B15 Caro-Kann: 3.Nc3: 3...g6 and 3...dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ exf6 (1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Be2 dxe4 6.Nxe4 Nf6 7.Ng3)

The game below was played at the FIDE Online Arena and it is part of the 100 game match between these two players. This is game number 39 and the draw meant that my six point lead would continue to be an issue to my opponent that he should solve as soon as possible in order to get back into the fight for the win of the match. The score after this game was 22.5 - 16.5. There were still more than enough games left to change the leader in the match which is still paused and is unlikely to continue this week either. I should start playing at FOA this week though and work on getting the games I am missing for the requirement of Arena International Master. I just have not been able to play there lately which I am trying to change as soon as possible.

I played a team match game last Saturday which could have gone either way, but our top two boards were not able to win their games even though they had a few chances to convert their advantage into wins. It certainly was not the only reason we lost the match, but in the order that the games ended, those two games were the last ones to finish and therefore very important for the end result. It was a match that was played on five boards. The time controls were 1 h 30 min as the basic time, and on move 40, 30 minutes were added to the clock, also there was a 30 second increment that lasted the whole game. The match started with a loss for us on board five, which actually was an expected result as we did not get the best possible team composition. Then I tied the match by winning on board four. Then we lost on board three, which was the deciding point unfortunately as the draws obviously did not help. I was the team captain and while I am happy about the way my game went, I am not happy about the team performance. I knew we had a tough task ahead of us before the match, but because we certainly had chances to win despite the odds, the final score is disappointing. This was the second round match in the group our team plays and had we won this match, we would still be able to win the group but now it seems very unlikely thing to happen.

[Event "Challenge 32585584"] [Site "online arena"] [Date "2015.08.18"] [Round "1"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "Tocklin, Tomi"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B15"] [WhiteElo "1785"] [BlackElo "1682"] [Annotator "Stockfish 6 64 BMI2 (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "101"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 g6 {Caro-Kann Defense: Gurgenidze System} (3... b5 { Caro-Kann Defense: Gurgenidze Counterattack}) (3... dxe4 4. Bc4 {Caro-Kann Defense: von Hennig Gambit} (4. f3 {Caro-Kann Defense: Rasa-Studier Gambit})) 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Be2 dxe4 6. Nxe4 Nf6 7. Ng3 {B15 Caro-Kann: 3.Nc3: 3...g6 and 3.. .dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ exf6} O-O 8. O-O c5 (8... Qb6 9. b3 Bg4 10. Bb2 a5 11. a4 Nbd7 12. h3 Bxf3 13. Bxf3 Rad8 14. Qe2 Rfe8 15. Rfe1 Nf8 16. Qc4 Ne6 17. Rxe6 fxe6 18. Qxe6+ Kh8 19. Re1 Qb4 20. h4 Qd6 21. Qh3 e6 22. h5 gxh5 23. Re5 { Karpov,A (2705)-Larsen,B (2620) Tilburg 1979 1-0 (40)}) (8... Nbd7 9. c4 Re8 10. b3 e5 11. Bb2 e4 12. Ne5 Qc7 13. Qc2 Nxe5 14. dxe5 Nd7 15. Nxe4 Bxe5 16. Bf3 Bxh2+ 17. Kh1 Be5 18. Rfe1 Rf8 19. Rad1 Bxb2 20. Qxb2 f5 21. Rxd7 Bxd7 22. Nf6+ Rxf6 23. Qxf6 {Castillo,A (2027)-Benitez Pacheco,A (2092) Santo Domingo 2015 1/2-1/2 (32)}) 9. dxc5 Na6 {N} (9... Qc7 10. c3 Qxc5 11. Be3 Qc7 12. Qa4 Nbd7 13. Rad1 Nc5 14. Qh4 Ne6 15. Rd2 a6 16. Rfd1 Bd7 17. Qb4 Bc6 18. Bb6 Qf4 19. c4 h5 20. Qxe7 Rfe8 21. Qa3 Ng4 22. h3 Bf8 23. Qb3 h4 24. hxg4 {Chaves,J (2052)-Garcia,L (1975) Sao Paulo 2011 0-1 (32)}) (9... Qc7 10. Qd4 {=}) 10. Bxa6 bxa6 11. Be3 {White has an active position} Bg4 (11... Bb7 12. Re1 {+/=}) 12. Qxd8 (12. h3 Bc8 {+/-}) 12... Rfxd8 {+/=} 13. Nd4 (13. Ne5 {!? +/=}) 13... Nd5 {=} 14. c3 {Prevents intrusion on b4+d4} Rac8 15. Nb3 (15. h3 $5 Bd7 16. Rfe1 {=}) 15... Nxe3 16. fxe3 Be6 (16... Bh6 17. Kf2 Rd3 18. Rfe1 {=}) 17. Nd4 (17. Rfd1 Re8 {=}) 17... Bc4 {=/+} 18. Rfe1 e5 {Black threatens to win material: e5xd4} (18... Rxc5 19. b3 Bd5 20. c4 {=/+}) 19. Nf3 (19. Nb3 { !? = must be considered}) 19... Rxc5 {=/+} 20. Ne4 Rcd5 (20... Rcc8 {!? +/-}) 21. b3 {= White threatens to win material: b3xc4} Bd3 {Black threatens to win material: Bd3xe4} 22. Nf2 (22. c4 Ra5 23. Rad1 f5 {=} (23... Rxa2 24. Nc5 {+/-} )) 22... f5 (22... R5d7 23. Red1 {=/+}) 23. Rac1 a5 (23... R5d6 24. e4 Bb5 25. c4 {=}) 24. c4 {+/= White threatens to win material: c4xd5} R5d7 25. Red1 $4 { forfeits the advantage} (25. e4 a4 {+/=}) 25... h6 $4 {throwing away the advantage} (25... e4 26. Nxd3 Rxd3 (26... exd3 $6 27. Kf2 {=}) (26... exf3 $6 27. Nf2 {=}) 27. Rxd3 Rxd3 {+/-} (27... exd3 $6 28. Rd1 {=})) 26. Ne1 (26. Nxd3 Rxd3 27. Rxd3 Rxd3 {=}) 26... e4 {Black gets more space} 27. Nexd3 exd3 { White has a new backward pawn: e3. Black has a new passed pawn: d3} 28. Rd2 Re8 {Black threatens to win material: Re8xe3} 29. Nd1 $4 {gives the opponent new chances} (29. Rxd3 Rxd3 30. Nxd3 Rxe3 {=}) 29... Kf7 $4 {releasing the pressure on the opponent} (29... f4 {would have given Black a clear advantage} 30. e4 Bd4+ 31. Nf2 Be3 {-+}) 30. Kf2 Bf8 31. Nb2 (31. Rc3 Red8 32. c5 Rc8 {=}) 31... Ba3 (31... Bc5 32. Re1 Bb4 {+/-}) 32. Rcd1 {=} Bxb2 33. Rxb2 {A double rook endgame occured} Red8 34. Rbd2 Ke6 35. Re1 Ke5 36. Kf3 g5 37. g3 g4+ { Black wins space} 38. Kf2 Ke4 39. Rc1 h5 40. c5 Rc7 41. Rc4+ Ke5 42. a3 Rd5 43. b4 axb4 44. axb4 a5 45. bxa5 Rdxc5 46. Rxc5+ Rxc5 47. Rxd3 Rxa5 48. Rd2 Ra3 49. Ke2 Ke4 {Exerts pressure on the isolated pawn} 50. Rd4+ Ke5 51. Rd2 1/2-1/2