C64 Spanish Game: Classical Defence (3...Bc5) except 4.O-O Nf6 (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Bc5 4.O-O Nge7 5.c3 Bb6 6.d4 exd4 7.cxd4 d5 8.exd5 Nxd5 9.Ne5)

This was played on round one of the tournament called Matin päivän turnaus that was held at Espoo between February 25th and February 27th 2005. This was I guess the first time in my chess playing days that I was the highest rated player of the group. It is a place I do not really like because then I usually create too much pressure for myself because I think I have to win every game. When the pressure gets too much to handle, I crumble and can't perform at my usual level anymore. I think I have learned over the years to not put too much pressure on myself and keep my head calm when I play. The first move that the engine does not really like is 7...d5 and it certainly has downsides, but I am likely to play it in the future as well because I feel quite comfortable playing the positions after that.

The reason why 7...d5 is a questionable move is that one should not open the e-file while your own king is in the center and the king of the opponent is safely castled on the kingside. If White plays well, then Black is in some trouble. My opponent in this game, Heikki Luoma, played the correct reply 8.exd5. Had he played 8.e5, I would have been happy because the center remains closed and I would be able to take the game under control with the bishop landing on g4 and try to attack the central pawns. In the game I continued with the obvious 8...Nxd5 and most of the time I have faced the move 9.Re1+, but I have faced the move 9.Ne5 that my opponent played in this game a few times too if my memory serves me right. The moves 9.Re1+ and 9.Bg5 were much better than what Heikki played in the game. Those two moves would have kept my opponent on the clearly better side of the board. The move 9.Ne5 was not as strong and brought the position into balance once again. I took another bad path when I played 11...g6 and allowed my opponent to take the knight on d5 with a check.

I was ahead in development, but behind in material and my position did not look at all good. My king was out in the open, while my opponent's king was safe. The game evened out quickly, however, the game continued with the moves 12.Qxd5+ Be6 and then Heikki traded queens, which is usually a good thing to do when one is ahead in material, but not in this position. The only way to keep the advantage was to play 13.Qf3+. After the queen trade I had enough pressure on the isolated pawn on d4, so that I was able to win it and get material equal once again. Even though the material evened out, I had worse pawn structure, but because I had the more active pieces, the game continued evenly up to the move 32.Kc3.

The game continued with the moves 32...g5 33.Nd4 Bb5 34.Nf3+ Kf4 35.Nd2 Bc6. The game did not continue clearly in favor of my opponent all that long, already with his 36th move f3 Heikki threw the advantage away. The move my opponent should have played was 36.g3+. Heikki did get two more chances for a clear advantage, first of which saw the light of day when I played 45...Bb5.

The correct move in reply would have been 46.Nc5, but my opponent went for the move 46.Ne5. I then made my final mistake of the game and moved my bishop to f1. 47.a4 was my opponent's last chance for a clear advantage, but luckily for me, Heikki moved the knight to f7 and that the game ended in a draw after his 48th move.

Game number two. The game below was played on the second round of a rapid chess tournament that was played at Salo on May 10th, 2008. There is no need to keep a score sheet during these over the board rapid chess tournaments, but I have done so occasionally and this game might be the only time I did so during this tournament. I mainly did it because my opponent was a much higher rated player than me and maybe I could learn something from this game. Actually he still is much higher rated player than me... I played my favorite line in the Spanish, so at least I sort of knew what kind of positions I want to get out of the opening. I was able keep things quite even for the first 13 moves, apart from the moves 7...d5 8.exd5 Nxd5, but then I made the game losing blunder on move 14.

My opponent used his chance to get a winning advantage after 14...Kd8 and the game ended in a few moves to my resignation.

[Event "MatSK"] [Site "?"] [Date "2005.02.25"] [Round "1"] [White "Luoma, Heikki"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C64"] [WhiteElo "1620"] [BlackElo "1730"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "95"] [EventDate "2005.02.25"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 {Spanish Game: Classical Variation} 4. O-O Nge7 (4... Nf6 5. c3 O-O 6. d4 Bb6 7. Bg5 {Spanish Game: Classical Variation. Modern Main Line}) (4... Nd4 5. b4 {Spanish Game: Classical Defense: Zaitsev Variation}) 5. c3 Bb6 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4 d5 8. exd5 Nxd5 9. Ne5 {C64 Spanish Game: Classical Defence (3...Bc5) except 4.O-O Nf6. White threatens to win material: Ne5xc6} Bd7 $146 (9... Qf6 10. Nc3 Nxc3 11. bxc3 O-O 12. Nc4 (12. Re1 Rd8 13. Qh5 h6 14. Ba3 Nxe5 15. Rxe5 Be6 {1/2-1/2 (15) Bobotsov,M-Tringov,G Sofia 1963}) 12... Rd8 13. Nxb6 axb6 14. Qh5 (14. Qe2 Be6 15. Be3 Ra3 16. Rfd1 Ne7 17. Bc1 Ra5 18. Bd3 Nd5 19. Qd2 Bf5 20. Qc2 Bxd3 21. Rxd3 Re8 22. Qd1 Qf5 23. h3 Qe4 24. Qf1 Qe2 25. Qxe2 Rxe2 26. Bd2 Ra3 27. Kf1 Re8 28. g3 b5 { Bhend,E-Canal,E Venice 1953 0-1 (79)}) 14... Ra5 15. a4 Be6 16. Qg5 Ne7 17. Qg3 Rda8 18. Qxc7 h6 19. Bd2 Bd5 20. Rfe1 Ng6 21. c4 Rxb5 22. cxb5 Nh4 23. Qe5 Nf3+ 24. gxf3 {Kopetzky,K-Canal,E Vienna 1952 0-1 (32)}) (9... O-O 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Bxc6 Rb8 12. Qa4 Qd6 13. Be3 Ne7 14. Bf3 Nf5 15. Rd1 Bd7 16. Qa3 Rfe8 17. Qxd6 cxd6 18. Na3 Nxe3 19. fxe3 Rxe3 20. Nc4 Re6 21. Nxb6 Rxb6 22. Rac1 Re8 23. Rc7 Be6 24. b3 {Nedeljkovic,A-Bogoljubow,E Belgrade 1952 1/2-1/2 (54)}) (9... O-O 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Bxc6 $11) 10. Nxf7 $14 {White forks: d8+h8. Decoy: f4} Kxf7 11. Qh5+ g6 (11... Kf8 12. Qxd5 Be8 13. Qf3+ Qf6 14. Qa3+ Qe7 15. Qxe7+ Nxe7 16. Be2 $14) 12. Qxd5+ Be6 13. Qxd8 (13. Qf3+ $142 Kg7 14. Bxc6 bxc6 15. Qxc6 $16) 13... Raxd8 14. Bxc6 bxc6 {Black has the pair of bishops} 15. Be3 Bxd4 16. Bxd4 {White forks: h8+a7} Rxd4 17. Nc3 Rhd8 (17... Rb8 18. b3 $11) 18. b3 { Covers c4} R8d7 19. Rfd1 Rxd1+ 20. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 21. Nxd1 {A minor pieces endgame occured} Ke7 22. Kf1 Kd6 23. Ke2 Kc5 24. Kd2 Kb4 25. Kc1 c5 26. Kb2 c4 27. a3+ Kc5 28. b4+ Kd4 29. Kc2 Bd7 30. Nc3 a6 {Consolidates b5} 31. Ne2+ Ke5 32. Kc3 g5 (32... c5 $142 $5 $11 {should be examined more closely}) 33. Nd4 $16 Bb5 34. Nf3+ Kf4 35. Nd2 Bc6 36. f3 (36. g3+ $142 Kg4 37. Nxc4 $16) 36... Ke3 $11 37. Nxc4+ Kf2 {Black threatens to win material: Kf2xg2} 38. Ne5 {White threatens to win material: Ne5xc6} Be8 39. g4 {White has a new backward pawn: f3} Kg2 { Black threatens to win material: Kg2xh2} 40. Kd4 Kxh2 41. Ke3 Kg3 42. Nd3 h5 43. gxh5 Bxh5 {Exerts pressure on the isolated pawn} 44. Ne5 Be8 45. Nd3 Bb5 ( 45... Bh5 46. f4 g4 47. f5 $11) 46. Ne5 Bf1 (46... Be8 47. Ke4 $11) 47. Nf7 { White threatens to win material: Nf7xg5} (47. a4 $142 $5 $16) 47... Kh4 $14 48. Kf2 1/2-1/2 [Event "Salon nopean shakin turnaus"] [Site "?"] [Date "2008.05.10"] [Round "2"] [White "Rehn, Ralf"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C64"] [WhiteElo "2144"] [BlackElo "1675"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "37"] [EventDate "2008.03.06"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 {Spanish Game: Classical Variation} 4. O-O Nge7 (4... Nf6 5. c3 O-O 6. d4 Bb6 7. Bg5 {Spanish Game: Classical Variation. Modern Main Line}) (4... Nd4 5. b4 {Spanish Game: Classical Defense: Zaitsev Variation}) 5. c3 Bb6 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4 d5 8. exd5 Nxd5 9. Ne5 {C64 Spanish Game: Classical Defence (3...Bc5) except 4.O-O Nf6} Qd6 10. Nc4 {White threatens to win material: Nc4xd6} (10. Nc3 O-O 11. Nc4 Qd8 12. Ne3 Nf6 13. d5 Ne5 14. Be2 a6 15. b3 Re8 16. h3 Ba7 17. a4 Ng6 18. Nc4 Ne4 19. Nxe4 Rxe4 20. Be3 Bxe3 21. Nxe3 Qg5 22. Qc2 Re7 23. Bg4 Nf4 24. h4 Qh6 {Daulyte,D (2307) -Martinez de Negri,M (1945) Puerto Madryn 2009 1-0}) (10. b3 O-O 11. Bxc6 bxc6 12. Ba3 c5 13. Nd2 Nc3 14. Qe1 Qxd4 15. Ndf3 Qf4 16. Qxc3 Be6 17. Bxc5 Rfd8 18. Rad1 Bd5 19. Bxb6 cxb6 20. Rd4 Qf5 21. Rfd1 f6 22. Nc6 {1-0 (22) Gil Sierra,J (2041)-Soto Martin,P (1740) Madrid 2013}) 10... Qf6 $146 {The pressure on the isolated pawn grows. Black threatens to win material: Qf6xd4} (10... Qb4 11. Qe2+ Be6 12. Bd2 (12. Nc3 O-O 13. Nxb6 axb6 14. Nxd5 Bxd5 15. Be3 Nxd4 16. Bxd4 Qxd4 17. Rfd1 Qe4 18. Qxe4 Bxe4 19. f3 Bc6 20. Bxc6 bxc6 21. Rd7 Rac8 22. Re1 Rfd8 23. Rde7 Kf8 24. R1e2 Re8 25. Rxe8+ Rxe8 26. Rc2 Re6 {Carretero Ajo, J-Hernandez Romero,J Valladolid 1979 1/2-1/2 (59)}) 12... Qe7 13. Nxb6 axb6 14. Nc3 O-O 15. Nxd5 Bxd5 16. Qxe7 Nxe7 17. Bb4 c5 18. dxc5 Nc6 19. Bxc6 bxc6 20. cxb6 Rfb8 21. Bc5 Bxa2 22. Rfd1 h6 23. Rd7 Be6 24. Rda7 Rxa7 25. bxa7 { Kyriakides,S-Bastian,A Luzern 1982 1-0}) 11. Nc3 {White threatens to win material: Nc3xd5} Be6 12. Nxb6 cxb6 (12... Nxb6 13. Be3 O-O 14. d5 $14) 13. Nxd5 Bxd5 {White has the pair of bishops} 14. Re1+ Kd8 $4 (14... Be6 $142 $11 { saving the game}) 15. Qh5 $18 Ne7 (15... Bf3 {is still a small chance} 16. gxf3 Qg6+ 17. Qxg6 hxg6 $18) 16. Rxe7 (16. Bg5 Bc6 17. Rxe7 Kxe7 18. Bxf6+ gxf6 19. Re1+ Kd6 20. Bxc6 bxc6 21. Qxf7 Rae8 22. Rxe8 Rxe8 23. Qxe8 Kd5 24. Qd7+ Kc4 25. a4 a6 26. Qxc6+ Kxd4 27. Qxb6+ Ke5 28. Qxa6 h6 29. a5 f5 30. Qxh6 f4 31. a6 f3 32. a7 Kd4 33. a8=Q Kc4 34. Qhc6+ Kd3 35. Qc3+ Ke2 36. Qaxf3#) 16... Qxe7 17. Qxd5+ Kc7 (17... Kc8 {does not save the day} 18. Bf4 a6 19. Rc1+ Qc7 20. Rxc7+ Kb8 21. Qxb7#) 18. Bf4+ Kc8 19. Rc1+ (19. Rc1+ Qc7 20. Rxc7+ Kb8 21. Qxb7#) 1-0