C41 Philidor Defence (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Bc4 Bg7 6.O-O Ne7 7.Bg5 Nbc6 8.c3)

This game was previously found in the post C41 Philidor Defense: Larsen Variation. That post was renamed to C41 Philidor Defence (5...Bg7), in order to be consistent with the way I am currently naming my posts. This game was played in the "paweljaniak's mini-tournament I". This was probably the best mini-tournament I have played at GameKnot. I was second in the final standings and I gathered 8.5 points in 12 games. Well, I actually only played 11 games since one of my opponents withdrew from the tournament. It was the only game that was never played. My opponent in this game, chief_huerta, finished 7th in this mini-tournament and was able to gather 2.5 points in 12 games.

This game followed the first game I shared in the post C41 Philidor Defence (6...Nc6) up to the move 6.O-O. In that game a player called veca played 6...Nc6, while chief_huerta played 6...Ne7 in this game. I think the first turning point of the game came when chief_huerta played 13...cxd5 in the position below.

I responded with 14.exd5 and according to Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT I should have been clearly better. Chief_huerta replied with e5 and I continued with 15.Ne4, which threw away some of my advantage. The best move was 15.Bxe7. Then my opponent played the huge blunder 15...Rf8 and it could have been the losing move. I did not continue with the most accurate moves, but it was only after my 33rd move Qf3 that all my advantage had disappeared. The next position is where I played 33.Qf3.

Chief_huerta played 33...Qe6 in reply and I continued by playing 34.Bd2. Then chief_huerta played 34...Be7 and I was clearly better again. When we reached the position after 35...Nf6, which you can see below, I moved my knight to the wrong square and it allowed my opponent to get back into the game again.

Chief_huerta then took another step in the wrong direction with the move 36...Nh7. It was the start of the final downhill for my opponent. The remainder of the game went clearly in my favor and chief_huerta resigned after my 50th move a4.

[Event "paweljaniak's mini-tournament I"] [Site "http://gameknot.com/chess.pl?"] [Date "2016.05.23"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "chief_huerta"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C41"] [WhiteElo "1782"] [BlackElo "1635"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "99"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 g6 {Philidor Defense: Larsen Variation} ( 4... Nf6 5. Nc3 Be7 6. Be2 O-O 7. O-O c5 8. Nf3 Nc6 9. Bg5 Be6 10. Re1 { Philidor Defense: Berger Variation}) 5. Bc4 Bg7 6. O-O Ne7 7. Bg5 (7. Nc3 O-O ( 7... Nbc6 8. Be3 b6 9. Nxc6 Nxc6 10. Bxf7+ Kxf7 11. Qd5+ Be6 12. Qxc6 Rf8 13. f4 Kg8 14. f5 gxf5 15. exf5 Bf7 16. Rf3 Kh8 17. f6 Bxf6 18. Raf1 Be8 19. Qc4 Bg6 20. Rxf6 Rxf6 21. Rxf6 Qxf6 22. Bd4 {Antipov,V (1863)-Polekhin,D (1597) Kaluga 2016 1-0}) 8. Bg5 h6 (8... c6 9. a4 Nd7 10. Qd2 Nb6 11. Bb3 Bd7 12. a5 Nbc8 13. f4 Qb6 {1-0 (13) Rau,J-Bornschein,K Stuttgart 1993}) 9. Bh4 g5 (9... Nbc6 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Qd3 Kh7 12. f4 f6 13. f5 gxf5 14. exf5 d5 15. Bb3 Bd7 16. Rae1 Nc8 17. Qg3 Nd6 18. Qg6+ Kh8 19. Rf3 Nf7 20. Rg3 Ng5 21. Bxg5 fxg5 22. Rf1 Rf6 23. Qh5 Rxf5 24. Rxf5 {Gosciniak,M-Sharova,A Peniscola 2002 0-1 (37)}) 10. Bg3 Nbc6 11. Nxc6 Nxc6 12. f4 gxf4 13. Bxf4 Be6 14. Bb3 Kh7 15. Ne2 Qh4 16. c3 Rae8 17. Ng3 Be5 18. Qd2 Rg8 19. Rf2 Rg4 20. Raf1 Reg8 21. Bd1 Bxf4 { Naiditsch,A (2487)-Appel,R (2481) Essen 2001 1/2-1/2 (45)}) 7... Nbc6 $146 ( 7... O-O 8. c3 Qe8 9. Nd2 Nbc6 10. Ne2 Bg4 11. f3 Be6 12. Bd3 Ne5 13. Bc2 Nc4 14. Nxc4 Bxc4 15. f4 f6 16. Bh4 Qb5 17. Nd4 Qb6 18. Rf2 Nc6 19. Nb3 Bh6 20. Kh1 Rae8 21. Rf3 Qb5 22. a4 {Burakovsky,M (2068)-Gyorffi,Z Eger 2003 1-0 (53)}) 8. c3 {C41 Philidor Defence} Nxd4 9. cxd4 Be6 (9... h6 10. Bf4 $14) 10. Bxe6 (10. d5 f6 11. Be3 Bf7 $16) 10... fxe6 $14 11. Nc3 c6 {Covers b5+d5} (11... Qd7 12. Rc1 O-O 13. Ne2 $11) 12. Qd2 {Black has a cramped position} (12. Ne2 h6 13. Be3 Qd7 $14) 12... Qd7 $14 13. d5 (13. a4 $14) 13... cxd5 (13... exd5 $142 $5 { and Black could well hope to play on} 14. exd5 O-O $11) 14. exd5 $16 e5 15. Ne4 (15. Bxe7 $142 Qxe7 16. Rac1 $16) 15... Rf8 $4 (15... Nf5 $142 $5 $14 {should be considered}) 16. Rac1 (16. Qb4 $142 {keeps an even firmer grip} O-O-O 17. Nxd6+ Qxd6 18. Qxd6 (18. Bxe7 $6 {is the less attractive alternative} Qxb4 19. Bxb4 Rf4 $14) 18... Rxd6 19. Bxe7 Rxd5 20. Bxf8 Bxf8 21. Rfd1 $18) 16... Kf7 17. Rc3 Rac8 18. Rfc1 Rxc3 19. Rxc3 (19. Qxc3 Rc8 20. Qf3+ Kg8 21. Rxc8+ Nxc8 22. Nf6+ Bxf6 23. Qxf6 $18 (23. Bxf6 $143 Qf5 24. Qxf5 gxf5 $17)) 19... Rc8 $4 (19... Nf5 20. Qc2 Kg8 21. Rc7 $16) 20. Rxc8 (20. Nxd6+ $142 {and White has reached his goal} Qxd6 21. Bxe7 $18) 20... Nxc8 $16 21. Qb4 h6 (21... Bf8 22. h3 Be7 23. Be3 $16) 22. Be3 b6 23. Qd2 Qf5 $2 (23... h5 $142 $16) 24. f3 $18 g5 (24... h5 25. Qc1 Ke8 $18) 25. Qb4 $4 {weakening the position} (25. Qc1 $142 $5 {and White can already relax} Kf8 26. h4 gxh4 27. Bxh6 b5 $18) 25... Bf8 (25... Ke7 $5 $16) 26. Qc4 $18 Qd7 27. Bd2 (27. h4 gxh4 28. Bxh6 Bxh6 29. Qxc8 Be3+ 30. Kh1 Qxc8 31. Nxd6+ Ke7 32. Nxc8+ Kd7 33. Nxa7 $16) 27... g4 $4 {further deteriorates the position} (27... b5 28. Qd3 $16) 28. Qd3 (28. fxg4 $142 { nails it down} Kg7 29. g5 h5 $18) 28... Ne7 $2 (28... Ke7 29. Be1 Kf7 30. b4 $16) 29. Bb4 $4 {not a good decision, because now the opponent is right back in the game} (29. fxg4 $142 {might be the shorter path} Qxg4 30. Nxd6+ Kg7 31. Ne4 Qd1+ 32. Kf2 $18) 29... Nc8 (29... Ng6 30. g3 $16) 30. Qf1 (30. Qe2 Qa4 31. a3 a5 $16) 30... Kg7 31. Bc3 Ne7 32. fxg4 Nxd5 {Black has a new protected passed pawn: e5} 33. Qf3 Qe6 34. Bd2 Be7 (34... Ne7 35. h4 $14) 35. h3 (35. Ng3 Nf4 36. Nf5+ Kf7 $16) 35... Nf6 (35... Kg8 $142 $16) 36. Nc3 {White has a king attack} (36. Ng3 Bf8 $16) 36... Nh7 $4 {allows the opponent back into the game} (36... d5 $142 {and Black can hope to live} 37. g5 hxg5 38. Bxg5 d4 $11) 37. Qb7 $16 Kg6 38. Qxa7 (38. Nd5 $142 Bg5 39. Bxg5 Nxg5 40. Qa8 $18) 38... Bd8 $4 {another step towards the grave} (38... d5 $142 $16) 39. Qb8 $18 Qg8 (39... Qd7 {the only chance to get some counterplay} 40. Be3 d5 41. Bxb6 Bxb6+ 42. Qxb6+ Nf6 $18) 40. Be3 Nf6 (40... Qf8 {hardly improves anything} 41. a4 Ng5 42. Bxb6 Bxb6+ 43. Qxb6 $18) 41. Qxd6 Qe8 42. Bxb6 Bxb6+ (42... Be7 {is the last straw} 43. Qd3+ Kg7 $18) 43. Qxb6 Qf7 (43... Kf7 {praying for a miracle} 44. a4 Qd7 $18) 44. Ne4 Kg7 (44... Qxa2 {is no salvation} 45. Qxf6+ Kh7 46. Qxe5 Qa7+ 47. Kh2 Kg8 48. b4 Kf7 49. b5 Kg8 50. b6 Qxb6 51. Qe8+ Kh7 52. Qe7+ Kh8 53. Qf8+ Kh7 54. Nf6+ Kg6 55. Nd5 Qb7 56. Ne7+ Qxe7 57. Qxe7 h5 58. Kg3 h4+ 59. Kf3 Kh6 60. Qf7 Kg5 61. Qg7#) 45. Qxf6+ Qxf6 46. Nxf6 Kxf6 47. Kf2 e4 (47... Ke6 { does not improve anything} 48. Ke3 Kd5 49. h4 Kd6 50. Ke4 Ke7 51. Kxe5 Kd7 52. g5 hxg5 53. hxg5 Ke7 54. b4 Kf8 55. b5 Ke7 56. g6 Kf8 57. b6 Kg7 58. b7 Kxg6 59. b8=Q Kf7 60. Qh8 Ke7 61. Qg7+ Ke8 62. Kd6 Kd8 63. Qd7#) 48. Ke3 Ke5 49. b4 (49. h4 h5 50. gxh5 Kf6 51. b4 Ke5 52. b5 Kd5 53. h6 Ke6 54. h7 Kd5 55. h8=Q Kd6 56. Kxe4 Kc5 57. Qd4+ Kxb5 58. Kd5 Ka6 59. Qb2 Ka5 60. Kc5 Ka4 61. Qb4#) 49... Kd5 (49... Ke6 {cannot change destiny} 50. b5 Kd5 51. h4 Kc5 52. g5 hxg5 53. hxg5 Kxb5 54. g6 Kc5 55. Kxe4 Kb4 56. g7 Kc5 57. g8=Q Kc6 58. Qe6+ Kc7 59. Ke5 Kd8 60. Qc6 Ke7 61. Qc7+ Kf8 62. Kf6 Kg8 63. Qg7#) 50. a4 (50. a4 Ke6 51. h4 Ke5 52. a5 Kd5 53. g5 h5 54. g6 Ke6 55. Kxe4 Ke7 56. a6 Ke6 57. a7 Kf6 58. a8=Q Kxg6 59. Qg8+ Kf6 60. Kd5 Ke7 61. Qg7+ Ke8 62. Kd6 Kd8 63. Qd7#) (50. h4 Kd6 51. Kxe4 Ke7 52. h5 Kd6 53. g5 hxg5 54. h6 g4 55. h7 g3 56. b5 Kc5 57. h8=Q Kb4 58. Qd4+ Ka3 59. b6 Kxa2 60. b7 Kb3 61. b8=Q+ Ka2 62. Qbb2#) 1-0