C68 Spanish Game: Exchange Variation, sidelines (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bc4 Bc5)

This was played at ChessRex between December 30th 2015 and January 19th 2016. The thinking times were 7 days per move for this game. This was my 9th game on the site and also my 9th win. My first and so far the only loss came in the 10th game, but more about that tomorrow when I share that game. I am currently rated 1661 and I think am currently the 55th highest rated player at ChessRex. The highest rated member of the site is rated 2332, so I have still quite a long way to go if I want to be the highest rated player on the site. I am actually quite ambitious, so I will do my best to get a better rating and because of that a better ranking among other members.

The balance in the game below is first disturbed when my opponent played 7.Qf3. Other options were better like a4 and c3. The position goes a bit more dire for my opponent already in his next move. I am unable to maintain or increase my advantage for very long and the advantage dissipates completely after 10...Ne6. Georg makes a mistake on the next move that allows me to fight for the advantage again. I am able to keep my advantage for a few moves again, but then I make two blunders in a row and I start to be in a losing position after the move 18...Ne7. Couple of bad moves are played by both sides starting from the move 20.f4 and the advantage shifts back and forth between the players. The move that finally lost the game was 22.Nxf7, after that I was able to play well enough to keep the advantage I gained from this blunder by my opponent and won the game by my opponent's resignation.

[Event "game id 37662"] [Site "http://ChessRex.com"] [Date "2016.01.19"] [Round "?"] [White "Georg"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C68"] [WhiteElo "1737"] [BlackElo "1658"] [Annotator "Stockfish 6 64 BMI2 (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "52"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 {Spanish Game} 4. Bc4 (4. Ba4 Nf6 (4... b5 5. Bb3 Bc5 {Spanish Game: Morphy Defense, Graz Variation} (5... Na5 6. Bxf7+ {Spanish Game: Morphy Defense. Norwegian Variation Nightingale Gambit})) 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3 d6 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Qc7 12. Nbd2 cxd4 13. cxd4 {Spanish Game: Morphy Defense. Chigorin Defense Panov System}) 4... Bc5 { C68 Spanish Game: Exchange Variation, sidelines} 5. d3 d6 (5... Nf6 6. Be3 d6 7. Nc3 O-O 8. O-O Bxe3 9. fxe3 Na5 10. Bb3 c6 11. Qe1 Nxb3 12. axb3 Ng4 13. h3 Nh6 14. g4 f6 15. Qg3 Bd7 16. Rf2 Qe7 17. Raf1 Rae8 18. Kh1 b5 19. Nh4 g6 20. b4 {Kaldor,A (2420)-Pinter,J (2510) Budapest 1981 0-1 (45)}) (5... h6 6. a4 Nf6 7. h4 d6 8. c3 Be6 9. Bxe6 fxe6 10. b4 Ba7 11. b5 axb5 12. axb5 Bxf2+ 13. Kxf2 Rxa1 14. bxc6 Rxb1 15. Qc2 Rb6 16. cxb7 Rxb7 17. Qa4+ Ke7 18. Ba3 Nd7 19. d4 exd4 20. Nxd4 {Matejka,F (1640)-Novak,J (1365) Orlova 2015 0-1 (32)}) 6. Ng5 Nh6 7. Qf3 {N Pawn f7, live or die!} (7. h3 Na5 8. Bb3 Nxb3 9. axb3 Qf6 10. Nf3 Bd7 11. c3 O-O-O 12. Bg5 Qg6 13. Bxd8 Rxd8 14. Rg1 f5 15. Nbd2 Rf8 16. Qe2 Qf6 17. O-O-O g5 18. Rgf1 Nf7 19. Nh2 Nd8 20. f3 Ne6 21. g3 h5 {Logvinenko,M (1273) -Haecker,K (1635) Magdeburg 2010 1-0 (53)}) (7. Nc3 Na5 8. Bb3 Nxb3 9. axb3 Ng4 10. Nh3 Nf6 11. Ng5 Bg4 12. Nf3 h6 13. h3 Bh5 14. O-O O-O 15. Qe2 Re8 16. Be3 Bxe3 17. Qxe3 c6 18. Rfe1 d5 19. g4 d4 20. Qe2 dxc3 21. gxh5 cxb2 {Sliva, O-Cupr,J Plzen 2001 0-1 (49)}) (7. a4 $5 {= must be considered}) 7... O-O {=/+} 8. Qg3 (8. a4 $5 {=/+ is an interesting alternative}) 8... Nd4 {+/-} 9. Kd1 (9. Bb3 Ng4 10. Rf1 a5 {+/-}) 9... Kh8 (9... b5 $5 10. Bb3 Nxb3 11. axb3 f5 {-+}) 10. c3 Ne6 (10... Nc6 11. Kc2 {+/-}) 11. h4 (11. Bxe6 $5 Bxe6 12. Nxe6 fxe6 13. Rf1 {=/+}) 11... Qf6 {+/-} 12. f3 b5 13. Bd5 {White threatens to win material: Bd5xa8} Rb8 14. Rf1 $2 (14. b4 $5 {is worth consideration} Bb6 15. Nxe6 fxe6 16. Bc6 {=/+}) 14... Nf4 {+/-} 15. Kc2 (15. d4 Bb6 16. Bxf4 exf4 {-+} (16... Qxf4 $6 17. Qxf4 exf4 18. Kc2 {=})) 15... Nxd5 16. exd5 Nf5 17. Qe1 Qg6 $4 { Black has let it slip away} (17... Qd8 {-+ and the scales tip in favour of Black}) 18. g4 {+/-} Ne7 $4 {causes further problems for White} (18... f6 19. gxf5 Bxf5 {+/-}) 19. h5 {+-} Qf6 (19... Qxg5 {doesn't get the cat off the tree} 20. Bxg5 f6 {+-}) 20. f4 (20. Ne4 {keeps an even firmer grip} Nxd5 21. Nxf6 Nxf6 {+-}) 20... Kg8 $4 {overlooking an easy win} (20... Bxg4 $5 {should not be overlooked} 21. fxe5 Qxe5 22. Nxf7+ Rxf7 23. Qxe5 Bd1+ 24. Rxd1 dxe5 {=/+}) 21. Qe4 (21. Ne4 {secures victory} Nxd5 22. Nxf6+ Nxf6 23. fxe5 Nxg4 24. b4 {+- }) 21... g6 {=} 22. Nxh7 $4 {releasing the pressure on the opponent} (22. Qh1 { and White can hope to live} Qg7 23. fxe5 gxh5 24. gxh5 Qxe5 25. Ne4 Nxd5 26. Re1 {+/-}) 22... Kxh7 {+/-} 23. hxg6+ (23. Nd2 exf4 24. Rxf4 {+/-}) 23... fxg6 {-+} 24. Qh1+ (24. Nd2 exf4 25. b4 {-+}) 24... Kg8 25. fxe5 (25. Nd2 { desperation} Bxg4 26. Ne4 {-+}) 25... Qxf1 26. Kb3 Qxh1 (26... Qxh1 27. Kc2 Bxg4 28. b4 Qd1+ 29. Kb2 Nxd5 30. Bd2 Nxb4 31. cxb4 Bd4+ 32. Bc3 Rf2+ 33. Nd2 Rxd2+ 34. Ka3 Qa4#) 0-1