A34 Symmetrical English: 2.Nc3, lines with ...d5 (1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.O-O d5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Ng5)

The game below was played in the first round of the 2015 October Grand Split Three Seven I 1800+ tournament that is being played at Red Hot Pawn at the moment I type this. I have 35 points which puts me in 7th place, but I can still finish on third place if the remaining games go my way. Admittedly I also require the help of other players in order for that to happen. I am actually also the 7th highest rated player of group 1, so I am pretty much doing as well as can be expected. InvaderOfRome has currently 29 points, which puts him on 9th place, but because he has a better maximum possible score than me, he can still overtake me and many others when more of his games start to finish.

My 10th move b6 in the position below was the first step towards problems. I should have played 10...h6 instead.

The only way for InvaderOfRome to take full advantage of my mistake would have been to reply with the move 11.Qd5. In the game my opponent chose to play 11.Qb3, which allowed me to stay in the game. The game continued rather evenly until I played 16...Be5 in the position you can view below. 16...h6 was the correct way to go, at least according to Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT.

InvaderOfRome answered by playing 17.Qd3 to which I replied with the horrible move 17...Rb7 and I was in quite a hopeless position after that or I would have been, had my opponent found the strongest move. InvaderOfRome played 18.f4, which let me off the hook and I could have fought for the draw with accurate play. The game continued evenly for awhile, but with my 21st move I threw away the game. I played the huge blunder 21...f5 in the position below.

Had I played 21...Rd7, I could have stayed in the game. My final downhill started with my 21st move and after the move 27.Rxc6 I thought I had to accept the loss, so I resigned.

[Event "Grand Split Three Seven"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2015.12.21"] [Round "1"] [White "InvaderOfRome"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A34"] [WhiteElo "1990"] [BlackElo "1903"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nf3 Nf6 {English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Full Symmetry Line} 6. O-O d5 (6... O-O 7. b3 {English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Double Fianchetto} (7. d3 {English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Duchamp Variation}) (7. d4 d6 8. d5 Na5 9. Nd2 a6 10. Qc2 Rb8 11. b3 b5 12. Bb2 bxc4 13. bxc4 Bh6 {King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Panno Variation, Donner Line})) 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Ng5 {A34 Symmetrical English: 2.Nc3, lines with ...d5} Nxc3 (8... e6 9. Nge4 b6 10. d3 O-O 11. Bg5 f6 12. Bd2 Bb7 13. a3 Qd7 14. Rc1 Rad8 15. Nxd5 exd5 16. Nc3 d4 17. Ne4 Ne5 18. Bf4 f5 19. Bxe5 Bxe5 20. Nd2 Bxg2 21. Kxg2 Rfe8 22. b4 Qd5+ 23. Nf3 {Speelman,J (2570)-Van der Wiel,J (2530) Plovdiv 1983 1/2-1/2}) 9. dxc3 Bd7 $146 (9... Qxd1 10. Rxd1 Bg4 11. Bd5 O-O 12. f3 Bf5 13. Be3 Bh6 14. h4 Rac8 15. Bxc5 b6 16. Bf2 Ne5 17. e4 Bxg5 18. exf5 Bf6 19. fxg6 hxg6 20. Kg2 Rfd8 21. f4 Nd7 22. Rd2 Nc5 23. Rad1 e6 24. Bf3 {Cruz,C (2470)-Llanes Hurtado, M (2484) Sabadell 2011 1-0 (49)}) (9... Qc7 10. Qa4 O-O 11. Be3 Bd7 12. Qa3 b6 13. Rad1 Rad8 14. b4 cxb4 15. cxb4 Ne5 16. Bf4 h6 17. Rc1 Qb8 18. Nf3 Nxf3+ 19. Bxf3 e5 20. Be3 Rfe8 21. Bc6 Bf8 22. Qb3 Qd6 23. Rfd1 Qe7 24. b5 {Plischki,S (2418) -Schulze,T (2211) Verden 2009 1/2-1/2 (38)}) (9... O-O 10. Qa4 Bd7 11. Qh4 h5 12. Rd1 Qc7 13. Bf4 e5 14. Be3 b6 15. Qe4 Rac8 16. Qd5 Be8 17. Ne4 Ne7 18. Qd6 Nf5 19. Nf6+ Bxf6 20. Qxf6 Nxe3 21. fxe3 Bb5 22. Bd5 Kh7 23. Rf1 Be8 24. Be4 { Perk,E (1880)-Schuler,G (1845) Bad Zwischenahn 2003 1/2-1/2 (33)}) 10. Be3 (10. Qd5 O-O $16) 10... b6 {Controls c5} (10... h6 11. Nf3 $11) 11. Qb3 {White has a mate threat} (11. Qd5 $5 e6 12. Qd6 $16) 11... O-O $11 12. Rfd1 (12. Bxc6 Bxc6 13. Ne6 Bd5 14. Nxd8 Bxb3 15. axb3 Rfxd8 $11) 12... Qc8 13. Qd5 {White threatens to win material: Qd5xd7} Be8 14. Rd2 (14. Qc4 h6 15. Nf3 Qf5 $11) 14... e6 {Black threatens to win material: e6xd5} (14... h6 15. Nh3 $11) 15. Qd6 Rb8 (15... h6 16. Nf3 $11) 16. Rad1 (16. Ne4 h6 17. Bxh6 Bxh6 18. Nf6+ Kg7 19. Nxe8+ Rxe8 20. Bxc6 Bxd2 21. Bxe8 Qxe8 22. Qxd2 Rd8 $16) 16... Be5 (16... h6 $142 $5 {should be investigated more closely} 17. Nf3 e5 $11) 17. Qd3 $16 Rb7 (17... Bg7 18. Bf4 e5 $16) 18. f4 (18. Qc4 $142 {White has the better game} h6 19. Nf3 $18) 18... Bf6 19. Ne4 {White threatens to win material: Ne4xf6} Be7 20. Nd6 (20. Qa6 Na5 $14) 20... Bxd6 $11 21. Qxd6 f5 $4 (21... Rd7 $142 { would save the game} 22. Qxc6 Qxc6 23. Bxc6 Rxd2 24. Rxd2 Bxc6 $11) 22. b4 $18 cxb4 $4 {sad, but how else could Black save the game?} (22... Rc7 23. bxc5 b5 $18) 23. cxb4 Rc7 (23... Nb8 {doesn't change the outcome of the game} 24. Bxb7 Qxb7 25. Bd4 $18) 24. Rc1 Rff7 25. Rdc2 Rfd7 26. Qxe6+ (26. Rxc6 {is impossible } Rxd6 27. Rxc7 Rd1+ 28. Kf2 Rxc1 29. Rxc1 Qa6 $15) 26... Kf8 (26... Bf7 { otherwise it's curtains at once} 27. Qf6 Qd8 28. Qxd8+ Rxd8 29. Bxc6 Re7 $18) 27. Rxc6 (27. Rxc6 Rxc6 28. Rxc6 (28. Bxc6 $4 Rd1+ 29. Rxd1 Qxe6 $19) (28. Qxc6 $143 Rd1+ 29. Rxd1 Bxc6 $15) 28... Rd1+ 29. Kf2 Qxe6 30. Rxe6 $18) 1-0