A01 Nimzowitsch-Larsen Opening (1.e3 e5 2.b3 d5 3.Bb2 Bd6)

This is once again a game that was previously shared in the blog and where the name of the opening has been corrected. I have also added some commentary to this post that did not accompany the originally shared game. The game below was played in the first round of the 2014 October Glacial Super Casual Banded I 1650+ tournament that is held at Red Hot Pawn. In this game I got completely outplayed by my opponent. It is quite rare that I lose this fast these days but I guess when I face players who have much better understanding of chess than I do, these losses seem to happen even now. Well, actually I think the reason for me losing these types of games is that I am put into unfamiliar positions, where I just do not seem to find the correct way to do things. At this point in the tournament I still have theoretical chances to win the first round group but those chances are not as good as they are with three other players. This is because my maximum possible score is the fourth highest in group 1 at the moment. I even have a higher maximum possible score than jankrb, the player who I faced in this game and who is also the highest rated player in the group. The leader of group 1 is a player called takinitez007 (1882), in second place is caissad4 (1994) and jankrb (2151) is currently on third place. I am on 9th place at the moment, one reason for that is that my games do not progress all that fast.

The first real mistake of the game was played by my opponent in the diagram position below. The move 4.f4 that jankrb played, was perhaps designed to bring some aggression towards the pawn on e5 and with the idea of improving the scope of the bishop on b2. At first glance it would seem that I can't really take the pawn on f4, because it would be replied with Bxg7 and my rook on h8 would be doomed. That being said, I should have taken the pawn on f4. Had jankrb replied with 5.Bxg7, then I could have played 5...Qh4+ and jankrb would have been in serious trouble.

I played 4...Qe7, which is the safe move and it is only good enough for an equal position. In the next diagram position I moved my pawn from c7 to c6. It was a novelty and a very bad one at that. The reason why 6...c6 was so bad that it made the development of my pieces very difficult, especially when I hung on to the material. The game went quickly downhill for me from that point on.

Jankrb was able to take advantage of my mistake and did not allow me to get back into the game again. The only way to punish me from my mistake was to play 7.cxd5 and had I understood the danger in the position, I would have played 7...Ngf6 in reply and sacrificed a pawn. However, I mostly try to keep the material balance in my games and very rarely do I sacrifice material, even if it would give me an easier way to develop my pieces. I continued to play the game until my opponent played 16.Qc3, at which point I thought I had enough and resigned. In that final position I would either lose too much material or get mated.

[Event "Glacial Super Casual Banded"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2014.11.03"] [Round "1"] [White "jankrb"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A01"] [WhiteElo "2132"] [BlackElo "1848"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "31"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] {[%evp 9,31,-53,-36,-33,88,93,133,139,154,150,246,260,227,244,251,240,310,287, 479,348,334,345,1543,1231]} 1. e3 {A00 Van't Kruijs Opening} e5 2. b3 d5 3. Bb2 Bd6 {A01 Nimzowitsch-Larsen Opening} 4. f4 Qe7 5. Nf3 Nd7 6. c4 c6 {0.88/24} ( 6... Ngf6 $15 {-0.33/27 keeps the upper hand.}) 7. cxd5 $16 cxd5 8. Bb5 { White is clearly better.} f6 9. O-O $146 (9. fxe5 fxe5 10. Bxd7+ Bxd7 11. Nxe5 Nf6 12. Nxd7 Kxd7 13. Bxf6 Qxf6 14. Qg4+ Kd8 15. Nc3 Rf8 16. O-O-O a5 17. Rhf1 Qxf1 18. Rxf1 Rxf1+ 19. Kc2 Rf7 20. Qg5+ Ke8 21. Qxd5 Bxh2 22. Qe4+ Kd8 23. Qxh7 Bd6 {Kukk,S (2178)-Rosenthal,N (2169) chess.com INT 2018 1-0 (44)}) 9... Nh6 {2.46/24} (9... e4 $16 {1.50/27 is a better defense.}) 10. fxe5 $18 fxe5 11. Nc3 O-O 12. Nxd5 Qe8 13. Qc2 Nf7 $2 {4.79/23} (13... Qh5 {2.87/27 was necessary.} 14. Be2 Nf6 15. Nxf6+ Rxf6) 14. Nc7 Bxc7 15. Qxc7 {[#] Strongly threatening Nxe5!} e4 $2 {15.43/26} (15... Qd8 {3.45/28} 16. Rac1 Nf6 17. Qxd8 Rxd8) 16. Qc3 1-0 [Event "rated blitz match"] [Site "Free Internet Chess Server"] [Date "2008.08.11"] [Round "?"] [White "nicedommie"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A01"] [WhiteElo "1629"] [BlackElo "1594"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2008.??.??"] 1. e3 {A00 Van't Kruijs Opening} e5 2. b3 d5 3. Bb2 Bd6 {A01 Nimzowitsch-Larsen Opening} 4. Nf3 Qe7 5. Be2 (5. c4 d4 6. exd4 (6. Be2 c5 7. exd4 exd4 8. O-O Nf6 9. b4 Nc6 10. bxc5 Bxc5 11. d3 O-O 12. Nbd2 Re8 13. Re1 Bg4 14. a3 b6 15. Nb3 Qd6 16. h3 Bf5 17. Qd2 h6 18. Nxc5 bxc5 19. Bf1 Rab8 20. Rxe8+ Nxe8 {Gonzalez Rodriguez,J (2255)-Demuth,A (2521) Barcelona 2017 0-1 (33) }) 6... exd4+ 7. Qe2 c5 8. Qxe7+ Nxe7 9. Bd3 Nbc6 10. a3 Bg4 11. Ng5 Ne5 12. Be4 h6 {0-1 (12) Fries Nielsen,N (2345)-Farago,I (2515) Esbjerg 1981}) 5... c5 $146 {0.38/25} (5... c6 $17 {-0.74/23}) (5... Nf6 6. Nc3 (6. c4 c6 7. O-O O-O 8. d4 e4 9. Ne5 Nbd7 10. Qc2 (10. Nxd7 Bxd7 11. Nc3 a6 12. Na4 Rad8 13. Rc1 Bb8 14. Nc5 Bc8 15. Rc2 h5 16. Bxh5 g6 17. Be2 Kg7 18. Bc1 Rh8 19. g3 b6 20. Na4 Qe6 21. f4 Rxh2 22. Rf2 Rh3 23. Rg2 Rdh8 24. Kf2 Rh1 {Anguas Fanlo,S (1901) -Huesmann,T (2263) Pamplona 2001 0-1}) 10... Nxe5 11. dxe5 Bxe5 12. Ba3 Bd6 13. Bb2 Bg4 14. Bxf6 Qxf6 15. Bxg4 Qxa1 16. f4 exf3 17. Nc3 Bxh2+ 18. Kf2 Bg3+ 19. Kxg3 Qxf1 20. Bxf3 dxc4 {Lee,X-Ladva,O (2337) Al Ain 2013 0-1}) 6... a6 7. d3 c5 8. Na4 Nbd7 9. c4 d4 10. Bc1 b5 11. Nb2 Bb7 12. Bd2 O-O 13. e4 Bc8 14. Qc1 Re8 15. Bg5 Qf8 16. O-O h6 17. Bh4 Nh7 18. Bg3 g5 19. h4 f6 20. Nh2 {Khosravi, M-Dolatabadi,G (1789) Arad 2013 1-0 (47)}) 6. O-O {-1.05/25} (6. Nc3 $1 $14 { 0.38/25 stays ahead.}) 6... Nc6 {-0.44/28} (6... Nf6 $17 {-1.05/25}) 7. d3 { -0.92/23} (7. d4 $15 {-0.44/28 was preferrable.}) 7... Nf6 8. Nbd2 {-1.23/23} ( 8. e4 $15 {-0.54/25}) 8... O-O {-0.59/27} (8... Bc7 $17 {-1.23/23}) 9. e4 { -1.26/23} (9. c4 $15 {-0.59/27}) 9... Be6 {-0.12/28} (9... Rd8 $17 {-1.26/23}) 10. c4 $2 {-1.64/25} (10. Ng5 $11 {-0.12/28}) 10... dxe4 {-0.85/26} (10... d4 $19 {-1.64/25} 11. h3 Rae8) 11. Nxe4 {-1.48/24} (11. Ng5 $142 {-0.85/26}) 11... Bc7 {-0.59/26} (11... Nxe4 $17 {-1.48/24} 12. dxe4 f6) 12. Ba3 {-1.65/23} (12. Ng3 $1 $15 {-0.59/26}) 12... b6 {-1.11/27} (12... Nd7 $19 {-1.65/23} 13. Bb2 h6 ) 13. Qc2 {-2.00/23} (13. Bb2 $17 {-1.11/27 might work better.}) 13... Nd4 $2 { -0.11/28} ({Black should play} 13... Nh5 $19 {-2.00/23} 14. g3 Nf6) 14. Nxd4 $11 exd4 15. Nxf6+ {-1.05/25} (15. f4 $1 $11 {-0.18/28}) 15... Qxf6 $17 16. Bf3 $2 {-7.73/24 [#]} (16. b4 $15 {-0.66/29}) 16... Qh6 $2 {-0.09/28} (16... Qf4 $1 $19 {-7.73/24} 17. g3 Qxf3) 17. g3 $11 Rad8 {0.00/29} (17... Rae8 $15 {-0.51/26 }) 18. Bc1 {-1.05/23 [#]} (18. b4 $11 {0.00/29 keeps the balance.}) 18... Qf6 { -0.04/29} (18... Qg6 $1 $17 {-1.05/23}) 19. Bg2 {-1.29/24} (19. Qd1 $11 { -0.04/29}) 19... Rfe8 {-0.43/28} (19... Bf5 $17 {-1.29/24} 20. b4 cxb4) 20. Bd2 $15 Bg4 {-0.31/28} ({Black should try} 20... h5 $17 {-0.74/26}) 21. Rae1 Be2 { 0.13/29 [#]} (21... h6 $15 {-0.68/26}) 22. Qc1 $2 {-1.99/27} (22. Bg5 $1 $11 { 0.13/29 and White stays safe.} Qxg5 23. Rxe2) 22... Bxf1 $19 ({Much less strong is} 22... Bxd3 23. Bg5 $17) 23. Rxf1 {intending Bg5.} Re2 $2 {0.00/33} ( {Better is} 23... Qg6 $19 {-2.23/25} 24. Be4 Qg4) 24. Bg5 $11 Qd6 {Strongly threatening ...Rb8.} 25. Bxd8 Qxd8 26. Re1 Qe7 ({But not} 26... Rxa2 $2 27. Bc6 $18) 27. Kf1 Rxe1+ 28. Qxe1 Qd8 29. Qe4 g6 30. Qb7 Qb8 31. Qxb8+ {Accuracy: White = 7%, Black = 25%.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "rated blitz match"] [Site "Free Internet Chess Server"] [Date "2008.09.16"] [Round "?"] [White "shinkibo"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A01"] [WhiteElo "1362"] [BlackElo "1535"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "137"] [EventDate "2008.??.??"] 1. e3 {A00 Van't Kruijs Opening} e5 2. b3 d5 3. Bb2 Bd6 {A01 Nimzowitsch-Larsen Opening} 4. Qf3 $146 (4. Nf3 Qe7 (4... Bg4 5. Be2 Nd7 6. a4 Ngf6 7. Na3 c6 8. c4 a6 9. Qc2 e4 10. Nd4 Ne5 11. O-O c5 12. f4 cxd4 13. fxe5 Bxe5 14. Bxg4 Bxh2+ 15. Kxh2 Nxg4+ 16. Kg3 Qg5 17. Kh3 Qh5+ 18. Kg3 Qh2+ 19. Kxg4 {Katzki-Oestreich,R Rheda 1961 0-1}) 5. c4 d4 (5... c6 6. cxd5 cxd5 7. Nc3 Nf6 8. Nb5 Nc6 9. Nxd6+ Qxd6 10. Bb5 e4 11. Ne5 O-O 12. Bxc6 bxc6 13. Rc1 Bb7 14. O-O Nd7 15. f4 Nxe5 16. Bxe5 Qe7 17. Bd4 Rfe8 18. Qg4 f6 19. Rc5 a6 20. Rfc1 {Bird,H-Lee,F Belfast 1892 1/2-1/2 (60)}) 6. Be2 (6. exd4 exd4+ 7. Qe2 c5 8. Qxe7+ Nxe7 9. Bd3 Nbc6 10. a3 Bg4 11. Ng5 Ne5 12. Be4 h6 {0-1 (12) Fries Nielsen,N (2345)-Farago,I (2515) Esbjerg 1981}) 6... c5 7. O-O Nh6 8. d3 O-O 9. Na3 Nc6 10. Nc2 f5 11. Nd2 Bd7 12. Bf3 Rae8 13. Re1 Qg5 14. Bd5+ Kh8 15. Nf3 Qh5 16. exd4 cxd4 17. Qd2 f4 18. Re2 Nf5 {Owen,J-Wisker,J London 1872 1-0 (39)} ) (4. f4 Qe7 5. fxe5 Bxe5 6. Bxe5 Qxe5 7. Nc3 Nf6 8. Nf3 Qe7 9. Be2 O-O 10. O-O c6 11. Qe1 Bf5 12. Bd3 Bxd3 13. cxd3 Nbd7 14. Qh4 Rae8 15. Nd4 Ne5 16. Nf5 Qe6 17. Qg5 Ng6 18. Rf2 Nd7 {Wunder,H-Proske,H Schney 1994 1-0}) 4... c5 5. Qxd5 Nf6 {1.47/20} (5... Nc6 $14 {0.70/24}) 6. Qf3 {0.37/24} (6. Bb5+ $16 {1.47/20} Kf8 7. Qd3) 6... Bg4 $2 {2.59/19} (6... Nc6 $14 {0.37/24}) 7. Qg3 $2 {0.91/26} (7. Qxb7 $18 {2.59/19 is more deadly.} Nbd7 8. Qc6) 7... e4 {2.26/25} (7... Nc6 $16 {0.91/26}) 8. Qh4 {1.18/27} (8. Bb5+ $18 {2.26/25} Nc6 9. Be5) 8... Nbd7 { 1.76/22} (8... Nc6 $16 {1.18/27}) 9. Be2 {1.32/25} (9. h3 $18 {1.76/22} Bf5 10. g4) 9... Be6 {2.20/21} (9... Bf5 $16 {1.32/25 was necessary.}) 10. Nc3 $18 O-O {2.33/23} (10... Be5 $142 {1.61/25} 11. O-O-O a5) 11. Nxe4 Nxe4 12. Qxe4 b6 13. a4 g6 14. Bc4 {1.96/28} (14. Nf3 $142 {3.32/22}) 14... Bf5 15. Qf3 Bxc2 16. Rc1 Bf5 17. g4 $1 Be6 18. Bxe6 fxe6 {[#]} 19. Qe4 $1 $36 {Keeping Black busy.} Qe7 20. Nf3 Nf6 {2.15/24} (20... Qf7 $142 {1.69/28}) 21. Qd3 $2 {-0.20/29} (21. Bxf6 $18 {2.15/24} Qxf6 22. Ke2) 21... Nxg4 {0.81/26} (21... Qb7 $1 $11 { -0.20/29} 22. Qxd6 Qxf3) 22. Qc3 {0.33/28} (22. Rc4 $16 {0.81/26} Rxf3 23. Rxg4 ) 22... Qf6 23. Qxf6 Nxf6 24. Ng5 {And now Bxf6 would win.} Rae8 $2 {3.34/24 [#]} (24... e5 $14 {0.37/25}) 25. Ke2 $2 {0.00/28} ({Only move:} 25. Bxf6 $1 $18 {3.34/24} Rxf6 26. Ne4) 25... Ng4 {1.45/25} (25... e5 $1 $11 {0.00/28 remains equal.}) 26. h3 $2 {-0.55/33} (26. f3 $16 {1.45/25} Be5 27. Bxe5 Nxe5 28. h4) 26... Nxf2 {0.00/30} (26... Rxf2+ $15 {-0.55/33} 27. Ke1 Bg3) 27. Rhf1 $11 h6 28. Rxf2 hxg5 {0.41/29} (28... Rxf2+ $11 {0.00/32 feels stronger.} 29. Kxf2 hxg5) 29. Rxf8+ {0.00/31} (29. Rg2 $1 $14 {0.41/29}) 29... Rxf8 {Endgame KRB-KRB} 30. Rg1 Rf5 31. Rg4 Kf7 32. h4 $2 {-1.75/29} (32. d3 $11 {0.00/35 and White has nothing to worry.}) 32... gxh4 $19 33. Rxh4 Rh5 34. Rg4 Be5 {-0.67/33 } (34... g5 $19 {-1.64/27} 35. Rg1 Kg6) 35. d4 $2 {-2.50/26} (35. Bxe5 $15 { -0.67/33} Rxe5 36. a5) 35... cxd4 $2 {-0.77/32} (35... Rh2+ $19 {-2.50/26} 36. Kd3 Rxb2) 36. exd4 {-1.84/31} (36. Bxd4 $17 {-0.77/32 was forced.} Bxd4 37. Rxd4) 36... Bf6 37. Kd3 Ke7 $2 {0.00/32} ({Black should try} 37... g5 $19 { -1.98/29} 38. Re4 Be7) 38. Rxg6 $11 Rd5 39. Rg4 e5 $2 {3.67/30} (39... Rf5 $11 {0.00/35}) 40. b4 $2 {0.00/36} ({Better is} 40. Ke4 $18 {3.67/30} Ke6 41. dxe5) 40... exd4 {The position is equal.} 41. Bxd4 a5 42. bxa5 bxa5 43. Kc4 Rd7 44. Bxf6+ Kxf6 {KR-KR} 45. Rh4 Re7 46. Rh5 Re4+ 47. Kb5 Rb4+ 48. Kxa5 Rb1 49. Rh6+ (49. Rb5 {is interesting.} Rd1 50. Ka6 Ke6 51. a5 Rd8 52. Rc5) 49... Ke7 50. Ka6 (50. Rb6 {with more complications.} Rc1 51. Rg6 Kd7 52. Kb5 Kc7 53. Kb4) 50... Kd7 51. Ka7 Kc7 52. Rh7+ Kc8 53. a5 Ra1 54. a6 Rb1 55. Rb7 Ra1 56. Rb8+ Kc7 57. Rb7+ Kc8 58. Kb6 Rb1+ 59. Kc6 Rc1+ 60. Kb6 Rb1+ 61. Ka7 Ra1 62. Rb6 Kc7 63. Rb7+ Kc8 64. Rh7 Rc1 65. Rh8+ Kc7 66. Rh7+ Kc8 67. Rb7 Ra1 68. Kb6 { Strongly threatening Rc7+.} Rb1+ 69. Ka7 {Accuracy: White = 27%, Black = 47%. } 1-0