A25 English Opening vs King's Indian with ...Nc6 but without early d3 (1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.e3 Nge7 6.Nge2 d6 7.d4 O-O 8.O-O)

This was played in the fifth round of Rilton Cup Open that I played in 2003. This tournament is the only one that I have played abroad and will most likely be the last one that I will ever play abroad. This has also been the only tournament that I did not play on every round. I think the game below was the last one I played, so I missed a couple of rounds. The reason why I did not play on all rounds was that I got sick and could not play. It was quite disappointing but what can you do. This was a really interesting experience for me, however as I was able to see some chess legends live, like Viktor Korchnoi and Mark Taimanov. For that reason alone it was the right time to go play that tournament. It is something that I am unlikely to forget. The playing part, however, did not go all that well, I was able to start with a win but then I lost two games in a row and on the fourth round I drew a game against a higher rated opponent. I was able to get only 1.5 out of 5, so no wonder I got sick... Or maybe the poor play was due to the fact I was getting sick. Nah, in all honesty, I just did not play well enough to get more points and at the time these players played better chess than I did. Who knows, they might play better chess than me nowadays too. Until Moday, my fellow chess enthusiasts!

[Event "Rilton Cup Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2003.12.31"] [Round "5"] [White "Lanvin, Pär"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A25"] [WhiteElo "1824"] [BlackElo "1612"] [Annotator "Stockfish 6 64 BMI2 (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2003.12.30"] 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 {English Opening: King's English Variation, Taimanov Variation} 5. e3 (5. d3 d6 6. e4 {English Opening: King's English Variation, Botvinnik System}) 5... Nge7 (5... d6 6. Nge2 Be6 {English Opening: King's English Variation, Bremen-Hort Variation} (6... Nh6 {English Opening: Closed, Taimanov Variation})) 6. Nge2 d6 7. d4 O-O 8. O-O {A25 English Opening vs King's Indian with ...Nc6 but without early d3} f5 9. Rb1 ( 9. d5 Nb8 10. e4 Nd7 11. h3 Nf6 12. exf5 Nxf5 13. b3 Bd7 14. Bb2 {0-1 (14) Stipic,M (2185)-Brkic,I (2184) Zadar 2008}) (9. a3 g5 10. Nd5 Ng6 11. dxe5 Ngxe5 12. Ra2 Nxc4 13. Nxc7 Qxc7 14. Bd5+ Kh8 15. Bxc4 Nb4 16. axb4 Qxc4 17. b3 Qxb4 18. Ba3 Qb6 19. Rd2 Be6 20. Rxd6 Qxb3 21. Qxb3 Bxb3 22. Rb1 Bc4 23. Nd4 b5 {Salcedo,J (2027)-Cespedes Galindo,E (1730) Barrancabermeja 2015 1/2-1/2 (39)}) 9... e4 {N Black gains space} (9... f4 10. gxf4 exd4 11. exd4 Bg4 12. Be3 Nf5 13. h3 Bh5 14. Qd2 Nh4 15. Ng3 Bf3 16. Bh1 Qd7 17. f5 Bxh1 18. Kxh1 Nxf5 19. Nxf5 Rxf5 20. Kg2 Raf8 21. f4 Ne7 22. Ne4 d5 23. Ng3 R5f7 24. c5 {Paszewski,M (1805)-Polok,K (1981) Karpacz 2010 0-1 (44)}) (9... a5 10. a3 Kh8 (10... g5 11. f4 gxf4 12. gxf4 Ng6 13. dxe5 dxe5 14. Qxd8 Nxd8 15. Nd5 Ne6 16. Bd2 Ra6 { 1/2-1/2 (16) Suslova,A (2184)-Korniyuk,M (2009) Herceg Novi 2008}) 11. b4 axb4 12. axb4 Ng8 13. b5 Nce7 14. Bb2 g5 15. f4 gxf4 16. exf4 e4 17. d5 Nf6 18. Nd4 Bd7 19. Qd2 Qc8 20. Nd1 Ra2 21. Ne3 c6 22. dxc6 bxc6 23. bxc6 Bxc6 24. Rfc1 { Mittag,R (2123)-Seidel,M (1947) Bayern 2014 1-0 (42)}) (9... f4 10. gxf4 exd4 11. exd4 {=}) 10. b4 d5 (10... a6 11. f3 exf3 12. Bxf3 {+/=}) 11. cxd5 (11. f3 dxc4 12. b5 exf3 13. Bxf3 Nb8 {+/-}) 11... Nxd5 {+/=} 12. Nxd5 Qxd5 13. Qc2 a6 (13... a5 14. bxa5 Nxa5 15. Qxc7 {+/=}) 14. Nf4 {White threatens to win material: Nf4xd5} Qf7 15. h4 (15. f3 g5 16. Ne2 exf3 17. Bxf3 Ne7 {+/=}) 15... Be6 (15... h6 16. g4 {=}) 16. a3 (16. Nxe6 Qxe6 17. Rd1 Rfd8 {+/=}) 16... Rfd8 (16... Ba2 17. Ra1 Bb3 18. Qc3 {=}) 17. Bb2 {Black has an active position} (17. Nxe6 Qxe6 18. f3 exf3 19. Bxf3 Rab8 {+/=}) 17... Rd6 (17... Bb3 $5 18. Qc5 Rd6 {=}) 18. Nxe6 {+/=} Qxe6 {White has the pair of bishops} 19. Rfd1 (19. Rfc1 Rc8 {+/=}) 19... Qd5 (19... Ne7 20. b5 {+/=}) 20. Ba1 (20. Bf1 b5 {+/-}) 20... Rad8 (20... b5 {!? +/= is an interesting alternative}) 21. b5 {+/-} axb5 22. Bf1 b6 $4 {the position was bad, and this mistake simply hastens the end} (22... Qe6 { +/-}) 23. Rxb5 {+-} Qe6 (23... Qf7 {cannot undo what has already been done} 24. Bc4 Re6 25. Rc1 {+-}) 24. Bc4 Rd5 25. Rc1 (25. Bxd5 {nails it down} Rxd5 26. Rxd5 Qxd5 27. Rc1 {+-}) 25... Ne7 26. Bb2 (26. a4 $5 {might be the shorter path } f4 27. exf4 Bf6 {+-}) 26... Kh8 27. a4 Qd6 $2 (27... f4 28. Bxd5 Nxd5 29. exf4 e3 {+-}) 28. Bxd5 Nxd5 29. Qc4 (29. Rxd5 {keeps an even firmer grip} Qxd5 30. Qxc7 f4 31. exf4 Re8 32. Qxb6 e3 33. fxe3 Qf3 {+-}) 29... Rd7 (29... Bf6 30. a5 bxa5 31. Rxa5 {+-}) 30. a5 bxa5 31. Rxa5 Nxe3 (31... Rd8 {is the last straw} 32. Qb5 Qf8 {+-}) 32. Ra8+ (32. Ra8+ Rd8 33. Rxd8+ Qxd8 34. fxe3 {+-}) ( 32. fxe3 $6 {is easily refuted} Qxg3+ 33. Kf1 Qf3+ 34. Ke1 Qxe3+ 35. Qe2 Qg1+ 36. Kd2 Bh6+ 37. Kc2 Bxc1 38. Bxc1 Qg3 {+-}) 1-0