B34 Sicilian: Accelerated Dragon with 5.Nc3: sidelines (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Bd3 Bg7 7.O-O Nc6 8.Nb3 O-O)

This was played in the fifth round of a third division, group 5 team match between SalSK 3 and HangTS. I played on board 5 for SalSK 3 and I was the only one who lost on our team, which was unfortunate. More important than my personal success is of course the team's success and as a team we did well because we won the match 2 - 1.

This game followed a game previously shared in this blog up to the move 5...g6. That game continued with the move 6.Bc4 and in this game my opponent played 6.Bd3 deviating from the previous game. Both moves should be playable. The first position of interest can be seen in the diagram below. My opponent played 11.Ne4, not willing to trade material and preventing me from winning material with Nxc3 bxc3 Bxc3. I was not able to find the strongest reply, which might be just simply to push the a-pawn to a5 and continue doing that for a few moves. It would have caused more problems for my opponent than the move I chose to play in the game, 11...Bf5. Even after my 11th move I should be favored in the position, but not so clearly as after the pawn advance on the a-file.

The game continued with the moves 12.a3 Qc7 and then my opponent made another unwise decision and moved his queen to e2. It was a better idea to play 13.c3 and free up the bishop from the defense of b2. I played 13...Nf4, which was a bit sloppy move that allows my opponent to get back into the game again. I should have moved my other knight to e5 instead and I would have had a nice position. The problem with the move 13...Nf4 is that it allowed my opponent to move the bishop from c1 without losing material because the move Bxf4 threatens my queen. The next diagram shows the position where my opponent played the huge mistake 16.Rad1, which should have been the losing move of the game.

I was able to find the correct move to punish my opponent from his blunder and everything seemed to go so well for me after 16...Rxd3, but nothing lasts forever... I was able to hang on to my winning advantage quite a long time even with my sometimes inaccurate moves, but when we reached the position after 39.Kh2, seen in the next diagram, I played 39...Qd6 and my task of winning the game became a lot harder. Even after the queen trade I should have the upper hand with accurate moves, but I went immediately for the wrong idea and the position was even again after I moved my knight to c4 on move 41. My opponent had played his rook to c6 after the queen trade and I foolishly thought that I could keep my advantage by attacking the undefended pawn on a3.

Moving the knight to e4 was a much better choice because the move I played allowed the move a4 to be played. Back then the position was quite difficult for me and I was probably thinking to myself that I have messed up another good game. I should have been able to get a draw after 42.a4, but it would have required accurate moves and I was not up to the task. I replied with 42...Na3 and my downhill started, from which I could not recover anymore. A couple of moves later I already made my final mistake 44...Nxb4, which was the final nail in my coffin.

[Event "Sarjapeli"] [Site "?"] [Date "2003.02.15"] [Round "5"] [White "Toivanen, Urpo"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B34"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "99"] [EventDate "2003.02.15"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 {Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation. General} 6. Bd3 (6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 Nc6 {Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Belezky Line} (7... O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. Bc4 Bd7 10. O-O-O Qa5 (10... Rc8 {Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Old Line}) 11. Bb3 Rfc8 12. h4 h5 {Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Soltis Variation})) 6... Bg7 7. O-O Nc6 8. Nb3 O-O {B34 Sicilian: Accelerated Dragon with 5.Nc3: sidelines} 9. Kh1 (9. Bg5 a6 10. h3 b5 11. a3 Bb7 12. f4 Nd7 13. Nd5 Bxb2 14. Rb1 Bg7 15. f5 Rc8 16. Qe1 Nf6 17. Qh4 Ne5 18. Nxf6+ Bxf6 19. Bxf6 exf6 20. Qh6 d5 21. Rf4 g5 22. g3 Qb6+ 23. Rf2 dxe4 { Khachatorian,Y (2059)-Barria Zuniga,D (2372) Dos Hermanas 2004 0-1}) 9... d5 $146 (9... Bd7 10. f4 Rc8 11. Be3 Ng4 12. Bg1 a6 13. Nd2 b5 14. h3 Nf6 15. Qe1 Nb4 16. a3 Nxd3 17. cxd3 a5 18. e5 Ne8 19. Nd5 Bc6 20. Bb6 Qd7 21. e6 fxe6 22. Nc3 e5 23. Nde4 exf4 24. Bxa5 {Boka,Z (1882)-Sike,T (1930) Hungary 2014 0-1 (43)}) (9... b6 10. f4 Bb7 11. a3 Rc8 12. Bd2 Qd7 13. Qe2 e6 14. Rab1 Ne8 15. Qf2 f5 16. exf5 exf5 17. Nd5 Ne7 18. Ne3 Nf6 19. Bc3 Kh8 20. Nd2 Rfe8 21. Nf3 Ned5 22. Nxd5 Bxd5 23. Rbd1 Kg8 24. Qh4 {Pascual Palomo, L-Ortega Garcia,L Oropesa del Mar 2000 1/2-1/2 (53)}) (9... a6 10. f4 b5 11. a3 Bb7 12. Bd2 Qb6 13. Qf3 b4 14. Na4 Qc7 15. axb4 Rab8 16. c3 Rfd8 17. Be3 Qc8 18. Na5 e5 19. Nxb7 Qxb7 20. Nb6 Nd7 21. Rxa6 Nxb6 22. Rxb6 Qc7 23. Rxb8 Rxb8 24. Ra1 { De Castro,E-Luz,H Rio de Janeiro 2010 1-0}) 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. Ne4 (11. Nxd5 Qxd5 12. Qe2 Bf5 13. Bxf5 Qxf5 $15) 11... Bf5 (11... a5 12. Bb5 $15) 12. a3 { Controls b4} (12. c3 Qc7 $15) 12... Qc7 $17 13. Qe2 Nf4 (13... Ne5 $5 $17) 14. Bxf4 $15 Qxf4 15. c3 {Prevents intrusion on b4+d4} Rad8 16. Rad1 $4 (16. Bc2 $142 $15 {was necessary}) 16... Rxd3 $1 $19 {Remove defender: d3} 17. Rxd3 (17. Rxd3 Qxe4 {Remove defender}) (17. Qxd3 Qxe4 {Remove defender}) 17... Qxe4 ( 17... Bxe4 $142 {keeps an even firmer grip} 18. Qe3 Bxd3 19. Qxf4 Bxf1 20. Nd2 $19) 18. Re3 (18. Qxe4 Bxe4 19. Rd7 $19) 18... Qd5 19. c4 (19. Nc1 {does not help much} Rd8 $19) 19... Qd7 (19... Qd6 {might be the shorter path} 20. Rd1 Qf6 21. Na1 $19) 20. Rd1 Qc7 21. h3 Rd8 22. Rxd8+ Qxd8 23. Nc5 (23. Kg1 { doesn't get the cat off the tree} Qd6 $19) 23... b6 (23... Bd4 {seems even better} 24. b4 Bxe3 25. Qxe3 $19) 24. Na4 (24. Ne4 {cannot change destiny} Qd4 25. Ng3 Bc8 $19) 24... Qd4 (24... Bh6 $142 $5 {and Black can already relax} 25. Nc3 $19) 25. Nc3 a6 (25... Bh6 {makes it even easier for Black} 26. Rf3 $19) 26. b4 (26. g4 Bc8 27. Rd3 Qf6 $19) 26... Ne5 (26... Bh6 $142 {makes it even easier for Black} 27. Rg3 Ne5 28. Nd5 $19) 27. Nd5 Kf8 28. f4 (28. Nxb6 { doesn't improve anything} Nd3 29. Kg1 Qxb6 30. Rxd3 Bxd3 31. Qxd3 Bd4 $19) 28... Nxc4 (28... e6 $142 {secures the win} 29. fxe5 exd5 30. cxd5 Bh6 $19) 29. Rxe7 Nd6 30. Nc7 $4 {leading to a quick end} (30. Ra7 Nc8 31. Re7 $19) 30... Bf6 31. Re3 Qxf4 (31... Be4 $142 {it becomes clear that Black will call all the shots} 32. Kh2 g5 $19) 32. Nd5 Qd4 33. Nxf6 Qxf6 34. Qxa6 Qd4 35. Qa8+ (35. Qe2 b5 36. Qe1 $19) 35... Kg7 36. Qf3 Nc4 (36... Be4 $142 {keeps an even firmer grip} 37. Qf2 Nc4 $19) 37. Rc3 (37. Re1 Qb2 $19) 37... b5 (37... Be4 { and Black can already relax} 38. Qg3 b5 39. Qe1 $19) 38. Qg3 (38. Rc1 {cannot change what is in store for White} Be6 $19) 38... Qd1+ (38... Be4 $142 $19 { and the result of the game is clear: Black will win}) 39. Kh2 Qd6 (39... h6 $142 $19 {might be the shorter path}) 40. Qxd6 $17 Nxd6 41. Rc6 Nc4 $4 { Black threatens to win material: Nc4xa3. allows the opponent back into the game } (41... Ne4 $142 $17) 42. a4 $14 {White threatens to win material: a4xb5} Na3 (42... Be4 43. Rc5 Nd6 44. a5 $14) 43. a5 $16 Nc2 44. a6 Nxb4 $2 (44... Be4 $142 $5 45. Rd6 Nxb4 $16) 45. a7 $18 Be4 $2 (45... Nxc6 $142 46. a8=Q Bd7 $18) 46. a8=Q Bxc6 (46... Nxc6 {a last effort to resist the inevitable} 47. g4 h6 $18) 47. Qa3 Nd5 48. Qc5 Ba8 49. Qxb5 Nf4 (49... h6 50. Qa6 Bc6 51. Qxc6 Ne7 $18) 50. Qe5+ (50. Qe5+ Kg8 51. Qxf4 Bc6 52. Qd6 Ba8 53. Qb8+ Kg7 54. Qxa8 g5 55. Qd8 Kg6 56. g4 h6 57. Kg3 Kg7 58. Kf3 Kg6 59. Ke4 Kh7 60. Kf5 Kg7 61. Qe7 h5 62. gxh5 g4 63. h6+ Kh8 64. Qxf7 g3 65. Qg7#) 1-0