A38 Symmetrical English vs ...g6: 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.Nf3 Nf6 (1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 c5 3.g3 Nc6 4.Bg2 g6 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.O-O O-O 7.b3 Ne4 8.Bb2 d6)

This game is the first game of the second half of the 100 game rapid chess match between these two friends. This was already the fifth game in a row where Tomi did not lose. He started to be in a very decent shape to make a much needed comeback in the match. This is also the latest game from the match, so we have finally reached the current situation in the match. It seems we have taken over a months hiatus from playing these games. For the record, it was not my choice to take the break. I am not sure which one of us has benefitted from the break, but I guess we will find an aswer to that as soon as we continue with the match. Based on the recent results that we both got from the over the board tournament last weekend, I would continue my downhill in this match if we would start playing again soon. My performance in that tournament was really disappointing while my friend played very well and won his group.

Because of that tournament last weekend, I have not been able to search my various databases for new openings to cover for the rest of the week, so we shall see what I come up with in the much reduced time than usual. I will post my latest Chess.com games and the remainder of the FOA games and after that it might be time to go through my OTB games database. I will post some of my chess960 games also later this week.

[Event "Challenge 32709238"] [Site "online arena"] [Date "2015.08.23"] [Round "1"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "Tocklin, Tomi"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A38"] [WhiteElo "1782"] [BlackElo "1722"] [Annotator "Stockfish 6 64 BMI2 (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "42"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 c5 3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2 g6 5. Nf3 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. b3 {English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Double Fianchetto} (7. d3 {English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Duchamp Variation}) (7. d4 {English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Mecking Variation}) 7... Ne4 8. Bb2 d6 {A38 Symmetrical English vs ...g6: 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.Nf3 Nf6} 9. Qc2 Nxc3 10. Bxc3 Bxc3 11. Qxc3 { Black king safety dropped} Rb8 {N} (11... e5 12. e3 (12. d3) 12... e4 {1/2-1/2 (12) Novkovic,M (2415)-Tratar,M (2478) Austria 2007}) (11... Bg4 12. e3 Qd7 13. d4 cxd4 14. Nxd4 Bh3 15. Rad1 Bxg2 16. Kxg2 Rac8 17. Qb2 Rfd8 18. Rd2 Nxd4 19. Qxd4 a5 20. a4 Rc5 21. h3 Qc6+ 22. f3 Qb6 23. Rd3 Rdc8 24. Rfd1 Qb4 25. Qg4 Qa3 26. h4 {Antoniewski,R (2552)-Pikula,D (2461) Bol 2014 1/2-1/2 (31)}) 12. d4 cxd4 13. Nxd4 Nxd4 14. Qxd4 a6 15. Rfd1 Be6 (15... Qc7 16. Bd5 {=}) 16. Rd2 ( 16. c5 Qa5 17. cxd6 Rfd8 {+/=}) 16... b5 17. Rad1 (17. cxb5 $5 {is an interesting alternative} axb5 18. Qa7 {=}) 17... bxc4 {=/+} 18. bxc4 Qb6 19. Qd3 Rfc8 {Attacking the isolated pawn on c4} 20. Bd5 Bxd5 21. cxd5 Rc7 1/2-1/2