C66 Spanish Game: Steinitz Defence (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.O-O Bd7 5.c3 Nf6 6.Re1 Be7)

Basically every post that I have shared and will share today will contain games that have been shared before in the blog in a different post. This was played in the first round of the 2014 October Split II tournament. I am the current leader in group 1 but there are couple of games left that can throw me off from the first place. In the game below I played quite badly for a couple of moves starting with the move 13.Qxg7?? The position below is the one where I played my 13th move.

I should have played 13.f4, 13.Bc2 or 13.a4 instead of 13.Qxg7. At first neolithic found the strongest reply 13...Rg8, but after I played 14.Qh6, my opponent missed the Nf3+ possibility on move 14 and played 14...c4. I could have started to get myself out of the pit I had dug myself into at that point, but I blundered with the move 15.Bc2. My best chance was to play 15.Bd1, so that my bishop could have covered the f3 square and prevented the move Nf3+. For some reason neolithic missed the move Nf3+ again. I have to remind people reading this that this was a correspondence game and one might think that this kind of an easy tactic should be seen with these time controls. Neolithic replied with 15...Qb6 and threw the game away. Neolithic's 15th move was the starting point for my opponent's final downfall.

[Event "Split"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2014.10.24"] [Round "1"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "neolithic"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C66"] [WhiteElo "1914"] [BlackElo "1401"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 {Spanish Game: Steinitz Defense} 4. O-O (4. d4 Bd7 (4... exd4 5. O-O {Spanish Game: Steinitz Defense. Center Gambit}) 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. Bxc6 {Spanish Game: Steinitz Defense. Nimzowitsch Attack}) 4... Bd7 5. c3 Nf6 6. Re1 Be7 {C66 Spanish Game: Steinitz Defence} 7. d4 a6 8. Ba4 b5 9. Bb3 (9. Bc2 Bg4 10. Be3 O-O 11. Nbd2 d5 12. exd5 Nxd5 13. Qb1 Nxe3 14. fxe3 f5 15. dxe5 Nxe5 16. Nxe5 Qxd2 17. Nxg4 fxg4 18. Bxh7+ Kh8 19. Qc2 Rad8 20. Rad1 Qxc2 21. Bxc2 Rxd1 22. Rxd1 Bc5 23. Rd3 g3 {Hernandez,G (2502)-Cerdan Herraez, M Mislata 2004 1-0 (37)}) 9... Bg4 10. dxe5 $146 (10. Be3 O-O 11. Nbd2 Na5 12. Bc2 Re8 13. h3 Bh5 14. dxe5 Nd7 15. exd6 Bxd6 16. Qe2 c5 17. Rad1 Qc7 18. g4 Bg6 19. Nh4 Nf8 20. Nf5 Be5 21. Nf3 Bf6 22. Rd5 Ne6 23. e5 Bd8 24. Red1 Nc4 { Rocha,V (2014)-De Macedo,L (1660) Natal 2014 1-0 (35)}) (10. Qd3 O-O 11. Re3 exd4 12. Nxd4 Ne5 13. Qc2 d5 14. exd5 Qd6 15. h3 Bh5 16. Rg3 Nxd5 17. Nf5 Qc5 18. Bxd5 Rad8 19. Nxe7+ Qxe7 20. Bg5 Nf3+ 21. Bxf3 Qe1+ 22. Kh2 Bg6 23. Qe2 Rd1 24. Qxd1 Qxf2 {Attwell,G-Ermel, K Cape Town 2002 1-0 (33)}) (10. d5 Na5 11. Bc2 O-O 12. Nbd2 h6 13. Nf1 Nh7 14. h3 Bh5 15. Ng3 Bg6 16. b3 c5 17. b4 cxb4 18. cxb4 Nc4 19. Bb3 Rc8 20. a4 Ng5 21. Nxg5 Bxg5 22. axb5 axb5 23. Qe2 Bh4 24. Qg4 Bxg3 {Jaquin,X (1670)-Morel,J (1670) Paris 2003 1-0 (37)}) (10. Be3 O-O $14) 10... Bxf3 {Black forks: d1+e4} (10... Nxe5 $5 {is worth looking at} 11. Nbd2 O-O $11) 11. Qxf3 $14 Nxe5 12. Qg3 {White threatens to win material: Qg3xg7} c5 {Black has a new backward pawn: d6} 13. Qxg7 $4 {ignoring the path to victory} (13. f4 $142 {this is the best bet to save the position} Ng6 14. Qf3 $14) 13... Rg8 $19 14. Qh6 c4 {Black threatens to win material: c4xb3} (14... Nf3+ $142 { makes it even easier for Black} 15. Kf1 Nxe1 16. Kxe1 Rxg2 $19) 15. Bc2 $4 (15. Bd1 $142 Nd3 16. Rf1 $17) 15... Qb6 (15... Nf3+ $142 $1 {ends the debate} 16. Kf1 Rxg2 $19) 16. Be3 $16 Qc7 (16... Nf3+ 17. Kf1 Nxe1 18. Bxb6 (18. Kxe1 $6 Qc6 19. Kf1 Ng4 $11) 18... Nxc2 19. Qc1 Nxa1 20. Nd2 $16) 17. Qf4 O-O-O (17... Ng6 18. Qg3 $16) 18. Kh1 (18. a4 Qd7 19. Nd2 Nfg4 $18) 18... Rg4 $2 (18... Kb8 $142 $5 19. f3 d5 $16) 19. Qf5+ $18 Kb8 20. Nd2 $4 {allows the opponent back into the game} (20. f4 Nd3 21. Bxd3 cxd3 $18) 20... Rdg8 $2 (20... Rh4 21. a4 Rh5 22. Qf4 $14) 21. f4 {White threatens to win material: f4xe5} (21. g3 $142 R4g6 22. f3 $18) 21... Nc6 $4 (21... Rxg2 $142 {saving the game} 22. Rg1 Rxg1+ 23. Rxg1 Rxg1+ 24. Kxg1 Nc6 $16) 22. g3 (22. Bd1 {keeps an even firmer grip} Rxg2 23. a4 b4 $18) 22... h5 (22... R4g6 {a fruitless try to alter the course of the game} 23. a4 b4 24. Bd1 $18 (24. Nxc4 $6 Rh6 25. Nb6 Rxg3 $18)) 23. Bd1 R4g7 24. Bf3 h4 (24... Ng4 {doesn't improve anything} 25. Bxg4 hxg4 26. a4 $18) 25. Bf2 (25. a4 $142 {secures the point} b4 26. cxb4 $18) 25... hxg3 26. Bxg3 ( 26. hxg3 $142 {seems even better} Qd7 27. a4 $18) 26... b4 $4 {but even a better move would not have saved the game} (26... Rh8 $142 27. Nf1 Nd7 $18) 27. Nxc4 (27. e5 $142 {and White can already relax} dxe5 28. fxe5 Nh7 29. Nxc4 Rxg3 30. hxg3 Ng5 $18) 27... Ng4 (27... Rxg3 {does not save the day} 28. hxg3 Rxg3 29. e5 Nxe5 30. fxe5 Qxc4 31. Re2 $18) 28. Rac1 (28. Rad1 $142 {makes it even easier for White} Qb7 $18) 28... Nh6 (28... Bh4 29. Bxh4 Ne7 30. Qa5 Qxa5 31. Nxa5 Nxh2 32. Kxh2 $18 (32. Bxe7 $6 {succumbs to} Nxf3 33. Bg5 Nxg5 34. fxg5 Rxg5 35. Nc6+ Kc7 $11)) 29. Qd5 Ng4 (29... Rxg3 {does not solve anything} 30. hxg3 Rxg3 31. e5 $18) 30. cxb4 (30. e5 Rh8 31. Re2 Ngxe5 32. Rxe5 dxe5 33. Nxe5 Rh6 34. cxb4 Rd6 35. Nxc6+ Qxc6 36. Qxc6 Rxc6 37. Rxc6 a5 38. bxa5 Bd8 39. b4 f6 40. Bf2 f5 41. a6 Rd7 42. b5 Ra7 43. Rg6 Rc7 44. b6 Rc1+ 45. Kg2 Kc8 46. a7 Bf6 47. a8=Q+ Kd7 48. Rxf6 Rg1+ 49. Bxg1 Ke7 50. Qf8+ Kd7 51. Bc6#) 30... Nxb4 (30... Nf6 {is not much help} 31. Qd2 Qd8 32. Qf2 $18) 31. Qd2 Nxa2 (31... Qc5 {is no salvation} 32. Bxg4 Rxg4 $18) 32. Ra1 (32. Na5 $142 {and White has prevailed} Nxc1 33. Rxc1 $18) 32... Qxc4 33. Qa5 Nb4 $4 {shortens the misery for Black} (33... Bd8 34. Qxa2 Qxa2 35. Rxa2 Rh7 36. Bxg4 Rxg4 $18) 34. Qb6+ ( 34. Qb6+ Ka8 35. Rxa6+ Nxa6 36. Ra1 $18) 1-0