C84 Closed Spanish Game: Unusual White 6th moves (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.h3 Be7 6.O-O Nf6 7.Re1 O-O 8.c3 Bd7 9.d4 b5 10.Bb3)

This was played in a team match called Visiting Wolve's lair. It was played on 23 boards between F&R and TROY. I played on board 2 for F&R in this match. In addition to this win, I drew my other game against driso. This was quite one-sided match where timeouts played a huge part. We lost six games on timeouts, but our opponent suffered 12 timeout losses. It was also sad to see two players who ended up having cheater badges next to their handle during the match, one from each team. We won the match with a score of 30.5 - 15.5!

In the game below I think that both players played reasonable moves until my opponent played 10...Ne8 which seemed a bit odd to me. I am not saying that all my moves up to that point in time had been perfect, but at least I had not made any big mistakes. The idea behind Ne8 is I assume to prepare for the move f5. However, it does take some time for my opponent to play that move and when he eventually plays it, it turns out to be a huge mistake. I think the whole plan of f5 in these type of positions is a mistake and the player with the black pieces should play more solidly. Because I was not playing the best moves, the position got more even again and on move 22...Nxh5, the position is quite even once more. I even end up in a lost position a few moves later, then things get balanced again after which I gain the upper hand again, only to almost lose it due to inaccurate moves. But because my opponent did not use his last chance for a draw on move 51, I ended up being the one with the upper hand for the remaining duration of the game.

[Event "Visiting Wolve's lair - Board 2"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2015.05.23"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "driso"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C84"] [WhiteElo "1879"] [BlackElo "1875"] [Annotator "Stockfish 6 64 BMI2 (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "113"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 {Spanish Game: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense (#2)} 5. h3 (5. Bxc6+ bxc6 6. d4 f6 {Spanish Game: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense}) (5. c3 Bd7 6. d4 g6 {Spanish Game: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense, Fianchetto Variation} (6... Nge7 {Spanish Game: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense})) 5... Be7 6. O-O Nf6 7. Re1 O-O 8. c3 Bd7 9. d4 b5 10. Bb3 {C84 Closed Spanish Game: Unusual White 6th moves} Ne8 {N} (10... Qc8 11. Nbd2 Rb8 12. Nf1 a5 13. Ng3 Ne8 14. Be3 Bf6 15. dxe5 Bxe5 16. Nxe5 Nxe5 17. f4 Nc4 18. Bc1 a4 19. Bc2 Qa6 20. Rb1 Qb6+ 21. Kh2 Qc5 22. Qd3 g6 23. b3 axb3 24. axb3 Nb6 25. Be3 {Schlechter, C-Suechting,H Vienna 1908 1-0 (44)}) (10... Re8 11. Nbd2 Bf8 12. a3 Na5 13. Ba2 Bc6 14. b4 Nb7 15. Qc2 g6 16. Bb2 Bg7 17. c4 exd4 18. Nxd4 Bd7 19. c5 dxc5 20. bxc5 c6 21. e5 Nh5 22. N2f3 Nf4 23. Qe4 Ne6 24. Nxe6 Bxe6 25. Qxc6 {Swic,W (2345)-Sygulski,A (2220) Zielona Gora 1982 0-1 (58)}) (10... Na5 11. Bc2 Nc6 12. Be3 d5 13. dxe5 Nxe4 14. Qxd5 Nf6 15. exf6 Bxf6 16. Bc5 Re8 17. Rxe8+ Qxe8 18. Nbd2 Rd8 19. Re1 Ne7 20. Bxe7 Bxe7 21. Qe4 g6 22. Qxe7 Bc6 23. Qxc7 Qd7 24. Qxd7 Rxd7 25. Nd4 { Acosta Quintana,M (1628)-Gonzalez Martin,J Las Palmas 2015 1-0}) (10... exd4 11. cxd4 Na5 12. Bc2 d5 13. e5 Ne8 14. Nc3 Be6 15. Qd3 g6 16. g4 Ng7 17. Bh6 f5 18. exf6 Rxf6 19. Ng5 Bf7 20. h4 c5 21. h5 Nc6 22. Nxf7 Kxf7 23. hxg6+ hxg6 24. dxc5 Bxc5 25. Re2 {Cordovil,J-Eggmann,R Barcelona 1965 1-0 (34)}) 11. Nbd2 Kh8 12. Nf1 Bf6 13. Ng3 g6 14. Be3 Bg7 15. Ng5 {White threatens to win material: Ng5xf7} (15. a4 Na5 16. Bc2 Nc4 {+/-}) 15... Qe7 16. Nf3 Rd8 (16... Qd8 17. a4 {+/-}) 17. Qd2 (17. a4 {+/-}) 17... f5 $2 (17... Na5 {!? +/= and Black is still in the game}) 18. exf5 {+-} gxf5 19. Bg5 (19. Nh5 $5 e4 {+/-}) 19... Bf6 {+/-} 20. Nh5 e4 (20... Bxg5 21. Qxg5 Nf6 {+/-}) 21. Bxf6+ (21. Bh6 {would have given White a clear advantage} Na5 22. Bxf8 Qxf8 23. Nxf6 Nxf6 24. Nh4 {+- }) 21... Nxf6 {+/=} 22. Qh6 (22. Nf4 {!? +/=}) 22... Nxh5 {=} 23. Qxh5 { Black king safety improved} Na5 24. Bc2 $2 (24. Qh6 c5 {=}) 24... Rg8 (24... Nc4 25. a4 Qf6 26. Nh2 Nxb2 27. axb5 {-+}) 25. a4 Nc4 26. b3 (26. axb5 $5 axb5 27. Qh6 {+/-}) 26... Nb6 27. axb5 Qf6 $4 {gives the opponent new chances} ( 27... axb5 28. g3 Nd5 29. Qh6 Nxc3 30. b4 {-+}) 28. Nd2 $4 {not a good decision, because now the opponent is right back in the game} (28. bxa6 $5 { and White hangs on} Nd5 29. g3 exf3 30. Qxf3 {=/+}) 28... Bxb5 (28... axb5 29. Nxe4 fxe4 30. Bxe4 {-+}) 29. c4 (29. Nxe4 fxe4 30. Rxe4 Rg7 {+/-}) 29... Be8 30. Qe2 Qg5 (30... d5 {!? +/-}) 31. g3 Bh5 {Black threatens to win material: Bh5xe2} 32. Qe3 Qg7 (32... f4 33. Qc3 d5 34. Bxe4 fxg3 35. fxg3 dxe4 36. d5+ Qg7 37. Qxg7+ Rxg7 38. Nxe4 {+/-}) 33. Rxa6 (33. Bd1 Bxd1 34. Raxd1 Rdf8 {=}) 33... Rdf8 {=/+} 34. Qf4 (34. Nxe4 fxe4 35. Bxe4 Rf6 {=/+}) 34... Qxd4 {+/-} 35. Bd1 $2 (35. Kh1 Nd7 36. Ra2 Nc5 {+/-}) 35... Be8 $4 {spoils everything} ( 35... Bxd1 $5 {seems even better} 36. Rxd1 Rxg3+ 37. Qxg3 {-+}) 36. Ra5 $2 (36. Ra3 Bf7 {=/+}) 36... Qf6 (36... Rxg3+ $1 {Black clearly has the better chances} 37. Kh2 Rgg8 38. Rxf5 Qg7 {-+}) 37. Ra7 {=/+ White threatens to win material: Ra7xc7} Rg7 38. Nf1 Rfg8 (38... Nc8 $5 {is noteworthy} 39. Ra8 Bc6 {=}) 39. Rxe4 {+/= Deflection: f5.} Bc6 (39... fxe4 40. Qxf6 {Deflection Pinning}) 40. Re1 (40. Qh4 Qc3 41. Re6 {+/-}) 40... Qf8 $2 (40... Nc8 {and Black can hope to live} 41. Ra6 Bb7 {+/=}) 41. Ne3 {+-} Be4 42. Bc2 Bxc2 43. Nxc2 Qb8 (43... Nc8 44. Ra5 Rf7 45. Nd4 {+-}) 44. Raa1 (44. Ra5 $5 {makes it even easier for White} Nc8 45. Rb5 Qa8 {+-}) 44... Nd7 45. b4 (45. Nd4 $5 {might be the shorter path} Rf7 {+-}) 45... Qb7 (45... Ne5 46. Ra3 {+-} (46. Qxf5 $6 Rf7 47. Rxe5 Rxf5 48. Rxf5 Qe8 {+/-})) 46. Re3 (46. Qxf5 $2 {fails because of} Rxg3+ {Deflection: g2} 47. Kf1 Qg2+ 48. Ke2 Rf8 {-+}) 46... Ne5 47. b5 Qc8 48. Kh2 (48. Nd4 Nxc4 49. Nxf5 Rf8 50. Nxg7 Rxf4 51. Re8+ Rf8 52. Rxc8 Rxc8 {+-}) 48... Qe6 (48... Qf8 49. Rea3 Ng6 50. Qd4 {+/-}) 49. Ra4 {+-} Qf7 50. Rc3 (50. Nd4 Rf8 51. Re2 Qf6 { +-}) 50... Qh5 $2 (50... Ng6 51. Qf3 Ne5 52. Qd5 {=}) 51. Kg2 $4 {White king safety dropped. throwing away the advantage} (51. Nd4 Ng6 52. Qf3 (52. Qxf5 $6 Qd1 53. Nb3 Rf8 {+/-}) 52... Qxf3 53. Nxf3 {+-} (53. Rxf3 f4 {+-})) 51... Rg5 $4 {Black lets it slip away} (51... Ng6 {the only rescuing move} 52. Qd4 Nh4+ 53. Kf1 Nf3 {=}) 52. Ne3 (52. c5 {keeps an even firmer grip} R5g7 53. cxd6 cxd6 54. b6 {+-}) 52... Qf7 (52... R5g7 53. Qxf5 Qh4 {+-}) 53. Ra7 Qf6 (53... R5g7 { what else?} 54. b6 Ng6 {+-}) 54. Nd5 Qh6 (54... Qe6 {doesn't change the outcome of the game} 55. Rxc7 R5g7 56. Rxg7 Rxg7 57. Qd4 {+-}) 55. Rxc7 Ng6 56. Qd4+ Ne5 57. f4 (57. f4 Qh4 58. Qf2 {+-}) 1-0