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