C66 Spanish Game: Steinitz Defence (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.d4 Bd7 5.O-O Nf6 6.Re1 Be7 7.c3 exd4 8.cxd4)

This game has been shared in this post before, I had to move it this to a new post, due to the new knowledge of opening theory I have acquired. Even after looking up on how I should play a certain opening, I still play in every game whatever I feel like the most logical move is to me at that moment. This usually leads to automatic play in my part and I play the same stuff over and over again even if it may not be the best moves in the position. Maybe I am just too stubborn to learn new ways to play.

In the position below my opponent played 7...exd4. It is a mistake, because I was able to get a good control of the center and easy development due to it. 7...O-O would have been a better move.

While the position of theironking was a difficult one, with accurate play my opponent could have hung on in the game. It only took a small inaccuracy on move 9 by theironking to switch the evaluation of the position from a small advantage to a clear advantage in my favor. That being said, I replied with 10.Ba4 and I was only on the slightly better side of the board. The position below is taken after 10.Ba4.

Theironking played 10...b5 in response and things started to go wrong for my opponent with that move once again. The best move according to Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT is 10...Bg4. I then went to c2 with my bishop and it was answered with the move 11...Nb4. I found the best reply 12.Bb1 and I should be close to winning, at least according to the engine evaluation. The game continued with the moves 12...c5 13.a3. My 13th move was a step in the wrong direction and quite a lot of the advantage I had, I lost. The moves 13.d5 and 13.e5 would have been better alternatives to the move I played in the game. Then theironking made another mistake 13...Nc6 and I could have been going towards a win once again, but I immediately threw my chance away with the move 14.Qd3. I should be slightly better even after my 14th move, but had I played 14.e5, for example, I would have been clearly better. I remained on the better side of the board until I blundered in the position below and played 18.gxf3??

I was clearly favored in the position before my 18th move, maybe even winning, but I was clearly worse after that move. The best move for me would have been 18.dxc6. The position drifted from it being clearly better to my opponent to being winning for my opponent when I played 28.Kf4 in the position below.

Luckily for me, theironking did not find the strongest move, 28...f5, but my opponent did move the f-pawn one square forward. The problem with the move 28...f6 is that it is quite passive and does not meet the requirements of the position. I continued with my plan and played 29.Ke3 and tried to win the d-pawn. Theironking continued with the move 29.d2 and I should have replied with 30.Nb1 in order to have a drawn position. I wanted to win the game still, so I played 30.Ne2 in order to exchange the knights, so that I can win the pawn and free my rook on a2. The problem is that my position close to being lost after 30.Ne2. Had my position not been lost after that it certainly was lost after my 31st move Nc3? I continued to being in serious trouble until we reached the position below where theironking played 43...a5.

The move that theironking should have played was 43...Rh8. I did not take the offered pawn on b5 because I probably thought that my opponent can get a pawn back on the queenside and I did not want to allow it. Therefore I played 44.Kd3, with the intention of getting my king to help on the queenside. Then theironking threw the game away with the move 44...fxe4+, but in order to take advantage of the blunder, I should have played 45.Nxe4+. I ended up playing 45.fxe4 and the position is roughly even after that. Theironking's position went from evenly fought to a losing one with the next two moves, 45...Rb8 and 46...Rcc8 in reply to 46.Nxb5. The rest of the game went firmly in my favor and my opponent resigned after 70.d7.

[Event "Let's play chess"] [Site "http://gameknot.com/chess.pl?"] [Date "2011.05.19"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "theironking"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C66"] [WhiteElo "1666"] [BlackElo "1655"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "139"] [EventDate "2011.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 {Spanish Game: Steinitz Defense} 4. d4 Bd7 (4... exd4 5. O-O {Spanish Game: Steinitz Defense. Center Gambit}) 5. O-O (5. Nc3 Nf6 6. Bxc6 {Spanish Game: Steinitz Defense. Nimzowitsch Attack}) 5... Nf6 6. Re1 Be7 7. c3 exd4 8. cxd4 {C66 Spanish Game: Steinitz Defence} O-O 9. Nc3 a6 10. Ba4 b5 11. Bc2 Nb4 (11... Bg4 12. Be3 h6 (12... Nd7 13. a3 Bf6 14. Qd3 g6 15. Nd2 Nb6 16. h3 Bd7 17. b3 Bg5 18. Nf3 Bxe3 19. Qxe3 Qf6 20. Rad1 Rfe8 21. Qh6 Qg7 22. Qg5 h6 23. Qf4 Re7 24. Nd5 Nxd5 25. exd5 Rxe1+ 26. Rxe1 Na7 27. Re7 { Priese,A (1565) -Weiler,G (1511) Dresden 2012 1/2-1/2 (59)}) 13. Rc1 Re8 14. Qd2 Bxf3 15. gxf3 Nd7 16. Kh1 Bh4 17. Rg1 Kh8 18. Bxh6 Rg8 19. Bxg7+ Rxg7 20. Rxg7 Kxg7 21. Rg1+ Bg5 22. Rxg5+ Kf8 23. Rh5 Qf6 24. Qh6+ Qxh6 25. Rxh6 Ke7 26. Nd5+ {Gjergji,R (2055)-Martinez,N Istanbul 2000 1-0}) 12. Bb1 c5 13. a3 Nc6 14. Qd3 $146 {White has an active position} (14. e5 dxe5 15. dxe5 Ne8 16. Qc2 g6 17. Bh6 Ng7 18. Ne4 Bf5 19. Qc3 Nd4 20. Nxc5 Bxc5 21. Qxc5 Nb3 22. Qc3 Be6 23. Be4 Rc8 24. Rad1 Rxc3 25. Rxd8 Rxd8 26. bxc3 Rc8 27. Bb7 Rxc3 28. Bxa6 Nf5 { Cop,M-Skoda,P Komarno 1999 1-0 (37)}) (14. e5 $5 dxe5 15. dxe5 $16) 14... c4 { Black threatens to win material: c4xd3} (14... cxd4 15. Nxd4 Nxd4 16. Qxd4 $11) 15. Qc2 $14 Ne8 (15... g6 16. Bh6 Re8 17. Qd2 $14) 16. Bf4 Bg4 17. d5 Bxf3 ( 17... Na5 $142 18. Nd4 Bd7 $16) 18. gxf3 $4 {White is ruining his position} ( 18. dxc6 $142 Bh5 19. Nd5 $16) 18... Bg5 19. Qd2 (19. Bg3 Ne5 20. Qe2 Qf6 $17) 19... Nd4 20. Qe3 Bxf4 21. Qxf4 Qf6 22. Qxf6 Nxf6 (22... gxf6 $6 23. Re3 $15) 23. Kg2 Nh5 24. Rd1 Nb3 25. Ra2 Nf4+ 26. Kg3 Nd3 27. Bxd3 cxd3 28. Kf4 (28. Rxd3 Nc1 29. Rd1 Nxa2 30. Nxa2 $17) 28... f6 $4 {Black loses the upper hand} ( 28... Rac8 $142 $19 {and Black is on the road to success}) 29. Ke3 $15 d2 ( 29... f5 $142 30. Kxd3 fxe4+ 31. Kc2 Na5 32. Nxe4 Rxf3 $15) 30. Ne2 $4 { letting the wind out of his own sails} (30. Nb1 $142 {is a viable option} Nc1 31. Ra1 $11) 30... Rac8 $17 31. Nc3 $2 (31. Nd4 $142 Rc1 32. Rxd2 Nxd2 33. Kxd2 $19) 31... Rc7 (31... f5 {seems even better} 32. Raa1 Nxa1 33. Rxa1 $19) 32. Rxd2 (32. Raa1 Nxa1 33. Rxa1 f5 $19) 32... Nxd2 33. Kxd2 f5 34. Ke3 Rc5 (34... fxe4 $142 {secures the point} 35. f4 Rcf7 $19) 35. Ra1 $17 Rfc8 36. Kf4 (36. h4 $5 $17) 36... g6 $19 37. Rg1 (37. h4 Kg7 $19) 37... Rc4 38. h4 $2 (38. Ke3 Kf7 39. Rb1 Kf6 $19) 38... Rf8 (38... b4 $142 {makes it even easier for Black} 39. axb4 Rxb4 $19) 39. Ke3 Kg7 40. h5 (40. f4 Kf6 $19) 40... Kf6 (40... b4 41. Nb1 bxa3 42. bxa3 f4+ 43. Kd3 $19) 41. hxg6 (41. Kd3 $5 gxh5 42. b3 Rc5 $19) 41... hxg6 $19 42. f4 Re8 43. f3 a5 $4 {releasing the pressure on the opponent} ( 43... Rh8 $142 $19 {with excellent chances for Black}) 44. Kd3 (44. Nxb5 Rb8 45. Kd3 Rxe4 46. fxe4 Rxb5 $14) 44... fxe4+ (44... Rc5 45. Rh1 $15) 45. fxe4 ( 45. Nxe4+ Ke7 46. b3 Rc7 47. Rxg6 Rf8 $16) 45... Rb8 (45... Rc5 $5 $11 { might be a viable alternative}) 46. Nxb5 $16 {Remove defender: b5} Rcc8 $4 { another bit of territory lost} (46... Rxb5 47. Kxc4 {Remove defender}) 47. Nxd6 $18 Rb3+ (47... Rc5 {hardly improves anything} 48. e5+ Ke7 49. Kd4 $18) 48. Kd4 Rg8 (48... Rc2 {no good, but what else?} 49. e5+ Kg7 $18) 49. e5+ Ke7 50. Rg2 a4 51. Nc4 (51. f5 Rd8 52. fxg6 Rf3 53. g7 Rg8 54. Ke4 Rh3 55. Nf5+ Kf7 56. e6+ Kf6 57. Rf2 Kg5 58. Ke5 Kg4 59. d6 Rb3 60. e7 Rb7 61. Ke6 Ra8 62. d7 Rxd7 63. Kxd7 Ra7+ 64. Ke8 Ra8+ 65. Kf7 Kg5 66. g8=Q+ Rxg8 67. Kxg8 Kg6 68. e8=Q+ Kg5 69. Qe3+ Kg4 70. Qg3+ Kh5 71. Rh2#) 51... Rf3 (51... Rh3 {doesn't do any good} 52. f5 $1 {Deflection: g6} Rh4+ 53. Kd3 $18) 52. Ke4 Rf1 53. Nb6 (53. d6+ Kf7 54. Kd5 Re1 55. e6+ Kf6 $18) 53... Rf8 (53... Re1+ {is still a small chance} 54. Kd4 Rf1 $18) 54. d6+ Kd8 (54... Kf7 {is not the saving move} 55. Nxa4 Rd8 56. Nc5 $18) 55. Rg4 (55. Rc2 Ke8 56. Kd5 $18) 55... Rf2 (55... Ke8 {doesn't get the bull off the ice} 56. Nxa4 Kd7 57. Nc5+ Kc6 58. Nd3 $18) 56. Nxa4 Kd7 ( 56... Ke8 {cannot change destiny} 57. b4 Kf7 58. Nc5 $18) 57. Nc5+ Kc6 58. Nd3 Re2+ 59. Kf3 Rd2 60. Ke3 Rd1 61. Rxg6 Rh8 62. Rg3 Rb8 63. Rf3 Kd5 64. f5 Rxd3+ 65. Kxd3 Rb3+ (65... Kxe5 {does not win a prize} 66. f6 Rf8 67. f7 Ke6 68. Kd4 Kxd6 69. Rf6+ Ke7 70. Ke5 Rb8 71. f8=Q+ Rxf8 72. Rxf8 Kxf8 73. Kd6 Kg8 74. a4 Kf7 75. a5 Kf6 76. a6 Kf5 77. a7 Ke4 78. a8=Q+ Kf4 79. Qg2 Ke3 80. Ke5 Kd3 81. Qe4+ Kd2 82. Kd4 Kc1 83. Kc3 Kd1 84. Qe7 Kc1 85. Qe1#) 66. Ke2 Rxb2+ 67. Kf1 Kxe5 (67... Ke4 {cannot change what is in store for White} 68. Rf2 Rb1+ 69. Kg2 Kxe5 70. f6 Rb8 71. f7 Rf8 72. d7 Ke6 73. Rd2 Rd8 74. f8=Q Rxf8 75. d8=Q Rxd8 76. Rxd8 Kf7 77. a4 Ke6 78. a5 Kf7 79. Kg3 Ke6 80. a6 Kf7 81. a7 Ke6 82. a8=Q Ke7 83. Qd5 Kf6 84. Qc6+ Ke5 85. Rd5+ Ke4 86. Qe6#) 68. f6 Rb8 (68... Rb1+ { doesn't change the outcome of the game} 69. Kg2 Rb2+ 70. Kg3 Rb8 71. f7 Rf8 72. d7 Ke6 73. Rd3 Rd8 74. f8=R Rxf8 75. d8=Q Rxd8 76. Rxd8 Kf7 77. a4 Ke6 78. a5 Kf7 79. a6 Kg6 80. Rd2 Kf5 81. a7 Ke4 82. a8=Q+ Ke5 83. Qc6 Kf5 84. Rd5+ Ke4 85. Qe6#) 69. f7 Rf8 70. d7 (70. d7 Ke6 71. d8=Q Rxd8 72. f8=Q Rxf8 73. Rxf8 Kd6 74. a4 Kc7 75. Rf2 Kb6 76. Ke2 Ka5 77. Kd3 Kb6 78. Kd4 Kc6 79. a5 Kb5 80. Kd5 Kb4 81. a6 Kb3 82. a7 Kb4 83. a8=Q Kb3 84. Kc5 Kc3 85. Qf3#) 1-0