B92 Sicilian Najdorf: 6.Be2 (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 d6 5.Be3 e5 6.Nb3 Nf6 7.Nc3 Be6 8.Be2 Be7 9.O-O O-O 10.f3 a6)

This game was previously seen on the post Sicilian Defense: Open #3. That post no longer exists with that name, it is now called B32 Sicilian: Löwenthal and Kalashnikov Variations (7...Nf6) due to the way I now name the openings played in the games. The rest of the post is seen pretty much the same way as it was originally shared except that now the diagrams are living ones, meaning you can make moves in them.

This game was played in the "paweljaniak's mini-tournament I". This was the first mini-tournament in which I have been on second place in the final standings. I have now finished 5 mini-tournaments. In addition to this second place finish, I have been on third place twice, I was on 5th place once and in one of the mini-tournaments I was on 9th place in the final standings. In this tournament I was able to gather 8.5 points in 12 games. One of the games was never played though, so in the games I played I gathered 7.5 points out of 11 games. Paweljaniak won his tournament and he was able to gather 11 points in 12 games. My opponent was third in the final standings and was able to gather 8 points in 12 games.

The point at which the game started to go downhill for ledzepp was when my opponent played 14...Ne8 in the position below. 14...d5 seems like a logical move to make. Ledzepp would get rid of the backward pawn on d6 and increase the scope of the bishop on e7 a little bit.

The move my opponent played is too passive. The only reason why 14...Ne8 would make sense is that ledzepp wanted to play 15...f5. 14...d5 would have likely accomplished the same idea because I would have taken on d5 with a pawn and then ledzepp would play Nxd5, allowing the f-pawn to move. The difference is that the knight would be better placed. I replied with 15.Nd5 and due to that move I only had a small advantage. The engine thinks that I should have played 15.g3 instead. I am not really sure what the point of playing 15.g3 is, but the engine seems to like it. When we reached the position shown below, my opponent took another wrong turn and played 19...Nd8.

The final mistake after which my opponent's position was completely lost was played in the position shown below. Ledzepp should have played 29...Rd7, but even in that case, the game would have been a struggle for my opponent. In the game ledzepp played 29...Ne3.

I replied with the only move that allows me to fight for the win, 30.Qxe5. It was easy enough to spot the undefended pawn on e5 and I take the material if I can't see any good reason against it. The game ended in a few moves to my opponent's resignation.

Game number two. The team match held at Chess.com called Zamboanga was played between Philippine Critical Movers and CHOCOLATE II on 25 boards and I played on board 3 for CHOCOLATE II. I won both my games on time. The match ended with a score of 30.5 - 19.5 in favor of Philippine Critical Movers. The first mistake of significance was played by my opponent on move 15. Lexis_bruce played 15...Nc5, which may have seemed like a good move, but I could have taken the knight with my bishop and I would have ended up with a protected passed pawn on d5.

I was too protective of my bishop pair and moved one of my bishops to c2. Lexis_bruce then played the interesting, but a bad move 16...b5. It gave me another chance to seize a clear advantage with the continuation starting with the move 17.cxb5, but again I chose to play the more passive move 17.b3. The game then continued up to the final move of the game 23.Nb1 in an equal way.

[Event "paweljaniak's mini-tournament I"] [Site "http://gameknot.com/chess.pl?"] [Date "2016.05.04"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "ledzepp"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B92"] [WhiteElo "1794"] [BlackElo "1675"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 {Sicilian Defense: Open (#3)} d6 (4... Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Nf3 {Sicilian Defense: Lasker-Pelikan Variation, Retreat Variation} (6. Nxc6 {Sicilian Defense: Lasker-Pelikan Variation, Exchange Variation})) (4... Qb6 {Sicilian Defense: Godiva Variation}) 5. Be3 e5 6. Nb3 Nf6 7. Nc3 Be6 8. Be2 Be7 9. O-O O-O 10. f3 a6 {B92 Sicilian Najdorf: 6.Be2} 11. Qe1 (11. Nd5 Bxd5 12. exd5 Nb8 13. c4 Nbd7 14. Qd2 Rc8 15. Rac1 Nb6 16. Qb4 Nfd7 17. Na5 Rb8 18. Rfd1 f5 19. Qd2 Bh4 20. g3 f4 21. gxh4 fxe3 22. Qxe3 Qxh4 23. Kh1 Rf6 24. Rg1 Rf4 25. b4 e4 {Kosolapov,P-Zaitsev,I (2410) Tula 2005 1-0 (32)}) (11. Qd2 Qc7 12. Rad1 Rad8 13. Qe1 d5 14. exd5 Nxd5 15. Nxd5 Rxd5 16. Qf2 Nb4 17. a3 Rxd1 18. Bxd1 Nd5 19. Bc5 Rc8 20. Bxe7 Qxe7 21. Re1 f6 22. Nd2 Nf4 23. Ne4 Bd5 24. Qe3 Bxe4 25. Qxe4 Qc5+ {Teh,D (1747)-Zou,C Chiangmai 2013 0-1 (65)}) 11... b5 $146 (11... Ne8 12. Rd1 Qc7 13. Nd5 Bxd5 14. exd5 Nb8 15. Qb4 a5 16. Qb5 Nd7 17. Bd2 b6 18. f4 a4 19. Nc1 Nef6 20. Rf3 Qc5+ 21. Qxc5 bxc5 22. c4 Rfb8 23. b3 axb3 24. axb3 Ne4 25. Bd3 Nxd2 26. Rxd2 {Caslani,N (1758) -Rodriguez,A (1959) France 2011 0-1 (40)}) (11... Nb4 12. Rc1 Rc8 13. a3 Nxc2 14. Rxc2 Bxb3 15. Rd2 b5 16. g4 h6 17. g5 hxg5 18. Bxg5 Nh5 19. Bxe7 Qxe7 20. Bd3 Nf4 21. Nd5 Bxd5 22. exd5 g6 23. a4 Qg5+ 24. Qg3 Nh3+ 25. Kh1 Qxd2 26. Bxg6 {Modena,G-Parrella, A (2174) Limone Piemonte 2001 0-1 (38)}) 12. a3 {Controls b4} Bxb3 13. cxb3 {White has the pair of bishops.} Rb8 (13... d5 14. exd5 Nxd5 15. Nxd5 Qxd5 16. b4 $11) 14. b4 (14. Qd2 Na5 15. Qd1 Qd7 $14) 14... Ne8 (14... d5 $5 {should be considered} 15. exd5 Nxd5 $11) 15. Nd5 Nf6 16. Nxe7+ Qxe7 17. Bg5 (17. Rc1 Rbc8 $14) 17... h6 $11 18. Bh4 g5 {Black threatens to win material: g5xh4} (18... Qe6 19. Bd3 $14) 19. Bf2 $14 Nd8 (19... Nd4 20. Bxd4 exd4 21. Qd2 $14) 20. Rc1 Ne6 21. Bd1 Rbc8 22. Bb3 Rxc1 23. Qxc1 Nf4 24. Qc2 ( 24. Qc6 Ne2+ 25. Kh1 g4 $16) 24... Qb7 (24... Kg7 25. Kh1 $16) 25. Rc1 Rd8 26. Be3 d5 27. Bxf4 (27. g3 Ne6 28. exd5 Nxd5 $16) 27... gxf4 (27... exf4 $5 { should not be overlooked} 28. exd5 Ne8 $16) 28. exd5 $16 Nxd5 29. Qc5 (29. Qf5 $142 Qd7 30. Qxe5 $18) 29... Ne3 $2 (29... Rd7 $142 30. Rd1 Ne7 31. Qxe5 Rxd1+ 32. Bxd1 Qd7 $16) 30. Qxe5 $18 Rc8 $4 {terrible, but what else could Black do to save the game?} (30... Qb6 31. Bxf7+ $1 {Double attack: b6/f7} Kf8 $18) 31. Rc5 (31. Bxf7+ $142 {seems even better} Kxf7 32. Qxf4+ Kg6 33. Rxc8 Qxc8 34. Qxe3 $18) 31... Rd8 (31... Rxc5 {otherwise it's curtains at once} 32. bxc5 Qc6 33. Qxf4 Nd5 34. Qb8+ Kg7 35. Qe5+ Nf6 $18) 32. Qxf4 (32. Qf6 Rd5 33. Bxd5 Nxd5 34. Qd8+ Kg7 35. Qxd5 Qb6 36. Qe5+ Kh7 37. Qxf4 Kg7 38. Kf1 Qe6 39. Qg4+ Kf6 40. Qxe6+ Kxe6 41. Rc6+ Ke7 42. Rxa6 h5 43. Rb6 Kd8 44. Rxb5 Kc7 45. Rxh5 Kc6 46. Rc5+ Kd6 47. Rc1 f6 48. b5 f5 49. b6 Ke6 50. b7 Ke7 51. Rc6 Kd7 52. Rb6 f4 53. b8=Q Ke7 54. Qa7+ Kf8 55. Rb8#) 32... Nxg2 (32... Qb6 {no good, but what else?} 33. Qxe3 Qf6 $18) 33. Kxg2 (33. Kxg2 Qe7 34. Re5 Qf8 35. Bxf7+ Qxf7 36. Qxh6 Qg7+ 37. Rg5 Rd2+ 38. Kh3 Rd7 39. Qxg7+ Rxg7 40. Rxg7+ Kxg7 41. Kg4 Kf6 42. h4 Ke6 43. Kg5 Kd5 44. h5 Ke6 45. h6 Kf7 46. Kf5 Kg8 47. Kg6 Kf8 48. h7 Ke7 49. h8=Q Kd7 50. Qc3 a5 51. Qc5 axb4 52. axb4 Kd8 53. Kf5 Ke8 54. Qc7 Kf8 55. Kf6 Kg8 56. Qg7#) (33. Qxh6 Qa7 34. Qg5+ Kh7 35. Bc2+ Rd3 36. Bxd3+ Kh8 37. Kxg2 Qxc5 38. bxc5 b4 39. axb4 a5 40. bxa5 f6 41. Qh6+ Kg8 42. Bc4#) 1-0 [Event "Zamboanga - Board 3"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2015.03.01"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "lexis_bruce"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B92"] [WhiteElo "1886"] [BlackElo "1640"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "45"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be2 {Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation. Opocensky Variation} e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. O-O Nc6 (8... Be6 { Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation. Opocensky Variation Modern Line}) (8... O-O {Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation. Opocensky Variation Traditional Line} ) 9. Be3 (9. a4 Be6 10. Be3 Rc8 11. a5 {1/2-1/2 (11) Onoprijchuk,B (2357) -Sharafiev,A (2425) Saratov 2009}) (9. f4 O-O 10. f5 b5 11. a3 Bb7 12. Qd3 Rc8 13. Bg5 Na5 14. Nxa5 Qxa5 15. Bxf6 Qb6+ 16. Kh1 Bxf6 17. Rad1 Rfd8 18. Rf3 Bg5 19. Rg3 h6 20. Qf3 Kf8 21. Qh5 Bf6 22. Rgd3 b4 23. axb4 Qxb4 {Karacan,C (1720) -Surer,S (1858) Kemer 2014 0-1 (34)}) 9... O-O 10. f3 Be6 {B92 Sicilian Najdorf: 6.Be2} 11. Nd5 $146 (11. Qe1 Nb4 12. Rc1 d5 13. exd5 Nbxd5 14. Nxd5 Nxd5 15. Bd2 Rc8 16. Bd3 Qc7 17. Qg3 Nb4 18. Bxb4 Bxb4 19. a3 Bd6 20. Qe1 f5 21. Qa5 Qb8 22. h3 Rf6 23. c4 Qc7 24. Kh1 b6 25. Qa4 Bf8 {Gargallo Serrano,D (1750)-Cortes Bueno,J (2093) Aragon 2005 0-1}) 11... Bxd5 12. exd5 Nb4 13. c4 a5 14. Nd2 Na6 15. Bd3 Nc5 (15... Nb4 16. Bb1 $11) 16. Bc2 (16. Bxc5 dxc5 17. Re1 $16) 16... b5 (16... Nfd7 17. Nb1 $14) 17. b3 (17. cxb5 $5 Nxd5 18. Bxc5 dxc5 19. Nc4 $16) 17... Qd7 (17... Ncd7 18. a4 bxc4 19. Nxc4 $11) 18. Qe1 (18. Bxc5 dxc5 19. Qe2 b4 $14) 18... Rfc8 19. Rc1 (19. f4 e4 $14) 19... b4 {Black gets more space} (19... g6 20. Qe2 $14) 20. Qh4 (20. Qe2 $5 $14 {must definitely be considered}) 20... Nfe4 $11 21. Qe1 Nc3 {Black threatens to win material: Nc3xa2} 22. Ra1 f5 23. Nb1 1-0