C54 Giuoco Piano: 4.c3 Nf6, main lines with 5.d4 and 5.d3 (1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 a6)

This was played in a team match called OPEN MATCH LA BELLE FRANCE / CALABARZON CHESS TEAM. The match was played on 15 boards and I played on board 5 for La Belle France. I won both of my games on time. In the game below I was in a completely losing position though. My opponent's rating in the notation of this game is far from her highest. The highest she has been is 2155, so she is quite underrated at the moment. Well, the highest rating does not tell the true strength of a player but it might tell something of the potential of the player. The match ended with a score 20 - 10 in favor of La Belle France.

Apart from several small mistakes, it was the mistake I made when it came to my 20th move that was a real blunder. The position below is the position where I made the horrible move 20...b6. Benibide replied with 21.Nc6 and because of that was able to get a clear advantage.

I continued with 21...Nxc3 and then benibide messed up by playing 22.Rd2. The game was evenly fought again. It did not take long time from me to blunder again. I played in the position below 25...Rac8.

My 25th move was the start of my final downhill. The only reason why I won this game was that my opponent ran out of time.

[Event "OPEN MATCH LA BELLE FRANCE / CALABARZON"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2015.03.25"] [Round "?"] [White "benibide"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "1653"] [BlackElo "1903"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "58"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 {Italian Game: Classical Variation. Giuoco Pianissimo} a6 {C54 Giuoco Piano: 4.c3 Nf6, main lines with 5.d4 and 5.d3} 6. a4 (6. Bb3 Ba7 7. h3 O-O 8. O-O d6 9. Re1 {Italian Game: Classical Variation. Giuoco Pianissimo Main Line}) 6... d6 7. Bg5 O-O $146 ( 7... Ba7 8. O-O (8. Nbd2 h6 9. Bh4 g5 10. Bg3 O-O 11. O-O Nh7 12. h3 (12. Ne1 Kg7 13. Nc2 f5 14. exf5 Bxf5 15. Ne3 Bg6 16. Re1 Nf6 17. b4 Qd7 18. b5 Ne7 19. bxa6 bxa6 20. Ne4 Nh5 21. Rb1 Nxg3 22. Nxg3 Rf4 23. Nh5+ Bxh5 24. Qxh5 Raf8 25. Kh1 a5 26. d4 exd4 {Mamedov,R (2688)-Leko,P (2693) Tallinn 2016 1/2-1/2 (36)}) 12... h5 13. d4 exd4 14. Nxd4 g4 15. hxg4 hxg4 16. Nxc6 bxc6 17. e5 d5 18. Be2 Qg5 19. a5 f5 20. exf6 Nxf6 21. Ra4 Rf7 22. Re1 Nh5 {Topalov,V (2760) -So,W (2794) London 2016 0-1}) 8... Be6 9. Nbd2 Qd7 10. Be3 O-O 11. Bxa7 Rxa7 12. Re1 Ne7 13. d4 Ng6 14. Be2 h6 15. Kh1 Re8 16. d5 Bg4 17. Ng1 Nf4 18. f3 Bh5 19. Nf1 Bg6 20. Ne3 Raa8 21. Bf1 Nh7 22. g3 {Briquet,D (1635)-Kobayashi,A (1997) Cappelle la Grande 2013 1/2-1/2}) 8. b4 {White threatens to win material: b4xc5 } Ba7 9. O-O (9. Nbd2 Qe7 $11) 9... Be6 (9... h6 10. Be3 $11) 10. Bb3 (10. Nbd2 Re8 $11) 10... Bxb3 $11 11. Qxb3 Qe7 12. Nbd2 Rfe8 13. Qc4 Qe6 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15. Nh4 Qxc4 {Black forks: d3+c3} (15... Ne7 16. Qxe6 fxe6 17. Nhf3 $11) 16. Nxc4 (16. dxc4 a5 17. b5 Ne7 $14) 16... Ne7 17. Kh1 (17. Ne3 d5 $16) 17... Ng6 (17... d5 $5 {deserves consideration} 18. Na5 b6 $11) 18. Nf5 $14 {A beautiful square!} Nf4 19. Rad1 Ne2 {Black threatens to win material: Ne2xc3} 20. Na5 { White threatens to win material: Na5xb7} (20. Nce3 $142 Bxe3 21. fxe3 $14) 20... b6 $4 {weakening the position} (20... Nxc3 $142 {and Black can hope to live} 21. Rc1 Bd4 $11) 21. Nc6 $18 Nxc3 22. Rd2 $4 {White is ruining his position} (22. Rc1 $142 $5 Nxa4 23. Nfe7+ Kf8 24. Nd5 $18) 22... Nxa4 (22... a5 23. Rc2 Nxa4 24. g3 $14) 23. f4 (23. Nce7+ $5 Kh8 24. Nd5 $14) 23... b5 $11 { Black has a new backward pawn: a6} 24. Nce7+ Kf8 (24... Kh8 25. Nd5 Bb6 26. Rc2 $11) 25. Nd5 $16 {White threatens to win material: Nd5xf6. White forks: f6+c7} Rac8 $2 (25... c5 $142 26. Nxd6 cxb4 27. Nxe8 Rxe8 28. Nxb4 a5 $14) 26. Nxf6 Red8 (26... Re6 27. fxe5 dxe5 28. Nxh7+ Ke8 29. Ng7+ Ke7 30. Nxe6 fxe6 $18) 27. Nxh7+ (27. Rf3 exf4 28. Nxh7+ Kg8 29. Nf6+ Kf8 30. Rh3 f3 31. Rh8#) 27... Ke8 ( 27... Kg8 {does not win a prize} 28. Nf6+ Kf8 29. Rf3 Bf2 30. Rdxf2 a5 31. Rh3 d5 32. Rh8#) 28. Nf6+ $18 Kf8 29. Rf3 exf4 (29... exf4 30. Rh3 f3 31. Rh8#) ( 29... Bf2 {does not improve anything} 30. Rdxf2 a5 31. Rh3 d5 32. Rh8#) 0-1