C50 Hungarian Defence and Giuoco Pianissimo (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O d6 5.c3)

The game below was played on the second round of a weekend tournament that was played at Hämeenlinna over eight years ago. This was my first loss of the tournament and it also later turned out to be the only loss I suffered in this tournament that lasted five rounds. On the first round I had won a game against a player who was rated 1418. On the last three rounds I was able to get one win and two draws.

The first four moves from both players were good enough to keep the game balanced, but then I on move 5, I blundered. I am not sure why I thought back then that Be6 would be a good move to play. These days I would play 5...Nf6 instead of 5...Be6.

My positional downhill continued with 9...Nge7, which is a bit too passive move. I should have played my knight to f6 where it is more active. However, my opponent did not find the best move, so I was able to breath a little bit easier. 10.Bg5 is not really a bad move, but it is not as good as 10.d5. I immediately made a bad move as a reply to Bg5, 10...O-O, and the position clearly favored my opponent again. I needed to play either 10...h6 or 10...Qd7 in order to keep the position roughly even.

However, with the move 11.a4, the position evened out again. Both players kept playing badly and the advantage shifted a bit until the position was equal again after 13.Ne2. The game went on without any huge mistakes until I played 28...Ra6.

I completely ignored the possibility of 29.Nxe5, which my opponent played in the game. While that was a good move, even after that I should have been able to keep my chances for a draw alive. However, I was not paying enough attention and played the horrible blunder 32...Nc5 in response to Re1, which meant that I allowed a mate in two that my opponent saw and was able to deliver it as well, because I did not resign even though I saw the mate after I moved the knight.

Even if I had moved my knight to f6, my position was close to being unsalvageable and it would have been rather difficult to get even a draw.

[Event "HämSK"] [Site "Saaristen koulu"] [Date "2008.06.07"] [Round "2"] [White "Laitinen, Jarmo"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "1772"] [BlackElo "1691"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2008.06.07"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O d6 5. c3 {C50 Hungarian Defence and Giuoco Pianissimo} Be6 6. Bxe6 fxe6 7. d4 exd4 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. Nc3 (9. d5 exd5 10. exd5 Nce7 11. Ng5 Qd7 12. Ne6 Nf5 13. Re1 Nge7 14. g4 Nh4 15. Bg5 Nhg6 16. Nxg7+ Kf7 17. Ne6 Ne5 18. Rxe5 dxe5 19. Qf3+ Ke8 20. Nc3 Rg8 21. Re1 Qd6 22. Ne4 Qb4 23. Nf6+ Kf7 {Crosa Coll,M (2415)-Coutinho,S (2208) Brasilia 2005 1-0 (31)}) (9. Bg5 Nce7 10. Nc3 Nf6 11. Qb3 Qd7 12. a4 c6 13. a5 Bd8 14. Rfd1 d5 15. Ne5 Qd6 16. exd5 exd5 17. Re1 O-O 18. Bf4 Nh5 19. Ne4 Qe6 20. Bg5 Qf5 21. g4 Qe6 22. gxh5 Kh8 23. Ng3 Qd6 {Alev,G (1640)-Cevik,B Konya 2016 1-0}) 9... Nge7 $146 (9... Nf6 10. d5 exd5 11. exd5 Ne7 12. Qe2 Qd7 13. Ng5 O-O 14. Ne6 Rfe8 15. Qf3 Ba5 16. Nf4 Bxc3 17. bxc3 Rf8 18. c4 b5 19. cxb5 Qxb5 20. Ne6 Rfc8 21. Bh6 Qxd5 22. Qxd5 Nexd5 23. Bxg7 Kf7 24. Bxf6 {Tschammer,K (1605)-Roehr,T (1389) Oberhof 2013 1-0 (33)}) (9... Nf6 $142 10. d5 exd5 11. exd5 Ne5 $16) 10. Bg5 {Black has a cramped position} (10. d5 exd5 11. exd5 Ne5 $18) 10... O-O $2 (10... h6 11. Bh4 O-O 12. Na4 $11) 11. a4 (11. d5 Nb4 12. dxe6 h6 $16) 11... a6 $2 {Controls b5} (11... h6 12. Bh4 Qd7 $11) 12. Qb3 $4 {White threatens to win material: Qb3xe6. forfeits the advantage} (12. d5 Ne5 13. Nxe5 dxe5 14. dxe6 Qxd1 15. Raxd1 $16 (15. Rfxd1 $6 Bxf2+ 16. Kh1 Nc6 $14)) 12... Qd7 {White has an active position} (12... Rxf3 $5 13. gxf3 Nxd4 $15) 13. Ne2 {White has a very active position} (13. d5 exd5 14. Bxe7 Nxe7 $14 (14... Qxe7 $4 15. Nxd5 Qe8 16. Nf6+ Kh8 17. Nxe8 Raxe8 18. Ng5 $18)) 13... Ng6 14. Rad1 Rae8 {White has an active position} 15. Ng3 Qf7 16. Be3 h6 {Prevents intrusion on g5} 17. Ne2 e5 18. Qxf7+ Rxf7 19. d5 {White gains space} Bxe3 20. fxe3 {White has new doubled pawns: e3+e4.} Nb4 21. Ng3 (21. a5 Rb8 $11) 21... Ref8 (21... a5 22. Nd2 $17) 22. Nf5 (22. a5 Ne7 $11) 22... Ne7 {Black threatens to win material: Ne7xf5} (22... a5 23. g4 $15) 23. N3h4 (23. Nxe7+ Rxe7 24. a5 Ref7 $11) 23... Nxf5 24. exf5 a5 25. e4 Na6 26. Ng6 {White threatens to win material: Ng6xf8. The white knight is well posted.} Ra8 27. Rc1 Nc5 {Black threatens to win material: Nc5xa4. Black forks: a4+e4} 28. Rc4 Ra6 (28... Nb3 $142 $5 {must definitely be considered} 29. Rf2 Nd4 $11) 29. Nxe5 $1 $16 {Deflection: c5} Re7 (29... dxe5 30. Rxc5 {Overloading Deflection}) 30. Ng6 Rxe4 31. Rxe4 Nxe4 32. Re1 {White threatens to win material: Re1xe4} Nc5 $4 (32... Nf6 $142 $14) 33. Re8+ Kf7 34. Rf8# 1-0

Here are few of the latest reference games from strong players that I could find from my reference database. Three of these were played in a blitz tournament and one in a rapid tournament.

[Event "EU-ch blitz"] [Site "Katowice"] [Date "2017.12.15"] [Round "19"] [White "Andriasian, Zaven"] [Black "Fressinet, Laurent"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2585"] [BlackElo "2662"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2017.12.15"] [EventType "swiss (blitz)"] [EventRounds "22"] [EventCountry "POL"] [SourceTitle "Mega2017 Update 61"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2017.12.22"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O d6 5. c3 Nf6 6. d3 a6 7. Bb3 O-O 8. Nbd2 Be6 9. h3 Bxb3 10. axb3 d5 11. b4 Ba7 12. Qe2 dxe4 13. Nxe4 Nxe4 14. dxe4 Qe7 15. Rd1 Rfd8 16. Rd5 f6 17. Be3 Bxe3 18. Qxe3 Qf7 19. Rad1 Rxd5 20. exd5 Ne7 21. c4 Nf5 22. Qe4 Nd6 23. Qe2 Rd8 24. b3 Qf8 25. Qc2 Qf7 26. Qe2 Qf8 27. Qc2 Qf7 28. Qe2 1/2-1/2 [Event "GEO-chT Club"] [Site "Tbilisi"] [Date "2017.11.29"] [Round "1.3"] [White "Shanava, Konstantine"] [Black "Gelashvili, Tamaz"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2512"] [BlackElo "2556"] [PlyCount "127"] [EventDate "2017.11.29"] [EventType "team-tourn"] [EventRounds "7"] [EventCountry "GEO"] [SourceTitle "Mega2017 Update 59"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2017.12.08"] [WhiteTeam "Batumi Nona"] [BlackTeam "Rustavi"] [WhiteTeamCountry "GEO"] [BlackTeamCountry "GEO"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O d6 5. c3 Nf6 6. d4 Bb6 7. h3 O-O 8. Re1 Nxe4 9. Rxe4 d5 10. Bg5 Qd7 11. Nxe5 Nxe5 12. Bxd5 Qxd5 13. Rxe5 Qc6 14. Bf4 Qg6 15. Nd2 c6 16. Re3 Qf5 17. Rf3 Qd5 18. Rg3 Bf5 19. Qh5 Rfe8 20. Nc4 Bg6 21. Qxd5 cxd5 22. Ne3 Rad8 23. Rg5 Be4 24. Re5 Rxe5 25. Bxe5 f6 26. Bg3 Kf7 27. Re1 Bg6 28. f3 Rd7 29. Bb8 a5 30. g4 a4 31. Kf2 Ba5 32. h4 Bd3 33. Rd1 Ba6 34. Ke1 g6 35. Kd2 Rd8 36. Bf4 b5 37. a3 Bc8 38. g5 Be6 39. gxf6 h5 40. Be5 Rg8 41. Rg1 Bd8 42. Rg5 Re8 43. Ng2 Bxf6 44. Bxf6 Kxf6 45. Nf4 Bf5 46. Nxd5+ Kf7 47. Ne3 Bd7 48. Ke2 Bf5 49. Kf2 Bd3 50. f4 Re6 51. Kf3 Kf6 52. Re5 Kf7 53. Nd1 Bc4 54. Nf2 Rd6 55. Ne4 Bd5 56. Ke3 Rd8 57. Ng3 Bc4 58. Ke4 Rd6 59. d5 Rf6 60. Ke3 Rd6 61. Kd4 Rf6 62. f5 Rd6 63. Ne4 Rd8 64. f6 1-0 [Event "Wch Blitz"] [Site "Doha"] [Date "2016.12.29"] [Round "5"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Cheparinov, Ivan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2767"] [BlackElo "2689"] [PlyCount "148"] [EventDate "2016.12.29"] [EventType "swiss (blitz)"] [EventRounds "21"] [EventCountry "QAT"] [SourceTitle "Mega2017 Update 11"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2017.01.05"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O d6 5. c3 Nf6 6. d3 h6 7. a4 a5 8. h3 O-O 9. Re1 Bb6 10. Nbd2 Ne7 11. Nf1 Ng6 12. Ng3 c6 13. Bb3 d5 14. exd5 Nxd5 15. Qc2 Re8 16. Bd2 Be6 17. Rad1 Qd6 18. Bc4 Rad8 19. Qb3 Qc7 20. Bc1 Ndf4 21. Bxe6 Nxe6 22. Qc4 Rd5 23. Qg4 Red8 24. Nf5 Rxd3 25. Rxd3 Rxd3 26. h4 h5 27. Qxh5 e4 28. Ng5 Nxg5 29. Qxg5 Qd8 30. h5 Qxg5 31. Bxg5 Ne5 32. Rxe4 f6 33. Be3 Rd1+ 34. Kh2 Bxe3 35. Nxe3 Rd2 36. f4 Nd3 37. Nf5 Nc5 38. Re3 Kf8 39. Ne7 Rxb2 40. Ng6+ Kg8 41. Re8+ Kf7 42. Re7+ Kg8 43. f5 Kh7 44. Kh3 Kh6 45. Nf4 Rc2 46. Kg4 Rxc3 47. Re8 Kh7 48. h6 gxh6 49. Re7+ Kg8 50. Kh5 Rc4 51. g3 Re4 52. Rc7 Kf8 53. Kxh6 Nxa4 54. Ne6+ Ke8 55. Kg6 Nb6 56. Rxb7 Nd5 57. Ng7+ Kd8 58. Ra7 Rg4+ 59. Kf7 Rxg3 60. Ne6+ Kc8 61. Nd4 Rc3 62. Ke6 Kb8 63. Rxa5 Kb7 64. Kd6 Rc4 65. Ne6 Kb6 66. Ra8 Kb7 67. Ra1 Kb6 68. Rb1+ Rb4 69. Rc1 Ne3 70. Rxc6+ Kb5 71. Rc5+ Ka4 72. Ng7 Rb5 73. Rxb5 Kxb5 74. Ke6 Nxf5 1/2-1/2 [Event "Wch Blitz"] [Site "Doha"] [Date "2016.12.30"] [Round "13"] [White "Bok, Benjamin"] [Black "Cheparinov, Ivan"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2598"] [BlackElo "2689"] [PlyCount "92"] [EventDate "2016.12.29"] [EventType "swiss (blitz)"] [EventRounds "21"] [EventCountry "QAT"] [SourceTitle "Mega2017 Update 11"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2017.01.05"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O d6 5. c3 Nf6 6. d3 h6 7. Re1 O-O 8. h3 a5 9. Nbd2 a4 10. Bb5 Bd7 11. Nf1 Ne7 12. Bxd7 Qxd7 13. d4 Bb6 14. Ng3 Qb5 15. Rb1 Ng6 16. Be3 Rfe8 17. Qc2 d5 18. dxe5 Nxe5 19. Nxe5 Rxe5 20. Bd4 Re6 21. e5 Nd7 22. f4 Rae8 23. Kh1 c5 24. f5 R6e7 25. f6 Re6 26. Nf5 cxd4 27. Nxg7 Nxe5 28. Nxe6 Rxe6 29. Qf5 Qe8 30. cxd4 Ng6 31. Qf2 Re4 32. Rbd1 Qe6 33. Rxe4 dxe4 34. d5 Qxd5 35. Qe2 Qe6 36. Qd2 Qxf6 37. Qxh6 Bc7 38. Qe3 Qe5 39. Kg1 Qe6 40. Kf1 Bb6 41. Qg3 Qf6+ 42. Ke1 Qxb2 43. h4 Qc2 44. Rd2 Ba5 45. Qg5 Qxd2+ 46. Qxd2 Bxd2+ 0-1 [Event "Corsica Masters KO 20th"] [Site "Bastia"] [Date "2016.10.27"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Hou, Yifan"] [Black "Azarov, Sergei"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2649"] [BlackElo "2577"] [PlyCount "62"] [EventDate "2016.10.27"] [EventType "k.o. (rapid)"] [EventRounds "4"] [EventCountry "FRA"] [SourceTitle "Mega2016 Update 57"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2016.11.04"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O d6 5. c3 Nf6 6. d3 a6 7. a4 Ba7 8. Re1 h6 9. Nbd2 O-O 10. h3 Be6 11. b4 d5 12. exd5 Nxd5 13. Ne4 Re8 14. Bd2 Nf6 15. Qb3 Nxe4 16. dxe4 Qf6 17. Kh2 Rad8 18. Bd5 Bxd5 19. exd5 e4 20. dxc6 exf3 21. Rxe8+ Rxe8 22. Be3 Bxe3 23. fxe3 Qe5+ 24. Kh1 fxg2+ 25. Kxg2 Qg5+ 26. Kh2 Rxe3 27. Qc2 Qe5+ 28. Kg1 Re2 29. Qxe2 Qxe2 30. cxb7 Qe3+ 31. Kh2 Qf2+ 0-1 [Event "Douglas IoM op"] [Site "Douglas"] [Date "2016.10.03"] [Round "3"] [White "Harika, Dronavalli"] [Black "Adams, Michael"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2528"] [BlackElo "2745"] [PlyCount "106"] [EventDate "2016.10.01"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [SourceTitle "Mega2016 Update 54"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2016.10.14"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O d6 5. c3 Nf6 6. d3 h6 7. Re1 O-O 8. h3 a5 9. Bb3 Re8 10. Nbd2 Be6 11. Ba4 Qb8 12. d4 exd4 13. cxd4 b5 14. dxc5 bxa4 15. cxd6 cxd6 16. Nb1 d5 17. exd5 Bxd5 18. Rxe8+ Qxe8 19. Be3 Rc8 20. Nc3 Bxf3 21. Qxf3 a3 22. Qe2 Qe5 23. Rd1 Ne7 24. Qd2 Nf5 25. Bf4 Qc5 26. Rc1 axb2 27. Qxb2 Qd4 28. Qd2 Ne4 29. Nxe4 Rxc1+ 30. Qxc1 Qxe4 31. Bg3 a4 32. Kh2 Kh7 33. a3 Nd4 34. Qf4 Qxf4 35. Bxf4 Kg6 36. g4 Kf6 37. Bd6 h5 38. f4 Ke6 39. Bf8 hxg4 40. hxg4 g6 41. Kg3 Kd5 42. g5 Kc4 43. Kg4 Kb3 44. f5 gxf5+ 45. Kg3 f4+ 46. Kg4 f3 47. Kg3 Kc4 48. Kf2 Kd3 49. Bc5 Ne6 50. Be3 Ke4 51. Bc1 Nf4 52. Bd2 Nh3+ 53. Kg3 f2 0-1

C50 Hungarian Defence and Giuoco Pianissimo (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 O-O 6.Bg5 d6 7.Nc3)

The game below was played in a team match called Remedy for OCD - BtDW. The match consisted of 20 boards and it was played between Blade, The Daywalker and Obsessive Chess Disorder. I played on board 1 for OCD and this win was really important one to get us a bit closer to the win of the match. The final score of the match was 17.5 - 22.5 in favor of Obsessive Chess Disorder!

This game started with both players playing quite well until my opponent played 7...Nd4, which is a huge blunder, after which I should have a winning advantage, at least according to Stockfish in this after the game analysis. However, none of that actually matters if you do not know how to take full advantage of the mistakes that your opponent makes.

I showed poor realization skills, because only a few moves later I played foolishly 12.Qf3 instead of just playing 12.Bxe6 and I would have had an easy win. I had to make it difficult for myself by playing 12.Qf3, after which the likely result of the game was a draw and when I did end up playing Bxe6, it was no longer a strong move.

With the move 17.d4, I completely lost any advantage I had previously gained. Then on move 19, my opponent made a small mistake, but as I did not play accurately, the position evened out again with the move 20.Be3. In order for me to take advantage of the mistake, I needed to play 20.dxc5, but even then it would be likely that the game would have gone towards a draw.

After the reply 20...Rc8, the game started to go downhill for my opponent again and the rest of the game I played reasonably well, so that despite of the small mistakes I made, I was able to keep the advantage on my side. The final nail in the coffin was the move 26...Qc1+, after that the game was completely lost for peterkp99.

[Event "Remedy for OCD - BtDW - Board 1"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.01.23"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "peterkp99"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "1868"] [BlackElo "1764"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. Bg5 d6 7. Nc3 {C50 Hungarian Defence and Giuoco Pianissimo} Nd4 8. Nxd4 (8. Bxf6 Qxf6 9. Nd5 Qg6 10. Ne7+ Kh8 11. Nxg6+ fxg6 12. Nxd4 exd4 13. a3 Rf4 14. Re1 Bg4 15. Qd2 Raf8 16. b4 Rxf2 17. Qg5 Bb6 18. e5 c5 19. exd6 Bd8 20. Qxc5 Be2 21. d7 Bb6 22. Qd6 Bxd3 {Ramirez,L-Gonzalez,A Ciudad del Este 2015 0-1}) 8... Bxd4 9. Nd5 (9. h3 Bxc3 10. bxc3 c6 11. Qf3 Qe8 12. Bxf6 gxf6 13. Qxf6 Qd8 14. Qf3 Qa5 15. d4 exd4 16. cxd4 c5 17. Qg3+ Kh8 18. Qxd6 Rd8 19. Qe5+ Kg8 20. dxc5 Qa4 21. Qg5+ Kh8 22. Qxd8+ Kg7 23. Qd4+ Kg8 {Balsai,N-Simon,P (2085) Heves 2000 1-0 (33)}) 9... Be6 $146 (9... h6 10. Nxf6+ gxf6 11. Bxh6 Re8 12. Qh5 Re7 13. Qg6+ Kh8 14. Qg7# {1-0 (14) Tang,Y-Kwan,H Singapore 2008}) (9... c6 10. Nxf6+ gxf6 11. Bh6 { 0-1 (11) Zavagno,M (1443)-Zuttioni,F (1884) Udine 2009}) (9... Bg4 10. Qxg4 Nxg4 11. Bxd8 Raxd8 12. Nxc7 Rd7 13. Ne6 Re8 14. Nxd4 a6 15. Nb5 axb5 16. Bxb5 Rdd8 17. Bxe8 Rxe8 18. h3 Nf6 19. b4 Rd8 20. c4 b6 21. a4 Rc8 22. a5 bxa5 23. bxa5 Nd7 24. Rab1 {Stellnberger,P-Schmid,J Tschagguns 2009 1-0 (33)}) (9... c6 10. Nxf6+ gxf6 11. Bh4 $18) 10. Nxf6+ gxf6 11. Bh6 Re8 $4 {but even a better move would not have saved the game} (11... Kh8 12. Bxf8 Qxf8 $18) 12. Qf3 { White has a mate threat} (12. Bxe6 $142 {and the result of the game is clear: White will win} f5 13. Bxf5 $18) 12... Kh8 $14 13. c3 {White threatens to win material: c3xd4} Bb6 14. Bxe6 fxe6 {Black has a new doubled pawn: e5} 15. Qh3 Qe7 16. Rad1 Rg8 17. d4 exd4 18. cxd4 Rg6 19. Rd3 c5 (19... Rag8 20. g3 $11) 20. Be3 (20. dxc5 dxc5 21. Rfd1 c4 $16) 20... Rc8 (20... c4 $142 $5 {is worthy of consideration} 21. Rdd1 d5 $11) 21. dxc5 $16 Bxc5 22. Bxc5 Rxc5 23. Rfd1 Rc2 24. R3d2 (24. Qf3 $5 Rc6 25. Qe3 $16) 24... Rxd2 25. Rxd2 Qc7 (25... Rg5 26. Qe3 $16) 26. Qd3 $16 Qc1+ (26... Rg4 $142 $5 27. Rd1 Kg8 $16) 27. Rd1 $18 Qxb2 (27... Qg5 28. g3 d5 29. exd5 Qxd5 30. Qxd5 exd5 31. Rxd5 $18) 28. Qxd6 Qxa2 $4 {leading to a quick end} (28... Qe5 29. Qxe5 fxe5 $18) 29. Qf8+ Rg8 30. Qxf6+ ( 30. Qxf6+ Rg7 31. Rd8#) 1-0

Finally some reference games that are not all draws.

[Event "SVK-chT 0001"] [Site "Slovakia"] [Date "2001.03.18"] [Round "11"] [White "Buchnicek, Petr"] [Black "Kalisky, Vladimir"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2398"] [BlackElo "2225"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2000.10.21"] [EventType "team"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "SVK"] [SourceTitle "EXT 2002"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2001.11.25"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. d3 O-O 7. Bg5 Be6 8. Nd5 Bxd5 9. Bxd5 Ne7 10. Bxb7 Rb8 11. Ba6 Rxb2 12. Bc4 Rb6 13. Bxf6 gxf6 14. Nh4 Bd4 15. Qg4+ Kh8 16. Rae1 d5 17. exd5 Rg8 18. Qf3 Rg5 19. d6 Rxd6 20. Bxf7 Qf8 21. Bc4 Rd8 22. g3 Qg7 23. Kh1 Rf8 24. Qg2 Bc3 25. Rb1 f5 26. Rb3 Ba5 27. Rb5 Bc3 28. Rfb1 f4 29. Rb8 Ba5 30. Qa8 Rg8 31. Bxg8 Nxg8 32. Rxg8+ 1-0 [Event "Oberliga Baden 0304 "] [Site "Germany"] [Date "2004.04.25"] [Round "9.5"] [White "Milosevic, Goran"] [Black "Jost, Claude"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2395"] [BlackElo "2263"] [PlyCount "42"] [EventDate "2003.10.12"] [EventType "team"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "GER"] [SourceTitle "EXT 2006"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2005.11.24"] [WhiteTeam "Konstanz"] [BlackTeam "Kehl"] [WhiteTeamCountry "GER"] [BlackTeamCountry "GER"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O O-O 6. Nc3 d6 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 g5 9. Nxg5 hxg5 10. Bxg5 Be6 11. Nd5 Bxd5 12. Bxd5 Kg7 13. Kh1 Rh8 14. c3 Qd7 15. Bxf6+ Kxf6 16. b4 Bb6 17. b5 Na5 18. f4 Rxh2+ 19. Kxh2 Rh8+ 20. Kg3 Rg8+ 21. Kh2 Rh8+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Internet Section 08A g/8'+2""] [Site "Dos Hermanas"] [Date "2004.03.08"] [Round "5"] [White "Maslak, Konstantin"] [Black "Amin, Bassem"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2434"] [BlackElo "2415"] [PlyCount "101"] [EventDate "2004.03.08"] [EventType "swiss (blitz)"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "ESP"] [SourceTitle "CBM 099 ext"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2004.05.04"] 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nc6 3. d3 Bc5 4. Nc3 d6 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. O-O O-O 7. Bg5 Be6 8. Nd5 Bxd5 9. Bxd5 h6 10. Bh4 g5 11. Bxc6 bxc6 12. Bg3 Rb8 13. Rb1 Bb6 14. c3 Qe7 15. Re1 Nd7 16. d4 f6 17. Qd3 c5 18. d5 Qf7 19. Nd2 f5 20. exf5 Qxf5 21. Ne4 Nf6 22. Qc4 Nxe4 23. Rxe4 Rf7 24. Rbe1 Qd7 25. h4 c6 26. hxg5 hxg5 27. Rg4 Bd8 28. dxc6 Qxc6 29. b3 Bf6 30. Bh4 d5 31. Qe2 Rg7 32. Bg3 Re8 33. c4 d4 34. Re4 Rge7 35. Qh5 Rh7 36. Qg6+ Rg7 37. Qh5 Rh7 38. Qf3 Bg7 39. Qg4 Qh6 40. f3 d3 41. Kf2 d2 42. Rd1 Rd8 43. Bxe5 Bxe5 44. Rxe5 Rg7 45. Ke2 Qh7 46. Rxd2 Rxd2+ 47. Kxd2 Qb1 48. Qc8+ Kh7 49. Qf5+ Qxf5 50. Rxf5 g4 51. f4 1-0 [Event "TUR-chT 1st League"] [Site "Konya"] [Date "2017.07.23"] [Round "9.1"] [White "Gulbas, Cemil"] [Black "Li, Di"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2366"] [BlackElo "2469"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2017.07.17"] [EventType "team-swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "TUR"] [SourceTitle "Mega2017 Update 40"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2017.07.28"] [WhiteTeam "Izmir Rota Koleji"] [BlackTeam "Karaman Saglik"] [WhiteTeamCountry "TUR"] [BlackTeamCountry "TUR"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. O-O O-O 6. Nc3 d6 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 Bg4 9. h3 Bxf3 10. Qxf3 Nd4 11. Qd1 c6 12. Ne2 Nxe2+ 13. Qxe2 a5 14. a4 g5 15. Bg3 Nh7 16. c3 Qf6 17. Kh1 Rfe8 18. Rad1 Rad8 19. Qh5 d5 20. Bb3 d4 21. f4 exf4 22. Bxf4 gxf4 23. Qxc5 Ng5 24. h4 Re5 25. hxg5 hxg5 26. Qc4 Kg7 27. Kg1 b5 28. axb5 cxb5 29. Qc7 Rh8 30. cxd4 Re7 31. e5 Qh6 32. Qxe7 Qh2+ 33. Kf2 Qg3+ 34. Kg1 Qh2+ 35. Kf2 Qg3+ 1/2-1/2

C54 Giuoco Piano: 4.c3 Nf6, main lines with 5.d4 and 5.d3 (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O d6 5.c3 Nf6 6.b4 Bb6 7.d3 O-O 8.Bg5)

The game below was played in a team match called KNOCKOUT S5 R1 Team 8 vs Kopaonik. The match was played on 30 boards and I played on board 19 for Kopaonik. The match ended with a score of 27 - 33, so the match was quite evenly fought. I should not have lost this game, first time that I thought that I am probably going to win was when my opponent played 26.Nxe5, which I considered to be a blunder after I saw that if I take it with my pawn, I will be ahead in material. I saw at this point in the game the back rank weakness that my opponent tried to take advantage of.

I did avoid making stupid moves for awhile, but then for some reason I played 33...Nf4, which allowed 34.Qxf7. After the queen captured the rook, my only chance to hold the game was to play 34...Nxh3+ and go for the perpetual check. Wiseone22 would have needed to allow the perpetual because had the rook taken the knight, then I could have forced a mate. The key variations can be seen in the notation of the game.

I was very careful earlier not to move my key defender, the knight on g6, but I did it now because I thought that there are no moves that can take use of my back rank weakness. Obviously I completely missed 34.Qxf7, which enabled an equal position to occur on the board. I missed my chance to draw the game and played 34...h6, which should have been the losing move. However, wiseone22 for some reason took also my other rook with the queen, and I had a chance to get a winning advantage once again. Wiseone22 needed to play 35.Qd7, which would have saved the queen and guarded the pawn at h3 at the same time. My last chance to get a win would have started with the move 35...Qe3+, but instead I took the queen immediately, which allowed the sequence 36.Rd8+ Kg7 37.R1d7+ and then I resigned because I will lose my queen on g3.

[Event "KNOCKOUT S5 R1 Team 8 vs Kopaoni"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2015.12.30"] [Round "?"] [White "wiseone22"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "1688"] [BlackElo "1809"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O d6 5. c3 Nf6 6. b4 Bb6 7. d3 O-O 8. Bg5 { C54 Giuoco Piano: 4.c3 Nf6, main lines with 5.d4 and 5.d3} Be6 9. Bxe6 $146 (9. Nbd2 h6 (9... Ne7 10. Qb3 Bxc4 11. Nxc4 Ng6 12. a4 c6 13. a5 Bc7 14. d4 exd4 15. cxd4 h6 16. Bxf6 Qxf6 17. Rfe1 Rfe8 18. g3 Qe6 19. Qc3 Qg4 20. e5 dxe5 21. Ncxe5 Bxe5 22. Nxe5 Nxe5 23. dxe5 Rad8 24. a6 {Gaber,J (2123)-Frink,F (2239) Zalakaros 2004 0-1 (33)}) (9... Nb8 10. Qb3 Bxc4 11. Nxc4 Nbd7 12. Rad1 Qe7 13. Nh4 Qe6 14. a4 a6 15. Qc2 Ba7 16. Be3 g6 17. Bxa7 Rxa7 18. f4 exf4 19. Qf2 Raa8 20. Qxf4 Qg4 21. Qf2 Rae8 22. Ne3 Qe6 23. Nf3 Ng4 24. Qh4 {Mulenga,C (1915) -Aloulou,M (1722) Hammamet 2016 1-0 (43)}) (9... Qe7 10. a4 a6 11. a5 Ba7 12. Kh1 h6 13. Bh4 Rad8 14. b5 Bxc4 15. Nxc4 axb5 16. Ne3 Bxe3 17. fxe3 Qe6 18. Qb1 g5 19. Bg3 Na7 20. c4 c6 21. c5 Nh5 22. a6 bxa6 23. Rxa6 Qd7 24. d4 {Bird, H-Englisch,B London 1883 1/2-1/2 (44)}) 10. Bh4 Kh7 (10... g5 11. Bg3 d5 12. exd5 Nxd5 13. Qc2 Nf4 14. Rad1 Ne2+ 15. Kh1 Nxg3+ 16. fxg3 Re8 17. b5 Na5 18. Nxe5 Nxc4 19. Nexc4 Bg4 20. Nf3 Qd5 21. a4 Bf5 22. Nb2 Rad8 23. c4 Qd6 24. Nxg5 hxg5 25. Rxf5 {Ivanov,A (1444)-Tonkushin,K Gelendzhik 2015 1-0 (52)}) 11. a4 a6 12. Kh1 Rg8 13. Qc2 g5 14. Bg3 h5 15. h3 h4 16. Bh2 Nh5 17. d4 g4 18. Bxe6 fxe6 19. hxg4 Rxg4 20. dxe5 dxe5 21. Nc4 Ng3+ 22. fxg3 hxg3 23. Rad1 Qe7 { Boncourt-De Saint Amant,P Paris 1837 0-1 (39)}) 9... fxe6 {Black has new doubled pawns: e5+e6} 10. Qb3 Qd7 11. b5 {White threatens to win material: b5xc6} (11. a4 a6 $11) 11... Ne7 (11... Na5 $5 12. Qb4 h6 $15) 12. Nbd2 a6 13. Bxf6 (13. a4 Ba7 $14) 13... Rxf6 14. Nc4 Ba7 15. b6 cxb6 16. Nxb6 Bxb6 17. Qxb6 Rc8 18. c4 Rc6 19. Qb2 Ng6 20. Rab1 Rc7 21. Rfd1 Qc6 (21... Qf7 22. Qb6 Rxf3 23. gxf3 $11) 22. Rbc1 (22. Qb6 Qd7 $11) 22... b6 (22... Rxf3 23. gxf3 Nf4 24. Qd2 $11) 23. d4 (23. Rb1 Rb7 $14) 23... exd4 $11 24. Qxd4 e5 {Black threatens to win material: e5xd4} 25. Qd5+ Kh8 26. Nxe5 $4 {White has let it slip away} ( 26. Qxc6 $142 {was necessary} Rxc6 27. Rc3 $11) 26... dxe5 $19 ({Weaker is} 26... Nxe5 27. Qxe5 $5 {Deflection: d6} h6 28. Qd5 $16) 27. Qxe5 Qc5 (27... Rc8 $142 {might be the shorter path} 28. Qd5 Nf4 29. Qxc6 Rfxc6 $19) 28. Qd5 $4 { a blunder in a bad position} (28. Qxc5 Rxc5 29. Rd8+ Rf8 $19) 28... Qxf2+ $17 29. Kh1 Rcf7 30. h3 Qxa2 (30... Nf4 $142 $5 {makes it even easier for Black} 31. Qd2 Ne2 32. Rc2 Ng3+ 33. Kh2 Nf1+ 34. Rxf1 Qxf1 35. Rc1 $19) 31. Rd2 (31. c5 {hoping against hope} Qxd5 32. exd5 bxc5 33. Rxc5 $19) 31... Qa3 32. Rcd1 ( 32. Rdd1 {doesn't get the cat off the tree} Rf8 33. e5 Rf2 $19) 32... Qg3 ( 32... Nf4 $142 {keeps an even firmer grip} 33. Qd8+ Rf8 $19) 33. Kg1 (33. Qd3 { does not help much} Qf4 34. Qc3 $19) 33... Nf4 {Black has a mate threat} (33... Nh4 34. Qa8+ Rf8 35. Qxf8+ Rxf8 36. Rf1 Rxf1+ 37. Kxf1 Qf4+ 38. Rf2 Qc1+ 39. Ke2 Qxc4+ 40. Ke3 Qc3+ 41. Ke2 Qc2+ 42. Ke1 Qxe4+ 43. Kd1 Kg8 44. Re2 Qb1+ 45. Kd2 Nxg2 46. Re8+ Kf7 47. Rc8 Qe1+ 48. Kd3 Qd1+ 49. Ke4 Qd6 50. Kf3 Ne1+ 51. Ke2 Qe6+ 52. Kd1 Qxc8 53. h4 Qc2+ 54. Kxe1 Kg6 55. h5+ Kf5 56. h6 Ke4 57. hxg7 Ke3 58. g8=Q Qc1#) 34. Qxf7 $11 {White has a mate threat} h6 $4 {a transit from better to worse} (34... Nxh3+ $142 35. Kh1 Nf2+ (35... Rxf7 $4 {2 simply mating in} 36. Rd8+ Rf8 37. Rxf8#) 36. Kg1 Nh3+ (36... Rxf7 {2 leads to mate in } 37. Rd8+ Rf8 38. Rxf8#) 37. Kh1 Nf2+ (37... Rxf7 {2 will allow the opponent to give mate in} 38. Rd8+ Rf8 39. Rxf8#) 38. Kg1 Nh3+ $11 (38... Rxf7 {2 is refuted decisively by mate in} 39. Rd8+ Rf8 40. Rxf8#)) 35. Qxf6 $4 {an unfortunate move that relinquishes the win} (35. Qd7 $142 $16) 35... gxf6 ( 35... Qe3+ $142 {and Black has prevailed} 36. Kh2 gxf6 $19) 36. Rd8+ $18 Kg7 ( 36... Qg8 {no good, but what else?} 37. Rxg8+ Kxg8 $18) 37. R1d7+ (37. R1d7+ Kg6 38. Rg8+ Kh5 39. Rxg3 Ne2+ 40. Kf2 Nxg3 41. Kxg3 Kg6 42. Kf4 a5 43. g4 h5 44. gxh5+ Kxh5 45. Kf5 Kh4 46. Rd3 Kh5 47. Kxf6 a4 48. e5 Kh4 49. e6 a3 50. Rxa3 Kh5 51. e7 Kh6 52. e8=Q Kh7 53. Qg6+ Kh8 54. Qg7#) 1-0

Hmmm, all reference games so far have been draws, maybe I should include games from players 2000+ and not just from 2500+ players. The exception was my last post, but that was only because people who have ratings over 2500 had not played that line.

[Event "Asuncion zt 2.5"] [Site "Asuncion"] [Date "2009.06.12"] [Round "3"] [White "Rodriguez Vila, Andres"] [Black "Mareco, Sandro"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2524"] [BlackElo "2503"] [PlyCount "104"] [EventDate "2009.06.10"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "PAR"] [SourceTitle "CBM 130 Extra"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2009.07.02"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. b4 Bb6 6. d3 O-O 7. O-O d6 8. Bg5 Ne7 9. Nbd2 Ng6 10. Nh4 Nxh4 11. Bxh4 h6 12. Bb3 g5 13. Bg3 Bg4 14. Qe1 a6 15. Nc4 Ba7 16. Ne3 Bh5 17. f3 c6 18. Rd1 Bg6 19. d4 Qc7 20. dxe5 dxe5 21. Kh1 b5 22. c4 Qe7 23. c5 Rad8 24. Qc3 Bb8 25. a4 Nh5 26. axb5 axb5 27. Ra1 Rd4 28. Ra6 Qd7 29. Bc2 Rd8 30. Bf2 Kh7 31. Qb3 f6 32. Nf5 Bf7 33. Qb1 Qc8 34. Ra8 R4d7 35. Nd6 Qc7 36. g3 Ng7 37. f4 Ne8 38. Nxf7 Rxf7 39. Be3 Ng7 40. Bb3 Rfd7 41. fxg5 fxg5 42. Qc2 Rd3 43. Bc1 Qd7 44. Ba2 Rd1 45. Qe2 Rxf1+ 46. Qxf1 Qd1 47. Qxd1 Rxd1+ 48. Kg2 Rxc1 49. Bf7 Rc2+ 50. Kg1 Rc1+ 51. Kg2 Rc2+ 52. Kg1 Rc1+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Wch Rapid"] [Site "Doha"] [Date "2016.12.26"] [Round "5"] [White "Salem, AR Saleh"] [Black "Anton Guijarro, David"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2656"] [BlackElo "2650"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2016.12.26"] [EventType "swiss (rapid)"] [EventRounds "15"] [EventCountry "QAT"] [SourceTitle "Mega2016 Update 65"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2016.12.29"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 O-O 7. b4 Bb6 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 g5 10. Bg3 a5 11. b5 Ne7 12. Nbd2 Ng6 13. d4 Qe7 14. Re1 Nh7 15. Nf1 g4 16. N3d2 h5 17. h4 exd4 18. cxd4 Bxd4 19. Ne3 Bxa1 20. Qxa1 Qf6 21. e5 dxe5 22. Nd5 Qg7 23. Nxc7 Rb8 24. Ne4 Kh8 25. Nd6 f6 26. b6 Bd7 27. Bd3 Rfd8 28. Qc3 Nhf8 29. Qc4 Bc6 30. Nf7+ Kh7 31. Rxe5 fxe5 32. Bxe5 Bd5 33. Nxd5 Qxf7 34. Nf6+ Kg7 35. Nxh5+ Kg8 36. Nf6+ Kg7 37. Ne8+ Kg8 38. Nf6+ Kg7 39. Nh5+ Kg8 40. Nf6+ Kg7 41. Nh5+ Kg8 1/2-1/2

C50 Hungarian Defence and Giuoco Pianissimo (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Nc3 d6 5.h3 Be6)

This was played on the second round of the tournament that was played at Tampere close to ten years ago. I had lost my first round game against a player who was higher rated than me about 200 points and on this round I won a game against someone, who was lower rated than me by over 200 points. Therefore, after two rounds I was doing as well as could be expected, I guess. The next two rounds made sure that this was going to end up as another bad tournament for me in 2006. I think this was the third tournament in a row where I continued my downhill. That downhill also continued for the bigger part of the rest of the year. The most important moment of the game was seen after the move 10...Ne7. My opponent played 11.Be3, which lost a pawn as can be seen in the game continuation 11...Bxe3 12.Qxe3 Nexd5 13.Bxd5 Nxd5.

Admittedly my opponent was already slightly worse before playing the move 11.Be3, but had the material remained equal, I would not have had enough to win the game, in case both players would make accurate moves for the rest of the game that is. I basically had the material advantage and the compensation when I won the pawn, so the game was really one-sided to the end. That being said, my final move was rather embarrassing, I went for the material with 33...Rxg4 when I could have just mated my opponent by taking the undefended rook on e1 with my queen.

[Event "Tammer-Shakki"] [Site "?"] [Date "2006.03.18"] [Round "2"] [White "Jylhä-Ollila, Kaarlo"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "1447"] [BlackElo "1682"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2006.03.18"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Nc3 d6 5. h3 Be6 {C50 Hungarian Defence and Giuoco Pianissimo} 6. Nd5 (6. Bb3 Qd7 7. d3 Nge7 8. Be3 Ng6 9. Qd2 Bb4 10. a3 Ba5 11. Bxe6 fxe6 12. b4 Bb6 13. Ne2 O-O 14. c4 Rad8 15. O-O Rxf3 16. Bxb6 axb6 17. gxf3 Nh4 18. Qe3 Rf8 19. Kh2 Nd4 20. f4 exf4 {Jablonska,A-Luks,M (2120) Brzeg Dolny 1995 0-1}) 6... Nf6 7. d3 h6 $146 {Consolidates g5} (7... Na5 8. Nxf6+ Qxf6 9. Bxe6 Qxe6 10. a3 Nc6 11. Bd2 Qf6 12. O-O Nd4 13. Nxd4 Bxd4 14. c3 Bb6 15. a4 a6 16. Be3 c5 17. b4 Ba7 18. bxc5 dxc5 19. Rb1 Qc6 20. Qh5 O-O 21. Qxe5 Qxa4 22. Rxb7 {Novruzlu,N (1257)-Horn,L Batumi 2016 1-0}) (7... O-O 8. Bg5 Bxd5 9. Bxd5 Nd4 10. Nxd4 Bxd4 11. c3 c6 12. Bb3 Bc5 13. O-O Re8 14. Kh1 d5 15. exd5 cxd5 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17. Qg4+ Kh8 18. Qh5 Qd7 19. Bc2 Bb6 20. d4 e4 21. a4 Rg8 22. Qh6 {Barcons Rovira,J (1765)-Asensio Ruiz de Alda,J (1673) Santa Eulalia de Roncana 2015 0-1 (34)}) (7... Qd7 8. Bb3 Bxd5 9. exd5 Ne7 10. c4 O-O 11. O-O h6 12. d4 exd4 13. Nxd4 Bxd4 14. Qxd4 Nf5 15. Qd3 Rfe8 16. Bc2 g6 17. g4 Nh4 18. Bxh6 Nxg4 19. hxg4 Qxg4+ 20. Qg3 Qh5 21. Be3 Nf3+ 22. Kg2 {Magiera, R-Peters,M Hessen 2000 1/2-1/2}) 8. a3 {Secures b4} a5 9. Qe2 (9. Nxf6+ Qxf6 10. Bxe6 Qxe6 $11) 9... Bxd5 $15 10. exd5 Ne7 11. Be3 (11. Bb5+ $5 Nd7 12. Ba4 $15) 11... Bxe3 $17 12. Qxe3 (12. fxe3 Nfxd5 13. O-O O-O $17) 12... Nexd5 13. Bxd5 Nxd5 14. Qe4 c6 15. O-O (15. c4 Nf6 16. Qe3 O-O $17) 15... O-O 16. Nh2 ( 16. Qf5 g6 17. Qe4 f5 $19) 16... Nf4 17. Rad1 (17. Rfe1 f5 18. Qe3 a4 $19) 17... f5 18. Qf3 Qg5 (18... Qb6 19. Rb1 $19) 19. Kh1 Rae8 20. Rg1 d5 {Black intends e4} 21. Rde1 (21. Qe3 Qf6 $19) 21... e4 22. dxe4 fxe4 23. Qc3 (23. Qe3 b5 $19) 23... Qd8 24. Qd4 Rf6 (24... Ne6 {might be the shorter path} 25. Qe3 $19) 25. Re3 Ref8 (25... c5 {keeps an even firmer grip} 26. Qxc5 Rc6 27. Qd4 Rxc2 28. Rf1 $19) 26. Ng4 $2 (26. f3 Ne6 27. Qd1 Rf4 $19) 26... Rf5 (26... Rg6 $142 {seems even better} 27. Nh2 a4 $19) 27. Rge1 (27. Qd1 Ng6 28. f3 exf3 29. gxf3 $19) 27... Ne6 (27... h5 $142 {makes it even easier for Black} 28. Nh2 Ne6 29. Qd2 Rxf2 30. R1e2 $19) 28. Qd1 (28. Qd2 {cannot change destiny} h5 29. Nh2 Rxf2 $19) 28... h5 29. Nh2 Rxf2 30. Qxh5 (30. R3e2 {doesn't get the bull off the ice} Qg5 31. Rg1 e3 $19) 30... Rxg2 $3 {Double attack: h5/g2} 31. Ng4 (31. Kxg2 Qg5+ {Double attack}) 31... Nf4 32. Qe5 Qh4 (32... Rxg4 33. Rf1 Qh4 34. Kh2 Rg2+ 35. Kh1 Rg3 36. Rxg3 Qxg3 37. Rxf4 Rxf4 38. Qb8+ Kh7 39. Qxf4 Qxf4 40. b3 e3 41. c3 Qg3 42. a4 e2 43. b4 e1=Q#) 33. Rb3 Rxg4 (33... Rxg4 34. Rf1 Rf6 35. Kh2 Nxh3 36. Qb8+ Kh7 37. Rxh3 Rh6 38. Qh8+ Kxh8 39. Rf8+ Kh7 40. Rh8+ Kxh8 41. b3 Qxh3#) (33... Qxe1#) 0-1

Another couple of reference games and these are actually the highest rated people who have ended up in a position after 5...Be6. It does not actually mean that the opening would be categorized the same in these reference games as in the game I played. I am not intentionally picking up only the drawn games, but since there are no games between high rated players that resulted in one of the players winning, this is all that can be added here.

[Event "Ho Chi Minh City HD Bank op 5th"] [Site "Ho Chi Minh City"] [Date "2015.03.18"] [Round "3"] [White "Nay, Oo Kyaw Tun"] [Black "Torre, Eugenio"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C46"] [WhiteElo "2292"] [BlackElo "2449"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2015.03.17"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "VIE"] [SourceTitle "Mega2015 Update 19"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2015.04.03"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Bc5 4. Bc4 d6 5. h3 Be6 6. Bb3 Bxb3 7. axb3 Nge7 8. O-O a6 9. d3 O-O 10. Be3 Bxe3 11. fxe3 f5 12. Nh4 fxe4 13. dxe4 Qd7 14. Qe2 Qe6 15. Rxf8+ Rxf8 16. Rf1 Rxf1+ 17. Kxf1 Nb4 18. Nf3 c6 19. Kg1 h6 20. Qd2 a5 21. Na4 b5 22. Nc3 Na6 23. Nd1 b4 24. Nf2 Nc5 25. Qe2 Nc8 26. Nd2 Nb6 27. Nd3 Nbd7 28. Nf2 Nf6 29. Kh2 Kh7 30. Kg1 Qf7 31. Qf3 Qg6 32. Kh2 d5 33. Qf5 Ncxe4 34. Qxg6+ Kxg6 35. Nfxe4 Nxe4 36. Nxe4 dxe4 37. Kg1 Kg5 38. g3 Kf5 39. Kf2 Ke6 40. Ke2 Kd5 41. Kd2 Kc5 42. Kc1 Kb5 43. Kd2 h5 44. Kd1 c5 45. Kd2 g6 46. Kd1 a4 47. bxa4+ Kxa4 48. Kc1 c4 49. Kb1 1/2-1/2 [Event "Oberliga Nord O 1415"] [Site "Germany"] [Date "2015.03.15"] [Round "8.4"] [White "Schoewel, Matthias"] [Black "Schoene, Ralf"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2221"] [BlackElo "2318"] [PlyCount "34"] [EventDate "2014.09.21"] [EventType "team-tourn"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "GER"] [SourceTitle "Mega2015 Update 30"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2015.06.19"] [WhiteTeam "Berlin Oberschoeneweide"] [BlackTeam "Neuruppin"] [WhiteTeamCountry "GER"] [BlackTeamCountry "GER"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Nc3 d6 5. h3 Be6 6. Bxe6 fxe6 7. Na4 Bb6 8. Nxb6 axb6 9. d4 exd4 10. Nxd4 Qd7 11. O-O Nf6 12. Re1 Nxd4 13. Qxd4 e5 14. Qd3 Qf7 15. a4 O-O 16. Re2 h6 17. c4 Kh8 1/2-1/2

C54 Giuoco Piano: 4.c3 Nf6, main lines with 5.d4 and 5.d3 (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 h6 6.c3 O-O)

This was played on the first round of a tournament that was played at Helsinki in January 2006. I started the tournament with a loss and continued losing for the next three rounds, only in the last game did I manage to win a game... This was the first tournament I played after sharing the win in group C in a tournament that was played at Turku in December on the previous year. Now I played in group B and only managed to get 1 out of the possible 5 points. I was second last in the final standings of group B. It did not take long for me to mess things up in this game, already on move 10 I played the horrible Nb8. One might say that my problems started a bit earlier with 7...d5, because that move enabled the game continuation where I lost a pawn. However, it might not have been that dangerous by itself, because I had some compensation for the pawn in view of faster development.

Or rather it would have been an adequate compensation, had I not retreated with my knight to b8 and given up the lead on development. My opponent took the free pawn and then I played the move 11...Bf6, which made my position even worse and at that moment I was already on a losing position. While neither player played the most accurate moves, there really never was any reasonable doubt about the winner of the game. I continued my fruitless efforts up to the move 47.Rh7, after which I decided it was time to resign.

[Event "KäpSK"] [Site "?"] [Date "2006.01.20"] [Round "1"] [White "Koivistoinen, Timo"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "1884"] [BlackElo "1760"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "93"] [EventDate "2006.01.20"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 h6 6. c3 O-O {C54 Giuoco Piano: 4.c3 Nf6, main lines with 5.d4 and 5.d3} 7. a4 d5 (7... a5 8. d4 exd4 9. cxd4 Bb6 10. e5 Ne8 11. d5 Ne7 12. Be3 d6 13. Bxb6 cxb6 14. Nc3 Bg4 15. exd6 Nxd6 16. Be2 Rc8 17. Ra3 Rc5 18. Qd4 Bf5 19. Rd1 Qc7 20. Bd3 Re8 21. Raa1 Bxd3 22. Qxd3 {Glud,J (2147)-Lehtovirta,V Finland 2002 1-0 (64)}) 8. exd5 Nxd5 {White has a cramped position} 9. b4 $146 {White threatens to win material: b4xc5} (9. Bb5 Bg4 10. Nbd2 a6 11. Bxc6 bxc6 12. Qc2 Re8 13. h3 Bh5 14. Re1 Bd6 15. Nh2 f5 16. c4 Nf6 17. Ndf1 c5 18. Ng3 Bg6 19. Bd2 e4 20. dxe4 fxe4 21. Be3 Bxg3 22. fxg3 Qd3 23. Qe2 {1/2-1/2 (23) Taragel,M (1366)-Zelnik,S (1208) Liptovsky Mikulas 2016}) (9. Re1 Re8 10. Nbd2 Nf4 11. Ne4 Bb6 12. b4 Qd7 13. Bxf4 exf4 14. a5 Bxf2+ 15. Kxf2 b6 16. axb6 cxb6 17. Qd2 Qf5 18. Nf6+ Qxf6 19. Rxe8+ Kh7 20. Rae1 Bb7 21. Rxa8 Bxa8 22. d4 Ne7 23. Bd3+ Ng6 {Smith,V-Babic,G Istanbul 2000 1-0 (32)}) 9... Be7 {Black has an active position} 10. b5 {White threatens to win material: b5xc6} Nb8 (10... Na5 $142 $5 $11 {looks like a viable alternative}) 11. Nxe5 $16 Bf6 $2 (11... c6 12. d4 $16) 12. d4 (12. Ba3 Bxe5 13. Bxf8 Bxh2+ 14. Kxh2 Qxf8 15. Bxd5 Qd6+ 16. Kg1 Qxd5 $18) 12... Bf5 $2 (12... Be6 $5 $16) 13. Ba3 (13. f4 $5 a6 14. Qh5 g6 $18) 13... Re8 14. Qf3 Be6 15. Re1 (15. Nd3 Be7 $18) 15... c6 (15... Nb6 16. Bd3 Bxe5 17. dxe5 $16) 16. Nd2 Qc7 (16... Bxe5 17. dxe5 Nd7 18. Bf1 $18) 17. Ng4 (17. Ne4 Nd7 18. Bd6 Qc8 $18) 17... Be7 $2 (17... Nd7 $142 $5 18. bxc6 bxc6 19. Nxf6+ N7xf6 $16) 18. Bxe7 Rxe7 19. Ne5 (19. Bxd5 $142 $5 Bxd5 20. Rxe7 Qxe7 $18) 19... Nd7 $16 20. bxc6 bxc6 21. Nb3 N7f6 (21... Rae8 $142 $5 $16) 22. Nc5 $18 Rd8 (22... Rae8 23. h3 $18) 23. Nxe6 (23. a5 Rde8 24. Nxe6 Rxe6 $18) 23... Rxe6 24. g3 (24. a5 Ne8 $18) 24... c5 $2 (24... a5 25. Rab1 $18) 25. Rac1 (25. Rab1 {might be the shorter path} a6 $18) 25... Qa5 $2 (25... Re7 26. h4 Nb6 27. Bb5 $18) 26. Bb5 ( 26. Rb1 {and White can already relax} a6 $18) 26... Qb6 (26... Qc7 27. Kg2 $18) 27. c4 Nc7 $4 {the final mistake, not that it matters anymore} (27... Nb4 28. d5 Re7 $18) 28. d5 Red6 (28... Rxe5 {doesn't change the outcome of the game} 29. Rxe5 a6 30. Bc6 $18) 29. Nc6 Rf8 30. a5 Qb7 31. Ne7+ Kh8 32. Nf5 (32. Bc6 $142 {seems even better} Qb4 33. Qf4 Rfd8 $18) 32... Nxb5 33. cxb5 Rxd5 (33... Qxd5 34. Qxd5 Rxd5 $18) 34. Rxc5 $1 {Deflection: d5.} Qd7 (34... Rxc5 35. Qxb7 {Deflection Pinning}) 35. Rxd5 Qxd5 36. Qxd5 Nxd5 37. Re5 Nc7 38. Nd6 Rb8 ( 38... Ne6 {a fruitless try to alter the course of the game} 39. b6 axb6 40. axb6 $18) 39. Nxf7+ (39. Rc5 $142 {nails it down} Nxb5 40. Rxb5 $18) 39... Kg8 (39... Kh7 {cannot change destiny} 40. Nd6 Rd8 41. Nf5 $18) 40. Nd6 Kf8 (40... Rd8 {there is nothing better in the position} 41. Rc5 Rd7 $18) 41. Rc5 Ke7 ( 41... Ne6 {otherwise it's curtains at once} 42. Rc8+ Rxc8 43. Nxc8 Ke8 $18) 42. Rxc7+ Kxd6 43. Rxa7 Rxb5 44. Rxg7 h5 45. a6 Ra5 46. a7 Ke6 47. Rh7 (47. Rh7 Kf6 48. Kg2 $18) 1-0

Here are some reference games that have reached the position after 6...O-O. I have taken them from a database that contains over 6.8 million games at the moment and I have only included games where both players had ratings 2500 or over. Only three games were found and all were drawn.

[Event "Moscow Tal Memorial Blitz"] [Site "Moscow"] [Date "2008.08.30"] [Round "33"] [White "Gelfand, Boris"] [Black "Eljanov, Pavel"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2720"] [BlackElo "2716"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2008.08.29"] [EventType "tourn (blitz)"] [EventRounds "34"] [EventCountry "RUS"] [EventCategory "20"] [SourceTitle "CBM 126 Extra"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2008.11.05"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. O-O h6 7. d4 Bb6 8. dxe5 Nxe4 9. Bd5 Nc5 10. Bf4 Ne7 11. Bc4 Ne6 12. Bc1 d5 13. exd6 cxd6 14. Na3 d5 15. Be2 Ng6 16. Nc2 Nef4 17. Nfd4 Nxe2+ 18. Qxe2 Re8 19. Qf3 Ne5 20. Qg3 Kh8 21. Bf4 Nc6 22. Nb5 Qf6 23. Be3 Ba5 24. Nc7 Bxc7 25. Qxc7 Bf5 26. Nd4 Nxd4 27. Bxd4 Qe7 28. Qf4 Qg5 29. Qxg5 hxg5 30. Be3 f6 31. Rfd1 Be6 32. Rd4 Kg8 33. Rb4 Re7 34. a4 a6 35. a5 Kf7 36. h4 gxh4 37. Rxh4 Bd7 38. Rd1 Bc6 39. Kf1 Rae8 40. Ke2 Re4 41. Rxe4 1/2-1/2 [Event "Sinquefield Cup 4th"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2016.08.07"] [Round "3"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C53"] [WhiteElo "2771"] [BlackElo "2792"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2016.08.05"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "USA"] [EventCategory "22"] [SourceTitle "Mega2016 Update 46"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2016.08.18"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. O-O h6 7. d4 Bb6 8. dxe5 Nxe4 9. Bd5 Nxf2 10. Rxf2 d6 11. exd6 Qxd6 12. Bb3 Bxf2+ 13. Kxf2 Qf6 14. Qd2 g5 15. Kg1 Bg4 16. Qf2 Rfe8 17. Be3 Bxf3 18. Nd2 Rxe3 19. Qxe3 Bh5 20. Qh3 Be2 21. Re1 Re8 22. Bc4 Qd8 23. Qxh6 Bxc4 24. Rxe8+ Qxe8 25. Qxg5+ Kf8 26. Qc5+ Kg8 27. Qg5+ Kf8 28. Qh6+ Kg8 29. Qg5+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Subic Bay op"] [Site "Subic Bay"] [Date "2016.12.09"] [Round "6"] [White "Kovalev, Vladislav"] [Black "Gagunashvili, Merab"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2595"] [BlackElo "2588"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2016.12.06"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "PHI"] [SourceTitle "Mega2016 Update 63"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2016.12.18"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. O-O h6 7. d4 Bb6 8. dxe5 Nxe4 9. Bd5 Nxf2 10. Rxf2 d6 11. exd6 Qxd6 12. Bb3 Bxf2+ 13. Kxf2 Qf6 14. Be3 Be6 15. Nbd2 Rad8 16. Qf1 Rfe8 17. Re1 Bxb3 18. Nxb3 Re7 19. Bc5 Rxe1 20. Qxe1 b6 21. Bd4 Nxd4 22. cxd4 a5 23. Qc3 Rd7 24. Nbd2 Re7 25. Nc4 Re6 26. Qd3 Re7 27. Qc3 Qe6 28. Qd3 Qd5 29. b3 Re8 30. Ne3 Qd6 31. Nc4 Qd5 32. Ne3 Qd6 33. a4 Qa3 34. Qc2 Qe7 35. Qd3 Qa3 36. g4 Qd6 37. h3 Qf4 38. Nd5 Qd6 39. Ne3 Qf4 40. Nd5 Qd6 1/2-1/2

C54 Giuoco Piano: 4.c3 Nf6, main lines with 5.d4 and 5.d3 (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O d6 5.h3 Nf6 6.Re1 O-O 7.c3 Be6 8.Bxe6 fxe6 9.d4)

This one was played in a tournament called 2014 September Grand Seven Fourteen III at Red Hot Pawn. I was 4th in the final standings and I managed to gather 99 points in 40 games. A player called kopsov (1858) won the tournament. Kopsov gathered 114 points. The first position to look at came after my move 22...Rxd5. I had just won a pawn, but maybe my opponent had some compensation for the pawn, mainly the better placed bishop. It was not that easy to get that extra pawn matter that much because my pieces were not well placed to support the advancement of the pawns.

Thaba played 23.f3, which I guess was played in order to improve the control over the square e4, but it does weaken the pawn cover in front of the king a bit. It was not the best move, but neither was the move that I played in reply, 23...Bc5. I played it so that I can get rid of my bishop and so that I can get my rook to the c-file, which I thought was the right idea. The bishop trade did indeed happen and my rook did get to c5, but since my rook on f5 was still out of play, Thaba did have quite good compensation for the pawn. I did manage to eventually improve my position and get my extra pawn become dangerous asset, but the result of the game was not clear before my opponent made the final blunder 36.Rxd7.

Trading the rooks was a huge mistake because it made winning the game much more simpler for me. Removing the more active of Thaba's rooks meant that there really was no counterplay possibilities left for my opponent. It would have been rather easy to convert the advantage into a win, but my opponent made it even easier by moving the king to f2 on move 37. I was given the choice of winning either the pawn on a4 or the one at h4. I decided that the more important pawn to take was the a-pawn, because then my queenside pawns can easily decide the game. Losing the second pawn was enough for Thaba to resign.

[Event "Grand Seven Fourteen"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2014.09.11"] [Round "1"] [White "Thaba"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "1449"] [BlackElo "1895"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "74"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O d6 5. h3 Nf6 6. Re1 O-O 7. c3 Be6 8. Bxe6 fxe6 9. d4 {C54 Giuoco Piano: 4.c3 Nf6, main lines with 5.d4 and 5.d3} exd4 10. cxd4 Bb4 {Black threatens to win material: Bb4xe1} (10... Bb6 11. Bg5 Qd7 12. Nc3 Rae8 13. Na4 Ba5 14. Re2 b5 15. Nc3 a6 16. a3 Bb6 17. Bxf6 Rxf6 18. d5 Na5 19. dxe6 Qxe6 20. Qd5 Nc4 21. Ng5 Qxd5 22. Nxd5 Rg6 23. Nxb6 Nxb6 24. h4 h6 25. Nh3 {Novak,R (1707)-Zilava,K (1424) Tabor 2013 1/2-1/2}) 11. Nc3 $146 (11. Bd2 Bxd2 12. Qxd2 e5 13. dxe5 dxe5 14. Qc3 Qe7 15. Nbd2 Rad8 16. Rad1 Nd4 17. Qc4+ Kh8 18. Rc1 Nxf3+ 19. Nxf3 c6 20. Rcd1 Nd7 21. Qc3 Rde8 22. Qd2 Nf6 23. Qd6 h6 24. Qxe7 Rxe7 25. Nh4 Kh7 {Kannenberg,C (1972)-Riha,P (1823) Frankfurt 2007 1-0 (45)}) (11. Bd2 Bxd2 12. Nbxd2 Qd7 $14) 11... Qe8 12. d5 exd5 13. exd5 Ne5 14. Nxe5 dxe5 {White has a new backward pawn: d5} 15. a3 {White threatens to win material: a3xb4} (15. Qb3 Bd6 $14) 15... Bd6 {The black bishop is safe in front of d5} (15... Bxc3 16. bxc3 Qb5 17. Bg5 Qxd5 18. Qxd5+ Nxd5 19. Rxe5 $11) 16. Ne4 (16. Bf4 Nh5 17. Bh2 Qf7 $14) 16... Nxe4 (16... Qf7 17. f3 $11) 17. Rxe4 $14 Qb5 18. b4 Rf5 19. Be3 a5 20. bxa5 (20. a4 $5 {should be considered} Qe8 21. b5 $14) 20... Rxa5 $11 21. a4 (21. Rb1 Qa6 22. a4 Rf8 $11) 21... Qxd5 22. Qxd5+ (22. Qc2 Rf8 $11) 22... Rxd5 $15 23. f3 (23. a5 Rf8 $15) 23... Bc5 ( 23... Rf8 $5 $17) 24. Bxc5 $11 Rxc5 {A double rook endgame occured} 25. Rb1 b6 26. Rd1 (26. Rb5 $5 {is noteworthy} Rc1+ 27. Kf2 Rc2+ 28. Re2 Rxe2+ 29. Kxe2 $11) 26... g6 27. Rd7 Rf7 28. Rd8+ Kg7 29. Kh2 (29. Re8 Kf6 $17) 29... Kf6 30. Ra8 Rd5 (30... Rd7 31. h4 $17) 31. Ra7 (31. Rc4 Ke6 $15) 31... Rd4 (31... Ke6 $5 $17) 32. Re2 $15 Ke6 33. Rc2 (33. a5 Rd5 34. axb6 cxb6 $15) 33... Kd6 (33... c5 34. Rxf7 Kxf7 35. a5 $19) 34. Kg3 (34. a5 b5 35. a6 Rc4 $15) 34... Rd7 ( 34... Rd5 35. Ra8 $17) 35. h4 (35. a5 Rd5 36. a6 Ra5 $15) 35... c5 $17 36. Rxd7+ $4 {leads to further unpleasantness} (36. Ra6 $142 $17) 36... Kxd7 $19 37. Kf2 (37. a5 {is the last straw} Kc6 38. axb6 Kxb6 39. Rb2+ Kc6 40. Kf2 $19) 37... Rxa4 (37... Rxa4 38. Re2 Kd6 $19) 0-1

C24 Bishop's Opening: 2...Nf6 (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nge7 5.d3 O-O 6.h3 d5 7.exd5 Nxd5)

This was played in the 2014 August Grand Seven Fourteen III tournament. Timeout was 7 days and there was also a timebank of 14 days. The tournament started on August 11th, 2014. I was on fourth place in the final standings and I was able to gather 93 points in 40 games. This is one of the few silly games where I have played the horrible 4...Nge7, thinking for whatever reason that the bishop was on b5 and not on c4. One would think that because this was a correspondence game, I would at least look the position properly before making my move, but in reality I usually just blitz the first few moves in the opening and do not always even look the location of all the pieces. I do remember going over the problem of the move 4...Nge7 in one of my previous posts, but maybe I will do so here as well.

In the game rkmmax played 5.d3, which let me off the hook and the game was evenly fought after that up to the move 23.dxe4. I played 23...a6, in order to prevent the queen check from b5. It was actually a very bad idea and I was indeed in a losing position after the reply 24.e5. I then moved my bishop to c5, maybe thinking that I might be able to play d3 in some situations and increase pressure towards f2. Next rkmmax played b4, which was a good move, but 25.Qf3 would have been much better.

The next turning point of the game was seen when rkmmax played 27.Qd5+ and threw the win away. The queen check allowed me to move my king to c8 and defend the pawn on b7. Even though my position may have seemed a bit more passive than that of my opponent's, the position should be equal.

The result of the game was decided when rkmmax played 35.Bd2. The reason why moving the bishop to d2 to protect the pawn on b4 can be seen in the game continuation 35...axb4 36.Bxb4 Kd5 37.f4 c5 38.Bd2 c4 39.dxc4+ Kxc4. It basically gave me the initiative, better placed king and a strong passed pawn on the d-file.

Rkmmax did try to fight on and see if I make a mistake that would justify the struggle, but it never happened. In a position where it became clear that I will be able to promote my a-pawn and my opponent could not do anything to stop it or generate counterplay, rkmmax resigned.

[Event "Grand Seven Fourteen"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2014.08.11"] [Round "1"] [White "rkmmax"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C24"] [WhiteElo "1477"] [BlackElo "1885"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "110"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nge7 5. d3 (5. Nc3 d6 6. a3 a6 7. h3 Nd4 8. Ng5 Ne6 9. Nxe6 fxe6 10. d3 O-O 11. Be3 b6 12. b4 Bd4 13. Bxd4 exd4 14. Ne2 c5 15. Qd2 d5 16. exd5 Nxd5 17. bxc5 bxc5 18. c3 e5 19. cxd4 cxd4 {Testa, M-Alvarez,J (2345) Santiago de Chile 1994 1-0 (71)}) 5... O-O (5... d6 6. Ng5 O-O 7. Qf3 Qd7 8. Nxf7 Ng6 9. Nxe5+ Kh8 10. Nxg6+ hxg6 11. Qxf8+ {1-0 (11) Costa,I (1401)-Pessoto,L (1763) Sao Paulo 2016}) 6. h3 $146 (6. Nbd2 d5 7. exd5 Nxd5 8. Re1 Re8 9. Ne4 Bb6 10. d4 Nxd4 11. Nxd4 exd4 12. Bxd5 Re5 13. Bc4 Qe7 14. Bg5 Qe8 15. Ng3 h6 16. Bf4 Rxe1+ 17. Qxe1 Bd7 18. Qxe8+ Rxe8 19. Bd2 Be6 20. Re1 Kf8 {Mar,K (2134)-Seruga,V Ptuj 2005 1-0 (32)}) (6. Bg5 d6 7. Nh4 h6 8. Ng6 Re8 9. Nxe7+ Nxe7 10. Bxe7 Qxe7 11. Nc3 Be6 12. Nd5 Bxd5 13. Bxd5 Kh8 14. Qh5 Rf8 15. c3 a6 16. Rad1 f5 17. exf5 Rf6 18. Bxb7 Raf8 19. d4 exd4 20. cxd4 Ba7 {Rodriguez Collado,A (1700)-Domenech Lopez,L (1700) Barcelona 2013 1-0}) ( 6. Nc3 d6 7. h3 Be6 8. Bxe6 fxe6 9. Bg5 h6 10. Bxe7 Qxe7 11. Qe2 Nd4 12. Nxd4 Bxd4 13. Qd2 Rf7 14. Rab1 c6 15. Nd1 Raf8 16. Ne3 Qg5 17. c3 Bb6 18. a3 Qh4 19. b4 Rf6 20. Rb2 Rg6 {Rasinar,L-Adam,A Eforie Nord 2001 0-1 (50)}) 6... d5 7. exd5 Nxd5 {C24 Bishop's Opening: 2...Nf6} 8. Bxd5 (8. a4 $5 $11 {has some apparent merit}) 8... Qxd5 $15 {Black has the pair of bishops} 9. Nc3 {White threatens to win material: Nc3xd5} Qd8 10. Bd2 Bf5 11. a3 {Controls b4} Re8 { Black has an active position} 12. Rb1 Nd4 (12... a5 13. Re1 $15) 13. Nxd4 exd4 ({Not} 13... Qxd4 14. Be3 Qd6 15. Qf3 Bxe3 16. fxe3 $14 (16. Qxf5 $143 Bb6 $11) (16. Qxe3 $6 b6 $11)) 14. Ne2 Qf6 (14... Qd5 15. Nf4 Qc6 16. Bb4 $11) 15. Ng3 $11 {White has a cramped position} Bg6 16. Re1 (16. f4 Bf5 $14) 16... Bd6 17. Rxe8+ Rxe8 18. Qf1 Kf8 19. Re1 Qh4 (19... Qd8 20. Ne4 $11) 20. Rxe8+ Kxe8 21. Qe2+ Kd7 22. Ne4 Bxe4 23. dxe4 a6 $2 (23... Kd8 $142 $14 {would keep Black alive}) 24. e5 $18 Bc5 (24... Bf8 25. Qf3 Qe7 26. Qxb7 Qxe5 27. Qxa6 $18) 25. b4 (25. Qf3 $142 {and White could have gained the advantage} Qe7 26. b4 $18) 25... Bb6 $16 26. Qf3 Qe7 $2 (26... Ke8 $142 $16) 27. Qd5+ $4 {White has let it slip away} (27. Qxb7 $142 {and the scales tip in favour of White} Qxe5 28. Qxa6 $18) 27... Kc8 $11 28. Bf4 Qe6 {Black threatens to win material: Qe6xd5} 29. Qf3 (29. Qe4 g6 $11) 29... g6 (29... Qf5 $5 30. a4 g6 $11) 30. g4 $11 Qc4 31. Qd3 (31. Bd2 $5 $11) 31... Qxd3 $15 {Black forks: a3+h3} 32. cxd3 {A bishop endgame occured} Kd7 33. Kg2 (33. Bg5 Ke6 34. f4 c5 $15) 33... Kc6 ( 33... Ke6 $142 $5 $17) 34. a4 a5 {Black threatens to win material: a5xb4} 35. Bd2 $2 (35. bxa5 $142 {and White is still in the game} Bxa5 36. Bg5 $15) 35... axb4 $19 36. Bxb4 Kd5 37. f4 c5 38. Bd2 $2 (38. Be1 $142 $19) 38... c4 39. dxc4+ (39. Kf3 {praying for a miracle} c3 40. Bc1 $19) 39... Kxc4 40. Kf3 Kd3 41. Be1 Bc5 42. f5 gxf5 43. gxf5 Kc2 44. e6 (44. Ke4 d3 45. Kd5 $19) 44... fxe6 45. fxe6 d3 46. a5 d2 47. Bxd2 Kxd2 48. Ke4 (48. Kg4 {does not help much} Kc3 49. h4 Kb4 50. Kf3 Kxa5 51. Ke2 b5 52. Kd3 Be7 53. h5 b4 54. Kc2 Ka4 55. h6 Ka3 56. Kb1 Kb3 57. Kc1 Kc3 58. Kb1 b3 59. Ka1 Bc5 60. Kb1 b2 61. e7 Bxe7 62. Ka2 Bh4 63. Kb1 Bd8 64. Ka2 Kc2 65. Ka3 b1=Q 66. Ka4 Qb3#) 48... Kc3 49. Kd5 (49. Ke5 {is not the saving move} Kb4 50. h4 Kxa5 51. h5 b5 52. Kd5 Kb6 53. h6 b4 54. Kc4 Be7 55. Kd4 Kb5 56. Kd3 b3 57. Kc3 Ka4 58. Kb2 Kb4 59. Kb1 Bf6 60. e7 Bxe7 61. Ka1 Kc3 62. Kb1 b2 63. Ka2 Bh4 64. Kb1 Bd8 65. Ka2 Kc2 66. Ka3 b1=Q 67. Ka4 Qb3#) 49... Be7 50. h4 (50. Ke4 {does not solve anything} Kb4 51. h4 Kxa5 52. h5 b5 53. Kd5 b4 54. Kc6 b3 55. Kd7 Ba3 56. e7 Bxe7 57. Kxe7 b2 58. Kf6 b1=Q 59. Ke5 Qb5+ 60. Ke4 Qxh5 61. Kf4 Kb4 62. Ke3 Qg4 63. Kd3 Kb3 64. Ke3 Kc3 65. Kf2 Kd3 66. Kf1 Ke3 67. Ke1 Qg1#) 50... Kb4 51. a6 (51. Kd4 {a fruitless try to alter the course of the game} Kxa5 52. h5 b5 53. Kd5 b4 54. Kc6 b3 55. Kd7 Bg5 56. e7 Bxe7 57. Kxe7 b2 58. Kf6 b1=Q 59. Ke5 Qb5+ 60. Ke4 Qxh5 61. Kf4 Kb4 62. Ke3 Qf5 63. Ke2 Kc3 64. Ke3 Qg4 65. Kf2 Kd3 66. Kf1 Ke3 67. Ke1 Qg1#) 51... bxa6 52. h5 (52. Kc6 {doesn't change anything anymore} a5 53. h5 a4 54. h6 a3 55. Kd7 Bc5 56. e7 Bxe7 57. Kxe7 a2 58. Kd6 a1=Q 59. Ke6 Kc5 60. Kf5 Qd4 61. Kg5 Kd5 62. Kf5 Qe5+ 63. Kg4 Ke4 64. Kh3 Kf3 65. Kh4 Qg3+ 66. Kh5 Qg4#) 52... Kb5 (52... a5 53. h6 a4 54. Kc6 a3 55. Kd7 Bg5 56. e7 Bxe7 57. Kxe7 a2 58. Kd6 a1=Q 59. Ke6 Kc5 60. Kf5 Qd4 61. Kg5 Kd5 62. Kf5 Qe5+ 63. Kg4 Ke4 64. Kh3 Kf3 65. Kh4 Qg3+ 66. Kh5 Qg4#) 53. Ke5 (53. Ke4 {doesn't get the bull off the ice} Kc5 54. h6 a5 55. Kd3 Kb4 56. Kc2 Kc4 57. Kb1 a4 58. Kc1 Kd3 59. Kb1 Kc3 60. Kc1 a3 61. Kb1 Kd2 62. Ka1 Kc1 63. Ka2 Kc2 64. Ka1 Kb3 65. Kb1 Bg5 66. e7 a2+ 67. Ka1 Bf6#) 53... a5 (53... Kc4 54. Ke4 a5 55. Ke3 a4 56. Kd2 a3 57. Kc2 h6 58. Kc1 Kd3 59. Kb1 Kc3 60. Kc1 a2 61. Kd1 a1=Q+ 62. Ke2 Qg1 63. Kf3 Kd3 64. Kf4 Bd6+ 65. Kf5 Qg5#) 54. Kd5 (54. Kd4 {doesn't improve anything} a4 55. Kc3 Kc5 56. h6 a3 57. Kb3 Kd4 58. Kc2 Kc4 59. Kc1 Kd3 60. Kb1 Kc3 61. Kc1 a2 62. Kd1 a1=Q+ 63. Ke2 Qg1 64. Kf3 Kd3 65. Kf4 Bd6+ 66. Kf5 Qg6#) 54... a4 55. Ke5 (55. Kd4 {doesn't do any good} Kb4 56. Kd3 Kb3 57. h6 a3 58. Ke4 a2 59. Kf3 a1=Q 60. Kf2 Qh1 61. Kg3 Qg1+ 62. Kf4 Kc4 63. Kf5 Kd3 64. Kf4 Bd6+ 65. Kf5 Qg6#) 55... a3 (55... a3 56. Kf4 a2 57. Ke3 a1=Q 58. Ke2 Qf6 59. Kd3 Qf1+ 60. Ke4 Bg5 61. e7 Kc4 62. Ke5 Qf6+ 63. Ke4 Qf4#) (55... Kc4 56. h6 a3 57. Kf5 a2 58. Kg4 a1=Q 59. Kh3 Qf1+ 60. Kg3 Bd6+ 61. Kg4 Qf4+ 62. Kh5 Qf3+ 63. Kh4 Be7#) 0-1

C50 Hungarian Defence and Giuoco Pianissimo (1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.a3)

This is from the first round of a 15 minute tournament that was played at the FIDE Online Arena on March 23rd 2015. At this point in the tournament everything seemed to go well. I really can't ask for more if I win after a good game. Sure there were some inaccuracies but nothing that severe that would have given good chances for my opponent. Even though the game started to go down the drain for my opponent as early as move 10, the last move of the game did not come until I checkmated my opponent on move 44. Dias castled on move 10, ignoring the possibility of the move 10...dxe4. It would not have won material, had dias just replied with 11.Bxf6 and went for the continuation 11...gxf6 12.dxe4 Qxd1 13.Rxd1, but dias would have been behind in development and I would have had the better placed pieces.

Alas for dias, he or she chose to take back on e4 immediately, which lost a pawn because I first traded queens and then took on e4 with my knight. At that moment I was up a pawn and had the initiative, while my opponent still had problems developing his or hers pieces. All these things added up, I had a winning advantage. Converting my advantage to a win was relatively easy even if it took quite a lot of moves.

[Event "Tournament 28205545"] [Site "online arena"] [Date "2015.03.23"] [Round "1"] [White "dias"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "1549"] [BlackElo "1823"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. a3 {C50 Hungarian Defence and Giuoco Pianissimo} d6 5. c3 Nf6 (5... Bg4 6. h3 Bh5 7. O-O (7. d3 Qf6 8. Nbd2 Nge7 9. b4 Bb6 10. O-O Ng6 11. g4 Nf4 12. Kh2 Qg6 13. Nh4 Qf6 14. Ndf3 g5 15. Nf5 Bg6 16. Be3 h5 17. Rg1 hxg4 18. Rxg4 Rxh3+ 19. Kg1 Qh8 20. Ng3 Qh5 21. Rxg5 Qh6 { Knauer,M (1572)-Stephan,T (1076) Schney 2017 1/2-1/2 (31)}) 7... Nf6 8. d3 h6 9. Qe2 O-O 10. Be3 Bxe3 11. Qxe3 Re8 12. Nbd2 d5 13. Ba2 dxe4 14. dxe4 Qe7 15. Nh4 Kh8 16. Nf5 Qf8 17. g4 Bg6 18. Nf3 Rad8 19. g5 Nh5 20. Kh2 {Srch,J (2215) -Kunschek,H Vienna 1991 0-1}) 6. d3 a6 $146 {Covers b5} (6... Qe7 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 a6 9. O-O g5 10. Bg3 Bg4 11. Nbd2 Nh5 12. Kh1 Nf4 13. Qc2 Qf6 14. Ne1 h5 15. f3 Bd7 16. Bf2 Bxf2 17. Rxf2 Kf8 18. Nf1 Kg7 19. Ne3 Ne7 20. Rd1 c6 21. d4 {Feijoeiro, A-Boino,C Portugal 1993 0-1 (40)}) (6... O-O 7. Bg5 h6 8. Be3 Bxe3 9. fxe3 a6 10. Nbd2 Qe7 11. Bd5 Nxd5 12. exd5 Nb8 13. e4 Nd7 14. Qc2 Nb6 15. O-O-O c5 16. Rdg1 Nd7 17. h3 b5 18. g4 g6 19. c4 Rb8 20. Rh2 Nb6 21. h4 { Vukotic,L-Lukic,L (1720) Podgorica 2014 1/2-1/2 (47)}) 7. Ba2 O-O 8. Bg5 Be6 9. b3 {Prevents intrusion on c4} (9. Bxe6 fxe6 10. O-O h6 $11) 9... d5 {Black threatens to win material: d5xe4} 10. O-O (10. exd5 $142 $5 {deserves consideration} Bxd5 11. b4 $11) 10... dxe4 $17 11. dxe4 $2 (11. Bxf6 $142 $5 gxf6 12. dxe4 Qxd1 13. Rxd1 $17) 11... Qxd1 $19 12. Rxd1 Nxe4 13. b4 $2 (13. Bh4 $19) 13... Bxf2+ 14. Kf1 Bb6 15. c4 (15. Re1 {what else?} Nxg5 16. Nxg5 $19 ) 15... Nxg5 16. Nxg5 Bg4 (16... Bd4 {makes it even easier for Black} 17. Nd2 Bxa1 18. Rxa1 $19) 17. Rd2 (17. Nc3 {doesn't get the cat off the tree} Bd4 18. Nd5 Bxa1 19. Rxa1 Rad8 $19) 17... Be3 18. Rd3 (18. Ne4 {hardly improves anything} Bxd2 19. Nbxd2 Rfd8 $19) 18... Bxg5 19. Rg3 (19. Nc3 {doesn't change the outcome of the game} a5 20. b5 Nd4 $19) 19... f5 20. h3 Bf4 21. Rd3 Bh5 22. Nd2 (22. Nc3 {is not the saving move} Nd4 $19) 22... Rad8 23. Rxd8 Rxd8 24. Nf3 e4 25. Nh4 g6 26. g4 fxg4 27. hxg4 Bxg4 28. Ng2 Bg5 29. Re1 Bf3 30. Ne3 Bxe3 ( 30... Rd2 31. Bb3 Ne5 32. c5+ Kf8 33. Kg1 Nd3 34. Bd1 Bxe3+ 35. Rxe3 Rxd1+ 36. Kh2 Rh1+ 37. Kg3 Rg1+ 38. Kh2 Rg2+ 39. Kh3 Nf2+ 40. Kh4 g5#) 31. Rxe3 Rd1+ 32. Re1 Rxe1+ 33. Kxe1 Kg7 34. Kf2 (34. Kd2 {cannot undo what has already been done } h5 35. Ke3 Ne5 36. Bb1 Nxc4+ 37. Kf4 Kf6 38. Bxe4 Bxe4 39. Kxe4 Nxa3 40. Kf3 Nc2 41. b5 axb5 42. Ke2 h4 43. Kf3 b4 44. Ke2 h3 45. Kf2 b3 46. Kg3 b2 47. Kxh3 b1=Q 48. Kg2 Qe1 49. Kf3 Qf1+ 50. Kg4 Qg2+ 51. Kh4 g5+ 52. Kh5 Qh3#) 34... Kf6 35. Ke3 (35. c5 {does not save the day} Ne5 36. c6 bxc6 37. b5 axb5 38. a4 h5 39. a5 h4 40. a6 e3+ 41. Kxe3 h3 42. a7 c5 43. a8=Q Bxa8 44. Bb1 h2 45. Bd3 h1=Q 46. Kd2 Nxd3 47. Kxd3 Qd1+ 48. Ke3 Qe1+ 49. Kf4 g5+ 50. Kg4 Qh4#) 35... Ke5 (35... Ne7 36. c5 Nf5+ 37. Kd2 g5 38. c6 bxc6 39. Bc4 e3+ 40. Kc2 g4 41. Bf1 g3 42. Kd3 e2 43. Bxe2 g2 44. Bxf3 g1=Q 45. Bh5 Qe3+ 46. Kc2 Nd4+ 47. Kd1 Kg5 48. Bf3 Nxf3 49. Kc2 Nd4+ 50. Kb1 Qb3+ 51. Ka1 Nc2#) 36. c5 (36. b5 { does not help much} axb5 37. cxb5 Nd4 38. a4 Nf5+ 39. Kf2 Kf4 40. Ke1 e3 41. Bc4 h5 42. b6 cxb6 43. a5 Nd4 44. a6 Nc2+ 45. Kf1 bxa6 46. Bxa6 h4 47. Kg1 Kg3 48. Bf1 h3 49. Bxh3 Kxh3 50. Kf1 e2+ 51. Kf2 e1=Q+ 52. Kxf3 Qe3#) 36... g5 37. Bg8 (37. a4 {does not improve anything} Nxb4 38. c6 Nxc6 39. a5 h5 40. Bc4 h4 41. Bf1 g4 42. Kf2 Kf4 43. Be2 h3 44. Bd1 h2 45. Bxf3 gxf3 46. Ke1 h1=Q+ 47. Kd2 Qb1 48. Kc3 f2 49. Kc4 Qd3+ 50. Kc5 Qd4#) 37... h5 38. Bf7 (38. Bc4 { is not much help} h4 39. Bf1 g4 40. Kd2 h3 41. b5 axb5 42. a4 bxa4 43. Be2 h2 44. Bd1 h1=Q 45. Bxa4 e3+ 46. Kc2 Qa1 47. Kd3 Be4+ 48. Kc4 Qxa4+ 49. Kc3 Qb4#) 38... h4 39. Kf2 (39. Be6 {cannot change destiny} Kxe6 40. b5 axb5 41. a4 bxa4 42. Kd2 h3 43. Kc1 h2 44. Kb1 h1=Q+ 45. Kb2 Qg2+ 46. Kc3 e3 47. Kc4 Qc2+ 48. Kb5 Qb3#) 39... Kf4 (39... Nd4 40. Kg1 g4 41. Kf2 g3+ 42. Ke3 g2 43. b5 g1=Q+ 44. Kd2 Qd1+ 45. Kc3 Qc1+ 46. Kb4 Qd2+ 47. Kc4 axb5#) 40. Be6 (40. Ke1 { is no salvation} h3 41. Bh5 Bxh5 42. Kd2 h2 43. b5 h1=Q 44. bxc6 Qd1+ 45. Kc3 Qc1+ 46. Kb3 Bf7+ 47. Kb4 Qc4+ 48. Ka5 Qb5#) 40... e3+ 41. Kg1 (41. Kf1 { does not win a prize} Nd4 42. a4 Nxe6 43. a5 Kg3 44. b5 h3 45. b6 h2 46. c6 h1=Q#) 41... Nd4 42. Bh3 (42. Bc4 {cannot change what is in store for White} Kg3 43. Kf1 h3 44. a4 h2 45. Ke1 h1=Q+ 46. Bf1 Nc2#) 42... e2 43. Kf2 Nc2 44. a4 (44. Bf1 {doesn't do any good} e1=Q+ 45. Kg1 Qg3+ 46. Bg2 Qxg2#) 44... e1=Q# 0-1

C56 Two Knights: 4.d4 exd4 5.0-0 Nxe4 (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O d6 5.c3 Nf6 6.d4 exd4 7.cxd4 Bb6)

This one was played in a team match called mini semi open match LBF 206 - 2100 rating. It was played between La Belle France and Hungarian Chess Group. I played on board 2 for La Belle France. The last game of the match was my other game against eperjam. It was very important for me to win that game because due to it we were able to draw the match. The final score in this seven board match was 7 - 7. It was not easy being the match deciding player, especially when my opponent offered me a draw in both of these games and at the time I thought I had chances to win this game. It turns out that I should have agreed to a draw in the game you see below. Had I understood some of the positions better, I might have won this game. While the first dubious move might be 8...h6, it was was not bad enough to decide the game in favor of my opponent. A much more serious mistake was played by eperjam on move 12, when my opponent moved the queen to d3.

The move 12.Qd3 was bad because it enabled the possibility for me to win the pawn on e4, starting with the move 12...Nxe4. The idea behind it is that in the continuation 13.Nxe4 Bf5 14.Nfd2 d5 Black wins the piece back and ends up having an extra pawn. I missed my chance and played 12...Bh5, most likely thinking of relocating the bishop to g6. However, when eperjam replied with 13.Nd2, I thought it best to trade the bishops. It was not the best idea because eperjam could take back with the knight and everything was protected sufficiently. A few moves later I received another possibility to get a clear advantage when eperjam played 17.d5.

It would have enabled me to play the idea that is seen in the notation of the game 17...b5 18.Nd2 Bxe3+ 19.Qxe3 Nxd5. I could have won a pawn had I gone for that variation, but unfortunately I started with the move 17...Bxe3+, which is clearly worse than 17...b5, since in the game continuation eperjam was able to take on e3 with the knight and avoid all problems. The next blunder, 26.Nd4, gave me a chance to get a winning advantage, but I failed to seize it.

Like a fool I played 26...Qb7 and the game was heading towards a draw again. I needed to play 26...Nd3+ and I could have been on my way to victory. The game continued with the moves 27.h3 Nd3+ and then eperjam made his or hers second to last blunder 28.Rxd3. I happily took back with the pawn and I was up the exchange. At the moment everything seemed to be going my way, but with my 30th move Nd7 I already threw away the win and the game was fought equally again until eperjam moved the queen from c1 to c3 on move 32. A much better move would have been 32.Ng4.

I answered the move 32.Qc3 by moving my knight to b8 with the idea of trading knights. It was unfortunately the starting point for my loss, eperjam played correctly 33.Ng4 in reply and I was in clear trouble. I may not have been losing after 33.Ng4, but I certainly was losing when I replied with 33...Nd7. I tried my best to resist the inevitable loss, but in the end my efforts were fruitless and I had to accept the defeat after 52.d6.

[Event "mini semi open match LBF 206 - 2100 rat"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2014.11.16"] [Round "?"] [White "eperjam"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C56"] [WhiteElo "1870"] [BlackElo "1844"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "103"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O d6 5. c3 Nf6 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4 Bb6 { C56 Two Knights: 4.d4 exd4 5.0-0 Nxe4} 8. Nc3 h6 9. Be3 (9. h3 O-O 10. e5 dxe5 11. dxe5 Qxd1 12. Rxd1 Na5 13. Bd3 Nh7 14. Nd5 Be6 15. Nxb6 axb6 16. Bf4 Nc6 17. a3 Rfd8 18. Be4 Bb3 19. Rxd8+ Rxd8 20. e6 Bxe6 21. Bxc7 Rd7 22. Bxb6 Nf6 23. Bxc6 bxc6 {Rutkauskas,G (1873)-Valiunas,E Lithuania 2014 1-0 (41)}) 9... O-O 10. a3 (10. Qd2 Ba5 11. Bd3 Ng4 12. a3 Nxe3 13. fxe3 Bxc3 14. bxc3 f5 15. exf5 Bxf5 16. e4 Bh7 17. Rae1 Kh8 18. Re3 Qd7 19. Rfe1 Rae8 20. Bb5 Qe7 21. d5 Ne5 22. Nd4 a6 23. Bd3 Rf6 24. Ne6 Rxe6 {Pal,F (2025)-Mizik,Z (1983) Hungary 2005 1/2-1/2 (63)}) 10... Bg4 11. Be2 $146 (11. Kh1 Qd7 12. Rg1 Rae8 13. Qd3 Bh5 14. g4 Nxg4 15. Nh4 Kh8 16. Rg3 Nxe3 17. fxe3 Nd8 18. Rag1 g6 19. Nd5 Qe6 20. e5 dxe5 21. Nf4 Qf6 22. Nhxg6+ fxg6 23. Nxg6+ Bxg6 24. Rxg6 Qf3+ 25. R1g2 Qh5 {Leonhardt,P-Meiners,W Hilversum 1903 1-0}) 11... Re8 12. Qd3 (12. d5 Bxe3 13. dxc6 Bb6 14. cxb7 Rb8 $11) 12... Bh5 {White has a very active position} ( 12... Nxe4 13. h3 Bf5 14. Qd1 $17) 13. Nd2 (13. d5 Bxf3 14. gxf3 $11) 13... Bxe2 {Black forks: f1+d3} (13... Bg6 $142 $17) 14. Nxe2 $14 a6 15. f3 { Prevents intrusion on g4} Qe7 16. Nc4 (16. b4 $5 $14 {is interesting}) 16... Ba7 $11 17. d5 {White gets more space} (17. Nd2 Bb6 18. b4 $16) 17... Bxe3+ $4 {forfeits the advantage} (17... b5 $142 18. Nd2 Bxe3+ 19. Qxe3 Nxd5 $17) 18. Nxe3 $16 ({Less advisable is} 18. Qxe3 Nxd5 {Deflection: e4} 19. Qb3 b5 $15) 18... Ne5 19. Qb3 (19. Qd2 Rad8 $14) 19... c6 $11 20. Rfd1 Rab8 21. Nd4 (21. a4 g6 $11) 21... g6 {Secures f5} 22. Rac1 c5 {Black threatens to win material: c5xd4} 23. Ne2 b5 24. Qc2 Rec8 (24... Nh5 25. Nf1 $15) 25. Kf2 (25. Qd2 h5 $11) 25... c4 $15 {Black wins space} 26. Nd4 $2 (26. Rb1 $15) 26... Qb7 $4 {Black loses the upper hand} (26... Nd3+ $142 $5 27. Rxd3 cxd3 28. Qxc8+ Rxc8 29. Rxc8+ Kh7 $19) 27. h3 {Controls g4} (27. Qc3 $5 {is an interesting alternative} Nfd7 28. Kf1 $11) 27... Nd3+ $15 28. Rxd3 $2 (28. Kg1 $142 {and White hangs on} Qb6 29. Qc3 $15) 28... cxd3 $19 29. Qd2 Rxc1 30. Qxc1 Nd7 $4 {weakening the position} (30... Qb6 $142 {would have given Black a clear advantage} 31. Qc3 b4 32. axb4 Qxb4 $19) 31. Nc6 $11 {White threatens to win material: Nc6xb8. White can be proud of that piece} Re8 32. Qc3 (32. Ng4 $142 h5 33. Nh6+ Kg7 34. Nf5+ gxf5 35. Qg5+ Kh8 36. Qxh5+ Kg7 37. Qg5+ Kh8 38. Qh6+ Kg8 39. Qg5+ Kh7 40. Qh5+ Kg8 41. Qg5+ Kh7 42. Qxf5+ Kh6 43. Qf4+ Kg6 44. Qf5+ Kg7 45. Qg5+ Kh8 46. Qh5+ Kg7 47. Qg5+ Kh8 48. Qh6+ Kg8 49. Qg5+ Kh7 50. Qh4+ Kg6 51. Qg3+ Kh7 52. Qh4+ Kg6 53. Qg4+ Kh7 54. Qf5+ Kh6 55. Qf4+ Kg7 56. Qg5+ $11) 32... Nb8 $4 {letting the wind out of his own sails} (32... Ne5 $142 $17) 33. Ng4 $16 Nd7 $4 { causes further problems for White} (33... Qb6+ $142 34. Kg3 Nd7 35. Nxh6+ Kh7 36. Nxf7 Qe3 $16) 34. Nxh6+ $18 Kh7 35. Nxf7 Qc7 (35... Qb6+ 36. Qd4 Qxd4+ 37. Nxd4 Rc8 $18) 36. Ng5+ Kh6 37. Qd2 (37. Ne6 $142 $5 {keeps an even firmer grip} Qb6+ 38. Kg3 Ne5 39. Nxe5 dxe5 40. Qxe5 Qb7 $18) 37... Qb6+ (37... Kg7 { a fruitless try to alter the course of the game} 38. Qxd3 Nf8 39. Qd4+ Kg8 40. f4 $18) 38. Kg3 Kg7 39. Qxd3 Nc5 (39... Nf6 {there is nothing else anyway} 40. Qc3 Qc5 41. Ne6+ Rxe6 42. Qxc5 dxc5 43. dxe6 Ng8 $18) 40. Qd4+ Kh6 (40... Re5 { doesn't improve anything} 41. Ne6+ Kf6 42. Nxe5 dxe5 43. Qxc5 Qxc5 44. Nxc5 b4 45. axb4 Ke7 46. b5 axb5 47. b4 Kf6 48. Kg4 Kf7 49. d6 Ke8 50. Kg5 Kd8 51. d7 Ke7 52. Kxg6 Kd8 53. Kf6 Kc7 54. Ke7 Kc6 55. h4 Kb6 56. d8=Q+ Ka7 57. Qd7+ Kb8 58. Qb7#) 41. h4 (41. e5 dxe5 42. Nxe5 Ne4+ 43. Qxe4 Kg7 44. Qh4 Rh8 45. Ne6+ Qxe6 46. Qxh8+ Kxh8 47. dxe6 Kg7 48. e7 Kf6 49. e8=Q g5 50. f4 gxf4+ 51. Kxf4 Kg7 52. Qf7+ Kh8 53. Ng6#) 41... Nd7 (41... Nxe4+ {is not much help} 42. Nxe4 Qxd4 43. Nxd4 $18) 42. Qxb6 (42. Nf7+ $142 {secures the win} Kh7 43. Qd2 $18) 42... Nxb6 43. Nf7+ Kg7 44. Nxd6 Ra8 (44... Rh8 {does not help much} 45. Kg4 $18) 45. b3 Nd7 (45... Kh7 {cannot change destiny} 46. Kg4 $18) 46. e5 Nc5 ( 46... Nb6 {no good, but what else?} 47. Ne7 Ra7 48. Ne8+ Kf8 $18) 47. b4 (47. e6 a5 48. e7 Nd7 $18) 47... Nd7 48. e6 Nf6 49. e7 Rg8 50. Nd4 Ne8 51. Nxe8+ Rxe8 52. d6 (52. d6 Kf6 53. d7 Kxe7 54. dxe8=Q+ Kxe8 55. Kg4 Ke7 56. Kg5 Kd6 57. Kxg6 Kd5 58. Nf5 a5 59. bxa5 b4 60. axb4 Kc6 61. h5 Kb5 62. h6 Ka4 63. h7 Ka3 64. h8=Q Kxb4 65. a6 Kb5 66. a7 Kb4 67. a8=Q Kb3 68. Qd5+ Kb4 69. Qb2+ Ka4 70. Qa8#) 1-0

C50 Hungarian Defence and Giuoco Pianissimo (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Nc3 a6)

This was played in the first round of the WORLD OPEN RAPID tournament that was played at the FIDE Online Arena on March 18th 2015. This was not an easy game and it could have ended in my opponent getting the win. The first really horrible move was played by me in this game when I moved my bishop to g7 on move 27. The bishop was needed on f8 in order to cover the d6 square, so that the knight could not jump there. Veronica.v replied correctly with 28.Nd6 and my position after that was rather horrible, even losing. The knight on d6 attacked the queen, the pawns at b7 and f7 and also added to the control of the square e8, so that my rook on d8 lacked good squares to go to.

I then moved my attacked queen to d7 in order to protect the pawn on b7. The most obvious seeming move would be then to play Qe7 and add more pressure to my position, but veronica.v kindly just moved the knight back to e4, which attacked the pawn on g5. This helped me to get back into the game, which I was able to do with the reply 29...Rg6. There would be no real point behind moving the knight back to d6 because I could just reply with Bf8 and the knight move would look rather silly and it would just waste time. The next huge blunder was played by veronica.v, when my opponent played 34.Qe2.

The move was so bad in fact that it was easy for me to come up with moves that would help me win the game. I started with the obvious 34...hxg2+, since it won a pawn and freed the square h3 for my queen to land upon on the next move. It is true that my opponent could have offered a better resistance, had veronica.v covered the square h1 with the knight by moving it to f2, but even then the result of the game should be 0-1. Veronica.v played the game up to mate, which came on move 44.

Game number two. This is a short game and that is because my opponent lost on time. And the timeout, of course, explains why I won the game... Apparently according to the analysis I was basically already lost after nine moves because I had made the horrible move 9.O-O, which should have lost the game.

Igwiz missed his or hers chance and played 10.Qf3. A much better square for the queen would have been h5, where it would attacked both f7 and mate on h7. Had my opponent played that I might have resigned the game at that moment. Then it came time to play the last move of the game, 10...Qe7, which was losing again due to the reply Qh5. This was played in a tournament called 2014 September Grand Seven Fourteen III. The win of the tournament went to a player called kopsov (1858), who gathered 114 points. I was 4th in the final standings of the tournament and gathered 99.

Game number three. The game below is from a tournament called 2014 September Grand Seven Fourteen III. This was one of the three draws that I played in the tournament. In the game below I played the sequence of moves in the wrong order and had to take the draw at the end. I am referring to move 19...Re8, had I instead taken on e4 with my pawn and played Re8 the next move, I may have had better chances to win the game.

In the game dooser2004 played 19.g3, which was the only move played in this game that could have been the starting point for a loss for one of the players. The reason why 19.g3 is such a bad is that White is not only forced on the defensive, but also ends up losing some material. For instance, the game might continue 19...fxe4 20.dxe4 Re8 21.Neg1 Rfe7 22.Nd2 d3 23.c3 Bf2 and White would lose a pawn. The line I chose was where White tries to hold on to the material, it might be better to give up the pawn earlier, so that the position does not get so bad for White. 23.c3 was played in that line because 23.cxd3 would have been answered with Nb4. Because I was not able to take advantage of this opportunity, the game was played evenly to the end.

Game number four. This one was played on the first round of the 2014 September Glacial Super Casual I tournament that is held at Red Hot Pawn. I played on group 7 and I won the group, which meant that I was the only one from my group to advance to the second round. Only the group winner or winners will advance, so most players are eliminated in round one. The second round is currently in progress and it is very unlikely that I would win this tournament, but it is still theoretically possible. I have gathered 6 points and my maximum possible score is 30, which is 6 points higher than the amount of points that the current leader has gathered. The game below was quite evenly matched up to the last couple of moves when my opponent self-destructed. The game deciding blunder was seen when dooser2004 played 20.f4.

Moving the pawn to f4 was bad because it loses at least a pawn. I took on f4 with my pawn and then dooser2004 just simply took the pawn back with the rook, which momentarily equalized the material. Taking the pawn back was much worse than giving up the pawn in view of 21...Be3, which I played in the game and my opponent resigned because there is no way to save both the rook and the knight.

After 4 games, I have only played this variation with the black pieces and I have been able to win 3 (75%) and drawn 1 (25%) of the games. Since the average rating of my opponents is only 1552, this may not be that impressive.

[Event "Tournament 28038750"] [Site "online arena"] [Date "2015.03.18"] [Round "1"] [White "veronica.v"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "1531"] [BlackElo "1803"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Nc3 a6 {C50 Hungarian Defence and Giuoco Pianissimo} 5. a3 d6 (5... Nf6 6. d3 b5 7. Bd5 Ne7 8. Bxa8 Ng4 9. O-O O-O 10. d4 Bd6 11. Nxe5 Nxe5 12. dxe5 Bxe5 13. Bd5 c5 14. Qg4 d6 15. Qh4 Nxd5 16. Qh5 Nxc3 17. bxc3 Bxc3 18. Rb1 f5 19. Bg5 Qe8 20. Qh3 {Lorenz,A-Mulder,K Erfurt 2014 1/2-1/2}) 6. h3 Nf6 7. d3 Be6 8. Ba2 $146 (8. Bxe6 fxe6 9. O-O O-O 10. Ng5 Qe8 11. Qg4 Nxg4 12. hxg4 Nd4 13. Bd2 Nxc2 14. Rac1 Nd4 {0-1 (14) Tsvetanova, P-Zhivkov,G (2187) Kozloduy 2008}) 8... Nd4 9. O-O Bxa2 10. Nxa2 Ne6 11. Nc3 c6 {Covers b5+d5} 12. Ne2 O-O 13. Nh2 d5 14. exd5 cxd5 15. c3 {Consolidates b4+d4} d4 {White has a cramped position} (15... Bd6 16. Ng3 $11) 16. Ng3 (16. cxd4 Nxd4 17. Nxd4 Bxd4 $11) 16... Re8 (16... dxc3 17. bxc3 Nd5 18. Ne2 $15) 17. Ng4 (17. b4 $142 Bd6 18. cxd4 $11) 17... Nf4 (17... dxc3 $142 18. bxc3 Nd5 $15) 18. Bxf4 exf4 19. Nxf6+ Qxf6 20. Ne4 Qf5 21. b4 Bf8 22. c4 ({Instead of} 22. cxd4 Red8 $15) 22... Re6 (22... a5 $14) 23. f3 (23. Qf3 $142 $5 $16) 23... Rg6 24. Kh1 Rd8 25. c5 {White gains space} Rh6 26. Qe2 g5 27. Rae1 Bg7 $2 (27... b6 $142 $11 {and Black could well hope to play on}) 28. Nd6 $18 Qd7 29. Ne4 { White threatens to win material: Ne4xg5} (29. Qe7 $142 {White had this great chance} Bf8 30. Qxd7 Rxd7 31. Re8 $18) 29... Rg6 (29... Qf5 30. Qc2 $14) 30. Qc2 h5 {Black plans g4} 31. Rc1 (31. h4 gxh4 32. Qf2 h3 $11) 31... g4 32. fxg4 hxg4 33. Rxf4 gxh3 34. Qe2 $4 {what a pity, victory was in sight} (34. g4 $142 {this is the best way to fight back} Rxg4 35. Rxg4 Qxg4 36. Qf2 $11) 34... hxg2+ $19 35. Kg1 Qh3 36. Nd6 (36. Nf2 {otherwise it's curtains at once} Qh6 37. Qe4 $19) 36... Qh1+ 37. Kf2 Qxc1 38. Rg4 g1=Q+ 39. Rxg1 Qxg1+ 40. Kf3 Rf6+ (40... Qg4+ 41. Kf2 Qg3+ 42. Kf1 Qg1#) 41. Ke4 Qg6+ (41... Qg5 42. Kxd4 Rfxd6+ 43. Ke4 Re8+ 44. Kf3 Rf6#) 42. Kd5 (42. Kxd4 {is no salvation} Rfxd6+ 43. Ke3 Re8+ 44. Kd2 Rxe2+ 45. Kxe2 Qg2+ 46. Kd1 Rxd3+ 47. Kc1 Qb2#) 42... Rfxd6+ ( 42... Re6 43. Kc4 Rxe2 44. Kb3 Rxd6 45. Ka4 Qxd3 46. cxd6 Rb2 47. b5 Qxb5#) 43. cxd6 (43. Kc4 {does not win a prize} Re6 44. Qc2 b5+ 45. Kb3 Rde8 46. a4 Re2 47. Qb1 R8e3 48. axb5 axb5 49. Qc2 Qxd3+ 50. Ka2 Rxc2+ 51. Ka1 Qd1#) 43... Qxd6+ 44. Kc4 (44. Ke4 {doesn't get the bull off the ice} Qg3 45. a4 Bh6 46. Qf3 Qh4+ 47. Qg4+ Qxg4+ 48. Ke5 Qe6#) 44... Qd5# 0-1 [Event "Grand Seven Fourteen"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2014.09.11"] [Round "1"] [White "Igwiz"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "1349"] [BlackElo "1895"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "20"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Nc3 a6 {C50 Hungarian Defence and Giuoco Pianissimo} 5. O-O d6 6. d3 Nf6 (6... Bg4 7. h3 Bh5 8. g4 Bg6 9. Re1 Qd7 10. Bg5 h5 11. Be3 hxg4 12. hxg4 Qxg4+ 13. Kf1 Bxe3 14. fxe3 Rh1+ 15. Ng1 Rxg1+ { 0-1 (15) Galeano,J-Rebellato,R (1751) Foz do Iguacu 2015}) 7. Nd5 $146 (7. Be3 Bg4 8. Bxc5 dxc5 9. Nd5 Nh5 10. h3 Be6 11. Ng5 Bxd5 12. exd5 Qxg5 13. dxc6 bxc6 14. Re1 Nf4 15. Qf3 Qf6 16. Re4 Rb8 17. g3 Nxh3+ 18. Kg2 Qxf3+ 19. Kxf3 Ng5+ 20. Ke3 Nxe4 21. dxe4 Rxb2 {Ferrere,S-Payet,A Etang Sale 2000 0-1}) (7. h3 Na5 8. Bb3 c6 9. Be3 Nxb3 10. axb3 Qe7 11. Bxc5 dxc5 12. Qe2 O-O 13. Nd2 g6 14. Qe3 Nh5 15. Na4 Nf4 16. Nf3 Ne6 17. c3 f6 18. Nb6 Rb8 19. Nxc8 Rbxc8 20. g3 Rcd8 21. Rfd1 Rd6 {Machlik,J (1891)-Becham,K (2122) Caleta 2014 1/2-1/2 (49)}) (7. Nd2 Bg4 8. Ne2 Nd4 9. Nf3 Nxf3+ 10. gxf3 Bxf3 11. Qe1 Qd7 12. Qd2 Qg4+ 13. Ng3 Qh3 14. d4 Qg2# {0-1 (14) Bassini,E (1350)-Kocausta,A (1320) France 2011}) 7... Nxd5 8. Bxd5 Bd7 9. Ng5 {White threatens to win material: Ng5xf7} O-O $4 (9... Qf6 $142 $14 {the only rescuing move}) 10. Qf3 (10. Qh5 $142 {and White has reached his goal} h6 11. Nxf7 Rxf7 12. Bxf7+ Kf8 13. Bd5 $18) 10... Qe7 (10... Qe7 11. Qh5 h6 $18) 0-1 [Event "Grand Seven Fourteen"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2014.09.11"] [Round "1"] [White "dooser2004"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "1664"] [BlackElo "1914"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Nc3 a6 {C50 Hungarian Defence and Giuoco Pianissimo} 5. d3 d6 (5... h6 6. Be3 Bb4 7. O-O Nf6 8. Nd5 Bd6 9. c3 O-O 10. Nd2 Na5 11. b4 Nxc4 12. Nxc4 Nxd5 13. exd5 b5 14. Nxd6 cxd6 15. c4 Bb7 16. a4 f5 17. f3 Qh4 18. Qb3 bxc4 19. dxc4 Rf6 20. c5 {Delic,J (1987)-Bjelopoljak,S (2084) Sarajevo 2015 0-1 (36)}) 6. Be3 (6. h3 Na5 7. O-O Nxc4 8. dxc4 Nf6 9. Qe2 h6 10. Rd1 Qe7 11. Be3 Bxe3 12. Qxe3 b6 13. b4 Bb7 14. Rab1 Nd7 15. Nd5 Bxd5 16. cxd5 O-O 17. Nd2 Kh7 18. c4 g6 19. Nb3 f5 20. c5 f4 {Korman,M (2151) -Huschenbeth,N (2417) Germany 2009 1-0 (37)}) 6... Nd4 $146 (6... Nf6 7. a3 O-O 8. O-O Bg4 9. h3 Bh5 10. g4 Nxg4 11. hxg4 Bxg4 12. Kg2 Kh8 13. Qd2 f5 14. Rh1 Bxe3 15. Qxe3 f4 16. Qd2 Bxf3+ 17. Kxf3 Nd4+ 18. Kg2 Qg5+ 19. Kf1 Rf6 20. f3 Rh6 21. Rxh6 {Pitschka,K-Kreuzer,M Abensberg 1987 0-1}) (6... Ba7 7. Bxa7 Rxa7 8. h3 Na5 9. Bb3 Nxb3 10. axb3 Ne7 11. d4 f6 12. Qd2 Ng6 13. O-O-O O-O 14. h4 Bg4 15. Rdg1 Bxf3 16. gxf3 Nf4 17. Ne2 Nxe2+ 18. Qxe2 b5 19. Qe3 exd4 20. Qxd4 c5 21. Qd5+ {Caroff,F-Salami,R (2262) Fouesnant 1999 1/2-1/2}) (6... Bxe3 7. fxe3 Na5 8. Bb3 $11) 7. Bxd4 exd4 8. Ne2 {White threatens to win material: Ne2xd4} Qf6 9. h3 {Controls g4} Be6 (9... Ne7 10. Qd2 $11) 10. Bb3 O-O-O (10... Ne7 11. Qc1 $11) 11. Qd2 Ne7 12. O-O-O Bxb3 13. axb3 Nc6 14. Qg5 Qxg5+ 15. Nxg5 Rdf8 16. f4 h6 {Black threatens to win material: h6xg5} 17. Nf3 f5 18. Rde1 ( 18. exf5 Rxf5 19. g4 Rf7 $11) 18... Rf7 (18... fxe4 19. dxe4 Re8 $15) 19. g3 $4 {throwing away the advantage} (19. exf5 Rxf5 20. g4 Rf7 $14) 19... Re8 (19... fxe4 $142 20. dxe4 Re8 $17) 20. exf5 $11 Rxf5 21. Kd1 {White king safety dropped} Rf7 22. Nc1 Rfe7 23. Rxe7 Rxe7 (23... Nxe7 24. Re1 $11) 24. Re1 Kd7 25. Rxe7+ Kxe7 {A minor pieces endgame occured} 26. Ne2 Kf6 27. g4 g6 28. Kd2 Bb6 29. Kd1 1/2-1/2 [Event "Glacial Super Casual"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2014.09.13"] [Round "1"] [White "dooser2004"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "1664"] [BlackElo "1914"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "42"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Nc3 a6 {C50 Hungarian Defence and Giuoco Pianissimo} 5. O-O d6 6. d3 Nf6 (6... Bg4 7. h3 Bh5 8. g4 Bg6 9. Re1 Qd7 10. Bg5 h5 11. Be3 hxg4 12. hxg4 Qxg4+ 13. Kf1 Bxe3 14. fxe3 Rh1+ 15. Ng1 Rxg1+ { 0-1 (15) Galeano,J-Rebellato,R (1751) Foz do Iguacu 2015}) 7. Be3 (7. h3 Na5 8. Bb3 c6 9. Be3 Nxb3 10. axb3 Qe7 11. Bxc5 dxc5 12. Qe2 O-O 13. Nd2 g6 14. Qe3 Nh5 15. Na4 Nf4 16. Nf3 Ne6 17. c3 f6 18. Nb6 Rb8 19. Nxc8 Rbxc8 20. g3 Rcd8 21. Rfd1 Rd6 {Machlik,J (1891)-Becham,K (2122) Caleta 2014 1/2-1/2 (49)}) 7... Nd4 $146 (7... Bg4 8. Bxc5 dxc5 9. Nd5 Nh5 10. h3 Be6 11. Ng5 Bxd5 12. exd5 Qxg5 13. dxc6 bxc6 14. Re1 Nf4 15. Qf3 Qf6 16. Re4 Rb8 17. g3 Nxh3+ 18. Kg2 Qxf3+ 19. Kxf3 Ng5+ 20. Ke3 Nxe4 21. dxe4 Rxb2 22. Rd1 {Ferrere,S-Payet,A Etang Sale 2000 0-1}) (7... Bxe3 8. fxe3 Na5 9. Bb3 $11) 8. Bxd4 Bxd4 9. Qd2 ( 9. Nxd4 exd4 10. Nd5 Nxd5 11. Bxd5 O-O $11) 9... Ba7 10. Nd5 c6 {Prevents intrusion on b5} 11. Nxf6+ Qxf6 12. Qg5 (12. c3 Bg4 $15) 12... Qxg5 $15 13. Nxg5 O-O 14. Kh1 h6 {Black threatens to win material: h6xg5} 15. Nf3 Bg4 16. Nd2 Rad8 17. f3 {White threatens to win material: f3xg4} Be6 (17... Bh5 18. Bb3 $15) 18. Bb3 (18. Bxe6 fxe6 19. g3 g5 $11) 18... d5 $15 19. exd5 cxd5 20. f4 $2 (20. Rae1 $142 $15 {and White can hope to survive}) 20... exf4 $19 21. Rxf4 $4 {an oversight. But White was lost anyway..} (21. c3 $142 $19) 21... Be3 (21... Be3 22. Rb4 Bxd2 23. Rxb7 d4 $19) 0-1

C50 Hungarian Defence and Giuoco Pianissimo (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O d6 5.h3 Nf6 6.d3 Be6)

The game below was played in a team match called the WOLF. It was played between * The WOLF * and ♙ Thematic Matches & Tournaments. In this 48 board match I played on board 3 and lost both my games. The match ended with a score of 22.5 - 73.5 in favor of ♙ Thematic Matches & Tournaments. This match started on December 15th, 2014 and finished on April 29th, 2015. I think there was two critical moments in this game and first of them is the position after 19...Nxf5. Er_is_geen_hoop_meer made a huge blunder by taking on f5 with the queen. This was my best and only chance during the game to steer the position clearly in my favor.

The reason why 20.Qxf5 is bad is that 20...Nxe4 was possible. It wins at least a pawn, because if White captures the knight with the pawn, then the game might continue 21...Rf6 22.Qxe5+ Bxf2 and Black gets the material back with interest. I missed my chance and played 20...g6, after which the position was equal. The second critical moment came after the move 29.Qf4. Unlike me, my opponent, FIDE Master Er_is_geen_hoop_meer was able to take advantage of the blunder.

I first played 29...Rd2, which was quite a horrible move, especially when replied with 30.e5, like my opponent did in the game, but then I really handed over the win to Er_is_geen_hoop_meer with the answer 30...Ng8. I do not remember the reason why I moved my knight to such a horribly passive square, but there was no coming back from it. Even though I would have likely lost the game, had I moved my knight to h5, it still was a better try, at least it would have attacked the queen and it would have delayed the pawn advance to e6. I did continue my struggle for a few moves, but I had to give up the game when 36.Qc7+ was played, because at that moment the game is hopelessly lost.

[Event "the WOLF - Board 3"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2014.12.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Er_is_geen_hoop_meer"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "1986"] [BlackElo "1854"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O d6 5. h3 Nf6 6. d3 Be6 {C50 Hungarian Defence and Giuoco Pianissimo} 7. Nbd2 O-O 8. c3 (8. Re1 a6 9. a4 Qd7 10. Nf1 h6 11. c3 Bxc4 12. dxc4 Qe6 13. b3 Ne7 14. Ng3 Nd7 15. Nh4 Kh7 16. Nhf5 Nxf5 17. exf5 Qe7 18. Qf3 Rab8 19. Ne4 Ba7 20. Qh5 Nf6 21. Qh4 Ng8 22. f6 gxf6 { Zeman,M (2056)-Jelinek,M (2176) Klatovy 2016 1-0}) 8... a6 (8... Qd7 9. Ng5 h6 10. Nxe6 fxe6 11. b4 Bb6 12. a4 a6 13. a5 Ba7 14. b5 axb5 15. Bxb5 Qf7 16. Bxc6 bxc6 17. Nc4 Nh5 18. Be3 Nf4 19. Kh2 Qg6 20. g3 Nh5 21. Qg4 Qf7 22. Ra2 Nf6 23. Qe2 {Molinero Martin,J (2013)-Capellades Subirana,M (2235) Sant Adria 2013 1-0 (55)}) 9. Re1 $146 (9. Ng5 Qd7 10. b4 b5 11. Bxe6 fxe6 12. bxc5 dxc5 13. Nb3 Qd6 14. Be3 c4 15. Bc5 Qd8 16. dxc4 Re8 17. cxb5 axb5 18. Qxd8 Rexd8 19. Nxe6 Rd3 20. Nxc7 Rad8 21. Be7 R8d7 22. Bxf6 Rxc7 23. Bg5 Rxc3 {Korman,J (1409)-Alt, E (839) Saarbruecken 2006 1-0 (41)}) (9. a3 Rb8 10. b4 Ba7 11. Bxe6 fxe6 12. Qe2 Qd7 13. Bb2 Rf7 14. d4 exd4 15. cxd4 Rbf8 16. Rad1 b5 17. e5 Nd5 18. Ne4 h6 19. Qd2 Bb8 20. Bc1 Nce7 21. Qc2 Nf5 22. Bd2 Kh7 23. Nc3 Nxc3 {Wild,C (1370) -Generet,E (1490) Pau 2008 1-0 (39)}) (9. b4 Ba7 10. Bb2 b5 11. Bb3 a5 12. a3 Re8 13. Re1 d5 14. exd5 Nxd5 15. Bxd5 Qxd5 16. Qe2 f6 17. c4 Qd7 18. cxb5 Nd4 19. Nxd4 exd4 20. Qf3 Qxb5 21. Rxe6 {1-0 (21) Pietrasanta,J (2125)-Levacic,M (1890) France 2001}) 9... b5 10. Bb3 Re8 11. Bc2 (11. Bxe6 Rxe6 12. b4 Bb6 $11) 11... Bb6 12. a4 Ne7 13. Ng5 Ng6 (13... Bd7 14. a5 Ba7 15. Bb3 $11) 14. Nf1 ( 14. Nxe6 Rxe6 15. Bb3 Re8 $14) 14... d5 (14... Bd7 15. Ng3 $11) 15. Qe2 (15. Nxe6 Rxe6 16. Ng3 c6 $11) 15... c6 (15... Bd7 16. Qd1 $11) 16. Ng3 (16. Nxe6 Rxe6 17. Ng3 b4 $11) 16... h6 (16... Bd7 17. Nf3 $11) 17. Nxe6 Rxe6 (17... fxe6 $2 18. d4 dxe4 19. Bxe4 Nxe4 20. Qxe4 $18 (20. Nxe4 $6 exd4 21. Qg4 Ne5 $11)) 18. Nf5 Ne7 19. Qf3 Nxf5 20. Qxf5 (20. exf5 Re8 $11) 20... g6 {Black threatens to win material: g6xf5} (20... Nxe4 $142 21. Be3 Bxe3 22. Rxe3 Nf6 $17) 21. Qf3 $11 Kg7 {Black king safety dropped} 22. Bb3 dxe4 23. dxe4 Rd6 24. Be3 Bxe3 25. Qxe3 Rc8 26. axb5 axb5 (26... cxb5 27. Red1 $11) 27. Qc5 $14 {White threatens to win material: Qc5xe5} Rc7 28. Qxe5 Re7 {Black threatens to win material: Re7xe5} 29. Qf4 Rd2 $2 (29... g5 $142 $5 {must be considered} 30. Qf3 Rd3 $14) 30. e5 $16 Ng8 $2 (30... Nh5 $142 31. Qe4 Rxb2 $16) 31. e6 $18 Rxb2 (31... f5 32. Rad1 Rxd1 33. Rxd1 Qc8 $18) 32. exf7 Nf6 33. Rxe7 Qxe7 34. Ra8 g5 (34... Rb1+ {cannot change what is in store for White} 35. Kh2 Rxb3 36. f8=Q+ Qxf8 37. Rxf8 Kxf8 38. Qxf6+ Ke8 39. Qe6+ Kd8 40. Qxb3 g5 41. Qe6 Kc7 42. Qxh6 c5 43. Qxg5 Kc6 44. f4 b4 45. f5 b3 46. f6 b2 47. f7 b1=Q 48. f8=Q Qb6 49. Qe8+ Kb7 50. Qd5+ Ka6 51. Qa4+ Qa5 52. Qa8+ Kb6 53. Q4xa5#) 35. f8=Q+ (35. Rg8+ Nxg8 36. fxg8=Q#) 35... Qxf8 36. Qc7+ (36. Qc7+ Kg6 37. Rxf8 Rb1+ 38. Kh2 Nd7 39. Qxc6+ Nf6 40. Qxf6+ Kh5 41. Qf7+ Kh4 42. g3#) (36. Rxf8 {is a useless try} gxf4 37. Rf7+ Kg6 $15) 1-0

C24 Bishop's Opening: 2...Nf6 (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 d5 6.exd5 Nxd5)

This one was played in the first round of a tournament called 2014 August Banded Threesomes at Red Hot Pawn. Players were divided into seven three player groups and one four player group as there was uneven number of players joining the tournament. As only the winner advances or in a case of a tie more than one will advance, this tournament went in a interesting way. In four of the groups only one player advanced but in the other four most players advanced to the second round. In three of those groups two out of three advanced and in one of them came a three-way tie, so all the players from that group advanced to the next round. In my group, me and KellyJay were the ones to advance to the second round. The time control in this tournament is three days per move plus seven days that are in the timebank. This tournament started on August 22nd 2014. The first position I want to highlight, is the one after 31...Rc6. In that position KellyJay played 32.Kf2, which created even more problems to my opponent than he or she faced before it. The idea of doubling the rooks on the c-file and taking the knight from e4 with the bishop, allowing the rook to go all the way to c3 is a similar plan I used in one of the games I shared yesterday. Unfortunately I did not go for that plan in this game and my advantage quickly vanished.

The second position of interest is the one after 37...Rxc2. KellyJay chose to play 38.Ra7+, which was placed the rook one square too far. At a6 the rook would have attacked the pawn on b6 and maybe lured my rook back from c2 to protect the pawn and even though I have an extra pawn, the position would be likely even since I can't really make use of that pawn. In the game continuation my rook went from c2 to c7 to block the check and had my opponent now gone for the move Ra6, I could protect the pawn by placing my rook to b7. It would have been a better way to protect the pawn, at least according to Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT at depth 32.

I was able to increase my advantage to a winning one, but like so many times before, with one horrible decision, 50...Ra2, my chances of winning the game became nonexistent and equality was restored to the position. I thought that two extra pawns would be enough to win the game, so I wanted to trade rooks, but KellyJay did have an easy way to get back material. It can be seen in the game continuation 51.Rxa2 Bxa2 52.gxf6 gxf6 and next the move 53.Ne4, which attacked both the undefended bishop on a2 and the undefended pawn at f6.

While messing up the winning advantage, so that draw is the most likely outcome can annoy a player, it does not compare to the realization that within few moves I went from a winning position to first an even position and then to a lost position. With two consecutive bad moves 55...Ke7 and 56...Kf8, I could have lost the game. The first move was bad because of the reply f6+, and the second because of the move 57.Rc2, which my opponent did not play. KellyJay decided to threaten my pawn on e5 with the move 57.Rf5, but I could easily defend that position by moving my rook to b5. My other option would have been to counterattack the pawn on d3 by placing my rook to b3.

Other bad moves were seen during the remainder of this game, but the game deciding blunder was my opponent's 64th move Kh4. It was too slow of a move, because I could just advance my c-pawn and force my opponent to defend against it.

KellyJay had no time to try and push the f-pawn when my c-pawn had reached the third rank because my opponent needed to make preparations for it. I, on the other hand, could have just pushed the pawn forward. Therefore after 64...b3, KellyJay had to play 65.Rf2, but the outcome of the game was already clear, I was going to win.

[Event "Banded Threesomes"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2014.08.22"] [Round "1"] [White "KellyJay"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C24"] [WhiteElo "1685"] [BlackElo "1814"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "142"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d5 6. exd5 Nxd5 {C24 Bishop's Opening: 2...Nf6} 7. Bxd5 Qxd5 8. Nc3 Qd8 {White has a cramped position} (8... Qd6 9. Nb5 Qd7 10. Bg5 f6 11. Be3 Be7 12. Qd2 a6 13. Nc3 Nd4 14. Bxd4 exd4 15. Nxd4 Qxd4 16. Qe3 Qd6 17. Rfe1 Bf5 18. Nd5 Qe5 19. Nf4 Qxe3 20. Rxe3 Kf7 21. Rae1 Bc5 22. Nd5 Bxe3 23. Rxe3 {Fejzic,D-Peshevski,M Budva 2013 0-1 (32)}) 9. a4 $146 {Black has an active position} (9. h3 O-O 10. Ne4 Be7 11. c3 Bf5 12. Qe2 h6 13. Nh2 Qd7 14. Be3 Rad8 15. Rad1 Qe6 16. f4 exf4 17. Bxf4 Ne5 18. d4 Nc4 19. Rde1 Bg6 20. b3 Nd6 21. Nxd6 Qxe2 22. Rxe2 Bxd6 23. Bxd6 Rxd6 {Viken, I-Zwart,G Ca'n Picafort 1992 1-0 (44)}) (9. Be3 Bxe3 10. fxe3 Bg4 11. Qe1 Bxf3 12. Rxf3 Qd7 13. Qg3 f6 14. Ne4 O-O-O 15. a3 f5 16. Nc5 Qe7 17. b4 Rdf8 18. Rff1 g5 19. Qf3 g4 20. Qd5 Qf7 21. c4 Qxd5 22. cxd5 Ne7 23. Ne6 Nxd5 {Izso,D (2046)-Kalyinka,R Hungary 2003 1-0 (48)}) (9. Re1 f6 (9... Bg4 10. h3 Bxf3 11. Qxf3 O-O 12. Be3 Bxe3 13. fxe3 Nb4 14. Re2 Nc6 15. Rf1 Qd7 16. Ne4 Qd5 17. Nc3 Qxf3 18. Rxf3 Rad8 19. a4 Ne7 20. Nb5 c6 21. Na3 Nd5 22. Nc4 Rfe8 23. e4 Nf4 24. Ref2 {Izgi,B-Ozten,B Denizli 2003 1-0 (79)}) 10. Ne4 Bb6 11. Be3 Bg4 12. c3 Bxf3 13. gxf3 Qe7 14. Bxb6 axb6 15. d4 Rd8 16. d5 f5 17. Ng3 Qg5 18. Kh1 O-O 19. Rg1 Qh4 20. Qc2 Ne7 21. c4 Rf6 22. Rae1 Rh6 23. Rg2 Qf4 {Jongerius,M (1547) -Morris,C (1528) Guernsey 2002 0-1 (35)}) (9. Qe2 Bg4 $11) 9... O-O $15 10. Ne4 {White threatens to win material: Ne4xc5} Be7 11. b3 Bf5 {Black has an active position} 12. Re1 f6 {Prevents intrusion on g5} 13. Ba3 Bxa3 14. Rxa3 b6 { Controls c5} 15. Nh4 (15. Ng3 Be6 $15) 15... Be6 16. Nf3 Bg4 17. h3 Bh5 18. Ng3 Bf7 19. Ra1 Nd4 (19... Qd7 $5 $15) 20. Nxd4 $11 Qxd4 21. Re4 {White threatens to win material: Re4xd4} Qd7 22. Rc1 Rad8 23. Qe1 Bg6 24. Re3 c5 25. Qc3 Rde8 26. a5 Qd6 27. Ne4 Qd4 28. Qxd4 (28. Qc4+ Kh8 $11) 28... cxd4 $15 29. Ree1 Rc8 30. axb6 axb6 31. f3 {Consolidates e4} Rc6 32. Kf2 (32. b4 $5 $17) 32... Rfc8 33. Re2 Kf7 (33... Bxe4 34. dxe4 Rc3 35. Rd2 $19) 34. g4 $2 (34. Ke1 Bxe4 35. fxe4 Kg6 $15) 34... Ke7 (34... Bxe4 $5 35. fxe4 Rc3 36. Rd2 $19) 35. h4 (35. Ke1 Bxe4 36. fxe4 Kf7 $17) 35... Bf7 (35... Bxe4 $142 $5 36. fxe4 Rc3 $19) 36. b4 $15 Bb3 {Exerts pressure on the backward pawn. Black threatens to win material: Bb3xc2. Deflection: c2} 37. Ra1 (37. cxb3 Rxc1 {Deflection Pinning}) 37... Rxc2 (37... Bxc2 $142 38. Ra3 g6 $15) 38. Ra7+ $2 (38. Ra6 $142 $11 { and White hangs on}) 38... R2c7 $17 39. Ra3 Bd5 40. Ra6 Rb7 41. Kg3 (41. h5 $5 $17) 41... Rc1 $19 42. Nd2 $2 (42. Ra8 $19) 42... Rc2 (42... Rc3 {makes it even easier for Black} 43. g5 $19) 43. Ra1 (43. f4 {cannot change destiny} Rc3 44. fxe5 Rxd3+ 45. Kf4 fxe5+ 46. Kxe5 Re3+ 47. Rxe3 dxe3 $19) 43... Kd7 (43... Rc3 $142 {keeps an even firmer grip} 44. Kf2 $19) 44. Rb1 (44. g5 {is the last straw} Rc3 45. Ne4 Bxe4 46. dxe4 $19) 44... Ra7 45. Rf2 Raa2 (45... Rc3 { seems even better} 46. Ne4 Rxd3 47. Re1 $19) 46. Rd1 Rab2 (46... Kc6 $5 { might be the shorter path} 47. f4 exf4+ 48. Kxf4 $19) 47. f4 Ke6 48. f5+ (48. fxe5 {is no salvation} fxe5 49. g5 Rxb4 $19) 48... Kd7 49. g5 Rxb4 50. Ra1 (50. Ne4 {doesn't get the cat off the tree} Rxf2 51. Nxf2 $19) 50... Ra2 (50... Rc3 $142 {nails it down} 51. Nf1 Rxd3+ 52. Kh2 Rbb3 $19) 51. Rxa2 $11 Bxa2 52. gxf6 gxf6 53. Ne4 {White threatens to win material: Ne4xf6} Bf7 54. Nxf6+ {White forks: h7} Kd6 (54... Ke7 55. Nxh7 Rb3 56. f6+ Ke8 57. Rf5 Rxd3+ 58. Kf2 $11) 55. Ne4+ {A valuable piece} (55. Nxh7 Rb3 56. Kg4 Rxd3 57. Ng5 $14) 55... Ke7 $2 (55... Kc6 $142 $5 {and Black can hope to live} 56. Ng5 Bh5 $11) 56. f6+ $16 Kf8 $4 {Black crumbles in face of a dire situation} (56... Kd7 $142 57. Ng5 Ke8 $16) 57. Rf5 {White threatens to win material: Rf5xe5} (57. Rc2 $142 {and White takes home the point} Bb3 58. Rc7 $18) 57... Rb5 58. h5 (58. Ng5 h6 59. Nf3 Bg6 60. Rxe5 Bxd3 61. Rxb5 Bxb5 62. Nxd4 Bd7 $11) 58... Rd5 (58... h6 59. Nd6 Rc5 60. Ne4 $11) 59. Ng5 h6 60. Nf3 $4 {Attacking the backward pawn on e5} (60. Nxf7 Kxf7 61. Kf3 b5 $11) 60... b5 $4 {gives the opponent new chances.} ( 60... Be6 $142 {the advantage is on the side of Black} 61. Rxe5 Rxe5 62. Nxe5 b5 $19) 61. Nxe5 $11 (61. Rxe5 Rxe5 62. Nxe5 b4 63. Nd7+ Ke8 $19) 61... Be6 { Black threatens to win material: Be6xf5} 62. Ng6+ Ke8 63. Rf4 (63. Rxd5 Bxd5 64. Kf4 b4 $11) 63... b4 (63... Rxh5 $142 64. Re4 Rg5+ 65. Kf2 Kf7 $15) 64. Kh4 $4 (64. Nh8 $142 {would save the game} Rg5+ 65. Kh4 $11) 64... b3 $19 65. Rf2 ( 65. f7+ {hardly improves anything} Bxf7 66. Re4+ Kd8 $19) 65... Rb5 66. Rb2 ( 66. Nf4 {doesn't do any good} Bf5 67. Rb2 Kf7 $19) 66... Kf7 67. Ne7 (67. Kg3 { does not solve anything} Kxf6 68. Kf4 Rxh5 $19) 67... Rb6 (67... Rc5 68. Ng6 Rc2 69. Ne5+ Kxf6 70. Ng4+ Kg7 71. Rb1 Rg2 72. Ne5 Kf6 73. Nd7+ Bxd7 74. Rxb3 Ke5 75. Rb4 Bf5 76. Rb5+ Kf4 77. Rb2 Rg4+ 78. Kh3 Kf3 79. Ra2 Re4+ 80. Kh2 Re2+ 81. Rxe2 Kxe2 82. Kg1 Bxd3 83. Kg2 Be4+ 84. Kg3 Ke3 85. Kg4 d3 86. Kg3 d2 87. Kg4 d1=Q+ 88. Kg3 Qg1+ 89. Kh4 Qf2+ 90. Kh3 Bf5#) 68. Ng6 Kxf6 69. Nf4 (69. Kg3 {no good, but what else?} Rc6 70. Rf2+ Kg5 71. Re2 $19) 69... Bf7 70. Ne2 (70. Ng6 {cannot change what is in store for White} Rb5 $19) 70... Ke5 71. Kg4 (71. Kg3 {there is nothing better in the position} Bxh5 72. Nc1 $19) 71... Rc6 ( 71... Rc6 72. Ng1 Rc2 73. Nf3+ Kd6 $19) 0-1