C67 Spanish Game: Berlin Defence, 4.O-O Nxe4 (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6)

This was played on the first round of the tournament called EXPECT NO MERCY - NAZARETH TOUR!!! This is by far the worst game of mine from the tournament so far. Despite this loss, I was able to win my group. I gathered 6,5 points in 8 games. My place on the second round was secured by a half a point difference as csabiu (1669), who finished on second place with 6 points. My opponent in this game, JoBer74, finished 3rd in group 7. JoBer managed to win 4 games and draw one game. The first round is still in progress, there is only one game left on round one.

The first blunder of the game was seen on the position below as my opponent played 10...Ne4. That knight move weakened the protection of the square f7, which I immediately took advantage of by playing 11.Qb3+. Of course the weakening of the moves started with the move 9...f5, but it was the knight move that allowed me to get a winning position. Everything seemed to go well and I should have managed to get an easy win, especially after I won a second pawn on move 14. There was one thing that was not going my way, however, it was the fact that I was behind in development. The lead in development was not enough to give my opponent counterplay.

While I had easy time developing my pieces, I did not pay enough attention to all positions. One of those times when I should have been more alert, was the position you can see below. The move I played was 17.Nd2. The move I should have played seems so obvious to me now. The move I am referring to is 17.f3, of course. Had I played that move, the game might have ended soon after.

I should have been in a winning position even after my 17th move, but it made things more difficult for me. I remained on the better side of the board until it came time to play my 34th move. In a position that had become quite difficult for me to play, I made a huge blunder that became the losing move.

[Event "EXPECT NO MERCY - NAZARETH TOUR!!! - Ro"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.03.06"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "JoBer74"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "1816"] [BlackElo "1407"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 {Spanish Game: Berlin Defense. Rio Gambit Accepted} 5. Re1 (5. d4 Be7 (5... a6 6. Ba4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. c3 Bc5 10. Nbd2 O-O 11. Bc2 Nxf2 {Spanish Game: Open Variations, Dilworth Variation}) 6. dxe5 {Spanish Game: Berlin Defense, Minckwitz Variation} (6. Qe2 d5 {Spanish Game: Berlin Defense, Trifunovic Variation})) 5... Nd6 {C67 Spanish Game: Berlin Defence, 4.O-O Nxe4} 6. Bxc6 bxc6 7. Nxe5 Be7 8. d4 O-O ( 8... f6 9. Qh5+ Kf8 10. Ng6+ hxg6 11. Qxh8+ Kf7 12. Qxd8 Bxd8 13. Nc3 Bb7 14. Bf4 Nf5 15. Rad1 d6 16. Ne2 g5 17. Bc1 c5 18. dxc5 dxc5 19. Rd7+ Kg6 20. Nc3 Bc6 21. Rdd1 Nh4 22. Nd5 Bb7 23. c4 {Banaghan,A-Barnes,M (2240) Grangemouth 1998 1-0 (57)}) 9. Qg4 (9. Nc3 Bh4 10. Nf3 Bf6 11. Bf4 Ne8 12. Qd3 Bb7 13. Ne5 Be7 14. Ne4 Nf6 15. Ng5 d6 16. Ng4 c5 17. Nxf6+ {1-0 (17) Obando Guzman,S (1788)-Cotes Ontibon,S (1912) Columbia 2012}) 9... f5 $146 {Black threatens to win material: f5xg4} (9... g6 10. Bh6 Re8 11. Nc3 Bh4 12. g3 Bf6 13. h4 Bg7 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. h5 Qf6 16. hxg6 hxg6 17. Re3 Kg8 18. Rf3 Qg7 19. Qf4 Re7 20. Qh4 f6 21. Rxf6 g5 22. Qh6 Qxh6 23. Rxh6 Nf7 24. Rh5 {Zulaika Centeno,A-Gomez Sanchez,N Zarauz 2004 1/2-1/2 (50)}) (9... Nb5 $5 10. Qf4 Bd6 $11) 10. Qg3 $14 {Black has a cramped position} Ne4 $2 (10... Rb8 $142 $14 {and Black could well hope to play on}) 11. Qb3+ $18 d5 12. Nxc6 Qd6 13. Nxe7+ Qxe7 14. Qxd5+ ( 14. f3 Qh4 15. Qxd5+ Kh8 $18) 14... Be6 15. Qe5 Rad8 $2 (15... Rfe8 16. f3 Nf6 17. Nc3 $18) 16. Bf4 (16. f3 $142 {makes it even easier for White} Rd5 17. Qf4 Nf6 $18) 16... Rd7 $4 {terrible, but what else could Black do to save the game? } (16... Rfe8 17. c3 g5 18. Rxe4 fxe4 19. Bxg5 $18) 17. Nd2 (17. f3 $142 { and White can celebrate victory} Rd5 18. Qxc7 $18) 17... Rd5 18. Qxc7 Qxc7 19. Bxc7 Rxd4 20. Nxe4 (20. Nb3 Bxb3 21. cxb3 Rc8 $18) 20... fxe4 21. Ba5 Bf5 22. Bc3 Rd5 23. Re3 Rfd8 24. Rae1 h5 25. Rg3 g6 26. h3 Kf7 27. Rge3 g5 28. Kh2 Kg6 29. Bb4 Rb8 30. Ba3 Rd2 31. R1e2 Rbd8 (31... Rxe2 32. Rxe2 Rb5 33. b4 $18) 32. c4 (32. Bc5 Rxe2 33. Rxe2 a6 $18) 32... R8d3 (32... Rd1 33. Bb4 Rb1 34. Bc3 $16 ) 33. c5 (33. Bb4 Rd1 $18) 33... g4 (33... Rd1 34. Bb4 $16) 34. Kg3 $4 { throws away the game} (34. c6 $142 {a pity that White didn't try this} Rxe3 35. Rxd2 $18 (35. Rxe3 $143 gxh3 36. Bc5 Rxb2 $16)) 34... Rxe2 $19 (34... Rxe2 35. hxg4 Bxg4 $19) 0-1