E12 Queen's Indian: Unusual White 4th moves, 4.a3, 4.Nc3 Bb7 5.a3 and 4.Nc3 Bb7 (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.Bf4 Bb7 5.e3 Bb4+ 6.Nc3 O-O 7.Bd3)

This was played in a team match called Rise Of The Daleks. The match consists of 34 boards and it is played between Daleks of Skaro and TriBaL KnighT's. I played on board 9 for Daleks of Skaro and in addition to this loss, I was able to get a draw from my other game against letranknight. The current score is a bit grim from our point of view, 24.5 - 41.5 in favor of TriBaL KnighT's, which means that they have secured the win in the match.

Up to the move 7.Bd3 I think that both players were making normal looking developing moves, but then I diverted from the develop all my pieces as fast as possible plan and played 7...Ne4. The reason behind my move was to try and exchange a few pieces because I had less space than my opponent and also try to stop e4 ideas from my opponent at least for the time being. My opponent, letranknight, played 8.Qc2 in order to put more pressure to my knight on e4 and threaten to take it with the bishop. I think my best option was to take on c3 with the bishop, so that is what I did. Going back to f6 with the knight was not an option because it would have meant that going to e4 was a mistake. I think I also considered f5 and d5, but I did not really like those moves in that position. Had I played d5, I would have needed to take back on e4 with the pawn, doubling my pawns on the e-file. Well, f5 might have actually transposed to the game continuation, so it was a possible move to play. The game continued on evenly until letranknight made a small mistake witht the move 11.Bxe4. While I think that my knight was well placed on e4, I do not think that my opponent should have given the bishop pair for that. The next mistake came from my opponent again, this time in the form of 13.Ng5. After that I started to have the advantage clearly on my side.

With the move 15...Ba6 my pressure against the pawn on c4 started. I was planning to play Nc6 and follow it up with Na5 and place my queen on a4, so that I could at some point win the pawn on c4. While at first glance it might appear that 18.Rb4 holds for White, Stockfish thinks that it was the biggest mistake of the game so far and that I should be winning after that blunder. However, I did not see the best move, but instead one that kept me clearly on the better side of the position. I stayed on the better side for quite some time, but with the move 30...g6 that advantage started to dissipate a bit and by the time we reached the position after 30...g5, the advantage had completely vanished. On move 40 letranknight gave me once again a chance to seize the advantage, but this time I was not up to the task and the position seemed to be more even again after 40...Qf7. I continued playing badly and after my 41st move, letranknight should be clearly better. My opponent did not find the right idea and played 42.Bf4, which gave me another chance to hang on in the game. Both players continued to play horrible moves and the advantage shifted from one player to the other, move after move. At long last, it came time to play my final mistake of the game 52.Kd7, after that horrible move the game was over. I have added one mate in one, two mate in three, one mate in four and one mate in five puzzle today.

[Event "Rise Of The Daleks - Board 9"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.03.18"] [Round "?"] [White "letranknight"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E12"] [WhiteElo "1871"] [BlackElo "1815"] [Annotator "Stockfish 7 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "107"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. Bf4 {Queen's Indian Defense: Miles Variation} ( 4. a3 Ba6 5. Qc2 Bb7 {Queen's Indian Defense: Petrosian Variation, Farago Defense}) (4. e3 {Queen's Indian Defense: Spassky System}) (4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 {Queen's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Check Variation, Intermezzo Line}) 4... Bb7 5. e3 Bb4+ 6. Nc3 O-O 7. Bd3 {E12 Queen's Indian: Unusual White 4th moves, 4.a3, 4.Nc3 Bb7 5.a3 and 4.Nc3 Bb7} Ne4 8. Qc2 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 f5 10. O-O d6 11. Bxe4 {N} (11. Qb3 Qe8 12. Rfd1 Nd7 13. h3 Kh8 14. a4 e5 15. Bh2 Nxf2 16. Kxf2 e4 17. Be2 exf3 18. gxf3 Qe7 19. Bd3 Rae8 20. Re1 Qh4+ 21. Bg3 Qh5 22. Be2 Nf6 23. Rh1 Qh6 24. Bf4 g5 25. Bh2 f4 {Kraus, R-Plattner,R (1932) Frankfurt 2009 0-1 (31)}) (11. Nd2 Nxd2 12. Qxd2 Nd7 13. f3 (13. h3 Qf6 14. Rfe1 e5 15. Bh2 Rae8 16. a4 a5 17. Qd1 Kh8 18. Be2 g5 19. Bf3 e4 20. Be2 Re7 21. Rb1 Bc6 22. Qc2 Qg6 23. Qd1 f4 24. Bf1 Qf5 25. Rb2 Rg8 26. Kh1 f3 27. gxf3 exf3 {Palchun,G (2047)-Churkin,V (2309) St Petersburg 2007 0-1 (38)}) 13... e5 14. Bg3 Qf6 15. f4 e4 16. Be2 Qf7 17. Rfb1 a5 18. Bh4 Ba6 19. d5 Nc5 20. Kh1 Qd7 21. Rg1 h5 22. Bxh5 Bxc4 23. Qd4 Bd3 24. g4 Qa4 25. gxf5 Qxd4 { Coulont Robert,M (1740)-Busnel,L (2080) France 2004 0-1 (40)}) 11... Bxe4 12. Qe2 Bb7 13. Ng5 (13. Rab1 Ba6 {=/+}) 13... Qe8 {∓} 14. Rab1 h6 15. Nf3 Ba6 16. Nd2 Nc6 17. Qf3 Na5 18. Rb4 (18. Rfd1 Bxc4 19. Nxc4 Nxc4 {∓}) 18... Qd7 ( 18... Bb7 {!?} 19. d5 c5 {-+}) 19. Rd1 c5 {Black threatens to win material: c5xb4} (19... Rad8 20. h3 {∓}) 20. Rbb1 {=/+} cxd4 ({Not} 20... Nxc4 21. Nxc4 Bxc4 22. dxc5 Bxa2 23. Bxd6 {=}) 21. cxd4 Nxc4 22. Qg3 Kh7 23. Nxc4 Bxc4 24. Bxd6 Rfd8 25. Be5 {A comfortable square for the white bishop} Bxa2 26. Rb2 { White threatens to win material: Rb2xa2} Bc4 27. Ra1 b5 28. Ra6 Qb7 29. Ra5 Rd7 30. h4 (30. f3 b4 31. Rc5 Bd5 {∓}) 30... g6 (30... Qb6 {a pity that Black didn't try this} 31. Ra1 a5 {∓}) 31. f3 {=/+} Qb6 32. Qe1 Qd8 33. Bg3 Qe7 34. Ra6 Rg8 35. Be5 {The white bishop on an outpost} g5 36. hxg5 Qxg5 (36... hxg5 37. g4 Rg6 38. Rh2+ Rh6 39. Rxh6+ Kxh6 40. Qf2 fxg4 41. fxg4 {+-}) 37. g3 Qh5 { Black threatens to win material: Qh5xf3} 38. Rf2 Rb7 39. Qb4 Rc8 40. Qa5 (40. Rc6 Qe8 41. Rxc8 Qxc8 {=}) 40... Qf7 {White king safety improved} (40... Bd5 41. Qa1 Kg8 {∓} (41... Bxf3 {?!} 42. Rh2 Qg6 43. Rxa7 {=})) 41. Qb4 {=/+} Qd7 {?? Black is ruining his position} (41... Bd5 42. Ra1 {=/+}) 42. Bf4 (42. e4 fxe4 43. Qe1 Qf7 44. fxe4 Qg8 {+-}) 42... Kg6 (42... Kg8 43. Rd6 Qe7 44. Qb2 {= } (44. Bxh6 {?? the pawn is indigestible} a5 45. Qd2 Qxd6 {-+})) 43. Be5 Bd5 { ?? gives the opponent counterplay} (43... Kh7 44. e4 fxe4 45. Qe1 {±}) 44. Ra1 {?? there were better ways to keep up the pressure} (44. Qd2 Rb6 45. Ra1 Rbc6 { +-}) 44... Qc6 {??} (44... Kh7 45. Qd2 Qe8 {=}) 45. Kg2 {?? ruins a clearly superior position} (45. e4 {secures the win} Bc4 46. Rh2 {+-}) 45... Qc3 {∓} 46. Qb1 {?} (46. Qxc3 Rxc3 47. Re1 {∓}) 46... a5 {?? Black lets it slip away} (46... Qxe3 {Black would have gained the upper hand} 47. Qf1 Kh7 {-+}) 47. Qh1 (47. e4 Bc4 {=}) 47... a4 {This push gains space} (47... Qxe3 48. Bf4 Qxd4 49. Qxh6+ Kf7 50. Qh5+ Kg8 51. Rc1 {=/+}) 48. Rg1 (48. Re1 Rf7 49. Bf4 h5 {=}) 48... a3 (48... Qxe3 49. Bf4 Qxd4 50. Qxh6+ Kf7 51. Qh5+ Kg8 52. Rc1 {∓}) 49. Qh4 (49. Bf4 Rh7 50. g4 fxg4 51. Qh4 {=}) 49... Kf7 {?? instead of simply winning the game} (49... Qxe3 50. Qf6+ Kh7 {∓}) 50. Qxh6 (50. e4 {finishes off the opponent} Bxe4 51. Qf6+ Ke8 52. fxe4 Qc6 {+-}) 50... Ke8 51. e4 { Decoy: e4} fxe4 52. Qg6+ Kd7 {??} (52... Rf7 {this is the best way to fight back} 53. fxe4 Bxe4+ 54. Qxe4 Rxf2+ 55. Kxf2 Qb2+ 56. Ke3 Rc3+ 57. Kf4 Qd2+ 58. Kg4 Qc2 59. Qxc2 Rxc2 {=}) 53. fxe4 Bb3 54. Rf7+ (54. Rf7+ Kc6 55. d5+ Kb6 56. Bxc3 Rxc3 57. Qxe6+ Ka5 58. Rxb7 Kb4 59. Qe7+ Kc4 60. Qf6 b4 61. Qa6+ Kc5 62. Qc6+ Kd4 63. Rxb4+ Kd3 64. Rxb3 Rxb3 65. Rd1+ Ke2 66. Qc2+ Ke3 67. Qf2+ Kxe4 68. Qf4#) 1-0