33} (37. Bd4 $11 {-0.29/34 remains equal.} Bxd4 38. cxd4) 37... Bb5 {-0.39/33} (37... Be4 $17 {-0.81/33}) 38. Kg1 {-0.88/32} ( 38. Bd4 $15 {-0.39/33} Bd6 39. b3) 38... g5 39. Nc2 Kg6 40. Nd4 Ba4 41. Nf3 Bd6 42. h3 {-1.29/28} (42. g3 $142 {-0.87/33}) 42... f4 $17 43. Bd4 Kf5 44. Kf1 h5 45. Nd2 g4 46. hxg4+ hxg4 47. c4 $2 {-3.43/31} (47. Kf2 $17 {-1.56/36}) 47... Bc6 $19 48. b4 Bb7 49. c5 $2 {-5.16/31} (49. Nb3 {-2.93/32 keeps fighting.}) 49... bxc5 50. bxc5 Bb8 51. Kf2 a6 52. Bc3 Ba7 53. Bd4 Ke6 54. Nb3 {[#] Hoping for c6!} Bb8 55. Bc3 $2 {-3.76/28} (55. c6 {-2.10/33} Bxc6 56. Nc5+ Kd5 57. Nxa6) 55... g3+ 56. Kf1 Kd5 57. Bb4 Bc8 58. Ke2 Bg4+ 59. Kf1 Be5 60. Nd2 Bd4 61. Nb3 {-5.77/31} (61. c6 $142 {-3.92/34} Be5 62. Nf3) 61... Be3 62. Bd2 Bxd2 {Black mates.} 63. Nxd2 Kxc5 {KB-KN} 64. Ne4+ Kd4 65. Nf6 Bd1 66. Kg1 Kc4 67. Nd7 Be2 68. Ne5+ Kb3 69. Ng6 f3 70. gxf3 Bxf3 71. Ne5 Bd5 72. Nd3 Kxa3 73. Nf4 Bc6 74. Ne2 g2 75. Kf2 a5 76. Nd4 Bb7 77. Ne2 Kb2 78. Nd4 a4 79. Nb5 a3 { Precision: White = 29%, Black = 71%.} 0-1

D00 1.d4 d5: Unusual lines (1.d4 Nf6 2.e3 d5 3.h3)

I am starting to reach a point where it is increasingly hard to find an opening variation that has not been played in any of my games before and hence there might be quite a lot of games added per day sometimes. This Friday might become the first day when I have not found a new opening to cover in this blog. I do have some time still to prevent that from happening, but at the time it does not look all that promising unless I can intentionally play a game where a new opening is featured. The game below was played in a team match called Open Challenge ♕♖ChEsS MaTeS♕♖. It is played on 26 boards between ♕♖ChEsS MaTeS♕♖ and Philippine Critical Movers. I am playing on board 4 for the home team ♕♖ChEsS MaTeS♕♖. The score in the match is 26 - 15 in our favor, so even a draw from the remaining games would secure the win for us.

Game number two. This is one that was played over six years ago at Red Hot Pawn. It is still a site where I play a lot of games, a lot more than six years ago actually. Back then I could play maximum of six games, now I play 135 games there. Which is actually the most I play at any other site. Chess.com is currently a close second but it might get the number one spot soon.

[Event "Open Challenge ??ChEsS MaTeS?? -"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2015.07.11"] [Round "?"] [White "pauljohn2013"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D00"] [WhiteElo "1930"] [BlackElo "1893"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. e3 d5 3. h3 {D00 1.d4 d5: Unusual lines} Bf5 4. Bd3 Qd7 $146 (4... e6 5. Bxf5 exf5 6. a3 Bd6 7. Nf3 Nbd7 8. Qd3 g6 9. c4 c6 10. cxd5 cxd5 11. O-O O-O 12. Qb3 Nb6 13. Nc3 Rc8 14. Nd2 Re8 15. Qd1 Ne4 16. Ndxe4 fxe4 17. g3 h5 18. h4 Re6 19. Kg2 {Schmidt,N (1820)-Fonseca,L (1993) Porto Alegre 2017 0-1 (33)}) (4... Bxd3 5. Qxd3 Qd7 (5... e6 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. O-O c5 8. b3 Rc8 9. Na3 a6 10. c4 Qa5 11. Qd2 Qxd2 12. Nxd2 cxd4 13. exd4 Bb4 14. Nc2 Bc3 15. Rb1 O-O 16. Rd1 b5 17. c5 b4 18. Bb2 Bxd2 19. Rxd2 Ne4 20. Rd3 {Neher,M-Krahforst,W Bernkastel Kues 1995 1/2-1/2 (40)}) 6. Nd2 e6 7. Ngf3 Bd6 8. Qe2 Nc6 9. O-O a6 10. c3 h6 11. b4 b5 12. a4 bxa4 13. Ra3 Nxd4 14. Qd1 Nxf3+ 15. Nxf3 Qc6 { 1/2-1/2 (15) Torborg-Eggers,U Pinneberg 1997}) 5. Ne2 Nc6 6. f4 h5 7. O-O O-O-O 8. Kh2 {-0.78/23} (8. Nd2 $11 {-0.03/26 keeps the balance.}) 8... Ne4 {-0.24/27 } (8... Kb8 $17 {-0.78/23}) 9. Nd2 f6 10. a3 {-0.56/24} (10. Bxe4 $11 {0.00/28} dxe4 11. c4) 10... g5 $15 11. Nxe4 dxe4 12. Bc4 {-0.91/24} (12. Bb5 $1 $15 { -0.44/25}) 12... h4 $17 13. fxg5 fxg5 14. Ng1 {-2.19/26} (14. Rxf5 $17 { -1.06/27} Qxf5 15. Nc3) 14... e6 $19 15. Be2 $2 {-3.81/26 [#]} (15. Kh1 { -2.10/27}) 15... Bd6+ 16. Kh1 Rdg8 {-1.95/27} (16... Ne7 $142 {-3.75/24 And now ...c6 would win.} 17. Bg4 c6) 17. Bg4 {-2.64/25} (17. Bd2 $142 {-1.95/27}) 17... Ne7 18. c4 Bg3 {-1.29/27} (18... c6 $19 {-2.27/24 Threatens to win with . ..Bc7.} 19. d5 Bxg4 20. Qxg4 exd5) 19. Bd2 $17 Rf8 {-0.61/24} ({Black should try} 19... c6 $1 $17 {-1.26/23} 20. Bb4 Bb8 21. Bxe7 Qc7) 20. Bc3 Rh7 {0.00/24} ({Better is} 20... c6 $15 {-0.58/23} 21. d5 Rhg8) 21. Qe2 {-1.37/23} (21. Ne2 $11 {0.00/24}) 21... Ng8 {-0.55/28} (21... c6 $1 $17 {-1.37/23} 22. Rad1 Bb8) 22. Rad1 Nh6 23. Bxf5 $2 {-2.31/24} (23. d5 $15 {-0.64/27}) 23... exf5 $2 { -0.68/28} (23... Nxf5 $19 {-2.31/24} 24. Bb4 Bd6 25. Rxf5 exf5) 24. d5 Rff7 { 0.50/25} (24... Bd6 $1 $17 {-1.00/29} 25. Qf2 f4 26. exf4 b6) 25. c5 $1 $36 { [#] Hoping for c6! White fights for an advantage.} g4 $2 {5.02/25} (25... Kb8 $11 {0.27/26 and Black stays safe.}) 26. c6 $1 $18 {White is clearly winning.} Qd6 {10.50/23} (26... Qe7 $142 {4.86/27} 27. Qb5 b6) (26... bxc6 27. Qa6+) 27. Qb5 b6 28. Qa6+ Kd8 29. Qxa7 Qg6 30. Qb8+ Ke7 31. Bb4+ Bd6 32. Qxc7+ { Precision: White = 29%, Black = 27%.} 1-0 [Event "Corr game 21.5.2008-30.7.2008"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2008.05.21"] [Round "?"] [White "SpaceKun"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D00"] [WhiteElo "1096"] [BlackElo "1831"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "90"] [EventDate "2008.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. e3 d5 3. h3 {D00 1.d4 d5: Unusual lines} Bf5 4. Ne2 $146 (4. Bd3 e6 (4... Bxd3 5. Qxd3 e6 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. O-O c5 8. b3 Rc8 9. Na3 a6 10. c4 Qa5 11. Qd2 Qxd2 12. Nxd2 cxd4 13. exd4 Bb4 14. Nc2 Bc3 15. Rb1 O-O 16. Rd1 b5 17. c5 b4 18. Bb2 Bxd2 19. Rxd2 {Neher,M-Krahforst,W Bernkastel Kues 1995 1/2-1/2 (40)}) 5. Bxf5 exf5 6. a3 Bd6 7. Nf3 Nbd7 8. Qd3 g6 9. c4 c6 10. cxd5 cxd5 11. O-O O-O 12. Qb3 Nb6 13. Nc3 Rc8 14. Nd2 Re8 15. Qd1 Ne4 16. Ndxe4 fxe4 17. g3 h5 18. h4 Re6 {Schmidt,N (1820)-Fonseca,L (1993) Porto Alegre 2017 0-1 (33)}) ( 4. Nf3 h6 5. Nc3 e6 6. a3 Nbd7 7. Bd2 a6 8. Ne2 c5 9. Ng3 Bh7 10. Bc3 c4 11. Nd2 Bd6 12. Ne2 O-O 13. Ng1 b5 14. Ngf3 a5 15. Nb1 Ne4 16. Bd2 Nxd2 17. Qxd2 b4 18. Qd1 Nf6 {Reis,L-Carneiro,J (1636) Juazeiro do Norte 2014 0-1 (65)}) 4... e6 5. g4 Be4 6. Rg1 Bd6 7. Ng3 Bg6 8. Nc3 {Black is slightly better.} a6 9. Na4 { -1.17/23} (9. g5 $11 {-0.22/26 remains equal.} Nfd7 10. h4) 9... Qe7 10. a3 Nc6 $36 {Black has strong initiative.} 11. Qd2 $2 {-2.84/23 [#]} (11. Nc3 $17 { -1.08/26}) 11... e5 {Hoping for ...exd4.} 12. Ne2 $2 {-4.48/25} (12. g5 { -2.15/26 is a better defense.} Nd7 13. dxe5 Bxe5 14. Kd1) 12... Ne4 $19 13. Qd3 {-7.45/27} (13. Qd1 $142 {-4.53/26} Qh4 14. Rg2) 13... Nxf2 $1 14. Qb3 (14. Kxf2 Bxd3) 14... Qh4 {[#] ( -> ...Nd3+)} 15. Ng3 Ne4 16. Qxd5 Nxg3 17. Qf3 Nxf1+ 18. Kxf1 exd4 19. exd4 Nxd4 20. Qe3+ Ne6 21. Bd2 b5 22. Re1 bxa4 23. Bb4 Bxb4 24. c3 Bd6 25. Qf3 O-O 26. Re3 Bc5 27. Re5 Bxg1 {Black mates.} 28. Kxg1 Rad8 29. c4 Rd2 30. Qe3 Rfd8 31. Rd5 R8xd5 32. cxd5 Rxd5 33. Qf3 Qe1+ 34. Qf1 Qxf1+ 35. Kxf1 Rd2 36. Ke1 Rxb2 37. g5 Nxg5 38. h4 Bh5 39. hxg5 c5 40. g6 c4 41. Kf1 c3 42. Ke1 Rh2 43. Kf1 c2 44. Kg1 Rd2 45. Kf1 c1=Q# {Precision: White = 11%, Black = 48%.} 0-1

E12 Queen's Indian: Unusual White 4th moves, 4.a3, 4.Nc3 Bb7 5.a3 and 4.Nc3 Bb7 (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e3 O-O 6.Nc3 Nbd7 7.Bd3 b6 8.O-O Bb7 9.Rc1 dxc4 10.Bxc4 c5 11.Qe2 Ne4 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.Rfd1)

This is the 400th opening variation that has appeared in this blog!! Never would have I thought when I started doing this blog that I would be able to cover this many openings this easily. Way back then I thought that I played pretty much the same openings all the time. It turned out that I was really wrong with that assumption. I have also reached another milestone today in this blog because I now have 600 chess games published where I was the winner. I also have 267 losses and 81 draws published, so of course I am not publishing only games that I have won. I will eventually publish all the games I have a proper notation of, so that these stats would be as correct as possible.

The game below was played in the second round of a rapid chess tournament that was played at the FIDE Online Arena on April 11th 2015. In the first round of this tournament I managed to win against a player who was rated 1450 at the time. I lost all of my remaining games in this tournament aswell, so I only won one out of four games, which is not a result I could be happy with in any circumstances. Until Monday, my fellow chess enthusiasts!

[Event "Tournament 28807979"] [Site "online arena"] [Date "2015.04.11"] [Round "2"] [White "singarams"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E12"] [WhiteElo "1740"] [BlackElo "1699"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 O-O 6. Nc3 Nbd7 7. Bd3 b6 8. O-O Bb7 9. Rc1 dxc4 10. Bxc4 c5 11. Qe2 Ne4 12. Bxe7 Qxe7 13. Rfd1 {E12 Queen's Indian: Unusual White 4th moves, 4.a3, 4.Nc3 Bb7 5.a3 and 4.Nc3 Bb7} (13. Nxe4 Bxe4 14. Bb5 cxd4 15. Rc7 d3 16. Bxd3 {1/2-1/2 (16) Stohl,I (2450)-Nun,J (2460) Namestovo 1987}) 13... Ng5 {0.59/26} (13... Nxc3 $11 {0.00/26} 14. Rxc3 Rfd8) ( 13... Rfd8 14. d5 Nxc3 15. Rxc3 exd5 16. Bxd5 Nf6 17. Bxb7 Qxb7 18. Rcd3 Qc7 19. h3 h6 20. e4 Nh5 21. Qd2 Rxd3 22. Qxd3 Nf4 23. Qd7 Qb8 24. Qf5 Ng6 25. Rd7 Qe8 26. Qd5 Rb8 27. Rxa7 Rd8 28. Qb3 {Tran,L (2035)-Nguyen,M (1507) Ho Chi Minh 2017 1-0 (61)}) 14. Nxg5 $14 Qxg5 {[#]} 15. f4 Qe7 $146 {White is slightly better.} (15... Qh4 16. d5 e5 17. Nb5 exf4 18. Nd6 Rab8 19. e4 Ne5 20. Nf5 Qf6 21. b3 Bc8 22. d6 Bxf5 23. exf5 Rbd8 24. Qe4 Rxd6 25. Rxd6 Qxd6 26. Qxf4 Nxc4 27. Qxc4 Re8 28. Qg4 Qd2 29. Rd1 Re1+ {0-1 (29) Fleischmann,D-Braso, J Uruguay 1983}) 16. d5 exd5 17. Bxd5 Nf6 18. Bxb7 $1 Qxb7 19. e4 Rfe8 {1.35/26 } (19... Rfd8 $142 {0.83/26}) 20. e5 $16 Nd7 {2.06/25} (20... Rab8 $16 {1.46/27 } 21. Rd6 Nd7) 21. Qg4 Re6 {2.14/22} (21... Rad8 {1.68/28 was called for.} 22. Nb5 Qe4) 22. Nd5 {1.04/28} (22. Rd5 $18 {2.14/22 is more deadly.}) 22... Rae8 23. Ne3 g6 24. Nf5 {0.81/27} (24. Nc4 $142 {1.41/23}) 24... Rf8 {1.56/23} ({ Black should try} 24... Qe4 {0.81/27}) 25. Nd6 $36 {White is on the roll.} Qc6 26. b3 {0.78/26} ({Better is} 26. Qh4 $1 {1.52/22}) 26... Kg7 $2 {4.42/24 [#]} (26... Nf6 $16 {0.78/26 is more resistant.} 27. Qe2 (27. exf6 Rxd6 28. g3 Rfd8 $17) 27... Rd8) 27. Rd3 $2 {1.64/26} (27. Nf5+ {4.42/24} Kg8 28. Nd4 $1) 27... Re7 $2 {13.07/26} (27... b5 {1.64/26} 28. Qg3 Kh8) 28. Rcd1 $2 {3.12/28} (28. Nf5+ {13.07/26} Kh8 29. Nxe7 Nxe5 30. fxe5) 28... Nb8 $2 {#19/29} (28... Kh8 $18 {3.12/28} 29. Qh4 f6) 29. Nf5+ Kh8 30. Nxe7 {Precision: White = 28%, Black = 5%.} 1-0

B28 Sicilian: 2.Nf3 a6 (O'Kelly Variation) (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5)

All of the games I added today were played at the FIDE Online Arena. The game you can view below was played in the first round of a rapid chess tournament. Unlike the last couple of tournaments before this I actually managed to win the first round game. The rest of the tournament on the other hand went down the drain, also unlikely thing to happen, I usually improve my results the longer the tournament lasts but this this time that did not happen. Well, truth to be told two of three losses in the remaining three rounds were against higher rated players, especially the third round loss was pretty much expected due to rating difference. On the fourth round I lost a game against a much lower rated opponent and that really made the whole tournament experience a bit depressing this time at least. I am quite happy about the way I played this game though as there were no serious mistakes made by me.

[Event "Tournament 28807979"] [Site "online arena"] [Date "2015.04.11"] [Round "1"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "verromon"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B28"] [WhiteElo "1833"] [BlackElo "1450"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 {B28 Sicilian: 2.Nf3 a6 (O'Kelly Variation)} 5. Nb3 d6 (5... Qc7 6. Nc3 Bb4 7. Bd2 Nf6 8. f3 O-O 9. Be2 b6 10. O-O Bb7 11. Kh1 Bxc3 12. Bxc3 d5 13. f4 Nbd7 14. exd5 Nxd5 15. Bd2 exf4 16. Bf3 N7f6 17. Bxf4 Nxf4 18. Bxb7 Qxb7 19. Rxf4 Rad8 20. Qf3 {Hiebler,L (1921) -Horvath,M (2033) Austria 2014 1-0 (46)}) 6. Nc3 $146 (6. Bd3 Nf6 7. Bg5 Nbd7 8. N1d2 Be7 9. O-O d5 10. f4 dxe4 11. Nxe4 Nxe4 12. Bxe7 Qb6+ 13. Kh1 Nf2+ 14. Rxf2 Qxf2 15. Ba3 h5 16. Nd2 Nf6 17. fxe5 Ng4 18. Ne4 Qb6 19. Qd2 Rh6 20. Qg5 Re6 {Lazaridis,F (1825) -Kampitsis,V (1705) Athens 2001 1-0 (36)}) (6. c4 Be7 7. Nc3 Nf6 8. Be2 O-O 9. Be3 Be6 10. O-O Nbd7 11. Nd2 Rc8 12. Rc1 h6 13. Re1 Nh7 14. b3 Qa5 15. Nf1 b5 16. Bd2 b4 17. Nd5 Bxd5 18. cxd5 Rxc1 19. Qxc1 Nc5 20. Qc4 Rb8 {Collazo Hidalgo Gato,N (2204)-Pina Vega,S (2291) Havana 2003 0-1 (40)}) (6. a4 Nf6 7. f3 Be7 8. c4 Be6 9. Nc3 Nbd7 10. Nd5 Bxd5 11. exd5 O-O 12. Bd3 Nh5 13. Qc2 g6 14. Bh6 Ng7 15. Qd2 Re8 16. O-O Qb6+ 17. Be3 Qd8 18. Na5 Qc7 19. b4 Bd8 20. Rfc1 b6 {Cappai,D (2132)-Occhipinti,M (2089) Rome 2004 1-0 (37)} ) 6... h6 7. Be3 Nf6 8. Be2 Be7 9. O-O {LiveBook: 3 Games} O-O 10. f4 exf4 11. Bxf4 Nc6 12. Kh1 Be6 13. Bf3 Bxb3 14. axb3 Rc8 15. Qd2 Re8 16. Rad1 Ne5 17. Be2 Qc7 18. Qe3 Neg4 $2 {1.87/26} (18... b5 $11 {0.18/26 and Black is okay.}) 19. Qg3 {1.12/28} (19. Bxg4 $1 $18 {1.87/26} Nxg4 20. Qg3) 19... h5 $16 20. h3 $36 {Black is under strong pressure.} Ne5 21. Bg5 {[#] aiming for Bxf6.} Nh7 { 2.03/23} (21... Qd8 $16 {0.92/28}) 22. Bxe7 {0.96/29} (22. Nd5 $18 {2.03/23 is more deadly.} Qd8 23. Nxe7+ (23. Bxe7 Rxe7 24. Nxe7+ Qxe7 $18) 23... Rxe7 24. Bxe7 Qxe7 25. c3 (25. Bxh5 Nf6 $16)) 22... Qxe7 23. Bxh5 Nf6 24. Be2 Qe6 { 1.67/24} (24... Ned7 $16 {0.94/27}) 25. Rf4 $1 $18 Ng6 26. Bg4 $1 Qe5 27. Bxc8 {Black must now prevent Rf3.} Nxf4 28. Bxb7 N6h5 29. Qg4 Qe7 $2 {4.75/27 [#]} ( 29... Re6 {1.84/28} 30. Bd5 (30. Bxa6 $2 Rg6 $19) 30... Nf6) 30. Bxa6 g6 31. Bc4 Rf8 {5.09/25} (31... Qe5 {3.47/28 was necessary.} 32. Qf3 Kg7) 32. g3 Ne6 33. Bxe6 Qxe6 34. Qxe6 fxe6 {Endgame KRN-KRN} 35. Kg2 Rd8 36. Nb5 d5 37. exd5 exd5 38. Nc3 d4 39. Nb5 {White is clearly winning.} Nf6 40. Rxd4 Re8 41. Rd2 Ne4 42. Re2 Re5 43. Nc3 {Precision: White = 47%, Black = 18%.} 1-0

C42 Petroff Defence: 3.Nxe5 and unusual White 3rd moves (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Qe7 4.d4 d6 5.Nf3 Nxe4)

The game below was played at the FIDE Online Arena in the first round of a rapid chess tournament. In this game I got outplayed by a player who was lower rated than me at the time this game was played by over 450 points... I am not all that knowledgeable of the Petrov's Defense or the Russian Game because it is a very rarely occuring opening in my games and I think my opponent may have known it better than me. I do not remember if my opponent in this game was one of those players whose official rating was very low compared to their unofficial rating but I have had a few of those people playing against me in these tournaments. Partly because of that I was not able to get the title of Arena International Master from the first 50 rapid games I played at FOA because I dropped below the rating requirement of that title. I have tried to play some games there from time to time but lately it has been difficult to get an official 15 minute game played there which is why I am still missing 18 games from the game requirement for the title. I have considered playing blitz games and see if I can get those games played faster and at the same time keep my rating above the rating requirement but I would need to play 100 games in the faster time controls and maintaining my rating over 1700 in that many blitz games might not be possible for me. Then again I might be completely wrong about my current blitz playing skills. After all, I have played blitz quite well over the board at least in the recent times and my national blitz rating is clearly higher than my national standard rating. But when I have played blitz on the internet, my ratings on different sites are usually quite low, over 200 points lower than my OTB blitz rating. Until tomorrow, my fellow chess enthusiasts!

[Event "Tournament 28743201"] [Site "online arena"] [Date "2015.04.08"] [Round "1"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "prashanth.p"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "1861"] [BlackElo "1403"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "46"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Qe7 4. d4 d6 5. Nf3 Nxe4 {C42 Petroff Defence: 3. Nxe5 and unusual White 3rd moves} 6. Qe2 {0.00/26 LiveBook: 5 Games} (6. Be2 $16 {0.76/23}) 6... d5 (6... Bf5 7. d5 Nd7 8. Bg5 Nxg5 9. Qxe7+ Bxe7 10. Nd4 Bg6 11. Bb5 Rd8 12. O-O O-O 13. Nc3 Bf6 14. Nde2 Bxc2 15. Rac1 Bg6 16. Nf4 Bf5 17. Nh5 Bg6 18. f4 Bxc3 19. Rxc3 Ne4 20. Rxc7 Ndc5 21. b4 {Huisamen,B (918) -Van den Berg,R (1003) Waterkloof 2015 0-1}) 7. Nbd2 Bf5 8. Nxe4 {The position is equal.} Bxe4 $146 (8... dxe4 9. Ne5 f6 10. Ng4 Qb4+ 11. c3 Qb6 12. Ne3 Bg6 13. Qg4 Nd7 14. Bc4 O-O-O 15. a4 c6 16. O-O Bd6 17. b4 Rhf8 18. Be6 Qc7 19. h3 Kb8 20. Nc4 f5 21. Qg5 Ka8 22. Nxd6 Qxd6 23. Bxd7 {Wich,M (1366)-Brandt,A Frankfurt 2013 1-0 (35)}) 9. c3 Nc6 10. Bf4 O-O-O 11. O-O-O h6 12. Nd2 g5 { 0.64/26} (12... Bg6 $11 {0.11/27}) 13. Bg3 {0.09/29} (13. Nxe4 $14 {0.64/26} gxf4 14. Nd2) 13... Bg6 14. Qb5 $2 {-1.30/24 [#]} (14. Qxe7 $1 $14 {0.34/27} Bxe7 15. h4) 14... f5 $40 {0.08/28 Black attacks.} ({Black should play} 14... h5 $1 $17 {-1.30/24 White must now prevent ...h4.} 15. h3 Bh6) 15. f4 $11 Bg7 { 0.64/23} ({Better is} 15... Qd6 $11 {0.14/25}) 16. Re1 Qf7 17. Nf3 {0.45/26} ( 17. Nb3 $16 {0.90/22} Rd6 18. Nc5) 17... Rhe8 $14 18. Ne5 {-0.80/25} (18. Rxe8 $14 {0.46/26 stays ahead.} Rxe8 19. Bd3) 18... Bxe5 $1 $17 19. fxe5 $2 { -2.85/26} (19. dxe5 $17 {-0.79/26} d4 20. Bc4) 19... f4 $19 20. Bf2 Qf5 21. Qb3 $2 {-#18/29 [#]} (21. Bd3 $19 {-3.86/27} Qxd3 22. Qxd3 Bxd3 23. g3) 21... Na5 { Black mates.} 22. Qd1 Qb1+ 23. Kd2 Qxb2+ {Precision: White = 10%, Black = 36%.} 0-1

C37 King's Gambit Accepted: Muzio Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.d4 Bg7)

This game was played in tedjj's mini-tournament XLIII which is held at GameKnot. I am on sixth place and no matter what happens on the last two games I have to finish, I will be sixth in the final standings aswell. My sixth place finish will earn me 1 mini-tournament point. Winner gets 11 points, player who finishes second will get 9, third will get 7, fourth will get 5 and fifth will receive 3 points. Those points serve a dual purpose, they are currency for entering the mini-tournaments and they are also used to compare players and determine who is the best mini-tournament player. 100 best mini-tournament players are listed at GameKnot. I am of course nowhere close to getting into that list. I have only entered two of those mini-tournaments and they are both still in progress.

I have mostly played the Fischer Defense of the King's Gambit Accepted in the last few years but for this game I thought I would try something else. Due to my successful experiment in this game, I might continue playing lines similar to this against the King's Gambit in the future as well. If nothing else, it will at least give me some refreshing ideas on how to play chess. I think I have stuck on my way of playing chess a bit too long and change would be required to maybe reignite some of the interest I have lost. Then again new variations seem to appear in my games even though I rarely make a conscious choice to alter the way I play.

[Event "tedjj's mini-tournament XLIII"] [Site "http://gameknot.com/chess.pl?"] [Date "2015.09.14"] [Round "?"] [White "buzzwold"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C37"] [WhiteElo "1306"] [BlackElo "1741"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "52"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. d4 Bg7 {C37 King's Gambit Accepted: Muzio Gambit} 5. Nc3 d6 {LiveBook: 27 Games. ...g4 is the strong threat.} 6. h4 { -0.41/23} (6. g3 $1 $11 {0.00/23 feels stronger.} g4 7. Nh4 f3 8. Be3 Nc6 9. Qd2 h5 10. O-O-O Nge7 11. h3 Bd7 12. Bc4 Be6 13. Nd5 Qd7 14. Bb3 Ng6 15. Nf5 Bxf5 16. exf5 Qxf5 17. hxg4 Qxg4 18. Nxc7+ Kd7 19. Nxa8 Rxa8 20. Qf2 Re8 21. Bd5 {Ponomariov,R (2712) -Dominguez Perez,L (2732) Huaian 2016 1-0}) 6... f6 $146 {0.41/22} (6... h6 $1 $15 {-0.41/23} 7. hxg5 hxg5 8. Rxh8 Bxh8 9. g3 g4 10. Bxf4 gxf3 11. Qxf3 Bxd4 12. O-O-O Nc6 13. Bb5 Bxc3 14. Qxc3 Bd7 15. Bxc6 Bxc6 16. Qh8 Kd7 17. Qh3+ Ke8 18. Qh8 Kd7 19. Qh3+ Ke8 {1/2-1/2 (19) Rechel,B (2420)-Law,A (2310) West Bromwich 2003}) 7. Bd3 Bg4 8. O-O {-0.71/20} (8. Be2 $11 {0.00/25}) 8... Nd7 {-0.09/22} (8... h6 $17 {-0.71/20}) 9. Be2 {-0.61/20} ( 9. g3 $11 {-0.09/22}) 9... Nh6 10. hxg5 {-1.46/25} (10. Bc4 $142 {-0.82/22}) 10... fxg5 $17 11. Nh2 {-2.07/23} (11. g3 $17 {-1.40/25 was called for.}) 11... Bxe2 $19 12. Qxe2 $2 {-3.71/22 [#]} (12. Nxe2 {-2.07/26} Qe7 13. Nf3) 12... O-O {-2.02/23} (12... Bxd4+ $142 {-3.71/22} 13. Kh1 Bxc3 14. bxc3 Qe7) 13. Qf2 c6 14. Bd2 Qb6 15. Ne2 Nf6 16. Nc3 {-8.01/25} (16. Qf3 $142 {-4.64/25} Rfe8 17. e5 dxe5 18. Qb3+ Nf7 19. Rfe1) 16... Nfg4 17. Nxg4 Nxg4 18. Qe2 Bxd4+ 19. Be3 Bxe3+ 20. Kh1 Nf2+ 21. Kh2 Rf6 {[#] ( -> ...Rh6+)} 22. Qh5 Rg6 23. Na4 Qd4 24. Nc3 Kg7 25. Rxf2 Bxf2 26. Rd1 Qf6 {Accuracy: White = 3%, Black = 55%.} 0-1

E21 Nimzo-Indian: 4.Nf3 (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Nf3 b6 6.Bd2 Bb7 7.Be2 c5)

The fourth move by Black is of course O-O and marking it as e8g8 might be confusing to some people. The game below was played in the second round of the 28th Chess.com Tournament (1601-1800). The second round is still in progress. I am at the moment I type this on fourth place in group #18. In order for me to win the group and advance to the third round, I would need to win all my remaining four games. Because the likelihood of me winning games at Chess.com has been lower than me drawing or losing lately, I doubt that I could win all of those games. A player called Kounle (1845) leads the group with 6.5 points, fliubo (2045) is on second place with 6 points and wqrhmd is on third place with 4.5 points. Kounle, fliubo and me have a chance to win the group but if I had to guess which one of the tree will end up winning the group and advancing to the third round, I would think that fliubo has the best chance of being the winner.

[Event "28th Chess.com Tournament (1601-1800) -"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2015.04.28"] [Round "?"] [White "wqrhmd"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E21"] [WhiteElo "1682"] [BlackElo "1902"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "113"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Nf3 b6 6. Bd2 Bb7 7. Be2 c5 { E21 Nimzo-Indian: 4.Nf3} 8. O-O {LiveBook: 15 Games} d5 9. b3 $146 {-0.37/23} ( 9. cxd5 $11 {0.25/28} exd5 10. a3 Bxc3 11. Bxc3 Ne4 12. Bd3 (12. Rc1 Qe7 13. Ne5 Rd8 14. Qb3 cxd4 15. exd4 Nxc3 16. Qxc3 f6 17. Qc7 Qxc7 18. Rxc7 Ba6 19. Nd3 Re8 20. Rc2 Nc6 21. Rxc6 Rxe2 22. Nb4 Bc4 23. Rd6 Rae8 24. h3 Rxb2 25. Rd1 Ree2 26. Nxd5 Bxd5 {Olah,G (2017)-Tokovic,S (2220) Hungary 2013 0-1 (48)}) (12. Qc2 Nd7 13. Rac1 Qe7 14. Rfd1 Nxc3 15. Qxc3 Rac8 16. Qd2 Nf6 17. Bd3 Ne4 18. Bxe4 dxe4 19. Ne5 f6 20. Nc4 cxd4 21. exd4 Rfd8 22. Ne3 Rxc1 23. Rxc1 Qd7 24. h3 Ba6 25. Qc3 Bd3 26. d5 Ba6 {Owczarek,M (1493)-Jedrocha,K (1563) Borowice 2012 0-1 (51)}) 12... Ba6 13. Rc1 Bxd3 14. Qxd3 c4 15. Qe2 Nc6 16. Nd2 Nxd2 17. Qxd2 Re8 18. b3 b5 19. bxc4 bxc4 20. Rb1 Rb8 21. Qc2 Qd6 22. Qa4 f5 23. g3 Kf7 24. Rxb8 Rxb8 25. Bb4 Qc7 26. Qc2 {Kozomara,V-Lein,A Sarajevo 1968 0-1 (34)}) ( 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. cxd5 Nxd5 11. Nxd5 Bxd5 12. Bc3 Nd7 13. Qa4 Nf6 14. Rfd1 Qe7 15. Bd3 Bxf3 16. gxf3 Nd5 17. Be5 Nxe3 18. fxe3 Bxe3+ 19. Kh1 f5 20. Bc4 Rad8 21. Qc6 Qg5 22. Rg1 {1-0 (22) Husari,S (2355)-Ragger,M (2347) Budapest 2003}) 9... Nc6 10. Rc1 {-1.24/26} (10. cxd5 $11 {0.00/28} Nxd5 11. Nxd5 Qxd5 12. Bxb4 Nxb4 13. a3) 10... cxd4 {-0.70/27} (10... dxc4 $1 $17 {-1.24/26} 11. dxc5 cxb3 12. Qxb3 Bxc5) 11. exd4 {-1.37/23} ({White should try} 11. cxd5 $1 $15 { -0.70/27} dxe3 12. Bxe3 exd5 13. Nb5) 11... dxc4 $17 12. bxc4 Nxd4 13. a3 { -2.29/27} (13. Nxd4 $17 {-1.08/27 is a better defense.} Qxd4 14. Be3) 13... Nxe2+ $19 (13... Bxa3 14. Nxd4 Qxd4 15. Nb5 $17) 14. Qxe2 Bxa3 15. Rcd1 Qc8 16. Ne5 Bc5 17. Bg5 Be7 $1 18. Qe3 Rd8 19. Rde1 Ba6 20. Qf4 Bb7 $2 {0.00/30 [#]} ({ Black should play} 20... Bxc4 $1 $19 {-1.77/24} 21. Ne4 (21. Qxc4 $2 Qxc4 22. Nxc4 Rdc8 $19) (21. Nxc4 $2 Nh5 $19) (21. Nxc4 Nh5) 21... Bxf1 22. Nxf6+ gxf6 23. Bxf6 Bxf6 24. Qxf6 Qc7 25. Kxf1 Rd5) 21. Re3 {-1.25/26} (21. Qe3 $1 $11 { 0.00/30}) 21... Qc5 $17 {aiming for ...Rd4.} 22. Nb5 a6 23. Nc3 $2 {-4.33/26} ( 23. Rg3 $17 {-1.29/29 was the crucial defense.} axb5 24. Bxf6 Bxf6 25. Qxf6) 23... Rd4 $19 24. Qg3 Rad8 25. h4 Ne4 {-2.06/33} (25... h6 $142 $1 {-4.53/22} 26. Bxf6 (26. Bxh6 Nh5) 26... Bxf6) 26. Nxe4 Rxe4 (26... Bxe4 27. Nxf7 Kxf7 28. Bxe7 $17) 27. Rxe4 Bxe4 28. Bxe7 {-2.04/27} (28. Bh6 $17 {-1.58/28} Bf8 29. Bg5 ) 28... Qxe7 29. f3 {-3.58/27} (29. Qe3 $142 {-2.27/28} Qb7 30. f3) 29... Bb7 30. Qf2 Qd6 31. Qe3 Qd4 {-1.42/32} (31... f6 $19 {-2.71/24} 32. Ng4 b5) 32. Qxd4 $17 Rxd4 {Endgame KRB-KRN} 33. Rb1 b5 {-0.34/30} ({Inferior is} 33... Rxh4 34. Rxb6 f6 35. Ng4 $16) (33... f6 $1 $17 {-1.38/29} 34. Rxb6 fxe5 35. Rxb7 Rxc4) 34. cxb5 $15 a5 {0.00/33} (34... g6 $1 $15 {-0.62/27}) 35. Kf2 {-0.77/28} (35. Nc6 $11 {0.00/33} Ra4 36. Kf2) 35... f6 36. Nc6 Ra4 {0.88/31} (36... Bxc6 $1 $15 {-0.60/32 stays ahead.} 37. bxc6 Rc4) 37. Nd8 $1 $16 Bd5 38. b6 { And now b7 would win.} Rb4 39. Rxb4 axb4 $14 {KB-KN} 40. Ke2 {Black must now prevent b7.} b3 {0.95/37} ({Better is} 40... g5 $14 {0.31/33}) 41. Kd2 Kf8 $2 { 4.61/32 [#]} (41... g5 $16 {1.06/33 is tougher.}) 42. Kc3 $18 Ke7 {24.99/29} ( 42... g5 $142 {4.25/33} 43. hxg5 fxg5) 43. b7 Bxb7 44. Nxb7 {KN-KP} b2 45. Kxb2 e5 46. Nc5 {16.95/36} (46. Kc3 $142 {50.77/36} Ke6 47. Kc4) 46... Kd6 47. Nb7+ $2 {0.00/35} ({White has to play} 47. Ne4+ $18 {13.09/31} Kd5 48. Ng3) 47... Ke6 $2 {13.02/33} (47... Ke7 $11 {0.00/35} 48. Kc3 Ke6) 48. Kc3 Kf5 49. Nd6+ Kf4 50. Kd3 Kg3 51. Ne8 {4.37/35} (51. Ke4 $142 {#36/35} Kxh4 52. Nf5+ Kg5 53. Nxg7 Kh4 54. g4 h6 55. Ne6 h5 56. gxh5 Kxh5 57. Kf5) 51... Kxg2 {#27/35} (51... Kxh4 $18 {4.37/35} 52. Ke2 (52. Nxg7 Kg3 $18) 52... Kg3) 52. Ke4 Kg3 53. h5 Kh4 54. Kf5 $2 {0.08/39} (54. Nxg7 {#22/36 mates} Kg5 55. Ne8 h6 56. Ng7 Kh4 57. Kf5 Kg3 58. Kxf6 Kf4 59. Ke6) 54... Kxh5 $11 {The position is equal.} 55. Nxg7+ Kh4 56. Kxf6 Kg3 57. Kxe5 {Accuracy: White = 46%, Black = 30%.} 1/2-1/2

A09 Réti Opening: 1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 (1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 c5 5.Bxc4)

The game shown below was played in a team match called I Tournament of teams: standings - I, round 3. This is played on 91 boards between Три Богатыря (East Slavs) and Kopaonik. I am playing on board 31 for Kopaonik. The current score in the match is 72.5 - 102.5 in favor of Kopaonik, so we have secured the win in this match quite comfortably. There has been quite many timeouts in this match, our opponent has 25 games lost due to timeouts, our team has lost 12 games on time. More unfortunate is the fact that both teams have one player with the cheating badge next to their username. I think the game below is quite well played game by both players for the most part anyway, I made two inaccuracies that could have been taken advantage of by my opponent so that I would have likely lost. Luckily for me, my opponent did not play the best responses to my mistakes and if I consider this game as a whole, I have to be glad about the draw because win was never really in my grasp.

[Event "I Tournament of teams: standings - I, r"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2015.03.25"] [Round "?"] [White "lybaedik"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A09"] [WhiteElo "1726"] [BlackElo "1902"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "124"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] {[%evp 9,124,31,28,-7,-6,-2,80,27,28,-3,33,20,16,15,60,0,37,16,61,24,20,19,24, 32,37,32,37,36,35,18,21,0,14,1,17,0,-1,0,29,0,14,12,12,2,20,20,11,0,16,0,7,7, 17,19,17,15,27,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,38,61,168,0,8,0,38,0,0,0,38,38,38,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 {D25 Queen's Gambit Accepted: Normal Variation} c5 5. Bxc4 {A09 Réti Opening: 1.Nf3 d5 2.c4} cxd4 {LiveBook: 30 Games} 6. Nxd4 e5 7. Nb5 Qxd1+ (7... Bb4+ {is more complex.} 8. N1c3 a6 9. Qxd8+ Kxd8 10. Na3 Be6) 8. Kxd1 {White is better.} Na6 9. Bd2 Be7 $146 (9... Ne4 10. Ke2 Nxd2 11. Nxd2 Be7 12. Ne4 O-O 13. Rhd1 Nc5 14. Nxc5 Bxc5 15. Nd6 Bb6 16. Bd5 Rb8 17. Rac1 Ba5 18. Nxc8 Rfxc8 19. Bxb7 Rxc1 20. Rxc1 g6 21. Rc8+ Rxc8 22. Bxc8 Kg7 23. e4 h5 24. h3 {Kovacs,A (2005)-Horvath,L (2180) Hungary 2008 1/2-1/2 (45)}) 10. Bc3 Nd7 11. Nd2 {[%tqu "En","","","","f7f6","", 10]} O-O {0.60/24} (11... f6 $1 $11 {0.15/28}) 12. a3 {0.00/27} (12. Ke2 $14 {0.60/24}) 12... Nac5 13. Ke2 (13. Nc7 {seems wilder.} Rb8 14. Nd5 Bd8 15. Ke2 b5 16. Ba2) 13... Na4 {0.61/24} (13... Rd8 $11 {0.16/28}) 14. Rac1 (14. Bb4 {keeps more tension.} Nac5 15. Nc7 Rb8 16. Ne4 b6 17. Nd5) 14... Nxc3+ 15. Nxc3 Nb6 16. Bb3 Bd7 17. Rhd1 Bc6 18. Nf3 Bf6 19. e4 Rad8 20. Nd2 Bg5 21. Rc2 Rd7 22. Nc4 Nxc4 23. Bxc4 Rfd8 {[#] ...Rxd1 is the strong threat.} (23... Rc8 {with more complications.} 24. Rxd7 Bxd7 25. b3 Kf8 26. a4 Be7) 24. Rxd7 Rxd7 25. f3 Kf8 26. Bd5 Rd6 27. b4 a6 28. Kd3 Ke7 29. Kc4 b5+ 30. Kb3 f6 31. Bxc6 Rxc6 $11 {[%mdl 4096] Endgame KRB-KRN} 32. Nd5+ Kd7 33. Rxc6 Kxc6 {KB-KN} 34. Ne7+ Kd7 35. Nf5 g6 36. Ng3 Ke6 37. Ne2 f5 38. Nc3 Be3 39. Nd5 Bg1 40. h3 Kd6 41. a4 Bd4 42. Nf6 h6 43. g4 fxg4 44. fxg4 Bb6 45. Nd5 Bd8 46. Nc3 bxa4+ 47. Kxa4 Ke6 48. Nd5 h5 49. Kb3 Kd6 50. Kc4 Bg5 51. Nb6 Kc6 52. Na4 {aiming for Nc5.} Be3 53. Nc3 Bd4 54. Nd5 {[%tqu "En","","","", "h5g4","",10]} Kd6 {1.68/44} (54... hxg4 $1 $14 {0.61/47} 55. hxg4 g5) 55. Nf6 $2 {0.00/46} (55. gxh5 $1 $18 {1.68/44 White threatens h6 and mate.} gxh5 56. Kb3) 55... hxg4 56. hxg4 Kc6 57. Ne8 Be3 {[#] And now .. .Bg5 would win.} 58. Nf6 Bd4 59. Nd5 Kd6 60. Nc3 Be3 {The position is equal.} 61. Na4 Bd4 62. Nc3 Be3 {Accuracy: White = 46%, Black = 48%.} 1/2-1/2

B33 Sicilian: Pelikan and Sveshnikov Variations (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Nbd5 a6 7.Nd6+ Bxd6 8.Qxd6)

This was played in the tedjj's mini-tournament XLIII tournament at GameKnot. 11 players started this tournament on October 20th 2014 and only four of them still have unfinished games. Due to the fact that only four games per player can be going on at the same time in these mini-tournaments, these can take a very long time to finish. I have two games left to finish but no matter what happens in those games, I will end up in sixth place. The winner of the tournament was decided a long time ago and the player who will win it is called blokhin2 (1780), blokhin2 gathered 17 out of 20 possible points. The second place will either go to leonandonly (1697) or mgmgrand (1834), depending on what happens in the two games that mgmgrand has left to finish. One of those two games is against me, so I can play some part in the battle for the second place even though I am not fighting for that place myself.

[Event "tedjj's mini-tournament XLIII"] [Site "http://gameknot.com/chess.pl?"] [Date "2015.09.07"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "sale982"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B33"] [WhiteElo "1736"] [BlackElo "1521"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "99"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 a6 7. Nd6+ Bxd6 8. Qxd6 {B33 Sicilian: Pelikan and Sveshnikov Variations. LiveBook: 12 Games} Qa5 {1.55/26} ({Better is} 8... Qe7 {0.83/28} 9. Qxe7+ Nxe7) 9. Bd2 $16 {[#] Strongly threatening Nb5.} Qb4 10. Qxb4 Nxb4 {White is clearly better.} 11. O-O-O $1 O-O {2.13/25} (11... b5 $16 {1.59/28} 12. Kb1 Nc6) (11... Ng4 12. Be1 Nf6 13. f3 b5 14. Bh4 O-O 15. g3 Nc6 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17. Nd5 Nd4 18. c3 Nxf3 19. Bg2 Ng5 20. Nxf6+ Kg7 21. Nxd7 Bxd7 22. Rxd7 Rfd8 23. Rhd1 Rxd7 24. Rxd7 Rc8 25. Kd2 Rc6 26. h4 {Llano Buritica,E (1617)-Martinez,R (2075) Medellin 2013 1-0 (44)}) 12. Be2 $146 (12. Bc4 b5 13. Bb3 Bb7 14. f3 d5 15. a3 d4 16. axb4 dxc3 17. Bxc3 Rfe8 18. g4 h6 19. h4 Nh7 20. Rd7 Bc6 21. Bxf7+ Kh8 22. Bxe8 Rxe8 23. Ra7 Ra8 24. Rxa8+ Bxa8 25. Bxe5 Nf8 26. Rd1 Ne6 {Clavell Hernandez,G (1608) -Martinez Navaro,J Santa Eulalia de Roncana 2011 1-0}) 12... a5 {2.14/25} ( 12... Nc6 $16 {1.43/29 is a better defense.} 13. Be3 Ne8) 13. g4 {0.64/27} (13. Bg5 $18 {2.14/25}) 13... h6 $2 {2.54/25 [#]} (13... d5 $14 {0.64/27}) 14. g5 $18 hxg5 15. Bxg5 Nh7 16. Bh4 f6 17. Rhg1 Kh8 18. a3 Na6 {3.31/25} (18... Nc6 $142 {2.13/27} 19. Nb5 Nd8) 19. Nd5 g5 20. Bg3 Nc5 21. f3 Ne6 22. Nb6 Ra7 23. Nxc8 Rxc8 24. Rxd7 Nc5 25. Rd5 Ne6 26. Rgd1 Nhf8 27. Bb5 b6 28. Bf2 Rac7 29. R1d2 ({Weaker is} 29. Bxb6 Rxc2+ 30. Kb1 Rxh2 $16) 29... Nc5 {intending ... Nb3+.} 30. Kb1 Kg7 31. Rd6 Rb8 32. b4 axb4 33. axb4 Nce6 34. Rxb6 Rxb6 $2 { 4.20/29} (34... Rcb7 {2.54/29 keeps fighting.}) 35. Bxb6 Rb7 36. Rd6 Nd4 37. Ba6 Rd7 38. Rxd7+ Nxd7 39. Bxd4 exd4 {Endgame KB-KN} 40. Kb2 Ne5 41. Be2 Kf7 42. Kb3 Ke7 43. Ka4 Kd6 44. Kb5 Kc7 45. Kc5 Nd7+ 46. Kxd4 Kc6 47. c4 Kd6 48. c5+ {White mates.} Kc6 49. b5+ Kc7 50. Kd5 {Accuracy: White = 61%, Black = 21%. } 1-0

B33 Sicilian: Pelikan and Sveshnikov Variations (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Qb6 5.Nb3 Nf6 6.Nc3 e6 7.Be3)

This is the game that put me back over 2200 at Queen Alice Internet Chess Club. It is true that the only way I managed to climb my way back from 2180, the lowest rating I had since peaking at 2201, was due to two consecutive timeout wins. The first one was against a player who was rated 2314, in that game I would have probably resigned if my opponent had made one more move and this second one was quite balanced game up all the way through. If I recall correctly, my opponent actually run out of time once before but after I had sent a move reminder, he made a move in the 24 hour time period I usually give me my opponents before I claim the win on timeout, so the game continued. This second time, there was no move made, so I had to claim the win, because I am not going to delay the tournament any longer than necessary. The game below was played in the fourth round of the szybkielanie tournament that is an invite only tournament. I am currently leading the tournament, having gathered 7 out of 8 possible points. This tournament might become one of those unfinished ones unfortunately though because there is one person yet again who is not claiming a timeout win.

[Event "szybkielanie"] [Site "http://www.queenalice.com/game"] [Date "2015.06.19"] [Round "4"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "pioki"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B33"] [WhiteElo "2196"] [BlackElo "2037"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "33"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Qb6 5. Nb3 Nf6 6. Nc3 e6 7. Be3 { B33 Sicilian: Pelikan and Sveshnikov Variations} Qd8 {LiveBook: 3 Games} 8. Be2 {0.00/28} (8. f3 $14 {0.48/24}) 8... a6 {0.47/25} (8... Bb4 $11 {0.00/28}) 9. O-O Be7 {White has an edge.} 10. f4 d6 11. a3 O-O 12. Qe1 $146 (12. Qd2 Bd7 13. Rad1 Qc7 14. Qe1 Rfe8 15. Qg3 b5 16. Rd2 Rad8 17. Rfd1 Bc8 18. Qf2 Rd7 19. h3 Kh8 20. Bf3 Bb7 21. Bb6 Qc8 22. Be3 {1/2-1/2 (22) Stockter,J (1496)-Leimbach,T (1492) Willingen 2015}) (12. Bf3 Na5 13. Nxa5 Qxa5 14. Qd2 Qc7 15. Rad1 Bd7 16. Qf2 Bc6 17. Bb6 Qc8 18. Rfe1 Nd7 19. Bd4 b5 20. Qg3 e5 21. fxe5 dxe5 22. Be3 Re8 23. Bg4 Qb7 24. Bxd7 Bxd7 25. Nd5 Rad8 26. Kh1 Kh8 {Farago,S (2365) -Tcebekov,K (2315) Budapest 1996 1/2-1/2 (89)}) (12. Kh1 Re8 13. Qe1 e5 14. fxe5 Nxe5 15. Rd1 Qc7 16. Qd2 Bg4 17. Bxg4 Nexg4 18. Bg1 Bf8 19. Rfe1 Rad8 20. Re2 Rd7 21. Nd5 Nxd5 22. exd5 Rde7 23. Rde1 Qc4 24. Rxe7 Rxe7 25. Rxe7 Bxe7 26. Na5 Qc7 {Guennigmann,M (1949)-Gerlach,F Bendorf 2006 1/2-1/2 (39)}) 12... Bd7 { 0.66/22} (12... b5 $11 {0.09/25}) 13. Rd1 Qc7 14. Qg3 {0.57/23} ({Better is} 14. Qf2 $16 {0.98/21}) 14... Rfd8 {1.26/22} (14... b5 $14 {0.57/23}) 15. f5 { 0.32/25} ({White should try} 15. Qf2 $1 $16 {1.26/22}) 15... Kh8 $14 16. Nd2 Ne5 17. Rf4 {Accuracy: White = 19%, Black = 28%. . Loss on time!?} 1-0

B43 Sicilian: Kan Variation: 5.Nc3 (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 b5 6.a3)

Once more a game from the first round of the 2014 October Glacial Super Casual Banded I 1650+ tournament, this is the fourth game in a row from Red Hot Pawn that was played in the same tournament. I am currently in seventh place with 24 points. RedHotMayor, my opponent in the game below, is currently in fifth place in group 1 with 27 points. A player called takinitez007 (1930) is still on first place with 50 points and if he gets two more points, I am finally out of the battle for the win of the group and the possibility of advancing to the second round. While there are five players who still have theoretical chances to win group 1, in group 2 there are only three players still in the fight for the win.

I have decreased my game load to some extent and I only have 92 games in progress anymore, so despite some team matches have started recently, I am still on the path of getting rid of as many games as possible. I should have more time to play more games at the FIDE Online Arena now and maybe get to play the remaining 18 games left from the next title requirement. It is still too many games left though that I could mess things up this time around aswell. The last game I played at FOA was partly a waste of time, well the last 50 moves played in it that is. I offered my opponent a draw two times in those last 50 moves because I knew it was a draw, but my opponent did not accept the offer but instead wanted to play the endgame and try to win on time. It is true that I had less time than my opponent, but still enough time so that I did not lose my rook in the rook and king versus rook and king ending. I would have maybe understood the need to play that through if there were only seconds left in my clock, but at the time that ending appeared on the board, I had over two minutes left on my clock. I would always accept the draw offer in those endings, unless there is a easy way to win the rook on the position that the draw is offered.

[Event "Glacial Super Casual Banded"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2014.11.03"] [Round "1"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "RedHotMayor"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B43"] [WhiteElo "1788"] [BlackElo "1529"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Nc3 b5 6. a3 {B43 Sicilian: Kan Variation: 5.Nc3. LiveBook: 108 Games} Bc5 {0.62/24} (6... Bb7 $11 {0.14/26 is more appropriate.}) (6... d6 7. g3 Bb7 8. Bg2 Nd7 9. O-O Rc8 10. Re1 Ngf6 11. h3 Qc7 12. g4 Nb6 13. g5 Nfd7 14. h4 g6 15. Bh3 e5 16. Nb3 Na4 17. Re3 h6 18. Qg4 hxg5 19. hxg5 Nxc3 20. Rxc3 Qd8 21. Na5 {Kolar,S (2175)-Kovac,B (2304) Zalakaros 1999 0-1 (33)}) 7. Be3 $14 {Threatens to win with Nxe6!} Nc6 $146 { 4.45/23 [#]} (7... Be7 $14 {0.52/26}) (7... Ba7 8. Qd2 (8. Qf3 Bb7 9. Bd3 Ne7 10. Nb3 O-O 11. Bxa7 Rxa7 12. Qe3 Nbc6 13. O-O-O d6 14. f4 Qc7 15. Rhf1 Raa8 16. g4 Rad8 17. h4 Rfe8 18. Qf2 Nc8 19. h5 b4 20. Nb1 a5 21. a4 e5 22. f5 N6a7 {Driesner,R (1305) -Grawe,H (1427) Dortmund 2003 1-0 (42)}) 8... Ne7 9. f3 O-O 10. Be2 Bb7 11. g4 Nbc6 12. O-O-O Re8 13. h4 b4 14. Nb1 Qb6 15. Nxc6 Qxe3 16. Nxa7 Qxd2+ 17. Rxd2 bxa3 18. Nxa3 d5 19. N7b5 axb5 20. Bxb5 Reb8 21. exd5 Bxd5 22. Be2 {Sanchez Urpi,X-Regincos Oliva,L (1337) Figueres 2010 0-1 (42)}) (7... d6 8. Be2 Nf6 9. O-O O-O 10. Bf3 e5 11. Nf5 Bxe3 12. Nxe3 Nc6 13. Ncd5 Nd4 14. c3 Nxf3+ 15. Qxf3 Nxd5 16. Nxd5 Be6 17. Rfd1 Bxd5 18. Rxd5 Rc8 19. Rad1 Rc6 20. Qd3 Qc8 21. Rxd6 Rxd6 22. Qxd6 {Zavadilova,K (1405)-Dunglova,N (1250) Sec u Chrudimi 2007 1-0 (37)}) 8. Be2 $2 {0.23/27} (8. Nxc6 $18 {4.45/23} Qb6 9. Bxc5 Qxc5 10. Qg4) 8... Nxd4 {1.08/27} (8... Qb6 $1 $11 {0.23/27 keeps the balance.} 9. Nxc6 dxc6) 9. Bxd4 $16 Be7 $2 {2.83/26} (9... Bf8 $16 {0.96/25 was called for.}) 10. Bxg7 $18 Bf6 11. Bxh8 Bxh8 12. Qd3 Qc7 13. Nd1 Bb7 14. O-O Nf6 15. Bf3 Rc8 16. Ne3 Qc6 $2 {5.45/25} (16... d6 {3.04/27 was worth a try.} 17. a4 Nd7 18. axb5 Ne5) 17. e5 Nd5 18. Nxd5 exd5 19. Qxh7 Bxe5 20. Rfe1 d6 21. Bh5 Rc7 22. f4 {12.56/28} (22. Qg8+ $142 {#4/27} Ke7 23. Qxf7+ Kd8 24. Qf8+ Kd7 25. Bg4#) 22... d4 23. Re2 {11.42/26} (23. Qg8+ $142 {#4/26} Ke7 24. Qxf7+ Kd8 25. Qf8+ Kd7 26. Bg4#) 23... Bc8 24. fxe5 {54.27/27} (24. Qg8+ $142 {#4/29} Ke7 25. Qxf7+ Kd8 26. Qf8+ Kd7 27. Bg4#) 24... d5 25. Rf1 {56.14/27} (25. Qg8+ $142 { #4/29} Kd7 26. Qxf7+ Kd8 27. Qf8+ Kd7 28. Qe8#) 25... Be6 26. Rf6 {51.18/26} ( 26. Qg8+ $142 {#13/30} Kd7 27. Bxf7 Rb7 28. Rf6 Rb6 29. Rg6 Kc7 30. Bxe6 Rb7 31. Qc8+ Kb6 32. Bxd5) 26... d3 27. Qxd3 {26.19/27} (27. Qg8+ $142 {#11/26} Kd7 28. Bxf7 Ra7 29. Bxe6+ Kc7 30. cxd3 Qc1+ 31. Kf2 Qc5+ 32. Kg3) 27... Rd7 28. Qh7 {[#] Threatening mate with Qg8+.} d4 29. Bxf7+ {White mates.} Bxf7 30. Rxc6 d3 31. Qh8+ Ke7 32. Qf6+ Ke8 33. Rc8+ {Accuracy: White = 29%, Black = 4%.} 1-0

A43 Schmid Benoni (1.e4 e6 2.d4 c5 3.d5 Nf6 4.Nc3 d6 5.Nf3)

This game features an opening variation that was played in a move order that you will not see in theory. The theoretical move order for this variation is 1.d4 c5 2.d5 e6 3.e4, you might also come across this variation with the name A43 Benoni Defense: Franco-Sicilian Defense. The game below was played in the third round of a rapid chess tournament that was played at FIDE Online Arena on April 7th 2015. On the previous two rounds I won a game against a lower rated opponent and lost a game against a higher rated opponent, so the tournament was going once again without any real surprises and this third game did not break that pattern. I have added two mate in two, two mate in four and one mate in six puzzle. I have also added one more analysed game to my post C90 Spanish Game: Closed Variations, Pilnik Variation.

All was well for both players until we reached the position after my 5th move Nf3 and that you can see below this paragraph. Bruno52 played 5...Nbd7, which allowed me to take on e6 without the bishop being able to take back the pawn. After the moves 6.dxe6 fxe6 7.Ng5 bruno52 played 7...Be7 and his position went further down the drain.

I typed that it should have been the losing move, but when we ended in the position below, I played 21.Be3, which would have allowed my opponent to get back into the game.

Bruno52 was not able to find the saving move and blundered the game away with the move 21...Rae8?? Bruno52 should have played 21...Nxe3 in order to fight for a draw. After this I was able to maintain my advantage and the game ended in a mate on move 31.

Game number two. This game was played on the third round of the French 2014 tournament. Up to this point in the tournament I had barely advanced from one round to the next round. On this third round I faced a bit too tough resistance and ended up being fourth in the final standings of group 2. The group consisted of 4 players, so things did not go all that well for me this round. I only managed to get half a point on round three. Lasker64 was third on the final standings with 3 points and also did not advance to the last round.

This game had a similar situation as you can see in the first game in this post, my opponent played Nbd7, which blocked the bishop's path. For some reason in the first game I understood to take on e6, but not on this game. A better alternative would be 8...Re8 or 8...exd5. Lasker64's 8th move was not as bad as the Nbd7 played in the first game of this post though. The 9th move played by Lasker64 was seen in the position below and that was the move that created my opponent some real problems. Or rather it would have created problems had I replied to 9...Qc7 by playing 10.dxe6.

I played 10.Qd2 which was not the best option, but I still remained on the slightly better side of the board. The advantage kept shifting quite a bit, but the next significant change in the advantage came only after I played 30.Qg3? The position where I played my 30th move can be seen below.

It would have been important to prevent 30...Qa1+, but I was not up to the task of playing the most accurate move. Luckily neither was my opponent since Lasker64 played 30...Qc6. The position should be quite even after Lasker64's 30th move. However, my 31st move, Bg5, threw the game away once again. Again Lasker64 played a passive move that enabled me to hang on in the game. That being said, I made a third consecutive blunder with my 32nd move, which could have allowed my opponent to take a clear advantage again. For the third consecutive time my opponent was unable to take the advantage. The move 32...f6 was good enough for a draw. Lasker64 should have played either 32...Qa8 or 32...Qa6 in order to take the advantage. The remainder of the game was played rather evenly, but I actually resigned after 40...Qe8. The reason for this was that I thought that I am in a completely lost position and could not see a saving move. There would have been a move that would have kept an even position and that move was 41.Ne4. This was not the first time that I have resigned because I have misjudged the position and it might not be the last, but I am trying my best to avoid that in the future.

[Event "Tournament 28708446"] [Site "online arena"] [Date "2015.04.07"] [Round "3"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "bruno52"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A43"] [WhiteElo "1855"] [BlackElo "1402"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 c5 3. d5 Nf6 4. Nc3 d6 5. Nf3 {A43 Schmid Benoni} Nbd7 {1.81/26} ({Black should try} 5... exd5 $14 {0.45/27} 6. Nxd5 (6. exd5 h6 $14) 6... Be7) (5... a6 6. dxe6 Bxe6 7. Ng5 b5 8. Nxe6 fxe6 9. g3 Nc6 10. Bg2 Qc7 11. O-O Be7 12. Ne2 Kf7 13. Nf4 Rhe8 14. a4 b4 15. g4 h6 16. h4 g5 17. Nh3 Nh7 18. f4 Kg7 19. hxg5 hxg5 20. fxg5 {Speelman,J (2535)-Suba,M (2490) Dortmund 1981 1-0 (52)} ) 6. dxe6 $146 (6. Bd3 e5 7. O-O a6 8. a4 g6 9. Bg5 Bg7 10. Qd2 h6 11. Bh4 O-O 12. h3 Qe8 13. Ne2 c4 14. Bxc4 Nxe4 15. Qb4 Ndc5 16. Rfe1 g5 17. Bg3 Bd7 18. a5 Qd8 19. Bd3 Nxd3 20. cxd3 Nxg3 {Koval,D (2209)-Bevington,T Parsippany 2006 1/ 2-1/2 (49)}) (6. Be2 Be7 7. O-O Nf8 8. Nd2 e5 9. a4 Ng6 10. Nc4 O-O 11. Be3 Re8 12. Qd3 Bd7 13. a5 Rb8 14. Rfb1 b5 15. axb6 axb6 16. Na3 Ng4 17. Bxg4 Bxg4 18. Nab5 Rf8 19. Ra7 f5 20. f3 fxe4 {Rodkin,F (2198)-Gratsianov,I (1906) St Petersburg 2005 1-0 (34)}) 6... fxe6 7. Ng5 Be7 $2 {5.26/24 [#]} (7... Nb8 { 1.91/27} 8. e5 h6) 8. Nxe6 {White is clearly winning.} Qb6 9. Nxg7+ Kf7 10. Nf5 Bd8 {15.09/23} (10... Ne5 $142 {4.89/25} 11. Nxe7 Kxe7) 11. Bc4+ d5 12. exd5 $2 {3.95/25} (12. Nxd5 {14.64/22} Qe6 13. Nxf6 Nxf6 14. Nd6+ Kg7 15. Bxe6 Bxe6 16. Qf3) 12... Ne5 13. Bd3 c4 $2 {5.38/23} (13... Nxd3+ {2.82/24 might work better. } 14. Qxd3 Bxf5 15. Qxf5 Re8+ 16. Kd1 Bc7) 14. Nh6+ Ke8 15. Bf5 Bxf5 16. Nxf5 Nfg4 {[#]} 17. O-O Qf6 18. Ng3 Qh4 19. h3 Bb6 20. Qe2 Kd7 21. Be3 $2 {0.00/27} (21. Nce4 $18 {9.98/24} Nxf2 22. Rxf2) 21... Rae8 $2 {11.45/25} (21... Nxe3 $11 {0.00/27} 22. Na4 Nxf1 23. Nxb6+ axb6 24. Qxe5 Nxg3 25. Qe6+ Kd8 26. Qxb6+ Kc8 27. Qc5+ Kb8 28. Qd6+ Ka7 29. Qa3+ Kb8 30. Qd6+ Ka7 31. Qa3+ Kb8 32. Qd6+) 22. Bxb6 axb6 23. Nce4 Rhf8 24. f4 Rxf4 25. Rxf4 Qxg3 26. Nxg3 {White mates.} Ng6 27. Qxg4+ Kd6 28. Rf6+ Kc5 29. Re6 Rd8 30. Ne4+ Kxd5 31. Rd1# {Accuracy: White = 39%, Black = 21%.} 1-0 [Event "French 2014 - Round 3"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.01.06"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "Lasker64"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A43"] [WhiteElo "1813"] [BlackElo "2088"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppp1ppp/4p3/8/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 2"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 2. d4 c5 3. d5 Nf6 4. Nc3 d6 5. Nf3 {A43 Schmid Benoni} Be7 6. Be2 O-O 7. O-O a6 (7... Na6 8. h3 Nc7 9. a4 b6 10. Bf4 a6 11. dxe6 Bxe6 12. Ng5 Bc8 13. Bc4 h6 14. Nf3 Be6 15. Bxe6 Nxe6 16. Bh2 b5 17. axb5 axb5 18. Qe2 b4 19. Nd5 Nxd5 20. exd5 Rxa1 21. Rxa1 Ng5 22. Nd2 {Bergonzi,O (1930)-Franco Pinanez,M (1718) Asuncion 2016 1-0 (48)}) 8. a4 Nbd7 (8... exd5 9. exd5 Re8 10. Bf4 Bg4 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Bxf3 Nbd7 13. Qd2 Ne5 14. Be2 Ng6 15. Bh2 Bf8 16. a5 Rc8 17. Ra4 Rc7 18. f4 Qc8 19. g4 Nd7 20. Bg3 f5 21. gxf5 Ne7 22. Bg4 Nf6 23. Bh4 {Sakaev,K (2590)-Nun,J (2395) Pardubice 1997 1-0 (47)}) 9. Bf4 $146 {dxe6 is the strong threat.White is better.} (9. Nd2 exd5 10. exd5 Ne5 11. f4 Ned7 12. Nc4 Re8 13. Bd3 Rb8 14. Na3 {1/2-1/2 (14) Linn,P-Ward,T Troy 1993}) 9... Qc7 10. Qd2 { 0.30/29} (10. dxe6 $16 {0.85/24} fxe6 11. Ng5) 10... Rd8 {0.90/24} (10... exd5 $11 {0.30/29} 11. exd5 (11. Nxd5 Nxd5 12. exd5 Re8 $14) 11... Ne5) 11. Rfd1 { 0.29/29} ({White should play} 11. dxe6 $16 {0.90/24} fxe6 12. Bc4) 11... exd5 $11 12. Nxd5 (12. Qxd5 {looks sharper.} Ne5 13. Qd2 h6 14. h3 Be6 15. Qe3) 12... Nxd5 13. Qxd5 Nf6 14. Qd3 Bg4 15. h3 Bh5 16. b3 Bg6 17. Nd2 Rab8 {0.25/24 } (17... Qc6 {-0.19/29 was preferrable.}) 18. Bf3 Nd7 19. Qe3 b5 20. axb5 axb5 21. Ra6 Ne5 22. Be2 Rb6 23. Rda1 Rxa6 24. Rxa6 Qb7 {0.76/31} (24... Nc6 $1 $11 {-0.16/27 remains equal.}) 25. Ra2 {-0.15/26} (25. Ra5 $16 {0.76/31}) 25... Nc6 26. c3 b4 27. c4 Nd4 28. Bd3 Ra8 29. Rxa8+ Qxa8 30. Qg3 {-1.08/27} (30. Qe1 $11 {-0.23/28 keeps the balance.}) 30... Qc6 {0.00/32} (30... Qa1+ $17 {-1.08/27} 31. Kh2 Qc3) 31. Bg5 {-1.49/29} (31. Be3 $11 {0.00/32}) 31... Bf8 {0.00/33} ( 31... Bxg5 $17 {-1.49/29} 32. Qxg5 Qa8) 32. f4 {-0.86/28} (32. Be3 $11 {0.00/33 }) 32... f6 {0.00/35} ({Black should try} 32... Qa6 $17 {-0.86/28} 33. Qe1 f6) 33. f5 $1 {The position is equal.} fxg5 34. fxg6 h6 35. e5 dxe5 36. Qxe5 Bd6 37. Qe3 Qd7 38. Be4 Bf4 39. Bd5+ Kh8 40. Qd3 Qe8 {Accuracy: White = 34%, Black = 37%. . Loss on time!?} 0-1

Chess960 SP76

After today all my chess960 games that I have funtional pgn for, have been added to this blog. There might be one chess960 game that I have not shared, mainly because I would need to correct the pgn. The game below was played in a team match called IT'S A KNOCKOUT 960 R1 Team USA 960 vs Obsessive Chess Disorder!! It has a 48 hour time limit for your moves which I am not at all that keen on and I avoid it whenever I can. I am playing on board 5 for OCD in this match that is played on 18 boards. We are doing quite well at the moment because we lead the match 9 - 14. If I win my other game against SiregarGurda, I can be reasonably content with my performance in this match but of course if I lose, I will be really disappointed by the results I received. Because none of us have lost on time, I feel that the other members of the team have cared about the result of this match, our opponent on the other hand has lost three games on time. I am not saying that those people who have lost on time would not have cared about their games, because there might be some reason or the other that has made them unable to move, something that they have no control over.

In a completely unrelated topic, I managed to get back over 2200 at Queen Alice Internet Chess Club and now I am in my peak rating there 2203!! My previous peak rating there was 2201. On a sadder note, the site seems a bit too problem filled to keep me interested in playing there. If the only problem would be that the tournaments there can get to a standstill, I could just avoid tournaments and play challenge games, it would be a decent way still to keep playing there. Now, however, I am faced with another problem that is much more annoying and one that should not be happening, I get logged off from the site whenever I try to go to my games, my tournaments etc. It is just not acceptable behaviour in my opinion. I have no idea what is causing it to happen. It is pretty much the only site where I have had these kind of problems. I have added one more game to these two posts: Chess960 SP33 and Chess960 SP649. I have also added three mate in one, one mate in two and one mate in four puzzle today.

Game number two. This game was played in a team match called IT'S A KNOCKOUT 960 R1 Team USA 960 vs Obsessive Chess Disorder!! I played on board 5 for OCD and as you can see from the results in this post, I lost both of my games against SirerarGurda. I am still happy because the score in this match that is played on 18 boards is currently 13 - 19 in favor of Obsessive Chess Disorder!! Which of course means that the victory is firmly in our grasp. I did have chances to win the game below, but I just did not understand the requirements of all the positions and made some bad moves which my opponent was able to take advantage of.

Game number three. The game below was played in a team match called Club Random. It is played on 13 boards between CLUB 960 and Chess960 RandomChess. I play on board 4 for Chess960 RandomChess. The current score in the match is 13 - 5 in favor of CLUB 960. I am not sure why, but I have really struggled in this starting position, three games and three losses. It is at the moment the worst score I have had in any of the starting positions that I have encountered so far.

I start this game with pretty much the same idea I have had for awhile on how to develop my pieces. I start by planting my d-pawn to d4 in order to get a presence in the center of the board early on. Then I played the akward looking 2.a3 in order to get my bishop to a2. Like I have previously mentioned, when the bishops start from b1, b8, g1 and g8, I prefer to play a3, a6, h3 or h6 on the side I castle because I want to put bishop on that side to a2, a7, h2 or h7. While I understand that those squares might not be ideal for the bishop, I value pawn structure quite highly and I do not want to make moves like c4, c5, f4 or f5 on the side I want to castle, but there are some exceptions to this though. I may want to rethink the ways I handle this and similar starting positions because this is not the way I can be all that successful in these types of games. While I played my first blunder on move 18 with Na4, I had made some inaccuracies before that which gave my opponent a small advantage. After 18.Na4 I could have already been on losing position, had my opponent taken advantage of my blunder. The reply 18...Bc7 is not horrible, it still keeps the advantage on Vladakis70's side, but it is far from the strongest move that could have been played in that position. I manage to play a couple of moves before I make a horrible move again, but this time it was the game losing move. The move 23.c3 just is not able to do the job I intended it for, but instead it is the blunder that made sure that I was going to lose the game.

Game number four. Since there is not all that much opening theory about Chess960 out there, or at least not named opening variations like in chess, I would like to be one of those people that offer their opinions of different starting positions and maybe help in development of opening theory for this variant and all of its starting positions. For instance, in this particular starting position the two games I played against SiregarGurda had the same position after White's second move and my games against Vladakis featured the same position after Black's first move. I know that is not much, but since there are chess openings that have a name after the first move played in the game, I could name both ways to start the game already with some name. However, I could also decide to follow these games a bit further and name the openings used in them after the last good move played in the game. Then again, there are opening variations in chess opening theory that are quite bad to play.

Looking at the first game in this post, for example, I would end the theory after 1.e4 e5 2.Nab3, since my move 2...h6 already gives White a clear advantage. It is true that one could argue that 1...e5 is already a bad move since it allows White to win a pawn with 2.Qb5, but Black does get compensation for the pawn in view of better development. Whether or not the compensation is enough probably requires a lot more testing in practical games between two human players in order to know if this is a viable way to play between humans. Then again these days computers are very good learning tool, so some players would study this further with the assistance of a computer and have an advantage against those that do not do that. In the second game I would likely end the theory after the moves 1.Nab3 e5 2.e4 f6 3.h3 b6 4.Bh2, since 4...Bxb3 is the first clear mistake. Deciding what the theory might look like for the third game is something that is more difficult to do. I would probably end the theory after 1.d4 d5, since after 2.a3 the advantage goes for the one who controls the black pieces.

This game followed a line that I would maybe allow to be on theory up to the move 3.Nd3. The first blunder of the game came in the position below. It is taken after my 8th move Ndc4. Vladakis70 played 9.Qe2, which allowed me to respond with 9...Bxh2. It gave me a clear advantage according to Stockfish.

After my inaccurate moves 10...Qd6 and 11...O-O-O the game was fought evenly once again. It did not last long because my opponent's 12th move 12.O-O-O was another blunder. While at first I was able to reply correctly, when it came to the position below, I missed the best continuation and allowed my opponent to get back into the game again.

The best move in the position above is 13...Ncxb2 believe it or not. If 14.Nxb2 then 14...Nxc3 should be good for me. I played 13...Nxc5 instead and now we found ourselves in an equal position again. When we reached the position after 23.cxd4, it came my time to make a really horrible move. In the position you can see below I played 23...dxe4?? Had my opponent replied correctly with 24.Nxe4, I could have been on my way to fourth loss in this starting position.

Alas for my opponent, Vladakis70 played 24.Rxe4 instead, which threw the win away. The rest of the game was played without any real mistakes and we agreed to a draw after Vladakis70's 40th move Ne2.

C72 Spanish Game: Deferred Steinitz: 5.0-0 (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.O-O a6 5.Ba4 Bg4 6.c3 b5 7.Bb3 Qf6 8.d3 Bxf3 9.Qxf3 Qxf3 10.gxf3)

This was played in round two of the 28th Chess.com Tournament (1601-1800). I am currently fifth in group #18 that has six players in it, so things are not looking that bright for me if I want to win the group and advance to the next round. I probably would have wanted to advance all the way to the last group when this tournament started but these days I just want to minimize the amount of games I have in progress at the same time. The way some of the games are going, it is very unlikely that I would be able to advance to the next round. My opponent in this game, Andrei25, has half a point more than me at the moment and is on fourth place. This tournament started on September 1st 2014 and chances are it will end sometime next year. I had chances to win the game below but was always able to mess things up so that the position withered finally to a draw.

[Event "28th Chess.com Tournament (1601-1800) -"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2015.04.28"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "Andrei25"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C72"] [WhiteElo "1923"] [BlackElo "1771"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "96"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 4. O-O a6 5. Ba4 Bg4 6. c3 b5 7. Bb3 Qf6 8. d3 Bxf3 9. Qxf3 Qxf3 10. gxf3 {C72 Spanish Game: Deferred Steinitz: 5.0-0} Nge7 11. Be3 $146 (11. f4 exf4 (11... Na5 12. Bc2 exf4 13. Bxf4 Ng6 14. Be3 Be7 15. a4 O-O 16. Nd2 Nc6 17. f4 b4 18. Nf3 Rab8 19. Rab1 b3 20. Bd1 f5 21. Nd2 Na5 22. exf5 Rxf5 23. Bg4 Rf6 {1/2-1/2 (23) Litov,M-Kazakov,N (1943) Tula 2006}) 12. Bxf4 Ne5 13. Bc2 N7g6 14. Bg3 Nf3+ 15. Kg2 Ngh4+ 16. Bxh4 Nxh4+ 17. Kg3 Be7 18. f4 f5 19. e5 d5 20. Nd2 Rf8 21. Bb3 c6 22. c4 dxc4 23. dxc4 Rd8 24. Rfd1 Rd3+ 25. Kf2 Bc5+ {Rodionov,A (2053)-Kazakov, N (1990) Tula 2007 0-1 (64)}) ( 11. a4 Rb8 12. axb5 axb5 13. f4 g6 14. Be3 Bg7 15. Nd2 O-O 16. fxe5 dxe5 17. f4 Bh6 18. d4 exf4 19. Bxf4 Bxf4 20. Rxf4 Kg7 21. Nf3 f6 22. d5 g5 23. Rg4 h5 24. Rg2 Nd8 25. Nd4 Kh8 {Vasques,A (2200)-Cordovil, J (2184) Amadora 2011 1-0 (57)} ) (11. Rd1 Na5 12. Bc2 c5 13. Be3 Ng6 14. Kf1 Be7 15. Bd2 O-O 16. a4 Nc6 17. Na3 b4 18. Nc4 a5 19. Rdb1 Rad8 20. Nb6 Bh4 21. Nd5 f5 22. Bb3 Kh8 23. Be3 fxe4 24. fxe4 Rf3 25. Bd1 Rf7 {Kudenko,A (1933) -Niks,Y (1882) Moscow 2007 0-1 (47)} ) 11... O-O-O {1.49/28} (11... g6 $11 {0.22/26 remains equal.}) 12. a4 $16 d5 { White is clearly better.} 13. axb5 axb5 14. Bc5 {0.70/26} ({White should play} 14. d4 $16 {1.57/23}) 14... dxe4 {1.11/24} (14... Kb7 $14 {0.70/26}) 15. dxe4 f6 16. Na3 Ng6 17. Bxf8 {0.61/29} (17. Be3 $1 $16 {1.02/26} Bxa3 18. Rxa3) 17... Rhxf8 $14 18. Nxb5 Kb7 19. Rfd1 {0.41/33} (19. Bd5 $16 {0.92/25}) 19... Nh4 $2 {2.50/27 [#]} ({Black should try} 19... Nce7 $14 {0.41/33}) 20. Bd5 $18 Kb6 21. Na3 $1 Nxf3+ 22. Kg2 Nh4+ 23. Kg3 g5 {3.50/28} (23... Ng6 $142 {2.26/28 } 24. Nc4+ Kb5) 24. Nc4+ Kb5 25. Ra2 Ra8 $2 {4.79/25 [#]} (25... f5 {2.26/26 keeps fighting.} 26. Rda1 Rxd5 27. Na3+ (27. exd5 Kxc4 28. dxc6 Rd8 $14) 27... Kc5 28. b4+ (28. exd5 Ne7 $16) 28... Kd6 29. exd5 Kxd5 30. Rd1+ Ke6) 26. Rda1 $2 {1.08/31} (26. Na3+ $18 {4.79/25} Kb6 27. Rda1) 26... Rxa2 $16 27. Rxa2 Ng6 28. Ne3 Nge7 {1.41/25} (28... Nf4 $142 {0.91/30}) 29. Bc4+ {1.00/30} (29. Kg4 $142 {1.41/25}) 29... Kb6 30. Kg4 Na5 31. Be6 h5+ 32. Kg3 {0.08/31} (32. Kxh5 $16 {1.10/26 Kh6 is the strong threat.} Rh8+ 33. Kg4) 32... c6 $11 {The position is equal.} 33. b4 Nb7 $1 34. Nc4+ Kc7 35. Rd2 Rd8 36. Rxd8 Nxd8 { Endgame KBN-KNN} 37. Bh3 Ng6 38. Bf1 Nf7 39. Be2 Nf4 40. Bd1 Nd6 41. Nxd6 Kxd6 {KB-KN} 42. Kf3 c5 43. Bb3 cxb4 44. cxb4 Nd3 45. b5 Kc5 46. Bf7 Kxb5 47. Bxh5 Kc5 48. Ke3 Nf4 {Accuracy: White = 49%, Black = 43%.} 1/2-1/2

C90 Closed Spanish Game with 7...d6: Early deviations (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O b5 6.Bb3 Be7 7.Re1 O-O 8.c3 d6 9.d3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.Nbd2 Qc7 12.Nf1 Bd7)

This game was played in a team match called Obsessive try again!! It is a match that is played between Obsessive Chess Disorder!! and CzechoSlovakia * ČeskoSlovensko on 40 boards. I played on board 15 for OCD and ended my games in this match to the loss seen below. I did manage to win my other game against arpadsusniflinta, so I did help the team in the form of a point at least. It did not help much because our team has to accept the loss in this match after all the games have ended as the score is 24 - 44 in favor of our opponent. This match is played with thinking times of 3 days per move and the people who participated will play only one game simultaneously.

Yesterday, for the first time in maybe over year, I got my game load decreased below one hundred! Of course that meant that I had to face more losses but still I am feeling a bit better now that I have only 97 games in progress than I did when I had 270+ games in progress for several months. The fact that my ratings have somewhat plummeted both at Chess.com and at Red Hot Pawn at the same time that the amount of simultaneous games has decreased, is quite troublesome for me. I am not sure what has actually changed in the way that I play in these two sites that would cause the sudden drop in my ratings. It might be possible that because my playing style has not changed, my play has become too predictable and that might be my downfall. I may need to start playing in a more unpredictable manner and see what effect it has on the results I get.

[Event "Obsessive try again!! - Board 15"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2015.06.22"] [Round "?"] [White "arpadsusniflinta"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C90"] [WhiteElo "1885"] [BlackElo "1939"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Be7 7. Re1 O-O 8. c3 d6 9. d3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. Nbd2 Qc7 12. Nf1 Bd7 {C90 Closed Spanish Game with 7...d6: Early deviations. LiveBook: 3 Games} 13. Ng3 Rfe8 (13... Rfc8 14. Bd2 Rab8 15. Rc1 c4 16. d4 Nc6 17. d5 Nd8 18. b4 cxb3 19. axb3 a5 20. Bd3 Qb7 21. Qe2 Rc7 22. h3 Qc8 23. Ra1 b4 24. cxb4 axb4 25. Ba6 Nb7 26. Bxb4 Qe8 27. Rec1 Rxc1+ 28. Rxc1 {Martin Gonzalez,A (2490) -Martinez Lopez,J (2265) Spain 1999 1-0 (46)}) 14. h3 h6 15. Nh2 $146 {The position is equal.} (15. Nh4 Bf8 16. Nhf5 Kh7 17. Qf3 Bxf5 18. Qxf5+ Kg8 19. Bxh6 Re6 20. Bd2 c4 21. d4 g6 22. Qf3 Nd7 23. Nf5 exd4 24. Nxd4 Rf6 25. Qg3 Nc6 26. Nf5 Re8 27. Bh6 Rxf5 28. Bxf8 Rfe5 29. Bh6 Nf6 {Strand,K (2037)-Haraldsson, S (1833) Reykjavik 2015 1-0 (42)} ) (15. Bd2 Nc6 16. Bb3 Be6 17. Bxe6 fxe6 18. Nh4 Kh7 19. Nh5 Nxh5 20. Qxh5 Bxh4 21. Qxh4 Rf8 22. Rf1 Rf7 23. Be3 Raf8 24. Rad1 Ne7 25. Qg4 Rf6 26. d4 Rg6 27. Qe2 c4 28. dxe5 dxe5 29. Rd2 Rf7 {Padurariu,I (2236)-Schneider,H (1378) Germany 2013 1-0 (42)}) 15... Bf8 16. f4 Nc6 {0.92/22} (16... b4 $11 {0.06/25 keeps the balance.}) 17. f5 $1 $16 d5 18. Nh5 {[#] Black must now prevent Nxf6+.} Nxh5 19. Qxh5 dxe4 {2.48/23} (19... f6 $16 {1.30/25}) 20. dxe4 $18 c4 21. Re3 {0.63/27} (21. Ng4 $1 $18 {1.79/23}) 21... Bc5 $14 22. Kh1 Bxe3 23. Bxe3 {[#] Strongly threatening Ng4.} Qd6 $2 {2.95/30} (23... f6 $1 $14 {0.45/27 }) 24. Rd1 Qe7 25. Ng4 $1 Bc8 $2 {8.36/28} (25... f6 {2.90/31} 26. Bc5 Qxc5 27. Nxh6+ gxh6 28. Qg6+ Kh8 29. Qxh6+ (29. Rxd7 Re7 $16) 29... Kg8 30. Qg6+ (30. Rxd7 Re7 $16) 30... Kf8 31. Qxf6+ (31. Rxd7 Re7 $16) 31... Kg8 32. Qg5+ (32. Rxd7 Re7 $16) 32... Kh7) 26. Bxh6 $1 f6 (26... gxh6 27. f6) 27. Bxg7 $1 { White mates.} Kxg7 (27... Qxg7 28. Qxe8+) 28. Qh6+ Kf7 29. Qh7+ Kf8 30. Qh8+ { Accuracy: White = 56%, Black = 20%.} 1-0

C66 Spanish Game: Steinitz Defence (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.d4 Bd7 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.O-O Be7 7.h3 exd4 8.Nxd4)

The game below was played in the third round of the 2014 August Banded Threesomes I 1700-1800 tournament that is still in progress at Red Hot Pawn. I have only one game left to finish and so far I have lost all my games on round three. With this win my opponent took the lead in the group and simultaneously I confirmed my last place in this four player group. I have done so many silly mistakes at my games lately at Red Hot Pawn that my rating keeps going down. Well, whenever I will finish my games at RHP, I will take much needed break from correspondence chess for some time. I think after I have taken that break and started playing there again, I will be able to turn things into a more positive direction.

There has been some discussion about the way I post puzzles and some people have certainly expressed their feelings about that. This mostly concerns some positions I posted to social networks and the comments that I have received there. All of those positions appear in this blog of course. Not all the people like the way sometimes there are positions where there is a mate to be found in some number of moves and the side who is doing the mate is up sometimes considerable material. To such positions, some of the people comment things like the position is already won and that the weaker side would have resigned already. Well, it is true that the weaker side could have resigned in that position but that is irrelevant, you are asked to find the mate and not solve it by saying that the weaker side would have resigned in the given position already. If you do not like such positions, it is ok, I do not blame you. But what I tried to argue, fruitlessly in this case, is that no matter what the material difference is on the board if you are in a forced mate, it does not matter if the material is even or you have more material than your opponent or less material than your opponent, the position at the board is still lost. As I am person who does not judge the positions by the beauty aspect alone and want to play the best moves in any given position (mostly failing at it of course), I have added various positions that might not be beautiful as such but feature a mate that can be done in the amount of moves I have indicated against the most resistant defense. I will, whenever I can, post more positions that do not have too high material advantage in favor of the attacker in the future.

[Event "Banded Threesomes"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2015.07.04"] [Round "3"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "Rumdrum"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C66"] [WhiteElo "1801"] [BlackElo "1964"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "52"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 4. d4 Bd7 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. O-O Be7 7. h3 exd4 8. Nxd4 {C66 Spanish Game: Steinitz Defence} O-O {LiveBook: 4 Games} 9. Be3 a6 ( 9... Re8 10. Re1 h6 11. Qd2 Bf8 12. f3 a6 13. Bc4 b5 14. Nxc6 Bxc6 15. Bb3 Bb7 16. Ne2 d5 17. exd5 Nxd5 18. Bf2 c5 19. c3 c4 20. Bc2 Qc7 21. Nd4 Bd6 22. Rxe8+ Rxe8 23. Re1 Rxe1+ 24. Qxe1 {Einarsson,O (1691)-Tan,T (1488) Reykjavik 2016 0-1 (33)}) 10. Be2 Re8 {The position is equal.} (10... b5 11. a3 Re8 12. f4 Nxd4 {1/2-1/2 (12) Kovacs,G (2310)-Koszorus,P (2280) Hungary 1992}) 11. Nf3 $146 (11. Qd2 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 Bc6 13. Bf3 h6 14. Rad1 Qd7 15. Rfe1 Rad8 16. Nd5 Bxd5 17. exd5 Nh7 18. b3 Rb8 19. Bg4 Qd8 20. Bf5 Bg5 21. Rxe8+ Qxe8 22. f4 Bf6 23. Bxh7+ Kxh7 24. Bxf6 gxf6 25. Qc3 Qe4 {Emiroglu,C (2044)-Basaran,B Manila Akhisar 2009 1-0 (57)}) (11. f4 Bf8 12. Bf3 Nxd4 13. Qxd4 c5 14. Qd3 Qe7 15. Bf2 Bc6 16. Rae1 Nd7 17. Re2 Qf6 18. Qd2 b5 19. Rfe1 b4 20. Nd5 Bxd5 21. Qxd5 Qxf4 22. Rf1 {1/2-1/2 (22) Maric,D (2218)-Adamovic,S (2037) Belgrade 2014}) 11... Bf8 12. Nd2 d5 {0.38/24} (12... Be6 $11 {-0.13/27}) 13. exd5 Nb4 14. Bc4 {[#] Strongly threatening a3.} Bf5 15. Bb3 Nbxd5 16. Nxd5 Nxd5 17. Bxd5 { -0.65/27} ({White should try} 17. Qf3 $11 {-0.10/29} Nxe3 18. fxe3 Qxd2 19. Rad1 (19. Qxf5 Qxe3+ 20. Kh1 Kh8 $11) 19... Qxe3+ 20. Qxe3 Rxe3 21. Rxf5) 17... Qxd5 $15 18. c4 Qe6 19. Qb3 {-1.19/25} (19. Qf3 $15 {-0.41/27}) 19... Qc6 20. Rac1 Rad8 21. Rfe1 {-2.74/24} (21. c5 $17 {-1.46/27}) 21... Rd3 $19 22. Rc3 $2 {-5.37/24 [#]} (22. Qd1 {-2.87/31} Bb4 23. Qf3 Qxf3 24. Nxf3 Bxe1 25. Nxe1) 22... Rexe3 $1 {Black is clearly winning.} 23. Rxe3 Rxd2 24. Rg3 g6 25. Rce3 Bd6 26. Rgf3 Be4 {Accuracy: White = 18%, Black = 53%.} 0-1

C78 Spanish Game: Archangelsk and Möller Defences (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 b5 5.Bb3 Bc5 6.O-O Nf6 7.Re1 O-O 8.c3)

The game I am sharing today is from the first round of a rapid chess tournament that was played at the FIDE Online Arena on April 7th 2015. The first inaccuracy by my opponent came to be when blancojefferson played 9...exd4 which gave me for the first time in this game some real advantage. My opponent should have tried either 9...Bb6 or 9...Ba7 instead of the move played in the game. The final mistake of the game was the move 16...Qd7?? which of course loses immediately. In order to prolong the game and have some chances, my opponent should have tried 16...g6. On the second round I faced a player called safmoon once again and lost and on the last two rounds I won my games against lower rated players, so I gathered three wins in four games which is a decent result that I can be content with. Until Monday, my fellow chess enthusiasts!

[Event "Tournament 28708446"] [Site "online arena"] [Date "2015.04.07"] [Round "1"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "blancojefferson"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C78"] [WhiteElo "1855"] [BlackElo "1344"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "33"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 b5 5. Bb3 Bc5 6. O-O Nf6 7. Re1 O-O 8. c3 {C78 Spanish Game: Archangelsk and Möller Defences} Bb7 9. d4 {LiveBook: 77 Games} exd4 {0.70/24} (9... Bb6 $11 {0.23/25}) 10. cxd4 $14 Be7 $146 {1.19/25} (10... Bb4 $14 {0.62/26} 11. Bd2 h6 12. Bxb4 Nxb4 13. Nc3 Re8 14. d5 a5 15. e5 a4 16. exf6 Rxe1+ 17. Nxe1 axb3 18. Qxb3 Na6 19. fxg7 Qg5 20. Nf3 Qxg7 21. Nxb5 Nc5 22. Qc3 Qxc3 23. Nxc3 Re8 24. Re1 Ra8 25. Re3 d6 {Woest,I (1332)-Van Essen, M (821) Assen 2017 1-0 (58)}) (10... Bb6 11. Nc3 (11. e5 Ne8 12. Nc3 Na5 13. Bd5 Bxd5 14. Nxd5 c6 15. Nxb6 Qxb6 16. Bd2 Nc4 17. Bb4 d6 18. exd6 Ncxd6 19. Ne5 Qb7 20. Rc1 a5 21. Bc5 f6 22. Nd3 Rd8 23. Nf4 Nc7 24. Qg4 Rf7 25. Qf3 Nc8 { Costa,C (1743)-Rosa,J (1568) Goiania 2014 1/2-1/2 (54)}) (11. Bg5 h6 12. Bh4 Re8 13. e5 g5 14. Nxg5 hxg5 15. Bxg5 Bxd4 16. Bxf6 Qxf6 17. exf6 Rxe1+ 18. Qxe1 Bxb2 19. Nc3 Bxa1 20. Qe3 Kh7 21. Bc2+ {1-0 (21) Percin,B (1549)-Aslan,O Datca 2011}) 11... h6 12. e5 Ne8 13. d5 Ne7 14. Qd3 Ng6 15. Bc2 c5 16. h4 f5 17. exf6 Rxf6 18. Ne4 Rf8 19. Nxc5 Rf6 20. Nxb7 Qc7 21. h5 Nf8 22. Be3 Qxb7 23. Bxb6 Qxb6 24. Re2 Nd6 25. Rae1 {Wilson,A (2073)-Morris,C Epsom 2002 1-0 (36)}) 11. Nc3 {0.73/26} (11. e5 $142 {1.19/25} Ne8 12. Nc3) 11... b4 $16 12. Nd5 Na5 { 1.86/24} (12... Nxd5 $16 {0.75/25 was necessary.} 13. Bxd5 Na5) 13. Nxe7+ $18 Qxe7 14. e5 {Bg5 is the strong threat.} Nd5 15. Bc2 $1 d6 16. Qd3 Qd7 $2 { #1/25 [#]} (16... g6 $18 {1.77/24} 17. Bh6 Rfe8) 17. Qxh7# 1-0

A01 Nimzowitsch-Larsen Opening (1.b3 d5 2.Bb2 c5 3.e3 Nc6 4.Bb5)

The game I am sharing today was played in the first round of the 2014 October Glacial Super Casual Banded I 1650+ tournament. I am playing on group 1 and I currently reside on 9th place with 18 points. A player called takinitez007 (1890) leads the tournament having gathered 47 points so far. Caissad4 (1942) is on second place with 38 points, jankrb (2165) is on third place with 34 points. Takinitez007 not only is the current leader but also has the highest maximum possible score which means the current leader has very good chances to win the group and advance to the next round. I am, however, among the five people still who can win the group and advance to the second round. The way I have been playing recently, I do not think that I will be able to advance to the second round, I just seem to lose almost every single game.

[Event "Glacial Super Casual Banded"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2014.11.03"] [Round "1"] [White "anom asil"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A01"] [WhiteElo "1697"] [BlackElo "1809"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] {[%evp 9,59,-8,0,-6,-8,-18,-8,-14,-13,-13,0,0,0,-6,-9,-32,57,62,92,0,253,260, 341,347,697,358,280,145,133,132,126,130,127,126,154,67,128,0,0,0,0,0,554,558, 686,508,468,458,29986,29987,29994,29995]} 1. b3 d5 {A01 Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Classical Variation} 2. Bb2 c5 3. e3 Nc6 4. Bb5 {A01 Nimzowitsch-Larsen Opening } Qb6 5. Nc3 Nf6 {aiming for ...d4.} (5... e6 6. Qe2 Nf6 7. Nf3 Bd6 8. e4 dxe4 9. Ng5 Bd7 10. Bxc6 Bxc6 11. Ncxe4 Be7 12. O-O-O Bxe4 13. Nxe4 O-O-O 14. Nxf6 Bxf6 15. Bxf6 gxf6 16. g4 Rd4 17. Qf3 e5 18. c3 Rf4 19. Qd5 Qc7 20. Qg2 { Lehocz,J (1962)-Karacsonyi,G (2163) Budapest 2017 1/2-1/2 (40)}) 6. Nf3 Bd7 $146 (6... d4 7. Bxc6+ Qxc6 8. exd4 cxd4 9. Ne2 d3 10. cxd3 g6 11. O-O Bg7 12. Ne5 Qd6 13. Ng3 O-O 14. Qf3 Qd5 15. Ne4 Nxe4 16. dxe4 Qxd2 17. Nc4 Qd7 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. h3 b5 20. Rfd1 Qe6 21. Na5 {Daneri,M (2099) -Hernandez Riera,J (2203) Praia da Pipa 2014 1/2-1/2 (66)}) (6... a6 7. Bxc6+ Qxc6 8. Ne2 g6 9. Ne5 Qc7 10. d4 Bg7 11. O-O O-O 12. Nf4 cxd4 13. exd4 Bf5 14. c3 Rfd8 15. f3 Ne8 16. Re1 Bh6 17. Ne2 Bg7 18. Ng3 Nd6 19. Nf1 Rac8 20. Ne3 Be6 21. Nd3 {Torre,E (2519) -Purnama,T (2383) Tarakan 2008 1-0 (37)}) 7. Bxc6 Bxc6 8. Ne5 {The position is equal.} e6 9. O-O Bd6 10. f4 {[%mdl 32]} O-O 11. Ne2 {[%mdl 32]} Nd7 12. Ng3 { [%tqu "En","","","","f7f5","",10]} Nxe5 {0.57/26} (12... f5 $1 $15 {-0.32/26}) 13. fxe5 $14 Bc7 {[%tqu "En","","","","d2d4","",10]} 14. Qg4 {0.00/27} (14. d4 $1 $16 {0.92/27}) 14... Kh8 $2 {2.53/24 [%mdl 8192]} (14... Qb4 $1 $11 { 0.00/27 and Black is okay.} 15. Qe2 d4) 15. Nh5 $1 $18 {[#]} g6 16. Nf6 { Threatening mate with Qh3.} Kg7 $2 {6.97/24} (16... Bd8 {3.47/29} 17. Qg5 Kg7) 17. Qg5 Bd8 18. Rf4 $40 {1.45/25 [%mdl 128] White goes for the king.} (18. Rf3 $18 {2.80/23 White wants to mate with Rh3.} h6 19. Qf4) 18... h6 $16 19. Qg3 Qc7 20. Raf1 Bxf6 21. Rxf6 Rad8 22. R1f4 {0.67/27} ({White should play} 22. h4 $16 {1.54/24 h5 is the strong threat.} Qe7 23. h5) 22... Qa5 {1.28/24} ({ Black should try} 22... Be8 $14 {0.67/27}) 23. Rg4 {0.00/29} (23. Qf2 $16 { 1.28/24} Qc7 24. Qh4) 23... Be8 $11 24. h4 {[#] Threatens to win with h5.} Rg8 ({Not} 24... Qxd2 25. h5 $16) 25. h5 Kh7 $2 {5.54/25 [%mdl 8192]} (25... g5 $11 {0.00/32 and Black stays safe.}) 26. hxg6+ $18 Rxg6 27. Rgxg6 fxg6 28. Rxe6 { Re7+ would kill now.} Qxa2 {#14/36} (28... Qc7 $18 {4.58/28} 29. Qf3 Qg7) 29. Re7+ Kh8 30. Qh4 {Accuracy: White = 39%, Black = 42%.} 1-0 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2009.10.18"] [Round "?"] [White "Manninen, Juha"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A01"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "31"] 1. b3 d5 {A01 Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Classical Variation} 2. Bb2 c5 3. e3 Nc6 4. Bb5 {A01 Nimzowitsch-Larsen Opening} Qd6 5. f4 (5. Nf3 a6 6. Bxc6+ Qxc6 7. Ne5 Qc7 8. O-O Nf6 9. c4 dxc4 10. bxc4 e6 11. Qa4+ Nd7 12. d4 Bd6 13. Nd2 O-O 14. f4 cxd4 15. exd4 Nxe5 16. fxe5 Bxe5 17. dxe5 Qb6+ 18. c5 Qxb2 19. Nf3 Qb5 { De Santis,A (2260)-Lazic,M (2506) Forni di Sopra 2018 0-1}) 5... Bd7 $146 { 0.47/23} (5... a6 $11 {-0.22/26} 6. Bxc6+ Qxc6 7. Nf3 Nf6 8. O-O g6 9. d3 Bg7 10. Nbd2 O-O 11. Qe1 b5 12. Qh4 c4 13. Ne5 Qc7 14. Bd4 Ne8 15. bxc4 dxc4 16. dxc4 f6 17. Nef3 bxc4 18. Rab1 Nd6 19. Bb6 Qc6 20. Nd4 Qd5 21. e4 Nxe4 { Niesel,M (2160)-Brueggemann,J (2290) Porz 1990 1-0 (50)}) (5... d4 6. Na3 Bd7 7. Nf3 O-O-O 8. Nc4 Qc7 9. O-O f6 10. Qe2 Nh6 11. exd4 Nxd4 12. Bxd7+ Qxd7 13. Bxd4 cxd4 14. Rae1 Nf5 15. g4 Nh6 16. h3 e5 17. fxe5 Bc5 18. Qd3 b5 19. Nd6+ Bxd6 20. exd6 {Torre,E (2531)-Gu,X (2300) Manila 2007 1-0 (34)}) (5... f6 6. c4 d4 7. Qh5+ g6 8. Qd5 Bd7 9. Qxd6 exd6 10. Bxc6 Bxc6 11. Nf3 dxe3 12. dxe3 O-O-O 13. Nc3 Bg7 14. O-O-O Nh6 15. Nd5 Ng4 16. Rhe1 Rhe8 17. h3 Nf2 18. Rd2 Ne4 19. Rd3 Rd7 20. Kc2 {Paehtz,E (2457)-Kosteniuk,A (2439) Beijing 2011 0-1 (58)}) 6. Nf3 $14 a6 {0.62/23} (6... e6 $11 {0.06/24}) 7. Bxc6 Bxc6 8. O-O {-0.04/24} (8. d4 $14 {0.54/24}) 8... Nf6 $11 9. Nc3 {-0.36/24} (9. d4 $14 {0.53/24}) 9... g6 {0.39/23} (9... e6 $15 {-0.36/24}) 10. Qe2 {-0.28/24} (10. Na4 $14 {0.39/23}) 10... Bg7 {0.19/26} (10... Bh6 $142 {-0.28/24}) 11. Ne5 {-0.46/22} ({White should try} 11. Nd1 $11 {0.19/26}) 11... O-O 12. Rae1 {-0.63/23} (12. a4 $11 { -0.08/25}) 12... b5 {-0.12/27} (12... Nd7 $15 {-0.63/23} 13. Nxc6 Qxc6) 13. Nxc6 Qxc6 14. Nd1 {-0.81/22} (14. e4 $11 {-0.01/27 keeps the balance.}) 14... b4 {0.00/27} (14... c4 $17 {-0.81/22}) 15. Nf2 {-0.68/24} (15. d3 $11 {0.00/27} ) 15... Rfc8 {-0.09/28} ({Black should play} 15... a5 $15 {-0.68/24}) 16. c4 { -0.73/26 Accuracy: White = 24%, Black = 26%.} (16. d3 $11 {-0.09/28}) 1/2-1/2

D12 Slav Defence, 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 (1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 c6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg4 7.Qb3)

This game was played in the third round of the 2014 August Banded Threesomes I 1700-1800 tournament that is still in progress at Red Hot Pawn. I have two games left to finish and if I were to lose both of those games, I would have lost all of my games in this third round. Already this round has been really bad for me but it would be a disaster if I could not get a single point in this round. The battle for the win of the tournament is between Paullli (2068) and Rumdrum (1954), both have currently 9 points and their maximum possible score is 18. I have one game left to play against both these leading players, so even though I can't win anymore, I can at least have an affect on who wins the tournament. I have added one mate in one, one mate in two, two mate in five and one mate in seven puzzle today. I have also added one analysed game to my post D37 Queen's Gambit Declined: Three Knights Variation. General. Until tomorrow, my fellow chess enthusiasts!

The comments to this game starting with this paragraph have been added December 31st, 2016. In the game below I started to go wrong with the move 9...Bg6? and I should have instead played 9...Ne4. The position in which I played my 9th move can be seen below. The problem with the game move is that it allows chessicle to double my pawns.

I did get a chance to hang on in the game a few moves later when chessicle played 12.e4 in the position below. 12.O-O and 12.cxd5 were better alternatives for chessicle. Unfortunately for me, I replied to the move played in the game by playing 12...dxe4 and I was in some trouble once again. 12...Nxe4 was my best option and I would have been only slightly worse. In the game continuation I was clearly worse. Immediately chessicle took another inaccurate step and allowed me to get back into the game again with the move 13.Nxe4.

I was not able to maintain the game rather evenly fought for very long and when I made my 17th move in the position below, I took another step towards bigger problems. I castled long when I should have castled short. Chessicle was not able to find the strongest move 18.Kb1 and played 18.Qc3 instead.

I did hang on in the game for a few more moves, before I messed up once again with the move 22...Rd5?? The position where I played it can be seen below. My reluctance to take on c5 with the pawn was due to my need to keep my pawn structure in the best possible shape. Again chessicle played a rather sloppy move, this time it was 23.cxb6, which lost most of the advantage that my opponent had. With the move 23.Qa3 Stockfish thinks that chessicle had an advantage of around 1.5 pawns, but after the move 23.cxb6 the advantage drops to around 0.5 pawns.

I then took back with my a-pawn and chessicle replied with 24.Rc1. It would have been a tough struggle, but I might have been able to get a draw, had I not played 24...Kb7. I then was lost without hope of recovering. I continued playing moves for awhile, but when I saw the forced mate after 30.Rc7+, I resigned.

[Event "Banded Threesomes"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2015.07.04"] [Round "3"] [White "chessicle"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D12"] [WhiteElo "1956"] [BlackElo "1832"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 c6 4. e3 Bf5 {Slav Defense: Quiet Variation, Schallopp Defense} 5. Nc3 (5. cxd5 cxd5 6. Nc3 (6. Qb3 Qc8 7. Bd2 e6 8. Na3 { Queen's Gambit Declined: Slav, Landau Variation}) 6... e6 7. Ne5 Nfd7 {Queen's Gambit Declined: Slav, Amsterdam Variation}) 5... e6 6. Nh4 Bg4 7. Qb3 { D12 Slav Defence, 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5} b6 8. h3 Bh5 9. g4 Bg6 10. Nxg6 hxg6 11. Bg2 Nbd7 (11... Be7 12. g5 (12. cxd5 exd5 13. g5 Ne4 14. Nxe4 dxe4 15. h4 Bd6 16. Bxe4 Qe7 17. Qc2 Bb4+ 18. Kf1 Nd7 19. Bxc6 Rc8 20. Qe4 Qxe4 21. Bxe4 Ke7 22. a3 Bd6 23. Bd2 Rh5 24. f4 Rch8 25. Be1 Nf8 26. Rc1 f6 {Gonzalez Acosta,B (2478) -Reboucas,D (2008) Praia da Pipa 2014 1-0 (32)}) 12... dxc4 13. Qxc4 Nd5 14. h4 b5 15. Qd3 Nd7 16. Bd2 N7b6 17. Nxd5 exd5 18. b3 Qd7 19. Rc1 Ba3 20. Rc2 Qg4 21. Bf1 Rc8 22. b4 Nc4 23. Rxc4 dxc4 24. Qxa3 Rd8 25. Rh3 Rxh4 26. Rxh4 { Hodgson,J (2575)-Hector,J (2510) Oxford 1998 1-0 (36)}) 12. e4 $146 (12. Bd2 Rc8 13. O-O-O Be7 14. Kb1 (14. e4 Nxe4 15. Nxe4 dxe4 16. Bxe4 Nf6 17. Bg2 Qxd4 18. Be3 Qe5 19. Qa4 Qc7 20. Rd2 Nd7 21. Rhd1 Nc5 22. Bxc5 Bxc5 23. Qxc6+ Qxc6 24. Bxc6+ Ke7 25. Rd7+ Kf6 26. Bb7 Rce8 27. g5+ Kxg5 28. Rxf7 Rxh3 { Schmouchkovitch,M (1984)-Gautier,E (1768) Sautron 2010 0-1 (36)}) 14... O-O 15. e4 Nxe4 16. Nxe4 dxe4 17. h4 c5 18. g5 cxd4 19. Qh3 Nc5 20. h5 Bxg5 21. hxg6 fxg6 22. Bxe4 Nxe4 23. Qxe6+ Rf7 24. Qxe4 Bxd2 25. Qxg6 Bb4 26. Qh7+ Kf8 { Damaso,R (2405)-Prie,E (2480) Clichy 1995 0-1 (34)}) (12. cxd5 cxd5 13. g5 Nh5 14. e4 dxe4 15. Bxe4 Rc8 16. Be3 Bd6 17. O-O-O Nf4 18. h4 Ne2+ 19. Kb1 Nxc3+ 20. bxc3 Qc7 21. Rc1 Bf4 22. Rh3 Ke7 23. Kb2 b5 24. Bd3 a6 25. Rf3 Bd6 26. Re1 Nb6 {Shalimov,V (2452)-Fingerov,D (2374) Alushta 2003 0-1 (71)}) 12... dxe4 ( 12... Nxe4 13. Nxe4 dxe4 14. Bxe4 $14) 13. Nxe4 (13. g5 Nh5 14. Be3 Bd6 $16) 13... Nxe4 $14 14. Bxe4 Qc7 15. Be3 Nf6 {Black threatens to win material: Nf6xe4} 16. Bg2 Bd6 17. O-O-O O-O-O (17... O-O 18. Kb1 $14) 18. Qc3 {White plans c5} (18. Kb1 $142 $5 Qb7 19. Rd3 $18) 18... Bf4 $14 19. Kb1 Bxe3 20. Qxe3 Rd7 21. Qf3 (21. g5 Nh5 $14) 21... Rd6 (21... Rhd8 22. g5 Nh5 23. d5 $11) 22. c5 {White threatens to win material: c5xd6} (22. g5 Nh5 23. Rhe1 $14) 22... Rd5 $4 {throwing away the advantage} (22... bxc5 $142 $5 {is an interesting alternative} 23. dxc5 Rxd1+ 24. Rxd1 Nd5 $11) 23. cxb6 (23. Qe2 $5 $18) 23... axb6 $16 24. Rc1 Kb7 $2 (24... Rd6 $142 $5 $16) 25. g5 $18 Nh5 26. Qb3 (26. Qe3 $142 Nf4 27. Be4 $18) 26... Rd6 $4 {shortens the misery for Black} (26... Nf4 $142 27. Bxd5 Nxd5 $16) 27. Rxc6 $1 $18 {Decoy: c6.} Rxc6 28. Rc1 Ka7 (28... Rc8 {what else?} 29. Bxc6+ Qxc6 30. Rxc6 Rxc6 $18) 29. Rxc6 Qd8 (29... Kb8 { cannot change what is in store for White} 30. Qb5 f5 31. Rxc7 Kxc7 32. Qc6+ Kd8 33. Qd6+ Ke8 34. Qxe6+ Kd8 35. Bc6 Nf6 36. gxf6 Kc7 37. Qd7+ Kb8 38. Qb7#) 30. Rc7+ $1 {Mate attack} (30. Rc7+ Qxc7 31. Qa4+ Kb8 32. Qa8#) 1-0