B32 Sicilian: Löwenthal and Kalashnikov Variations (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 e6 4.d5 exd5 5.exd5)

This game was played on the third round of the Sarah's Mini Cooper Tournament (No 52). I am playing in group 4 and I am also currently on 4th place. I have 2.5 points at the moment and if I win my two remaining games, I will end up sharing second place and that would mean that I will advance to the fourth round. My opponent, DocOrtho, had a very rough time on this round, he lost all of his games. Admittedly, all his opponents were higher rated than him. Group 4 was won by erimus (2195), who won all of his games. He is the highest rated player of the group by over 300 points, so it is not a huge surprise that he managed to get such a good result. I have been the second highest rated player of the group, but I have really struggled with my games because mostly my opponents have been able to create me some problems that have made the games challenging to play, which is obviously better than winning games without any resistance at all.

This particular opening variation is something that should not be played with the black pieces. By playing 3...e6 Black allows White to reply with 4.d5, which gives White a clear advantage. It is much better to reply 3.d4 with cxd4. This is just one example of many variations that may have been named in theory, but are not all that sound ways to play. While DocOrtho was clearly in a difficult position after 3...e6, it was not perhaps the losing move. The losing move of the game was 6...Nf6. It loses a piece one way or the other and makes the rest of the game quite easy for me to play. Even though the game was decided so early, it took me quite a long time to convert my advantage to a win as only after the move 56.Qd6+ my opponent resigned.

[Event "Sarah's Mini Cooper Tournament (No 52) -"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.01.08"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "DocOrtho"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B32"] [WhiteElo "1831"] [BlackElo "1476"] [Annotator "Stockfish 7 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "111"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 e6 {Sicilian Defense: Franco-Sicilian Variation} 4. d5 (4. Nc3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Qc7 6. Be3 {Sicilian Defense: Paulsen Variation, Bastrikov Variation}) (4. c3 d5 5. e5 Qb6 6. a3 {French Defense: Advance Variation, Main Line}) (4. Be2 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nf6 6. Nc3 d6 7. O-O Be7 8. Be3 O-O 9. f4 {Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen Variation, Modern Variation}) 4... exd5 5. exd5 {B32 Sicilian: Löwenthal and Kalashnikov Variations} Na5 6. Bd2 (6. c4 Nf6 7. h3 d6 8. Bd3 Be7 9. O-O O-O 10. Nc3 Bd7 11. a3 b6 12. Re1 Re8 13. Qc2 g6 14. Bh6 Bf8 15. Bg5 Bg7 16. Ne4 Nb7 17. a4 h6 18. Nxf6+ Bxf6 19. Bxh6 g5 20. Qd2 Na5 {Ushenina,A (2297)-Chmel,M Evpatoria 2002 1-0}) (6. d6 Qf6 7. Bd2 Bxd6 8. Bxa5 Qxb2 9. Bc3 Qb6 10. Bxg7 f6 11. Bxh8 Qb2 12. Nbd2 Bf4 13. Bc4 Be5 14. Rb1 Qa3 15. Nxe5 fxe5 16. Bxg8 d6 17. Qh5+ Kd7 18. Bd5 Kc7 19. Qf7+ {1-0 (19) Stojkovic,Z (1953)-Marinkovic,S Nis 2014}) 6... Nf6 $4 {N simply worsens the situation} (6... Bd6 7. Bd3 Ne7 8. O-O O-O 9. Ng5 Ng6 10. Qh5 h6 11. Nxf7 Rxf7 12. Qxg6 Kf8 13. Qxd6+ Kg8 14. Re1 c4 15. Bxa5 b6 16. Bxc4 bxa5 17. Qg6 d6 18. Bd3 Re7 19. Nc3 Bd7 20. Qh7+ Kf8 21. Bg6 {Osinski, K (1759)-Olencewicz,L Polanica Zdroj 2013 1-0}) (6... Be7 {+/-}) 7. Qe2+ {+-} Qe7 8. Qxe7+ (8. Bxa5 $5 {keeps an even firmer grip} b6 9. Bc3 Nxd5 10. Qxe7+ Kxe7 {+-}) 8... Bxe7 9. Bxa5 Nxd5 10. Bc4 Nf6 11. O-O O-O (11... d5 12. Bb5+ Kf8 13. Re1 {+-}) 12. Re1 (12. Nc3 {seems even better} b6 13. Nd5 Nxd5 14. Bxd5 Bb7 15. Bxb7 Rab8 {+-}) 12... Bd6 (12... d5 {+-}) 13. Bc3 b6 (13... Bc7 {does not help much} 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15. Nc3 {+-}) 14. Nbd2 (14. Bxf6 {makes it even easier for White} gxf6 15. Nc3 Bb7 {+-}) 14... Bf4 (14... Bb7 {doesn't do any good} 15. Bxf6 gxf6 16. Ne4 Bxe4 17. Rxe4 {+-}) 15. Ne4 Nxe4 (15... Bb7 {does not win a prize} 16. Nxf6+ gxf6 17. Re7 {+-}) 16. Rxe4 Bc7 (16... Bh6 {doesn't change anything anymore} 17. Re7 Bb7 18. Rxd7 {+-}) 17. Bd5 Rb8 18. Rae1 (18. Rg4 {and White can already relax} g6 19. Ng5 {+-}) 18... h6 (18... Bb7 {the only chance to get some counterplay} 19. Bxb7 Rxb7 {+-}) 19. Re8 (19. Rg4 Be5 20. Bxe5 g5 21. Nxg5 h5 22. Rg3 h4 23. Re4 Re8 24. Rxh4 Kf8 25. Bd6+ Re7 26. Nh7+ Ke8 27. Rg8#) 19... Ba6 (19... Bd6 {is not much help} 20. Rxf8+ Kxf8 21. Ne5 {+-}) 20. Rxb8 ( 20. Bxf7+ {ends the debate} Kh8 21. Rxf8+ Rxf8 {+-}) 20... Rxb8 21. Re7 Rf8 22. Rxd7 Bb8 23. g3 (23. Ne5 {might be the shorter path} Bc8 24. Rxf7 Rxf7 25. Bxf7+ Kf8 {+-}) 23... Bb5 24. Re7 Kh7 (24... Rd8 {does not save the day} 25. Bb7 {+-} (25. Bxf7+ $6 Kf8 26. Rb7 Bc6 27. Rxb8 Rxb8 {+-})) 25. Rxf7 (25. Nh4 { secures the win} Re8 26. Rxf7 Be5 27. Bxe5 Rxe5 {+-}) 25... Rxf7 26. Bxf7 Bc6 27. Ne5 Bxe5 (27... Be4 {doesn't change the outcome of the game} 28. Nd3 {+-}) 28. Bxe5 a6 (28... g5 {does not improve anything} 29. Bb8 a6 30. Ba7 {+-}) 29. f4 Be4 30. c3 b5 31. Bd6 c4 (31... g6 {is not the saving move} 32. Bxc5 Bf5 33. Bd5 {+-}) 32. Kf2 g6 (32... Bd3 {doesn't improve anything} 33. Ke3 {+-}) 33. Ke3 Bf5 34. Bd5 Kg7 (34... Bc8 {+- a last effort to resist the inevitable}) 35. Bb7 a5 36. Bc6 Bb1 37. a3 Kf6 38. Bxb5 Bd3 39. Bd7 (39. Bc7 {and White has triumphed} g5 40. fxg5+ hxg5 41. Kd4 {+-}) 39... Bc2 40. Kd4 Bd3 41. Bc7 g5 42. fxg5+ hxg5 43. Bxa5 Ke7 (43... Be2 {hardly improves anything} 44. a4 Ke7 45. Bb5 Bd3 46. Bb4+ Kd8 47. Bxc4 Bf5 48. a5 Kc7 49. a6 Bd7 50. Kc5 Bc8 51. Ba5+ Kd7 52. a7 Bb7 53. Bd5 Bxd5 54. Kxd5 Ke7 55. a8=Q Kf7 56. Qa7+ Kg6 57. Ke6 g4 58. Qf7+ Kh6 59. Bb6 Kg5 60. Be3#) 44. Bb5 Kd6 (44... Be2 {cannot change destiny} 45. a4 g4 46. Bb4+ Kd8 47. Bxc4 Bd1 48. a5 Kc7 49. a6 Bf3 50. Bc5 Kc6 51. Be6 Bh1 52. c4 Bg2 53. Bd5+ Bxd5 54. cxd5+ Kc7 55. Ke5 Kd8 56. a7 Kc7 57. a8=Q Kd7 58. Qb7+ Kd8 59. b3 Ke8 60. Qe7#) 45. Bxc4 Bxc4 (45... Bc2 {doesn't get the cat off the tree} 46. b4 Bd1 47. b5 Bf3 48. Bd3 g4 49. c4 Bh1 50. Be4 Bf3 51. b6 Bxe4 52. Kxe4 Kc6 53. c5 Kb7 54. Kd5 Ka6 55. c6 Kxa5 56. b7 Ka4 57. b8=Q Kxa3 58. c7 Ka2 59. c8=Q Ka1 60. Qa6#) 46. Kxc4 g4 (46... Ke6 {cannot undo what has already been done} 47. b4 g4 48. b5 Kd6 49. a4 Kd7 50. Kd5 Kc8 51. Kd6 Kb7 52. c4 Kc8 53. c5 Kb7 54. Kd7 Kb8 55. c6 Ka7 56. c7 Ka8 57. c8=Q+ Ka7 58. b6#) 47. b4 Kc6 (47... Ke5 {a fruitless try to alter the course of the game} 48. b5 Kd6 49. a4 Kd7 50. Kd5 Kc8 51. Kd6 Kb7 52. c4 Kc8 53. c5 Kb7 54. Kd7 Kb8 55. c6 Ka7 56. c7 Ka8 57. c8=Q+ Ka7 58. b6#) 48. b5+ Kb7 (48... Kd6 { doesn't get the bull off the ice} 49. a4 Kd7 50. Kd5 Kc8 51. Kd6 Kb7 52. Kd7 Kb8 53. c4 Ka7 54. c5 Kb8 55. c6 Ka7 56. c7 Ka8 57. c8=Q+ Ka7 58. b6#) 49. Kc5 {White plans b6} Ka7 (49... Kc8 {does not solve anything} 50. Kd6 Kb7 51. c4 Kc8 52. c5 Kb7 53. Kd7 Kb8 54. c6 Ka7 55. c7 Ka8 56. c8=Q+ Ka7 57. b6#) 50. Kc6 Kb8 51. Bc7+ Kc8 (51... Ka8 {cannot change what is in store for White} 52. c4 Ka7 53. b6+ Ka6 54. b7 Ka7 55. b8=Q+ Ka6 56. Qb7#) 52. Bf4 (52. h3 gxh3 53. b6 h2 54. b7#) 52... Kd8 53. b6 Kc8 (53... Ke7 {is no salvation} 54. b7 Kf8 55. b8=Q+ Kg7 56. Qe8 Kf6 57. Qg8 Kf5 58. Qf7+ Ke4 59. Qd5#) 54. b7+ Kd8 55. b8=Q+ Ke7 56. Qd6+ (56. Qd6+ Kf7 57. Bh6 Kg8 58. Qg6+ Kh8 59. Qg7#) (56. Qg8 Kf6 57. Kd7 Kf5 58. Qe6#) 1-0