C28 Vienna Game: 2...Nf6 3.Bc4 Nc6 (1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nge2)

This was played on the second round of the over the board tournament that was played at Eura a bit over ten years ago. I came to the second round after winning a game against a player who was rated 2063. On this second round I faced another player who was rated over 2000. This was not at all a success like the first round game, but maybe a demonstration that I clearly was not playing well enough at the time that I could get two wins in a row against 2000+ rated players. Actually I am not that convinced that I could win games regularly against 2000+ players even today, but maybe I could win more than I did back then. Then again this is only a small sample of games from which I can't make too hasty decisions of. Only in the last year or so have I even be able to play quite consistently against players who are rated over 2000+ and even though I do not remember exactly when was the first time I broke that limit, not on over the board chess, but rather while playing in the internet, I do remember what was the place where I did it. It was years ago, probably close to ten years ago at Pogo. It was a brief moment that I was over that limit, but it did show me that I could do that. Nowadays I do not play there, actually I have not played there in several years because other places to play the game have been better. At the moment, I have two ratings on different sites over 2000, though on neither site have I played in months, so those ratings are far from accurate.

[Event "Eura"] [Site "?"] [Date "2005.09.24"] [Round "2"] [White "Lehmusvaara, Esa"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C28"] [WhiteElo "2018"] [BlackElo "1783"] [Annotator "Stockfish 6 64 BMI2 (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2005.09.24"] 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 {Vienna Game: Stanley Variation, Three Knights Variation} 4. Nge2 {C28 Vienna Game: 2...Nf6 3.Bc4 Nc6} Bc5 5. d3 (5. O-O O-O 6. Ng3 d5 7. Nxd5 Ng4 8. Ne3 Bxe3 9. dxe3 Qh4 10. h3 Nxf2 11. Kxf2 Be6 12. Bd5 g6 13. Qe1 Nb4 14. Qxb4 Bxd5 15. Qe1 Bc4 16. Bd2 f5 17. exf5 Bxf1 18. Kxf1 Rad8 19. Bc3 e4 {Seres,B (2269)-Piroska, I (2195) Hungary 2010 1-0}) 5... Ng4 (5... h6 6. O-O d6 7. Kh1 Ng4 8. d4 Nxd4 9. Nxd4 {0-1 (9) Benavides Villavicencio,R (1485)-Sanchez Villarreal,J (1653) Carpuela 2014}) 6. d4 exd4 {N} (6... Nxd4 7. Nxd4 exd4 8. Qxg4 dxc3 9. Qxg7 Rf8 10. O-O Qh4 11. Bg5 Bd4 12. Qxf8+ Kxf8 13. Bxh4 {1-0 (13) Dimitrov, N-Tiholov, G Sofia 2009}) 7. Na4 {White threatens to win material: Na4xc5} Bb4+ (7... d6 8. O-O O-O 9. h3 {=/+}) 8. c3 {=} dxc3 9. bxc3 (9. Nexc3 $5 Nf6 10. Bf4 {=/+}) 9... Ba5 {+/-} 10. O-O $5 Nge5 {Black threatens to win material: Ne5xc4} 11. Bd5 {Black's piece can't move: c8} O-O 12. f4 Ng6 (12... Ng4 13. e5 d6 14. h3 {+/-}) 13. f5 {= This push gains space} Nge5 {The knight is not easily driven from e5} 14. f6 gxf6 15. Bh6 {White threatens to win material: Bh6xf8} Re8 (15... d6 {=}) 16. Qe1 $4 {Black has a cramped position. Black's piece can't move: c8. with this move White loses his initiative} (16. Nf4 d6 17. Qe1 Kh8 {+/-}) 16... Ne7 $4 {not a good decision, because now the opponent is right back in the game} (16... Kh8 {!? +/-}) 17. Qg3+ (17. Nf4 c6 18. Nh5 cxd5 19. Qf2 {+-}) 17... N5g6 $4 (17... N7g6 18. Nf4 c6 19. Nh5 {+/=}) 18. Bb3 {White has a king attack} (18. Bxf7+ {and White has prevailed} Kxf7 19. Rxf6+ Kg8 20. Nf4 {+-}) 18... d5 {+/- Black threatens to win material: d5xe4} 19. Nf4 {White threatens to win material: Nf4xd5} (19. Rxf6 b5 20. Nc5 {+/=}) 19... c6 $4 {gives the opponent counterplay} (19... b5 { the rescuing straw} 20. Bxd5 c6 (20... Nxd5 21. Nxd5 bxa4 22. Nxf6+ Kh8 23. Rad1 {+/-}) 21. Nxg6 hxg6 22. Bxf7+ Kxf7 23. Rxf6+ Kxf6 24. Rf1+ Bf5 25. exf5 bxa4 26. fxg6+ Ke6 27. Qg4+ Kd6 28. Bf4+ Kc5 29. Be3+ Kd6 30. Bf4+ Kc5 31. Be3+ Kd6 32. Bf4+ {=}) 20. Nh5 {+-} Bc7 $4 {terrible, but what else could Black do to save the game?} (20... b5 21. Nxf6+ Kh8 22. Nxe8 Qxe8 {+-}) 21. Nxf6+ Kh8 22. Qf2 (22. Qxc7 {keeps an even firmer grip} Qxc7 23. Bg7+ Kxg7 24. Nxe8+ Kf8 25. Nxc7 {+-}) 22... Qd6 $4 {the pressure is too much, Black crumbles} (22... Rg8 23. Nxg8 Nxg8 24. Be3 {+-}) 23. g3 (23. Bg7+ $1 {and White takes home the point} Kxg7 24. Nxe8+ Kh6 25. Nxd6 Bxd6 26. exd5 cxd5 27. Qd2+ Kg7 28. Bxd5 {+- }) 23... Rd8 (23... Bh3 24. Nxe8 Rxe8 25. Qxf7 {+-}) 24. Rae1 (24. Nh5 { and White can already relax} f6 25. Bg7+ Kg8 26. exd5 cxd5 27. Bxf6 Bh3 {+-}) 24... b5 (24... Ne5 25. Bg5 b5 26. Nxd5 {+-}) 25. Nh5 f5 26. exd5 cxd5 (26... bxa4 27. Qd4+ Ne5 28. Bg7+ Kg8 29. Bxe5 Bb6 30. Bxd6 Rxd6 31. Rxe7 axb3 32. axb3 Rh6 33. Re8+ Kf7 {+-}) 27. Qd4+ Ne5 28. Rxe5 $1 {Decoy: e5} Kg8 (28... Qxe5 29. Bg7+ {Decoy Double attack}) 29. Re6 (29. Rxd5 Kf7 30. Rxd6+ Be6 31. Qf6+ Kg8 32. Bxe6#) 29... Bb6 (29... Kf7 {cannot undo what has already been done} 30. Rxd6 Bxd6 31. Re1 Rg8 32. Qf6+ Ke8 33. Qxd6 Be6 34. Nf6+ Kf7 35. Qxe6+ Kg6 36. Nxg8+ Kh5 37. Bd1#) 30. Nxb6 $1 {Mate attack} (30. Nxb6 Qc5 31. Qxc5 Ng6 32. Bxd5 Rxd5 33. Rxg6+ Kf7 34. Rf6+ Kg8 35. Rf8#) 1-0