A36 Symmetrical English vs ...g6: 4.Bg2 Bg7 (1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 c5 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.e4 d6 6.f4 Nc6 7.d3 O-O 8.Nf3 Bg4)

It is time once again for the last post of the week and for this one I found a new opening variation, well one that has not been featured here before that is. I went through my blitz games against a friend of mine and noticed that from time to time, they seem to provide something new to look at. The first move that should be reconsidered by the player who made it, is 9.Qb3. That move does not really solve the problems that White is facing. Then again the moves played before this one might be looked at as well, in order to spot improvements, but it was this 9th move that tipped the balance in my favor for the first time. Unfortunately for Kojjootti, he made things even worse for himself on the next move. However, I was not up to the task of making the most accurate moves, so I did not take the full advantage of my opponent's move. I remained slightly better until the huge blunder 15.Rb1, which turned out to be the losing move. After that I was able to finish the game with reasonable accuracy. It was shameful though that I missed 40...g5# in time trouble. I have added two mate in two, two mate in three and one mate in four puzzle today. Until Monday, my fellow chess and chess960 enthusiasts and other people.

[Event "Live Chess"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.07.18"] [Round "?"] [White "Kojjootti"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A36"] [WhiteElo "1716"] [BlackElo "1795"] [Annotator "Stockfish 7 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 c5 3. g3 {English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Fianchetto Variation} g6 (3... d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bg2 Nc7 {English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Rubinstein Variation}) (3... Nc6 4. Bg2 e6 5. Nf3 d5 6. cxd5 exd5 7. d4 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Bg5 cxd4 10. Nxd4 h6 11. Be3 Re8 {Tarrasch Defense: Classical Variation, Main Line} (11... Bg4 {Tarrasch Defense: Classical Variation, Spassky Variation})) 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. e4 d6 6. f4 (6. Nge2 Na6 7. a3 O-O 8. O-O Nc7 9. b4 Rb8 10. bxc5 dxc5 11. d3 b5 12. cxb5 Nxb5 13. Bf4 Bg4 14. Qc2 Bxe2 15. Nxe2 Rc8 16. Qc4 Nd4 17. Nxd4 cxd4 18. Qa6 Nd7 19. Bh3 Rc3 20. Qxa7 Nc5 {Wadsworth,M (2290)-Warman,S (2130) London 2016 1-0 (36)}) 6... Nc6 ( 6... O-O 7. Nf3 Nc6 8. O-O Ne8 9. d3 Nc7 10. Be3 Nd4 11. Qd2 f5 12. Rab1 a5 13. Nd5 Nxf3+ 14. Bxf3 Ne6 15. Bg2 Nd4 16. Rbe1 Rb8 17. b3 e6 18. Nc3 Bd7 19. Rf2 b5 20. cxb5 Bxb5 21. Nxb5 {Andre,G (2317)-Schubert,T (2367) Germany 2004 0-1 (37)}) 7. d3 O-O 8. Nf3 Bg4 {A36 Symmetrical English vs ...g6: 4.Bg2 Bg7} (8... Rb8 9. O-O a6 10. a4 Bg4 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Bxf3 Nd4 13. Bg2 Ne8 14. Bd2 Nc7 15. Rb1 b5 16. axb5 axb5 17. cxb5 Ncxb5 18. Kh2 Na7 19. Nd5 Nac6 20. f5 e6 21. Ne3 Ne5 22. Bc3 Qg5 23. Nc2 {Grigoryeva,O (2166)-Sedykh,E (1899) St Petersburg 2013 1/2-1/2 (40)}) (8... a6 9. O-O Nd7 10. Kh1 Rb8 11. a4 Nd4 12. Be3 Re8 13. g4 Qb6 14. Rb1 Qb3 15. Bxd4 Qxd1 16. Rfxd1 cxd4 17. Ne2 Nc5 18. f5 b5 19. axb5 axb5 20. Nfxd4 bxc4 21. dxc4 Rb4 22. b3 Bb7 23. Nc3 {Meenakshi,S (2296)-Ram,A (1919) Chennai 2012 1/2-1/2 (50)}) 9. Qb3 {White threatens to win material: Qb3xb7} (9. O-O a6 {=}) 9... Rb8 10. Nd5 {?} (10. O-O a6 {=/+}) 10... e6 { Black threatens to win material: e6xd5} (10... b5 {!?} 11. Ne3 bxc4 12. Qxc4 Be6 {-+}) 11. Ne3 Bxf3 12. Bxf3 {White has the pair of bishops} Nd4 {Black threatens to win material: Nd4xb3. Black forks: b3+f3} 13. Qd1 Nxf3+ 14. Qxf3 b5 15. Rb1 {?} (15. O-O {!? =/+ and White could well hope to play on}) 15... Qa5+ {-+} 16. Ke2 {?} (16. Bd2 Qxa2 17. Qd1 {+/-}) 16... Qxa2 17. Bd2 bxc4 18. Nxc4 d5 19. exd5 (19. Ra1 Qb3 20. Nd6 e5 21. exd5 Nxd5 22. fxe5 Bxe5 {-+}) 19... exd5 20. Ra1 Rfe8+ 21. Kf2 Qb3 22. Ra3 (22. Ne5 {is still a small chance} h5 23. h3 {-+}) 22... Qb7 (22... dxc4 23. Rxb3 Rxb3 24. Bc3 Ng4+ 25. Qxg4 Bxc3 26. bxc3 Rb2+ 27. Kf3 {-+}) 23. Nd6 (23. Bc3 {doesn't change the outcome of the game} dxc4 24. Qxb7 Rxb7 {-+}) 23... Qxb2 24. Nxe8 (24. Rd1 {does not save the day} Qxa3 25. Nxe8 Rxe8 26. Kg2 {-+}) 24... Qxa3 (24... Ne4+ 25. Qxe4 dxe4 26. Rd1 e3+ 27. Kg2 Rxe8 28. d4 Qxa3 29. Be1 Qb3 30. Ra1 Qb2+ 31. Bd2 Qxa1 32. Bc3 Qxc3 33. Kh3 Qd3 34. Kg2 Qe2+ 35. Kh3 Qf1+ 36. Kg4 Bf6 37. h3 h5#) 25. Nxf6+ (25. Nxg7 {doesn't do any good} c4 26. Re1 Qb2 (26... Kxg7 27. dxc4 Rb3 28. Qe2 Qc5+ 29. Kf1 dxc4 30. Be3 {-+})) 25... Bxf6 26. Qxd5 (26. Rd1 {what else?} Bd4+ 27. Kf1 {-+}) 26... Bd4+ 27. Be3 Qxd3 28. Bxd4 cxd4 (28... Qxd4+ { ?!} 29. Qxd4 cxd4 30. Kf3 {-+}) 29. Re1 Rb2+ 30. Kg1 Rb1 (30... Qd2 31. Re8+ Kg7 32. Qe5+ f6 33. Qe7+ Kh6 34. Qe2 Qxe2 35. Rxe2 Rxe2 36. Kf1 d3 37. g4 Re8 38. h3 d2 39. Kf2 d1=Q 40. g5+ Kh5 41. f5 Qd2+ 42. Kg3 Re3+ 43. Kf4 fxg5#) 31. Qd8+ (31. Rxb1 Qxb1+ 32. Kf2 Qc2+ 33. Kg1 Qd1+ 34. Kf2 Qd2+ 35. Kf1 Qd3+ 36. Ke1 Qe3+ 37. Kd1 Qg1+ 38. Ke2 Qxh2+ 39. Kf1 Qxg3 40. Qd8+ Kg7 41. Qxd4+ Kh6 42. Qc4 {-+}) 31... Kg7 32. Rxb1 Qxb1+ 33. Kg2 Qe4+ 34. Kh3 d3 35. Qa5 (35. f5 { doesn't improve anything} Qxf5+ 36. Kg2 Qe4+ 37. Kf1 Qe2+ 38. Kg1 Qe3+ 39. Kf1 d2 40. Qd5 Qe1+ 41. Kg2 d1=Q 42. Qxd1 Qxd1 43. Kf2 Qd3 44. h3 Kf6 45. g4 Ke5 46. h4 Kf4 47. g5 Qf3+ 48. Ke1 Ke3 49. h5 Qe2#) 35... Qe2 (35... Qf5+ 36. Qxf5 gxf5 37. g4 d2 38. g5 d1=Q 39. Kg2 Qe2+ 40. Kg3 Kg6 41. h3 Kh5 42. h4 Qf1 43. g6 hxg6 44. Kh2 Kg4 45. h5 Kf3 46. h6 Qg2#) 36. Qc3+ (36. g4 {doesn't change anything anymore} Qf3+ 37. Kh4 Qxf4 38. Kh3 d2 39. Qc3+ Kh6 40. Qc5 d1=Q 41. Qf8+ Kg5 42. Qc5+ Kf6 43. g5+ Kg7 44. Qc3+ f6 45. Qxf6+ Qxf6 46. gxf6+ Kxf6 47. Kg2 Qe2+ 48. Kg3 g5 49. h4 gxh4+ 50. Kf4 Qd3 51. Kg4 Qg3+ 52. Kh5 Qg5#) 36... Kh6 37. g4 (37. Qf6 {does not improve anything} Qe6+ 38. Qxe6 fxe6 39. g4 d2 40. Kg3 d1=Q 41. Kf2 a5 42. h3 a4 43. f5 exf5 44. gxf5 gxf5 45. Ke3 a3 46. Kf4 Qe2 47. h4 a2 48. h5 Kxh5 49. Kxf5 a1=Q 50. Kf4 Qae5#) 37... Qf3+ 38. Kh4 Qxf4 39. Qxd3 (39. Qc7 {is not the saving move} Qxc7 40. Kh3 d2 41. g5+ Kg7 42. Kg2 d1=Q 43. h3 Qe2+ 44. Kh1 Qc1#) 39... Qxh2+ 40. Qh3 Qxh3+ (40... g5#) 41. Kxh3 { -+} Kg5 (41... Kg5 42. Kg2 a5 43. Kf1 a4 44. Ke1 a3 45. Kd2 a2 46. Kd3 a1=Q 47. Kc4 Kxg4 48. Kb3 Qd4 49. Ka2 Kf5 50. Kb3 Ke4 51. Ka2 Qb4 52. Ka1 Kd3 53. Ka2 Kc3 54. Ka1 Qb2#) 0-1