B32 Sicilian: Löwenthal and Kalashnikov Variations (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4)

Originally this was shared in the post B32 Sicilian Defense: Open #3. I did consider leaving this game in that post and removing other games from there because this was the only that still fitted to that post and the opening played in this game could still be named B32 Sicilian Defense: Open #3. I ended up changing the name because I thought it would be more in line with the way I have started to rename my posts. I have changed the static positions into living diagrams. The remainder of the post has been typed when I originally shared this game. This was played as a 15 minute game at the FIDE Online Arena. This is the second game in a row between these two players. This is also the second game I played there after the change they made to the handle policy and also to the way the client looks. Some time during that almost two months that I did not play at FOA, they had decided that because these are official elo games, the real names of the players should be shown instead of their handles. That is the way it would be if you would be playing an over the board game, so why not online too. My opponent was able to turn things around after struggling for over 40 moves. These are the kind of games that I should not lose, but maybe I will actually learn from my mistakes and improve my play so that I do not lose these good positions again.

This is once again a game in which my opponent played a move on move 4 that my other opponents have not played. Hermie Cagatin played 4...Ne5. So far my opponents have tried to play 4...d6, 4...a6 and 4...Nxd4. Hermie's move is probably the worst out of the four moves that have been seen so far on move four. I should be clearly better after Hermie's fourth move. I continued to be on the clearly favorable side until I played 8.Bf4 in the position below.

So the square was right, but not what was placed there. After my 8th move I had only a small advantage. Couple of moves later we reached the position shown below. In that position Hermie Cagatin played 10...d6, which loses a pawn.

I obviously played 11.Nxd6 in reply. The game continued with the moves 11...e5 12.Nf5 and then my opponent blundered with the move 12...Qb6. Hermie's 12th move allowed me to win a second pawn. My opponent should have played 12...Bb4 in order to stay better in the game. I continued with 13.Nxe7 and I should be in a winning position. I was able to maintain my advantage up to the move 43...Qg6. You can see the position in which I threw my advantage away below.

I played 44.Rc2, which would have allowed the move 44...Bd3 getting an even position. Hermie missed this chance and blundered the game away momentarily with the move 44...Qg4 instead. Momentarily because I lost most of my advantage again in the position below by playing 46.a4.

The next turning point came a few moves later after the move 50...f6. I played 51.Qc4 in the position below, which gave my opponent for the first time in this game a chance to take the advantage. At first Hermie was up to the task and played 51...Bxe4. The game continued with the moves 52.Kf2 Qh1. The move 52...Qh1 would have allowed me to get back into the game, had I played 53.Ke3. I instead made a huge mistake by playing 53.h4?? After that I was, for the first time during this game, in a lost position.

While the game seemed to be hopelessly lost, my 53rd move was not the losing move. I got a chance to draw the game after the wrong turn my opponent made on move 61. Hermie Cagatin played 61...Qxh4 in the position below.

I found the best try to draw the game, 62.a7. Hermie replied with 62...f3+ and then came the move that finally lost the game, 63.Kb5?? My only chance for a draw was to play 63.Kd3.

[Event "Challenge 35774165"] [Site "online arena"] [Date "2015.12.08"] [Round "1"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "Cagatin, Hermie"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B32"] [WhiteElo "1771"] [BlackElo "1742"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "150"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 {B32 Sicilian: Löwenthal and Kalashnikov Variations} Ne5 (4... Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 (8... Be6 {Sicilian Defense: Lasker-Pelikan Variation, Bird Variation}) 9. Bxf6 (9. Nd5 {Sicilian Defense: Lasker-Pelikan Variation, Sveshnikov Variation, Chelyabinsk Variation}) 9... gxf6 10. Nd5 f5 11. Bxb5 {Sicilian Defense: Lasker-Pelikan Variation, Sveshnikov Variation, Peresypkin's Sacrifice}) 5. Nc3 e6 (5... a6 6. f4 Ng6 7. f5 Ne5 8. Bf4 d6 9. Qd2 Nf6 10. O-O-O Qc7 11. Bxe5 dxe5 12. Ndb5 axb5 13. Nxb5 Qb6 14. Qc3 Bd7 15. Nc7+ Kd8 16. Nxa8 {1-0 (16) Horvath,A (2503)-Zunic,M (2064) Neum 2003}) 6. Be2 (6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bf4 f6 8. Qd2 Nf7 9. Be3 a6 10. Nd4 Be7 11. Bc4 e5 12. Ne6 Bxe6 13. Bxe6 Ng5 14. Bd5 Qc7 15. h4 Nf7 16. O-O-O Bd8 17. Bxf7+ Qxf7 18. Qxd6 Ne7 19. Qd7+ Kf8 20. Qxb7 Rc8 { Lalanne,T (1723)-Spiette,J (1832) Paris 2012 1-0 (31)}) 6... Nf6 7. O-O Be7 8. Bf4 $146 {White threatens to win material: Bf4xe5} (8. Be3 O-O 9. f4 Ng6 10. e5 Ne8 11. f5 Nxe5 12. fxe6 dxe6 13. Qd2 Bd7 14. Nf3 Ng6 15. Rad1 Bc6 16. Qxd8 Bxd8 17. Bc5 Bb6 18. Bxb6 axb6 19. b3 Nf4 20. Nd4 Nd5 21. Nxd5 Bxd5 22. a4 Nc7 {Lippmann,P-Seemann,P Kappeln 1990 1-0 (50)}) (8. f4 $5 Nc6 9. e5 $16) 8... Ng6 {Black threatens to win material: Ng6xf4} 9. Bg3 O-O {Black has a cramped position. Black's piece can't move: c8} 10. Ndb5 d6 (10... e5 11. h4 a6 12. Nd6 $14) 11. Nxd6 $16 ({Less advisable is} 11. Bxd6 a6 12. Bxe7 Qxe7 $11) 11... e5 12. Nf5 Qb6 $2 (12... Bc5 $142 $16) 13. Nxe7+ $18 Nxe7 14. Bxe5 Ng6 (14... Rd8 15. Qc1 $18) 15. Bxf6 (15. Bd4 {might be the shorter path} Qc6 16. Qe1 Nf4 $18) 15... gxf6 $2 (15... Qxf6 16. Qd2 Nf4 $18) 16. b3 Be6 17. Qc1 (17. Nd5 $142 $5 {and White can already relax} Bxd5 18. exd5 Rfe8 $18) 17... Qd4 18. Qe3 (18. Nb5 $142 Qxe4 19. Bf3 $18) 18... Qe5 $4 {sad, but how else could Black save the game?} (18... Qxe3 $142 19. fxe3 Rac8 $16) 19. Rac1 (19. f4 {makes it even easier for White} Nxf4 20. Rxf4 Rac8 $18) 19... a6 (19... Rac8 20. Nb5 Nf4 21. c4 $18 (21. Nxa7 $6 Rc3 22. Bd3 Qg5 $16)) 20. Na4 (20. f4 {seems even better} Qc7 21. f5 Rac8 $18) 20... Rac8 (20... Nf4 21. Rfe1 $18) 21. c4 (21. f4 $142 { finishes off the opponent} Qd6 22. f5 $18) 21... Nf4 22. Bf3 b5 (22... Rcd8 23. Rfd1 $18) 23. cxb5 (23. Nb6 $142 $5 {keeps an even firmer grip} Rcd8 24. Rfd1 bxc4 25. bxc4 Rxd1+ 26. Rxd1 Kg7 $18) 23... axb5 24. Nc3 (24. Nc5 {and White can already relax} Kh8 $18) 24... Kh8 25. Kh1 Rg8 (25... Ng6 26. g3 $18) 26. g3 Ng6 27. Bg2 Ne7 (27... b4 28. Na4 Rxc1 29. Rxc1 $18) 28. f4 Qh5 (28... Qc5 { a fruitless try to alter the course of the game} 29. Qxc5 Rxc5 30. Nd5 Rxc1 31. Rxc1 (31. Nxe7 {is impossible} Rxf1+ 32. Bxf1 Ra8 $17) 31... Nxd5 32. exd5 $18) 29. Qe2 (29. f5 $142 {and White takes home the point} b4 30. Ne2 Rxc1 31. Rxc1 Nxf5 32. exf5 Qxf5 $18) 29... Qh6 (29... Qxe2 30. Nxe2 Bg4 $18) 30. Qe3 Rb8 $4 {gives the opponent counterplay} (30... Qh5 31. f5 b4 $18) 31. Rfd1 (31. Qc5 { might be the shorter path} b4 32. f5 bxc3 33. fxe6 Ng6 34. Rxc3 Ne5 $18) 31... Bg4 32. Rd6 Nc8 (32... Rgc8 {doesn't get the cat off the tree} 33. Kg1 $18) 33. Rd5 b4 34. Nb5 (34. Na4 {makes it even easier for White} Ne7 35. Rd6 Rgc8 $18) 34... Ne7 35. Rdc5 Rgd8 36. Bf3 (36. Nd4 {and White can already relax} Rb7 37. R5c4 Bh3 $18) 36... Bh3 $4 {an oversight. But Black was lost anyway.} (36... Bxf3+ $142 37. Qxf3 Rd2 $18) 37. Rd1 (37. Qe1 $142 {seems even better} Ng6 $18) 37... Rxd1+ 38. Bxd1 Bf1 (38... Rd8 39. Bf3 Qf8 40. Rh5 $18) 39. Nd4 (39. Nd6 $142 {and White has reached his goal} Qh3 40. Bf3 Ba6 $18) 39... Rd8 (39... Qh3 {is not the saving move} 40. Bf3 Ba6 41. Rc1 $18) 40. Be2 (40. Bf3 {might be the shorter path} Qh3 41. Rc1 Qd7 $18) 40... Rxd4 $2 (40... Bxe2 41. Nxe2 Qh3 $18) 41. Qxd4 Bxe2 42. Kg2 Ng8 43. Qxb4 (43. Rc8 $142 $5 {makes it even easier for White} Bf1+ 44. Kg1 Be2 $18) 43... Qg6 (43... Qf8 44. Qd4 Qe7 $18) 44. Rc2 $4 {White threatens to win material: Rc2xe2. a weak move, ruining a winning position} (44. Rf5 $142 $5 {keeps an even firmer grip} h5 45. Qd4 Kh7 $18) 44... Qg4 $4 {letting the wind out of his own sails} (44... Bd3 $142 {would keep Black alive} 45. Rc1 Bxe4+ 46. Kf2 Bf5 $11) 45. Qc3 $18 Ba6 46. a4 $4 { White lets it slip away} (46. h3 $142 {and White is on the road to success} Qd1 47. Kh2 $18) 46... Qd1 $11 {Black has a mate threat} 47. Rf2 (47. Kf2 Kg7 $11) 47... Bb7 {Black threatens to win material: Bb7xe4} (47... Bd3 $5 {looks like a viable alternative} 48. Qb4 f5 49. exf5 Kg7 $15) 48. Qc4 {White threatens to win material: Qc4xf7} (48. Qb4 Ba6 $11) 48... Qb1 (48... f5 49. Rf1 Qd8 50. Qxf7 Bxe4+ 51. Kg1 Qd4+ 52. Rf2 Qd1+ 53. Rf1 Qd4+ 54. Rf2 $11) 49. Re2 (49. Kh3 Qe1 50. Qe2 $14 (50. Qxf7 $143 Bc8+ 51. Kg2 Qxe4+ 52. Kg1 Bh3 $17)) 49... f5 $11 50. Qd4+ f6 51. Qc4 (51. Kf2 $142 $5 {should not be overlooked} Bxe4 52. Re3 $11) 51... Bxe4+ $17 52. Kf2 Qh1 {Black threatens to win material: Qh1xh2} (52... Bd3 $142 53. Qc3 Bxe2 54. Kxe2 Qh1 $17) 53. h4 $4 {overlooking an easy win} (53. Ke3 $142 $11 {was much better}) 53... Qf3+ $19 54. Ke1 Bd3 55. Qe6 Qxg3+ (55... Qxe2+ 56. Qxe2 Bxe2 57. Kxe2 $18) 56. Kd2 Bxe2 57. Kxe2 Qxf4 58. a5 (58. Qd5 {is not much help} Qh2+ 59. Kf1 Qh3+ 60. Ke2 f4 $19) 58... Qh2+ ( 58... Qg4+ $142 {makes it even easier for Black} 59. Kd3 Qd1+ 60. Kc3 $19) 59. Kd3 (59. Kd1 {praying for a miracle} Qg1+ 60. Ke2 Qg4+ 61. Kf2 Qxh4+ 62. Kf1 Qf4+ 63. Ke2 Qg4+ 64. Kf2 Qd4+ 65. Qe3 Qb2+ 66. Kg3 $19) 59... f4 60. a6 Qg3+ ( 60... f3 {and Black can already relax} 61. a7 Qa2 62. Qe3 $19) 61. Kc4 (61. Kd2 $19 {does not save the day}) 61... Qxh4 (61... f3 $142 {secures victory} 62. Qe3 Qg2 $19) 62. a7 $11 f3+ {Black advances the passed pawn} 63. Kb5 $4 { gives away a clear win} (63. Kd3 $142 {the rescuing straw} f2 64. Qf5 $11) 63... f2 64. Qe2 Qg5+ 65. Kb6 (65. Kc6 {does not help much} Qg2+ 66. Kc5 Qg1 67. Kd6 Qg3+ 68. Kc6 Qc3+ 69. Kb5 Qxb3+ 70. Kc6 Qa4+ 71. Kb7 Qb4+ 72. Kc7 Qa5+ 73. Kb8 Qb6+ 74. Ka8 Qc7 75. Qa6 Qf4 76. Kb7 f1=Q 77. Qxf1 Qxf1 78. a8=Q Qf3+ 79. Ka7 Qxa8+ 80. Kxa8 f5 81. Ka7 f4 82. Ka6 f3 83. Ka5 f2 84. Kb4 f1=Q 85. Kc5 Qf4 86. Kb5 Qd4 87. Kc6 Qc4+ 88. Kb7 Ne7 89. Kb8 Qc6 90. Ka7 Nc8+ 91. Kb8 Nd6 92. Ka7 Qb7#) 65... Qg1 66. Kb7 (66. Kc7 {does not solve anything} f1=Q 67. Qxf1 Qxf1 68. a8=Q Qf4+ 69. Kd7 Qg4+ 70. Kc7 Qg3+ 71. Kb6 h5 72. b4 h4 73. Qe8 h3 74. Qh5+ Kg7 75. Qf5 h2 76. Qd7+ Kh8 77. Qc6 Qg1+ 78. Kb5 h1=Q 79. Qxh1+ Qxh1 80. Kc4 Qe4+ 81. Kc5 Ne7 82. b5 Qd5+ 83. Kb4 Qd4+ 84. Ka3 Nf5 85. b6 Qc5+ 86. Ka2 Nd4 87. b7 Qc2+ 88. Ka1 Nb3#) 66... Qg2+ (66... f1=Q 67. Qxf1 Qxf1 68. a8=Q Qf3+ 69. Ka7 Qxa8+ 70. Kxa8 h5 71. b4 h4 72. b5 h3 73. b6 h2 74. b7 h1=Q 75. Ka7 Qa1+ 76. Kb6 Qe5 77. b8=Q Qxb8+ 78. Kc5 Qb3 79. Kd4 Ne7 80. Kc5 Qc3+ 81. Kd6 Qb4+ 82. Kd7 Kg7 83. Ke8 Qb7 84. Kd8 Nc6+ 85. Ke8 Qe7#) 67. Kb8 f1=Q 68. Qxf1 Qxf1 69. a8=Q Qb5+ 70. Kc7 Qxb3 71. Qc6 (71. Qh1 {doesn't change anything anymore} Qg3+ 72. Kc6 Qg5 73. Qa1 h5 74. Kb6 h4 75. Qh1 Qg3 76. Qd1 h3 77. Qh5+ Kg7 78. Qd1 Qg2 79. Qd7+ Kh8 80. Qd1 h2 81. Kc5 h1=Q 82. Qxh1+ Qxh1 83. Kc4 Ne7 84. Kc3 Nf5 85. Kb2 Qc6 86. Kb3 Nd4+ 87. Kb4 Qc7 88. Ka3 Qc5+ 89. Ka2 Qc2+ 90. Ka1 Nb3#) 71... Qf7+ (71... h5 72. Qe8 Qg3+ 73. Kb6 h4 74. Qh5+ Kg7 75. Qd1 h3 76. Ka6 Qg2 77. Qd7+ Kh8 78. Qd1 h2 79. Kb5 h1=Q 80. Qxh1+ Qxh1 81. Kc4 Qc1+ 82. Kd3 Ne7 83. Ke2 Qc2+ 84. Kf3 Nf5 85. Kg4 Qe4+ 86. Kh3 Qf3+ 87. Kh2 Qf2+ 88. Kh3 Qg3#) 72. Kb6 (72. Kd6 {hardly improves anything} h5 73. Kc5 Qg6 74. Kd4 Qg3 75. Kc4 h4 76. Qe8 h3 77. Qh5+ Kg7 78. Qd5 Qg2 79. Qd7+ Kh8 80. Qd1 h2 81. Qh5+ Kg7 82. Kb3 h1=Q 83. Qxh1 Qxh1 84. Kb2 Qc6 85. Kb3 Ne7 86. Kb2 Nd5 87. Ka1 Qb5 88. Ka2 Ne3 89. Ka1 Nc4 90. Ka2 Qb2#) 72... h5 73. Qf3 (73. Kc5 {doesn't change the outcome of the game} Qg6 74. Qd5 h4 75. Qf3 Qg3 76. Qh5+ Kg7 77. Qd1 h3 78. Qd7+ Kh8 79. Qd1 h2 80. Qh5+ Kg7 81. Kc4 Qg1 82. Kc3 h1=Q 83. Qxh1 Qxh1 84. Kd2 Ne7 85. Kc2 Qf3 86. Kb2 Qc6 87. Ka1 Qc3+ 88. Kb1 Nd5 89. Ka2 Nb4+ 90. Kb1 Qc2+ 91. Ka1 Qc1#) 73... Qe6+ 74. Kc5 (74. Kc7 {doesn't do any good} Qg4 75. Qf2 h4 76. Kd8 h3 77. Qc2 Qf4 78. Kd7 Qg3 79. Qb1 Qg2 80. Kd6 h2 81. Kc5 Qg1+ 82. Qxg1 hxg1=Q+ 83. Kc4 Kg7 84. Kb3 Qc5 85. Ka2 Nh6 86. Ka1 Nf5 87. Kb1 Nd4 88. Ka1 Qa3+ 89. Kb1 Qb3+ 90. Ka1 Nc2#) 74... Qg4 75. Qe3 (75. Qxg4 {cannot change destiny} hxg4 76. Kd4 f5 77. Ke3 g3 78. Ke2 f4 79. Kf3 Nh6 80. Kg2 Nf5 81. Kf3 Nh4+ 82. Ke2 f3+ 83. Ke3 Kg7 84. Kd2 g2 85. Kc1 g1=Q+ 86. Kb2 Qb6+ 87. Kc2 f2 88. Kd3 f1=Q+ 89. Kc2 Qbb1+ 90. Kc3 Qfd3#) 75... Qg5+ ( 75... Qg5+ 76. Kd4 Qxe3+ 77. Kxe3 Kh7 78. Kf3 Kg6 79. Kf4 Nh6 80. Ke3 Kg5 81. Kd2 h4 82. Ke2 h3 83. Kf3 Nf5 84. Kf2 Kf4 85. Ke2 h2 86. Kd3 h1=Q 87. Kc4 Qc1+ 88. Kb3 Nd4+ 89. Kb4 Qc6 90. Ka3 Qc5+ 91. Ka2 Qc2+ 92. Ka1 Nb3#) (75... h4 76. Kb6 h3 77. Qf2 Qg2 78. Qh4+ Kg7 79. Qf4 h2 80. Qc7+ Kh8 81. Qc1 h1=Q 82. Qxh1+ Qxh1 83. Kc5 Qe4 84. Kb5 Qc2 85. Kb6 Ne7 86. Ka5 Qc4 87. Kb6 Nd5+ 88. Ka5 Qb4+ 89. Ka6 Qb6#) 0-1