D01 Veresov Opening (1.d4 d5 2.f3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bf5 4.Bg5)

The game below is a 5 minute game I played at Chess.com on July 15th, 2016. The move order in the game is not the same as you might see for this variation in theory. The theoretical move order is 1.d4 d5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bg5 Bf5 4.f3. Funnily enough, the first move that is not in theory, 4...e6, could have been already the losing move. I obviously was not alert enough at the start of this game to see the obvious problem with 4...e6, which is that after 5.e4 dxe4 6.fxe4 I will lose a piece for a pawn. Luckily for me, Kojjootti did not play 5.e4, but instead 5.h4. That gave me the opportunity to hang on in the game, but unfortunately I made a second awful move in a row. After the move 5...Be7 I was clearly worse, close to losing. I was not going to give up the fight though. When Kojjootti played 10.Kf2, I was quite happy as I thought that I can maybe get some counterplay because of it. We both kept making bad moves, but because of the move 13.Ned2, I was able to finally get enough compensation for the material lost in order to be in a position that was evenly fought. In order for me to keep the position even, I would have needed to keep making accurate moves.

Because this was a blitz game, it was very hard to do. Therefore it might not have been that surprising for me to play less than ideal move 15...Bh5. Because I was down on material, I did not want to trade the bishops. It seems as though that it was my best chance to stay in the game. With my 15th move my position started to go down the drain once again and I should have reached a losing position after my 17th move Qf6. The evaluation of the position can change a lot during a blitz game and due to some inaccurate moves, especially 20.Ned2, the position only slightly favored my opponent anymore. It only took one more blunder from my friend to change the outcome of the game and that was the move 22.b3. It was unfortunate for my opponent that being clearly better or even winning for the most of the game, this one move basically lost the game. I have added one mate in two, two mate in three and two mate in four puzzles today.

[Event "Live Chess"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.07.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Kojjootti"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D01"] [WhiteElo "1717"] [BlackElo "1783"] [Annotator "Stockfish 7 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "62"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. d4 d5 2. f3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Bf5 4. Bg5 {D01 Veresov Opening} e6 5. h4 (5. e4 dxe4 6. fxe4 c5 7. exf5 cxd4 8. Nce2 e5 9. Nf3 Nc6 10. c3 Qa5 11. Nd2 O-O-O 12. Qb3 d3 13. Ng3 h6 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15. O-O-O Qa6 16. a4 Na5 17. Qb5 Qc6 18. Qxc6+ bxc6 19. b4 Nb7 {Binet Tapaszto,L (2265) -Sinclair,D Novi Sad 1990 1-0 (36)}) 5... Be7 {?? N letting the wind out of his own sails} (5... h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. g4 Bh7 8. Qd2 g5 9. hxg5 hxg5 10. O-O-O Nc6 11. Re1 O-O-O 12. Nh3 Be7 13. Bg2 Nxd4 14. e4 dxe4 15. Qf2 exf3 16. Bf1 Nxc2 17. Bc4 Qd4 18. Qxd4 Rxd4 19. Bb3 Nxe1 20. Rxe1 {Ivic,L (1543)-Krstic,Z Split 2010 0-1 (57)}) (5... h6 {and Black can hope to survive} 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 {=}) 6. g4 {+/-} Nxg4 7. fxg4 Bxg4 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. Nf3 Qd6 10. Kf2 (10. Qd3 Bf5 11. Qd2 Qg3+ 12. Kd1 Qd6 {+-}) 10... a6 { Controls b5} (10... Nc6 11. Qd2 {+/-}) 11. e4 (11. Bh3 Bxf3 12. exf3 Nd7 {+/-}) 11... dxe4 (11... O-O {!? +/=}) 12. Nxe4 {+/-} Qf4 13. Ned2 (13. Nc5 {!?} Bxf3 14. Qxf3 Qxd4+ 15. Qe3 Qxe3+ 16. Kxe3 {+/-}) 13... Nc6 {=} 14. c3 {Secures b4} O-O-O 15. Bh3 Bh5 (15... Bxh3 {!? would allow Black to play on} 16. Rxh3 e5 {=} ) 16. Qe2 {+/-} Kb8 17. Qe3 Qf6 (17... Qxe3+ {!?} 18. Kxe3 Rhe8 {+/-}) 18. Ne4 Qe7 (18... Qxf3+ 19. Qxf3 Bxf3 20. Kxf3 {+-}) 19. Bg2 {+-} e5 20. Ned2 { ?? there were better ways to keep up the pressure} (20. Nc5 {+- White has a promising position}) 20... f6 {+/= Prevents intrusion on g5} 21. Rae1 (21. dxe5 {!?} Rhe8 22. e6 {=}) 21... Rhe8 {=} 22. b3 (22. Nb3 {!? is a viable option} Qd7 23. Nc5 {=}) 22... Qa3 {+/-} 23. dxe5 {?} (23. d5 Rxd5 24. Nc4 {+/-}) 23... Nxe5 {-+} 24. Nxe5 Rxe5 ({Worse is} 24... fxe5 25. Kg1 {+/-}) 25. Nc4 {?? the position was bad, and this mistake simply hastens the end} (25. Ne4 Bg6 26. Rd1 {-+}) 25... Qxa2+ (25... Rxe3 {?! is easily refuted} 26. Nxa3 Rxc3 27. Kg1 {=}) 26. Re2 Bxe2 (26... Rxe3 {?! succumbs to} 27. Rxa2 Rxc3 28. Na5 {+/-}) 27. Nxe5 Bb5+ (27... Bf1+ {! and Black can celebrate victory} 28. Kxf1 Rd1+ (28... fxe5 {?! is not possible} 29. Kg1 {=}) 29. Qe1 Rxe1+ 30. Kxe1 Qxg2 31. Nd7+ Kc8 {-+} ) 28. Kg3 fxe5 29. c4 Bd7 (29... Bc6 {and Black has reached his goal} 30. Bd5 Bxd5 31. cxd5 Rf8 {-+}) 30. Rd1 Qb2 (30... Qa3 31. c5 Qb4 32. Bf3 {-+}) 31. Bh3 (31. Rd3 Qa3 {-+}) 31... Kc8 0-1