C90 Closed Spanish Game with 7...d6: Early deviations (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O b5 6.Bb3 d6 7.Re1 Be7 8.c3 Na5 9.Bc2 c5)

This was played in the first round of the 2014 October Long Haul Split I tournament at Red Hot Pawn. I won group 2 with 59 points. I lost one game, drew two and won all the rest on round one of this tournament. Group 1 was won by caissad4 and therefore we faced each other on round two. On round two both players won with the black pieces, so a third round was needed. On the third round the tournament was finally decided and caissad4 was able to win one of the games and the second was a draw and therefore caissad4 took first place and I was forced to accept second place.

The first position of interest is in my opinion the one that came to the board after jose sureda played 12.d5. Up to that point nothing serious had happened, the game was roughly evenly fought.

I played 12...c4, with the idea of opening the c-file. The idea was quite bad since it can be easily refuted with 13.b4. Had my opponent played 13.b4, my knight would need to go to b7, where it would have a hard time coming back to the game. For some reason jose sureda avoided playing b4, which worked out for me in the game continuation. Jose sureda played 13.Bg5 instead and some of the danger I was in was avoided for the time being. I should have maybe played 13...cxb3 in reply, but instead I played the more risky and passive move 13...Bd7. My move allowed jose sureda to play b4 once again. I was happy that my opponent did not drive my knight back to b7. Jose sureda moved the knight from b1 to d2 instead of playing b4, which at last made the move I played on move 12 justified. 14.Nbd2 lost a pawn by force, but according to the engine, jose sureda has some compensation for the pawn. I am assuming that because my pieces are somewhat worse than those of my opponent's, it gives jose sureda some compensation. The position below is taken right after I won the pawn on c3.

Jose sureda played in the position 17.Qc1, making things a bit easier for me. 17.Bd2 might have been a better option or maybe moving the other bishop to d3. 17.Qc1 allowed me to increase the pressure on my opponent by playing 17...Rfc8. Jose sureda's next move was a huge blunder 18.Bd1. Or it would have been, had I answered it with the move 18...Qxe1+! The move I chose, 18...Kf8, was a decent one, but far from the strongest move in the position. Jose sureda continued with 19.Bd2, ending up in a lost position. 19.Qxc3 might have been the best chance for my opponent. After the 19th move of my opponent, it was all downhill for jose sureda.

[Event "Long Haul Split"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2014.10.24"] [Round "1"] [White "jose sureda"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C90"] [WhiteElo "1534"] [BlackElo "1846"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "92"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 d6 {Spanish Game: Morphy Defense (#2)} 7. Re1 (7. Ng5 d5 8. exd5 Nd4 9. Re1 Bc5 10. Rxe5+ Kf8 { Spanish Game: Rabinovich Variation}) 7... Be7 8. c3 Na5 9. Bc2 c5 {C90 Closed Spanish Game with 7...d6: Early deviations} 10. b3 (10. a4 b4 11. cxb4 cxb4 12. d4 Bg4 13. Nbd2 Qc7 14. h3 Bxf3 15. Nxf3 O-O 16. Bg5 Rfe8 17. Rc1 Nd7 18. Bb3 Qd8 19. Bxe7 Qxe7 20. Bd5 Rac8 21. Qd2 Rxc1 22. Rxc1 Nf6 23. Qxb4 Nxd5 24. exd5 e4 {Arnason,J (2450)-Arnason,A Reykjavik 1981 1-0 (56)}) 10... O-O (10... Qc7 11. d4 Bg4 12. d5 h6 13. h3 Bh5 14. Nbd2 g5 15. Nf1 g4 16. hxg4 Bxg4 17. N1h2 Bh5 18. Qd3 Ng4 19. Bd1 Qa7 20. a4 c4 21. Qb1 Nxh2 22. Kxh2 cxb3 23. Nxe5 dxe5 24. Bxh5 bxa4 25. Qd3 {Grabarczyk,E (1424) -Rudnik, A (1739) Bialystok 2014 0-1 (44)}) 11. d4 $146 {White threatens to win material: d4xe5} (11. Bb2 Bg4 12. h3 Bh5 13. g4 Bg6 14. d4 cxd4 15. cxd4 Nc6 16. dxe5 dxe5 17. Qxd8 Rfxd8 18. Nxe5 Nb4 19. Nxg6 Nxc2 20. Nxe7+ Kf8 21. Nc3 Kxe7 22. e5 Nd5 23. Nxd5+ Rxd5 24. Rad1 Rad8 25. Rxd5 Rxd5 {Skowronski, H-Bulinski,R Poznan 2004 1/2-1/2 (41)}) 11... Qc7 {Black intends c4} (11... cxd4 $5 {should be examined more closely} 12. cxd4 Nc6 $11) 12. d5 $14 {White gets more space} c4 {Black gains space} ( 12... Bd7 13. h3 $14) 13. Bg5 (13. b4 Nb7 $16) 13... Bd7 14. Nbd2 (14. b4 $142 Nb7 15. a4 $14) 14... cxb3 $15 15. Nxb3 Nxb3 (15... Nc4 16. Bc1 $17) 16. axb3 $15 Qxc3 17. Qc1 (17. Ra2 a5 $15) 17... Rfc8 $17 18. Bd1 $2 (18. Ra2 a5 $17) 18... Kf8 (18... Qxe1+ $142 19. Nxe1 Rxc1 20. Rxc1 Kf8 21. Bxf6 Bxf6 $19) 19. Bd2 $4 (19. Qxc3 $142 $5 {deserves consideration} Rxc3 20. Bd2 $15) 19... Qxc1 (19... Qd3 $142 {keeps an even firmer grip} 20. Qb2 Nxe4 $19) 20. Bxc1 a5 21. Bg5 a4 22. b4 $4 {simply worsens the situation} (22. Bd2 $142 $17) 22... Rc4 $19 23. Bxf6 (23. g3 {is not much help} Rxe4 24. Bxf6 Rxe1+ 25. Nxe1 Bxf6 $19) 23... Bxf6 24. Rb1 (24. Re2 {a fruitless try to alter the course of the game} Rxb4 25. Kf1 Bd8 $19) 24... Rac8 (24... a3 $142 $5 {and Black can already relax } 25. Nd2 Rd4 26. Nb3 Rxb4 27. g3 $19) 25. Kf1 Rc1 (25... Bd8 $142 {makes it even easier for Black} 26. Nd2 Rc1 27. Be2 $19) 26. Be2 Rxe1+ (26... Rxb1 { might be the shorter path} 27. Rxb1 Bd8 28. Bd3 $19) 27. Nxe1 Rc3 28. Nd3 (28. Bd3 Bg5 $19) 28... Bg5 29. Ke1 (29. h4 {does not win a prize} Bxh4 30. Rc1 Rb3 $19) 29... f5 30. f3 Be3 31. Nf2 (31. Kd1 {does not help much} Be8 32. Nc1 $19) 31... Rc1+ (31... Bd4 $142 {finishes off the opponent} 32. Nd3 fxe4 33. fxe4 a3 $19) 32. Rxc1 Bxc1 33. Nd3 $2 (33. Kd1 Be3 34. Nd3 Bg1 $19) 33... Be3 (33... Bf4 $142 {seems even better} 34. Kd1 fxe4 35. fxe4 Bxh2 36. Ne1 $19) 34. Kd1 g6 35. Kc2 (35. Ne1 Bd4 36. Kc1 Kf7 $19) 35... Kf7 36. g3 (36. Ne1 $19) 36... Kf6 (36... fxe4 {makes it even easier for Black} 37. fxe4 Bg1 38. Nc1 Bxh2 39. g4 $19) 37. Kb2 (37. Bf1 {hardly improves anything} h5 $19) 37... h5 (37... fxe4 $142 {and Black can already relax} 38. fxe4 Bg1 39. h4 $19) 38. Kc3 (38. exf5 { is not the saving move} gxf5 39. Ne1 Bg1 $19) 38... Kg5 (38... fxe4 $142 { keeps an even firmer grip} 39. fxe4 Bg1 $19) 39. g4 (39. f4+ {there is nothing better in the position} Kh6 40. fxe5 fxe4 41. Nf4 dxe5 42. Ne6 $19) 39... hxg4 40. fxg4 fxe4 41. Ne1 Bd4+ 42. Kd2 a3 43. Nc2 a2 44. h3 a1=Q 45. Nxa1 Bxa1 46. Bf1 (46. Ke3 {cannot change destiny} Bc3 47. Kxe4 Kh4 48. Bd3 Kxh3 49. Ke3 Kxg4 50. Be2+ Kg3 51. Bd3 Bxb4 52. Bxg6 Bc5+ 53. Kd2 Kf4 54. Kc3 e4 55. Bh5 b4+ 56. Kb2 Bg4 57. Bxg4 Kxg4 58. Kb3 e3 59. Kc2 e2 60. Kd2 Kf3 61. Kc2 e1=Q 62. Kb3 Qd1+ 63. Kc4 Qa4 64. Kd3 Qb3+ 65. Kd2 Be3+ 66. Ke1 Qb1#) 46... Kf4 (46... Kf4 47. Ke1 Bc3+ 48. Ke2 Bxb4 49. Kd1 Kf3 50. h4 Kf2 51. Be2 Ba3 52. Kc2 Kxe2 53. h5 gxh5 54. g5 e3 55. g6 Kf3 56. g7 e2 57. g8=Q e1=Q 58. Qf7+ Ke3 59. Qf3+ Kxf3 60. Kb3 Qb1+ 61. Kc3 Bb4#) 0-1