D78 Fianchetto Grünfeld: 6.O-O c6 (1.c4 c6 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 g6 4.d4 d5 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.O-O O-O 7.Nbd2)

This game was played on the fourth round of a tournament that was held at Salo almost eight years ago. On the first three rounds I was able to win all my games, so this was the first loss I suffered in the tournament. This also turned out to be the only loss I suffered in this five round tournament. I finished the tournament with a score of 4 out of 5. It was enough for me to secure the second place in group B. My new rating because of this good result was 1764.

This game featured only small inaccuracies until we reached the position below. Last move that was played in the position was 24.Bf1, the bishop moved there from g2. It was not the best move in the position either, but the move my opponent played 24...Qb6 was the worst move that had been played up to that point. 24...Qa4 would have been the right idea to go for. The problem with the move 24...Qb6 was that I can trade queens and after 25...Nxb6 I could have played 26.Bc5, forcing the reply 26...Rb7. After that my a-pawn could have gone up the board more freely.

I did not trade queens for some reason or the other, obviously I did not see the benefits it could have given me. The decision to play 25.Qc3 made playing the game more difficult for me. I think it would have been much easier to play after the trade of queens. That being said, I think I managed to play reasonable moves in the line I chose. Well, up to the point it came time to play my 34th move that is. In the position below I moved my queen to d1, which was clearly the most awful move that had been seen in the game up to that point.

The move was so bad that I should have been completely lost after that. Luckily for me, my opponent did not use the light square weaknesses around my king to full effect, so I could have ended up with a fighting chance if not for the fact that I immediately blundered and threw away my best chance to hold a draw. Then with the move 35...Nf3+ my opponent gave me a last chance to play well and hold the draw, but I was not up to the task and made the move 36.Kg2, which became the final mistake of the game and the reason I lost. I have added mate in one puzzles 516 & 517, mate in two puzzle 731, mate in four puzzle 522 and mate in five puzzle 186 today.

[Event "Aarne Hermlinin muistoturnaus"] [Site "?"] [Date "2008.11.02"] [Round "4"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "Norri, Roger"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D78"] [WhiteElo "1710"] [BlackElo "1735"] [Annotator "Stockfish 7 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2008.??.??"] 1. c4 c6 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 g6 4. d4 d5 5. Nf3 Bg7 6. O-O O-O {Neo-Grünfeld Defense Defense: Classical Variation, Original Defense} 7. Nbd2 {D78 Fianchetto Grünfeld: 6.O-O c6} (7. cxd5 cxd5 {Neo-Grünfeld Defense Defense: Ultra-delayed Exchange Variation}) 7... a6 (7... Bg4 8. b3 Re8 9. Bb2 Nbd7 10. Rc1 Rc8 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Nxf3 Ne4 13. Rc2 Qa5 14. Qb1 b5 15. cxd5 cxd5 16. Rfc1 Rxc2 17. Rxc2 b4 18. Qa1 Rb8 19. Bf1 e6 20. e3 Bf8 21. Ne1 Bd6 22. Rc6 { Demina,J (2390)-Mueller,M (2355) Budapest 1992 1/2-1/2}) 8. c5 {N White gains space} (8. Re1 b5 9. cxd5 cxd5 10. Ne5 Bb7 11. Qb3 Nc6 12. Nxc6 Bxc6 13. Nf3 e6 14. Ne5 Qb6 15. e3 Rfc8 16. f3 Nd7 17. Nxd7 Bxd7 18. f4 a5 19. a4 b4 20. Bd2 Ra7 21. Rec1 Rac7 22. Qd1 Rxc1 {Tobisch,J (1926)-Eden, T (2185) Hampstead 2013 1/2-1/2 (43)}) (8. b3 b5 9. Bb2 Nbd7 (9... Bf5 10. Nh4 Be6 11. Qc2 Nh5 12. Rad1 Qb6 13. c5 Qc7 14. e4 dxe4 15. Nxe4 Nd7 16. f4 Nhf6 17. Rfe1 Nxe4 18. Bxe4 Nf6 19. Bg2 Nd5 20. f5 Bc8 21. fxg6 fxg6 22. Qe2 e6 23. Bh3 Re8 24. Nf3 {Kumar, A-Matos,B (1551) Porto Carras 2010 1-0 (46)}) 10. cxd5 cxd5 11. Rc1 Bb7 12. Qc2 Rc8 13. Qd3 Qb6 14. h3 Ne4 15. a3 a5 16. Ne5 Nxe5 17. dxe5 Rxc1 18. Bxc1 Nxd2 19. Bxd2 Bxe5 20. Be3 d4 21. Bxd4 Bxd4 22. Bxb7 Bxf2+ {Efimov,I (2142) -Petukhov,D (2332) Saratov 2012 0-1 (54)}) (8. b3 Bf5 {=}) 8... b5 (8... Nbd7 9. Rb1 {=}) 9. cxb6 Qxb6 10. Nb3 (10. Nb1 Bf5 {=}) 10... Bf5 (10... Nbd7 11. Bf4 {=}) 11. Bg5 Nbd7 12. Rc1 Rfc8 13. Ne5 {Exerts pressure on the backward pawn} Nxe5 14. dxe5 Nd7 15. Bxe7 Bxe5 16. Qd2 a5 17. e3 {Prevents intrusion on d4+f4} Bxb2 18. Qxb2 a4 19. Rc3 (19. Bd6 axb3 20. axb3 Qd8 {+/=}) 19... axb3 {= } 20. Rxb3 Qa6 {Black threatens to win material: Qa6xa2} 21. Ra1 Rcb8 22. Bd6 Rxb3 23. Qxb3 {Black king safety improved} Ra7 (23... Qb6 24. Rc1 Qxb3 25. axb3 {=}) 24. Bf1 {White threatens to win material: Bf1xa6} (24. a4 Qb6 25. Qa3 c5 { +/=}) 24... Qb6 (24... Qa4 25. Qxa4 Rxa4 26. a3 {=}) 25. Qc3 (25. Qxb6 {!?} Nxb6 26. Bc5 {+/-}) 25... c5 {=} 26. Bf4 f6 {Controls e5+g5} 27. h4 d4 (27... Be4 {!? = looks like a viable alternative}) 28. exd4 {+/=} cxd4 29. Bc4+ (29. Qc8+ {!?} Kg7 30. Bc4 {+/=}) 29... Kg7 {=} 30. Qe1 {White has a mate threat} Qc5 {Black threatens to win material: Qc5xc4} 31. Bb3 Ne5 32. Qc1 {White threatens to win material: Qc1xc5} Qb5 {White has a cramped position} 33. Bh6+ Kh8 34. Qd1 {?? ignoring the path to victory} (34. Qf4 Re7 35. Rd1 Qb6 {=}) 34... Bg4 {Black threatens to win material: Bg4xd1} (34... Qb7 {and Black has reached his goal} 35. Rc1 Bh3 {-+}) 35. Qc2 (35. Qb1 Ra8 36. Bc2 Qxb1+ 37. Rxb1 d3 {=}) 35... Nf3+ (35... Re7 36. Qc1 Nf3+ 37. Kh1 Re1+ 38. Qxe1 Nxe1 39. Rxe1 Bd7 {+/-}) 36. Kg2 {??} (36. Kh1 {=/+ was possible}) 36... Qb7 {-+} 37. Kf1 Nd2+ (37... Nxh4 38. Ke1 Qh1+ 39. Kd2 Nf3+ 40. Kd3 Bf5+ 41. Kc4 Ne5+ 42. Kxd4 Qxa1+ 43. Qc3 Nf3+ 44. Kc4 Rc7+ 45. Kb5 Qxc3 46. Bg7+ Kxg7 47. Bc4 Qxc4+ 48. Kb6 Qc5+ 49. Ka6 Bd3#) 38. Ke1 (38. Kg1 {doesn't change the outcome of the game } Bh3 39. f3 Nxf3+ 40. Kf2 Nd2 41. Rg1 Qf3+ 42. Ke1 g5 43. Qc5 Qe3+ 44. Kd1 Bg4+ 45. Kc2 d3+ 46. Kc3 Qxc5+ 47. Kxd2 Qb4+ 48. Kc1 d2+ 49. Kb2 Qd4+ 50. Kc2 Rc7+ 51. Kb1 Bf5+ 52. Bc2 Bxc2#) 38... Nxb3 39. axb3 (39. Qxb3 {doesn't do any good} Qe4+ 40. Be3 Rb7 41. Kd2 dxe3+ 42. fxe3 Rd7+ 43. Kc1 Rc7+ 44. Kd2 Qg2+ 45. Kd3 Qe2+ 46. Kd4 Qd2+ 47. Ke4 Re7+ 48. Qe6 Rxe6+ 49. Kf4 Qf2+ 50. Kxg4 Qf5# ) 39... Rxa1+ 40. Bc1 (40. Kd2 {does not improve anything} Qb4+ 41. Kd3 Bf5+ 42. Ke2 Re1+ 43. Kf3 Qb7+ 44. Kf4 Re4+ 45. Kf3 Re3+ 46. Kf4 Rf3#) 40... Rxc1+ ( 40... Qf3 41. b4 Rxc1+ 42. Kd2 Rd1+ 43. Qxd1 Qxd1#) 41. Qxc1 (41. Kd2 {doesn't change anything anymore} Rxc2+ 42. Kxc2 Qb4 43. f3 Qc3+ 44. Kb1 d3 45. b4 d2 46. f4 d1=Q+ 47. Ka2 Qdb3#) 41... Qe4+ (41... Qe4+ 42. Qe3 Qb1+ 43. Kd2 Qd1#) 0-1