E38 Nimzo-Indian: Classical, 4...c5 (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 c5 5.dxc5 Bxc5 6.e3)

This was played in a team match called Battle For Victory vs. "MONIKA". The match was played on 77 boards and I played on board 15 for Battle For Victory. My other game against DogOnTheRoad ended in my victory. The match ended with a score 82.5 - 71.5 in favor of Battle For Victory.

The first blunder of the game was seen after my 18th move Rxd8. The next diagram shows the position in which DogOnTheRoad played 19.Nb5? I am not at all sure what my opponent was thinking. Maybe he wanted to take on c4 with the queen and keep the pawn structure intact. Unfortunately for my opponent, I did not need to move my queen, I was able to take on b3 and actually win a pawn. After 19...cxb3 DogOnTheRoad could not really play 20.Bxe5 because of the reply 20...bxc2 and the position would be lost for my opponent.

I think I played this game quite well until I played 27...b4. The position where I played my 27th move can be seen in the diagram below. Actually at this point it started to be increasingly difficult for me to find the correct plan. The most natural looking move for me is still 27...b4 and I would likely play that again if I were to end up in the same position again. Then again with a deeper thought I might go for the stronger pawn push.

I was able to maintain some of my advantage and even increase it a bit before the advantage disappeared with the move 31...Qc7, played in the diagram position below. Even after this I could have gone back into an advantageous position, but instead I played the horrible move 32...h6, which destroys my good game.

I may have at least been able to keep the position close to even, but I self-destructed instead with the most horrible move of the game 34...Qd6. The position in which that was played can be seen in the next diagram.

The game ended with the moves 35.Qg6+ Kg8 36.Nf7. After 36.Nf7 I had to accept my loss and resigned.

[Event "Battle For Victory vs."] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2015.12.19"] [Round "?"] [White "DogOnTheRoad"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E38"] [WhiteElo "1832"] [BlackElo "1821"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 c5 {Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Berlin Variation} 5. dxc5 Bxc5 (5... Bxc3+ {Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Berlin Variation, Steiner Variation}) (5... O-O 6. a3 Bxc5 7. Nf3 b6 8. Bf4 {Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Berlin Variation, Macieja System}) 6. e3 {E38 Nimzo-Indian: Classical, 4...c5} b6 7. Be2 (7. Nf3 Bb7 8. Be2 O-O 9. O-O d5 10. cxd5 Nxd5 11. Nxd5 Qxd5 12. a3 a5 13. Bd2 Nc6 14. Bc3 Rfd8 15. Rad1 Qf5 16. Qxf5 exf5 17. Bc4 Rxd1 18. Rxd1 Rd8 19. Rxd8+ Nxd8 20. Ne5 Bc8 21. Bb5 Kf8 {Bazant,P (2360) -Tichy,V (2345) Czechia 1998 1-0 (38)} ) 7... Bb7 8. Bf3 Bxf3 (8... Nc6 9. Nge2 Nb4 10. Qd1 Bxf3 11. gxf3 Nc6 12. Ng3 Rc8 13. Nge4 Nxe4 14. Nxe4 Bb4+ 15. Bd2 O-O 16. Bxb4 Nxb4 17. a3 Nc6 18. Nd6 Rb8 19. f4 Qf6 20. Qc2 e5 21. fxe5 Qxe5 22. O-O-O a6 23. Rd5 {Cruz Ramirez,N (1770)-Angel Acosta,J (2184) Las Palmas 2012 1/2-1/2 (69)}) 9. Nxf3 O-O $146 ( 9... d5 10. cxd5 Nxd5 11. O-O Nxc3 12. Qxc3 O-O 13. b4 Be7 14. Bb2 Bf6 15. Qc2 Bxb2 16. Qxb2 Nd7 17. Rfd1 Qe7 18. Rac1 Rac8 19. Nd4 Ne5 20. b5 Rxc1 21. Qxc1 Qb7 22. Nc6 f6 23. h3 Qc7 24. Nxe5 {Skakun,V (1829)-Sychev,V (2079) Tambov 2009 1-0 (38)}) 10. O-O Nc6 11. a3 {Consolidates b4} (11. Rd1 Rc8 $14) 11... a5 (11... Qc7 12. b4 Be7 13. Bb2 $11) 12. Rd1 Qb8 13. h3 {Controls g4} Ne5 14. Nxe5 Qxe5 15. b3 Rfd8 16. Rd3 (16. Bb2 $5 $14 {should be investigated more closely}) 16... d5 $11 17. Bb2 dxc4 18. Rxd8+ Rxd8 19. Nb5 $2 (19. bxc4 $142 $5 {would allow White to play on} Bd6 20. Kf1 $11) 19... cxb3 $17 20. Qxb3 (20. Bxe5 $4 {White will regret his greed} bxc2 21. Bd4 e5 $19) 20... Qf5 21. Nd4 Qe4 22. Rd1 $4 {another bit of territory lost} (22. Rc1 h5 $17 (22... Bxd4 $143 23. Bxd4 Nd7 24. Qc3 $14)) 22... Rd5 (22... a4 $142 {seems even better} 23. Qxa4 e5 $19) 23. Nf3 $4 {the position was bad, and this mistake simply hastens the end} (23. Rc1 Rg5 24. g3 Rh5 $17) 23... Rxd1+ (23... a4 $142 {and Black takes home the point} 24. Qxd5 Nxd5 $19 (24... Qxd5 $6 25. Rxd5 Nxd5 26. Kf1 $19)) 24. Qxd1 $17 Qd5 25. Qa1 (25. Qxd5 Nxd5 26. a4 f6 $17) 25... Be7 26. Bd4 b5 27. Qc3 b4 (27... a4 $142 $5 $19) 28. axb4 $17 axb4 29. Qc8+ Qd8 30. Qb7 Nd5 31. Ne5 Qc7 {Black threatens to win material: Qc7xb7} (31... Qe8 32. g3 $17) 32. Qb5 (32. Qa8+ Bf8 33. Nd3 $15) 32... h6 (32... Qc1+ $142 33. Kh2 Qc8 $17) 33. Qe8+ $11 {White forks: f7} Kh7 34. Qxf7 Qd6 $4 (34... Qc2 $142 $14 { saving the game}) 35. Qg6+ Kg8 36. Nf7 (36. Nf7 e5 37. Nxh6+ Kh8 38. Nf7+ Kg8 39. Nxd6 Bxd6 40. Qxd6 exd4 41. Qxd5+ Kf8 42. e4 b3 43. Qxb3 d3 44. Qxd3 Ke7 45. e5 Ke6 46. Qd6+ Kf7 47. e6+ Kg8 48. e7 Kf7 49. Qd8 g6 50. e8=Q+ Kg7 51. Qh8+ Kf7 52. Qhf6#) (36. Ng4 Nf6 37. Nxh6+ Kh8 38. Nf7+ Kg8 39. Nxd6 Bxd6 40. Bxf6 Kf8 41. Qxg7+ Ke8 42. g4 b3 43. Qb7 b2 44. g5 e5 45. Qxb2 Bb4 46. Qxb4 Kd7 47. g6 e4 48. g7 Kc6 49. g8=Q Kd7 50. Qf7+ Kc6 51. Qfb7#) 1-0