B28 Sicilian: 2.Nf3 a6 (O'Kelly Variation) (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6)

This was played on the third round of a rapid chess tournament at the FIDE Online Arena. After this game I had three wins, so things were looking great for me at this point. Also when I was looking for the opening used in this game, I thought briefly that I had once again discovered something that had not been covered here before, but then I started thinking that because this opening was found among the database of openings at Chess.com, there is a chance I had posted games in this same opening before but I had not labeled the post correctly. And again I found that I had been wrong originally when I made this post. I correct myself from time to time because nobody else will do it for me.

It would seem to me at this time that 5.c4 would be playable against 4...a6. Actually I do not see the purpose of 5.c3, except that if my opponent takes on d4, I can take back with the c-pawn. If taking back with the pawn was the only reason why I played 5.c3, then it was not good enough reason because the pawn on c3 makes my development a bit awkward. The only position of interest in my opinion is the position after 16...Rad8, which is shown below.

I have a small advantage in that position, but because I misjudged the position, I ended up on the worse side of the board with the move 17.Nd5. Raymondo found the best move in the position, 17...Nxd5 and I was clearly going towards a loss. I then continued with the only move 18.exd5 and at that moment raymondo had the chance to prove why my 17th move was so bad. My opponent unfortunately did not see the move 18...Nb4, but instead played the losing move 18...Na7?? The rest of the game was just a matter of technique.

[Event "Tournament 28205545"] [Site "online arena"] [Date "2015.03.23"] [Round "3"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "raymondo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B28"] [WhiteElo "1823"] [BlackElo "1501"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 {Sicilian Defense: Open (#3)} a6 { B28 Sicilian: 2.Nf3 a6 (O'Kelly Variation)} (4... d5 {Sicilian Defense: Nimzo-American Variation}) (4... e5 5. Nb5 d6 {Sicilian Defense: Kalashnikov Variation}) (4... g6 5. c4 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Nc3 Ng4 {Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon, Maroczy Bind, Breyer Variation}) 5. c3 (5. Nb3 Nf6 6. Bd3 d5 7. exd5 Qxd5 8. O-O Nb4 9. Nc3 Qd8 10. Be2 Qxd1 11. Bxd1 Bf5 12. Nd4 Bg6 13. a3 e5 14. axb4 exd4 15. Re1+ Kd7 16. Na4 Bxb4 17. c3 Rae8 18. Bd2 Rxe1+ 19. Bxe1 dxc3 {Cioara,A (2345)-Mihalko,J (2305) Nyiregyhaza 1998 0-1 (34)}) 5... e5 $146 (5... e6 6. Be2 Nf6 7. Qc2 (7. Nd2 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Qc2 Ne5 10. N2f3 Ng6 11. h3 d5 12. e5 Ne8 13. Re1 Nc7 14. Be3 Bd7 15. Bd3 Be8 16. Nh2 f6 17. exf6 Bxf6 18. Ng4 Bf7 19. Qe2 Re8 20. Nxf6+ gxf6 21. Bh6 Kh8 {Akopian,S (1910) -Rybakova,G Belorechensk 2013 1-0 (47)}) 7... Qc7 8. Be3 Be7 9. O-O O-O 10. Nd2 d6 11. Rac1 Bd7 12. Bd3 Rac8 13. Qd1 e5 14. N4b3 Ng4 15. Qe1 f5 16. exf5 Bxf5 17. Bxf5 Rxf5 18. h3 Nxe3 19. fxe3 Rcf8 20. Rxf5 {Akopian,S (1806)-Kidanov,V (1869) Armavir 2015 0-1 (75)}) (5... g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. Qd2 d6 8. Na3 Nf6 9. f3 Qc7 10. Qf2 b5 11. Ndxb5 axb5 12. Nxb5 Qb7 13. Bb6 O-O 14. a4 Nd7 15. Be3 Qb8 16. Bc4 Nde5 17. Be2 f5 18. exf5 Bxf5 19. O-O Kh8 20. Rfd1 {Crnic,I (1638) -Hribar,A (1717) Ljubljana 2010 0-1 (34)}) 6. Nf3 d6 (6... Nf6 7. Bd3 $11) 7. Be2 Nf6 {Black threatens to win material: Nf6xe4} 8. Nbd2 h6 {Prevents intrusion on g5} 9. O-O Be7 10. Re1 O-O 11. Qc2 Qc7 12. Bd3 Bg4 13. h3 { White threatens to win material: h3xg4} Bh5 14. Nh2 Bg6 15. Ndf1 Rfe8 16. Ne3 Rad8 (16... d5 $142 17. Nxd5 Nxd5 18. exd5 Nb4 19. cxb4 Qxc2 20. Bxc2 Bxc2 21. Rxe5 Bf6 $11) 17. Nd5 $4 {throwing away the advantage} (17. Nhg4 $142 Nxg4 18. hxg4 $14) 17... Nxd5 $17 18. exd5 Na7 $4 {an unfortunate move that relinquishes the win} (18... Nb4 $142 $1 19. cxb4 Qxc2 20. Bxc2 Bxc2 $17) 19. Bxg6 $18 fxg6 20. Qxg6 Bg5 (20... h5 {doesn't get the bull off the ice} 21. Qxh5 Rf8 22. Re4 $18) 21. Bxg5 (21. f4 $142 {makes it even easier for White} Bxf4 22. Bxf4 Qf7 23. Qxf7+ Kxf7 $18) 21... hxg5 22. Qxg5 Qf7 (22... Qe7 { doesn't improve anything} 23. Qg3 $18) 23. Rad1 (23. Ng4 {and White can already relax} Qe7 24. Qg6 Rf8 $18) 23... Rf8 (23... Nc8 $18) 24. Ng4 Kh7 ( 24... Qf4 {a last effort to resist the inevitable} 25. Qh4 Qf5 $18) 25. Qh4+ ( 25. Rd3 $142 {and White has triumphed} Qf4 26. Qh4+ Kg8 $18) 25... Kg8 26. Re3 Qg6 (26... Nc8 {the only chance to get some counterplay} 27. Rg3 Qe7 $18) 27. Rg3 Rf4 28. Qxd8+ Kh7 29. Qh4+ Kg8 30. Nh6+ (30. Qe7 Kh7 31. Re1 Nc8 32. Qxb7 Rf8 33. Nxe5 Qxg3 34. fxg3 dxe5 35. Qc7 Na7 36. Qxa7 Rf6 37. Qe7 e4 38. Rxe4 Kg8 39. Rg4 Rf7 40. Qe6 a5 41. Rf4 Kh8 42. Rxf7 a4 43. Qg6 a3 44. Qxg7#) 30... Qxh6 31. Qxh6 (31. Qxh6 Rf7 32. Rdd3 e4 33. Rde3 Nc8 34. Rxe4 Ne7 35. Qxd6 a5 36. Rxe7 a4 37. Rxf7 a3 38. Rfxg7+ Kh8 39. Qf8#) 1-0