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)

The first game in this post was played in the first round of a correspondence chess tournament called AUTO-OPEN-3305 and it was held at the Queen Alice Internet Chess Club. I managed to hang on in the game against my stronger opponent up to the move 14.Bb3, but then I played 14...fxe5? The move was too attractive for me not to play it. Unfortunately my thinking process was faulty because the queen does not have to move from f3, like I had thought. Evandrobit could have replied with 15.Nxd5 and I would have been in serious trouble, instead my opponent played 15.Bxd5+, which gave me a chance to hold on. The position below is taken after the move 14.Bb3.

I then played the most accurate reply 15...Nxd5 and the game continued to be played evenly until I took a wrong path on move 31 and played Rf6. I tried to prevent the pawn advance from f4 to f5. It was not clear to me how I could improve my position or how to keep my chances for a draw alive. It is still not completely clear to me how my opponent can improve her or his position. Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT likes moves like 32.b3 and 32.Re4+ as replies to 31...Rf6. Both of those moves would have given Evandrobit a clear advantage according to the chess engine. Evandrobit played 32.b4 in the game, which makes the position even again.

When we reached the position which can be seen in the next diagram, I started to threw the game away with the move 34...a5. While my opponent did not find the strongest move against 34...a5, Evandrobit got a chance to rectify the situation with his or her next move because I made a second horrible move in a row.

Evandrobit chose to play 35.Kd5, which is good enough move to take the advantage, but 35.b5 was a stronger option. I then played 35...Rf6 and I was in a completely lost position. I did resist the temptation of resigning the game until it came time to play my 44th move. At that point even I had to admit that I have no chance of holding the game and my loss was certain.

Game two. This one features a game I played over nine years ago and as you might see my play has not improved all that much since those days, my rating is over 600 points higher at GameKnot these days though. I think this is one of my first games there which also explains the low rating. The first really horrible decision I made in the game was when I played 8...Bg4 in the diagram position below. Not sure why I preferred to place my bishop to g4 before I castled, but it was a really bad idea.

Apocalypseknight replied with the strongest and most natural move 9.exd5, opening the center when my king is still there had to be a good idea. I then took the pawn from d5 with my knight, which was probably my best chance, but I was close if not already in a losing position thanks to my disastrous 8th move. This could have been a short and embarrassing loss for me, had my opponent taken full advantage of my blunder. The point at which things started to look brighter for me came very soon because apocalypseknight played 10.Nxd5 next and I was actually close to drawing the game again. After the knight had been exchanged on d5, I had only one problem in my position, I had not castled yet. The game continued evenly until it came time for apocalypseknight to play his or her 13th move. The position in which that move was played can be seen in the next living diagram.

Apocalypseknight played in the game 13.Qd2, which is not actually the worst move in the position and the game should still be fought relatively even. This was, however, the starting point for the troubles for my opponent. I replied with the obvious 13...Bxf3 because I always grab material if I see no reason not to do that. The game continued with the moves 14.gxf3 Qxf3 and then my opponent made things even worse for her or him with the move 15.Re3. While my 16th move was not the best move, I still stayed on the better side of the board. The game deciding blunder of the game was seen when apocalypseknight played 18.dxc5 in a position that can be seen in the diagram below.

I did not play in the most accurate way possible for the remainder of the game, I missed faster mates, but at last I was able to checkmate my opponent on move 33.

Game number three. This is from the second round of a tournament that was held at Tampere a bit over thirteen years ago. At this point of the tournament everything seemed to go my way again, I mean it was not a perfect start for the tournament, but at least my rating was getting a bit higher in the first two rounds. Even the next round game was still a small plus to my rating, but then a major disaster struck in the last two rounds and this become one of my worst tournaments up to this point in time.

While this was not played perfectly by both sides up to the move 25.h4, no clear mistake was played by either player until I made my 25th move f6. The move 25...f6 was designed to help control the square e5, but it also allowed the reply 26.h5, which meant troubling times for me. I answered to the move 26.h5 by moving my knight from g6 to e5. My opponent should have then continued with 27.h6, but instead he moved his knight to h4, which was a worse alternative. It still maintained some of the advantage he had, but it was at that moment more likely that the game ended in a draw.

The game continued to be played relatively evenly until I messed up again with my 34th move Neg6. I am not sure why I thought that moving the knight to g6 from e5 was a good idea, it is moving the piece backwards and takes away the g6 square from my king. My opponent was able to find the strongest reply 35.Nf5+ and he was, at least for the moment, on the clearly better side of the board.

It did not last long, only a few moves later Kimmo played 39.Rd8 and most of his advantage disappeared. I then played the apparently sloppy move 39...Ne5, which made my position clearly worse again. I should have played 39...h5. It was a move that I probably did not even think about during the game. I usually do not like to push my pawns up the board, unless I can see a clear reason to do so, and to me moving the pawn from h7 to h5 only makes it weaker. Then my opponent played 40.Rd6, which was another move that threw away the advantage. A stronger move for Kimmo was 40.Rb8 and I would have remained on the clearly worse side of the board.

The game seemed to continue towards a peaceful draw until my opponent played 47.Nd2. It was the first time during the game I got a chance to grab the advantage. I was able to do exactly that. I continued with the correct idea 47...Nd5+ and the game continued with the moves 48.Kd3 Nf4+ 49.Kc4 Nxg2. After my 49th move I already had a material advantage and perhaps on my way to victory. My opponent even played 50.b4, which should have been the blunder that decided the game. However, I did not find the strongest reply 50...Ne3+, but instead played 50...cxb4, which was the second best move. Things should have still looked bright for me, and for a couple of moves that was indeed the case.

The move that made the game fizzle out towards a draw again and for the final time was played by me on my 52nd move. I started to push my h-pawn forward and trusted it was enough to win the game or perhaps I thought, incorrectly that the pawn on b6 is lost and my only chance to save the game was to queen the h-pawn.

Whatever the case may be, the move 52...h5 is only good enough for a small advantage and the correct result of the game should be draw. We did continue playing up to the move 66...Kf5, but we had to agree to a draw in a position in which the material is even and neither side has realistic chances to win the game.

Game number four. This was played on the fourth round of the weekend tournament that was held at Espoo in February 2008. After this win I had gathered 3.5 points in 4 games, so I was doing really well in the tournament. Especially when considering the fact that all my opponents were higher rated than me. The first round opponent was rated 1698, second round opponent 1713, third round opponent 1626 and this fourth round opponent 1638. The last round win was also against a higher rated player, that time the rating of my opponent was 1740. All this added up to one of my best tournament performances up to date. In the game below, my opponent self-destructs quite quickly as the losing move already comes with the move 10.h3, but I already had a small advantage at that point, so the game started to go a bit wrong for my opponent a bit earlier than that.

It is always nice to finish the game with a tactical blow, something which I am not able to do all that often, but the move 26...Rxd4 is something that makes me grin a bit.

So far I have played all 5 games with the Black pieces and my statistics in them are: 5 games, 3 wins (60%), 1 draw (20%) and 1 loss (20%).

[Event "AUTO-OPEN-3305"] [Site "http://www.queenalice.com/gam"] [Date "2014.08.08"] [Round "1"] [White "Evandrobit"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C64"] [WhiteElo "2306"] [BlackElo "2137"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 {Spanish Game: Classical Variation} 4. O-O (4. b4 {Spanish Game: Classical Variation. Spanish Wing Gambit}) (4. c3 Bb6 { Spanish Game: Classical Variation. Charousek Variation} (4... d5 {Spanish Game: Classical Variation. Konikowski Gambit}) (4... f5 {Spanish Game: Classical Variation. Cordel Gambit})) 4... Nge7 (4... Nf6 5. c3 O-O 6. d4 Bb6 7. Bg5 { Spanish Game: Classical Variation. Modern Main Line}) 5. c3 Bb6 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4 {C64 Spanish Game: Classical Defence (3...Bc5) except 4.O-O Nf6} d5 8. e5 Bg4 9. Be3 (9. Bg5 h6 10. Bxe7 Qxe7 11. Nc3 Rd8 12. h3 Bxf3 13. Qxf3 Qe6 14. Rfd1 O-O 15. Ne2 Ne7 16. a4 f6 17. a5 {1-0 (17) Vallejo,H (2096) -Castano,H (2224) Medellin 2015}) 9... Bxf3 $146 (9... O-O 10. h3 (10. Na3 f5 11. exf6 Rxf6 12. Be2 h6 13. h3 Bxf3 14. Bxf3 Nf5 15. Nc2 Qd6 16. b4 Nce7 17. g3 Ng6 18. Bg2 c6 19. Qg4 Bc7 20. b5 Raf8 21. bxc6 bxc6 22. Bd2 R8f7 23. Ne3 h5 24. Nxf5 Rxf5 {Hernandez Sanchez, J (2323)-Polo,V (2171) Pamplona 2012 1/2-1/2 (48)}) ( 10. Be2 Nf5 11. Nc3 (11. Bg5 Qd7 12. Bb5 Nfxd4 13. Bxc6 bxc6 14. Nbd2 Qf5 15. h3 Bxf3 {0-1 (15) Schupack,J-Waisberg,A (2023) Budapest 2012}) 11... Re8 12. h3 Bxf3 13. Bxf3 Nfxd4 14. Bxd5 Rxe5 15. Bc4 Qh4 16. Kh2 Rd8 17. Qg4 Qxg4 18. hxg4 Nc2 19. Bxb6 cxb6 20. Rad1 N2d4 21. a3 b5 22. Bd3 b4 23. axb4 Nxb4 24. Be4 Ndc6 {Raivio, P-Vierjoki,T (1692) Finland 2009 1/2-1/2 (54)}) (10. Nc3 Bxf3 11. gxf3 Nf5 12. Bxc6 bxc6 13. Kh1 Qh4 14. Ne2 f6 15. Bf4 Qh3 16. Ng1 Qh5 17. Rc1 Nxd4 18. exf6 Rxf6 19. Bg3 Rh6 20. f4 Qg6 21. Kg2 Rf8 22. Qd2 Nf5 23. Qc2 Qh5 24. Kh1 Qg4 {Gotschacher,R-Novak,I Weymouth 1968 0-1 (37)}) 10... Bh5 11. Be2 f5 12. Ng5 Bxe2 13. Qxe2 Qc8 14. Qd3 h6 15. Nf3 f4 16. Bd2 Nf5 17. Bc3 Qe6 18. Nbd2 Rad8 19. a3 Nce7 20. Rac1 Ng6 21. b4 Ngh4 22. Nxh4 Nxh4 23. Nf3 Nxf3+ 24. Qxf3 {Garcia Gutierrez,I (1641)-Calderon Diestro,M (1745) Aviles 2008 0-1 (39)} ) (9... O-O $5 10. Be2 Nf5 $15) 10. Qxf3 $11 {White has the pair of bishops} O-O {White has an active position} 11. Rd1 a6 (11... f6 12. exf6 Rxf6 13. Qh3 $11) 12. Ba4 Qd7 13. Nc3 f6 {Black threatens to win material: f6xe5} 14. Bb3 { Will d5 fall?} fxe5 $2 (14... Rad8 15. exf6 Rxf6 16. Qh5 $11) 15. Bxd5+ (15. Nxd5 $142 $5 Nxd5 16. Qxd5+ Qxd5 17. Bxd5+ Kh8 18. dxe5 Bxe3 19. fxe3 $16) 15... Nxd5 $11 16. Qxd5+ Qxd5 17. Nxd5 exd4 18. Nxb6 cxb6 19. Bxd4 Nxd4 20. Rxd4 {A double rook endgame occured} Rad8 {Black threatens to win material: Rd8xd4} 21. Rad1 Rxd4 22. Rxd4 Rc8 {Black has a mate threat} 23. Kf1 Rc2 { Black threatens to win material: Rc2xb2} 24. Rb4 {White threatens to win material: Rb4xb6} Rc6 (24... b5 25. a4 $11) 25. Ke2 Kf7 26. Kd3 Ke6 27. h4 Kf5 (27... b5 $5 $11) 28. g4+ $14 Kf6 29. f4 (29. a4 g6 $14) 29... g6 (29... b5 30. Ke4 $11) 30. Rd4 $14 Ke7 31. a4 Rf6 32. b4 (32. Re4+ $5 Kf7 33. Rc4 $16) 32... Rc6 $14 33. Re4+ Kf7 34. Kd4 a5 $2 (34... Rc8 $5 $11) 35. Kd5 (35. b5 $142 Rc5 36. f5 gxf5 37. Rf4 $16) 35... Rf6 $4 {further deteriorates the position} ( 35... axb4 $142 36. Rxb4 Rc5+ 37. Kd4 Rc6 $16) 36. b5 $18 Kf8 (36... Kg8 { is no salvation} 37. Rc4 Rf8 38. Kd6 $18) 37. Rc4 Rf7 (37... Ke8 {what else?} 38. Ke5 Rf7 39. Rc8+ Kd7 $18) 38. Kd6 Rf6+ 39. Kc7 Re6 40. Kxb7 Kf7 41. Rc6 Re4 42. Kxb6 Rxa4 43. Ka7 Rxf4 (43... Rd4 {doesn't get the cat off the tree} 44. b6 a4 45. b7 Rd7 46. Ka8 Rd8+ 47. b8=Q Rxb8+ 48. Kxb8 a3 49. Ra6 a2 50. Kc7 a1=R 51. Rxa1 Ke6 52. Ra5 Kf6 53. Kd6 h6 54. g5+ Kf7 55. Ra7+ Kg8 56. Ke6 hxg5 57. fxg5 Kh8 58. Kf6 Kg8 59. h5 gxh5 60. g6 h4 61. Ra8#) 44. b6 (44. b6 Rxg4 45. b7 Rb4 46. Rb6 Rxb6 47. Kxb6 a4 48. b8=Q a3 49. Qe5 a2 50. Kc6 a1=R 51. Qxa1 Ke6 52. Qd4 g5 53. Qe4+ Kf7 54. Qf5+ Kg8 55. hxg5 Kg7 56. Qf6+ Kg8 57. Kd6 h6 58. gxh6 Kh7 59. Qg7#) 1-0 [Event "Gameknot"] [Site "http://gameknot.com"] [Date "2008.01.03"] [Round "?"] [White "apocalypseknight"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C64"] [WhiteElo "1380"] [BlackElo "1200"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2007.??.??"] [EventType "corr"] 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}) 5. c3 Bb6 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4 {C64 Spanish Game: Classical Defence (3...Bc5) except 4.O-O Nf6} d5 8. Nc3 (8. e5 Bg4 9. Be2 Bxf3 10. Bxf3 Nxd4 11. Re1 O-O 12. Be3 Nxf3+ 13. Qxf3 Ng6 14. Bxb6 axb6 15. Na3 c6 16. Rad1 Qg5 17. Qg3 Qxg3 18. hxg3 Rfe8 19. f4 b5 20. Rd4 h5 21. Kh2 Ra4 22. Rxa4 bxa4 { Albicker,L (1504)-Waisberg,A (1876) Plzen 2016 0-1 (33)}) 8... Bg4 $4 $146 { Black lets it slip away} (8... O-O 9. exd5 (9. Bg5 f6 10. Be3 dxe4 11. Nxe4 Nf5 12. d5 Nce7 13. Bxb6 axb6 14. Nc3 Kh8 15. Re1 Nd6 16. Nd4 Nxb5 17. Ndxb5 Nf5 18. Qf3 Bd7 19. Rad1 Nh6 20. Qf4 Bxb5 21. Nxb5 Rf7 22. Rc1 c6 23. dxc6 bxc6 { Ljubicic,F (2335)-Mujagic,R (2300) Kladovo 1990 1-0 (46)}) (9. e5 Bg4 10. h3 Bh5 11. Be3 Bxf3 12. Qxf3 Nxd4 13. Qg4 Nxb5 14. Nxb5 Ng6 15. Bg5 Qe8 16. Nc3 Qxe5 17. Rae1 Qd6 18. h4 c6 19. h5 h6 20. Bd2 Ne5 21. Qg3 Nc4 22. Bf4 Qf6 23. b3 Na3 {Bucer,S (1500)-Ursic,J (1943) Nova Gorica 2005 1-0}) 9... Nxd5 10. h3 a6 11. Bc4 Be6 12. Bb3 Qd7 13. Ba4 f6 14. Ne4 Rad8 15. Bd2 Rfe8 16. Ng3 Ba7 17. Bxc6 Qxc6 18. Rc1 Qd7 19. Re1 Bf7 20. Qc2 c6 21. Nf1 Bb8 22. a3 g5 23. Ne3 { Wrabel,A (1701)-Bitowt,J (1898) Warsaw 2013 0-1 (65)}) (8... dxe4 9. Nxe4 O-O 10. Be3 Bg4 11. Nc5 Qc8 12. Be2 Nf5 13. Ng5 Bxe2 14. Qxe2 Ncxd4 15. Bxd4 Nxd4 16. Qd3 Qf5 17. Qxf5 Nxf5 18. Nd7 Rfe8 19. Nxb6 axb6 20. Rfe1 Rxe1+ 21. Rxe1 h6 22. g4 Nh4 {0-1 (22) Deiseach,D-Spassky,B Antwerp 1955}) (8... dxe4 $142 { and Black can hope to live} 9. Bxc6+ Nxc6 $11) 9. exd5 $16 Nxd5 10. Nxd5 (10. h3 $142 $5 Bh5 11. a4 $18) 10... Qxd5 $11 {Increasing the pressure on the isolated pawn on d4} 11. Re1+ Kf8 12. Bxc6 bxc6 {Black has the pair of bishops} 13. Qd2 (13. b3 $5 $11) 13... Bxf3 $15 14. gxf3 Qxf3 {White king safety dropped } 15. Re3 Qg4+ 16. Kf1 f6 (16... Bxd4 17. Rg3 Qe4 18. Qd3 $17) 17. Qb4+ (17. Qc2 $5 {must definitely be considered} Rd8 18. b3 $11) 17... c5 $1 $17 { Deflection: d4} 18. dxc5 $4 {strolling merrily down the path to disaster.} (18. Qb5 $142 Qxd4 19. Rd3 $17) 18... Qxb4 $19 19. cxb6 axb6 20. a3 Qd6 21. b4 Qxh2 22. Ke2 Kf7 23. Bb2 (23. Rc3 {doesn't change anything anymore} Qh5+ 24. f3 Qh1 25. Rxc7+ Kg6 26. Rc4 Qg2+ 27. Kd3 Rad8+ 28. Rd4 Rxd4+ 29. Kxd4 Rd8+ 30. Kc3 Qe2 31. Bf4 Rc8+ 32. Kd4 Rc4+ 33. Kd5 Kf5 34. Be3 Qd3+ 35. Bd4 Qxd4#) 23... Rhe8 24. Rxe8 (24. Bd4 {is not much help} Rxe3+ 25. Kxe3 Qh3+ 26. Ke2 Qg4+ 27. Kf1 Qxd4 28. Kg2 Qxa1 29. a4 Rxa4 30. b5 Qd1 31. f3 Ra2+ 32. Kg3 Qg1+ 33. Kf4 Ra4+ 34. Kf5 g6#) 24... Rxe8+ 25. Kd3 Qd6+ 26. Kc4 (26. Bd4 {doesn't get the bull off the ice} c5 27. bxc5 bxc5 28. Kc2 Qxd4 29. Ra2 Qc4+ 30. Kb1 Qb3+ 31. Kc1 Qc3+ 32. Kb1 Re1#) 26... Re4+ (26... b5+ 27. Kb3 Qd3+ 28. Ka2 Qc4+ 29. Kb1 Re1+ 30. Bc1 Qb3#) 27. Kb5 (27. Kc3 {does not save the day} Qd4+ 28. Kc2 Qc4+ 29. Bc3 Re2+ 30. Kb1 Qb3+ 31. Kc1 Qc2#) 27... Qd7+ (27... Qd5+ 28. Ka4 Re8 29. f3 Ra8#) 28. Ka6 b5 (28... Qc8+ 29. Kb5 Qe8+ 30. Ka6 Qa8+ 31. Kb5 Qd5+ 32. Ka4 Re8 33. f3 Ra8#) 29. Kb7 (29. Rc1 {is not the saving move} Re6+ 30. Ka5 Re8 31. Ka6 Rb8 32. Bd4 c6 33. f3 Qb7+ 34. Ka5 Ra8+ 35. Ba7 Rxa7#) 29... Re6 30. Rc1 ( 30. Re1 {doesn't improve anything} c5+ 31. Kb8 Rb6+ 32. Ka8 Qb7#) 30... Rb6+ ( 30... c5+ 31. Kb8 Re8#) 31. Ka7 Qc8 32. Rxc7+ Qxc7+ 33. Ka8 Ra6# 0-1 [Event "Taraus"] [Site "?"] [Date "2004.08.21"] [Round "2"] [White "Ailasmaa, Kimmo"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C64"] [WhiteElo "1783"] [BlackElo "1720"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "132"] [EventDate "2004.08.21"] 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 {C64 Spanish Game: Classical Defence (3...Bc5) except 4.O-O Nf6} O-O 8. d5 Nb8 9. Nc3 $146 (9. Ba4 d6 10. h3 Nd7 11. Nc3 Nc5 12. Bc2 a5 13. b3 Bd7 14. Bb2 Ng6 15. Ne2 Re8 16. Ng3 Ne5 17. Nd4 a4 18. Rc1 axb3 19. axb3 Qh4 20. Ngf5 Bxf5 21. Nxf5 Qd8 22. Kh2 f6 23. f4 Ng6 { Juras,Z (1885)-Petrovic,N (1882) Croatia 2015 0-1 (38)}) (9. d6 cxd6 10. Nc3 d5 11. Nxd5 Nxd5 12. Qxd5 Qf6 13. e5 Qe6 14. Qd3 Nc6 15. Bf4 Bc7 16. Rfe1 Qg6 17. Qa3 Re8 18. Bg3 h6 19. Bd3 Qe6 20. Rac1 Bd8 21. Bc2 g6 22. Qe3 Kg7 23. a3 b5 { Pilgaard,K (2432)-Simonsen,O (2239) Klaksvik 2002 1-0 (66)}) (9. Bg5 f6 10. Be3 (10. Bh4 d6 11. h3 Ng6 12. Bg3 f5 13. Nbd2 f4 14. Bh2 Qf6 15. Qc2 Nd7 16. a4 Nde5 17. b4 Nh4 18. Be2 Nhxf3+ 19. Nxf3 a5 20. b5 Bd7 21. Kh1 Rae8 22. Rae1 Qh6 23. Ng1 f3 24. gxf3 Ng6 {Dabizljevic, R-Jevtic,M (2167) Vrnjacka Banja 2008 0-1 (58)}) 10... d6 11. Bxb6 axb6 12. Nd4 c5 13. dxc6 bxc6 14. Nxc6 Nbxc6 15. Bxc6 Nxc6 16. Qd5+ Rf7 17. Qxc6 Bb7 18. Qc2 d5 19. exd5 Qxd5 20. f3 Rxa2 21. Rxa2 Qxa2 22. Nc3 Qc4 {1/2-1/2 (22) Gimeno Higueras,R (1981) -Salvador Lopez,D (2141) Mislata 2003}) 9... d6 {Prevents intrusion on e5} 10. Na4 c6 11. dxc6 bxc6 12. Nxb6 (12. Bd3 Bg4 $14) 12... axb6 $11 13. Bc4 {Black has a cramped position} Be6 (13... Ba6 14. Bxa6 Nxa6 15. Qc2 $11) 14. Qb3 (14. Bxe6 $142 $5 fxe6 15. Qb3 $16) 14... Bxc4 $11 {Black forks: b3+f1} 15. Qxc4 d5 16. exd5 Qxd5 17. Qb4 {White threatens to win material: Qb4xe7. White forks: e7+b6} Qd8 18. b3 (18. Bg5 f6 19. Be3 Nd5 $14) 18... c5 $11 {Black threatens to win material: c5xb4} 19. Qe4 {White threatens to win material: Qe4xa8} Nd7 (19... Nbc6 20. Ng5 g6 21. Re1 $11) 20. Bb2 {White has an active position} (20. Bg5 Nf6 21. Bxf6 gxf6 $14) 20... Ng6 21. Rfd1 Qc7 22. Qd5 (22. h4 Rfe8 23. Qf5 Ndf8 $14) 22... Rad8 23. Qd6 {White threatens to win material: Qd6xc7} Qc8 24. Qg3 Rfe8 25. h4 f6 {Controls e5} (25... h5 $142 $5 $11 {should not be overlooked}) 26. h5 $16 Nge5 27. Nh4 Nf8 28. h6 (28. Rxd8 Qxd8 29. Nf5 Qd7 $16) 28... Rxd1+ ( 28... Qg4 29. Qxg4 Nxg4 30. Rxd8 Rxd8 31. hxg7 Kxg7 32. f3 $11) 29. Rxd1 $14 Qg4 30. Qxg4 {White has a mate threat} Nxg4 31. hxg7 Kxg7 32. f3 {White threatens to win material: f3xg4} Re2 33. Bc1 Ne5 34. a4 Neg6 {Black threatens to win material: Ng6xh4} (34... Rc2 $5 $11 {is worth consideration}) 35. Nf5+ $16 Kf7 36. Kf1 {White threatens to win material: Kf1xe2} Re6 (36... Rc2 37. Nd6+ Kg7 38. Nc4 $14) 37. Nd6+ Ke7 38. Nf5+ Kf7 39. Rd8 (39. g4 Rc6 $16) 39... Ne5 40. Rd6 (40. Nh6+ $142 $5 Ke7 41. Rb8 $16) 40... Rxd6 $11 41. Nxd6+ Ke6 { Black threatens to win material: Ke6xd6} 42. Ne4 Nc6 43. Bd2 Nd7 44. Bc3 { The isolani on f6 becomes a target} Ke7 45. Ke2 Ke6 46. Ke3 Ne7 47. Nd2 (47. Kd3 $142 $5 $11 {and White can hope to survive}) 47... Nd5+ $17 48. Kd3 Nf4+ 49. Kc4 (49. Ke4 $5 Nxg2 50. f4 $17) 49... Nxg2 $19 50. b4 $4 {the final mistake, not that it matters anymore} (50. Ne4 h5 $19) 50... cxb4 (50... Ne3+ $142 {and Black has prevailed} 51. Kb3 Nd5 $19) 51. Kxb4 Nf4 52. Bd4 h5 (52... Kd5 $142 {would have made live much easier for Black} 53. Be3 Ne6 $19) 53. Kb5 $15 {Attacks the isolani on b6} Nd5 54. Bf2 (54. Ne4 h4 $11) 54... Nc3+ $15 55. Kb4 {White threatens to win material: Kb4xc3} Nd5+ 56. Kb5 {Twofold repetition} Ne5 (56... f5 57. Nc4 $15) 57. Bxb6 $11 Nxb6 58. Kxb6 h4 59. a5 h3 {Is this a dangerous pawn?} 60. a6 {He broke from his leash} h2 61. a7 h1=Q {Attacking the isolated pawn on f3} 62. a8=Q Qg1+ 63. Kb7 Qc1 {Black threatens to win material: Qc1xd2} 64. Qe8+ Kf5 65. Qh5+ Kf4 66. Qh6+ Kf5 1/2-1/2 [Event "Matin päivän turnaus"] [Site "Mattlidens gymnasium"] [Date "2008.02.24"] [Round "4"] [White "Lemmetyinen, Tero"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C64"] [WhiteElo "1638"] [BlackElo "1539"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "52"] [EventDate "2008.??.??"] 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 {C64 Spanish Game: Classical Defence (3...Bc5) except 4.O-O Nf6} d5 8. e5 Bg4 9. Be3 O-O 10. h3 Bxf3 11. gxf3 Nf5 { Pawn d4, live or die!} 12. Bxc6 bxc6 13. Kh2 Qh4 14. Rg1 Nxe3 $146 (14... Bxd4 15. Rg4 Nxe3 16. fxe3 Qf2+ 17. Rg2 Qxe3 18. Nd2 Qxe5+ 19. Kh1 Bxb2 20. Rb1 Bc3 21. Nb3 Rfe8 22. Qc2 Qf6 23. Rbg1 Re1 24. Rxe1 Bxe1 25. Qe2 Qe6 26. Qxe6 fxe6 27. Re2 Bb4 28. Rxe6 c5 29. Rc6 {Subasic,G-Grobelsek,A (2060) Pula 2002 (50)}) 15. fxe3 Qf2+ 16. Rg2 Qxe3 17. Rd2 (17. Qd2 {does not improve anything} Bxd4 18. Qxe3 Bxe3 $19) 17... Rfe8 (17... Qf4+ $142 $5 {seems even better} 18. Kg2 Rae8 19. Nc3 $19) 18. Nc3 Re6 19. Na4 (19. Rd3 {doesn't get the bull off the ice} Qf4+ 20. Kh1 Rh6 $19) 19... Rb8 (19... Qf4+ $142 {finishes off the opponent} 20. Kh1 Rh6 $19) 20. Nxb6 Rxb6 (20... cxb6 $6 21. Rg2 Qf4+ 22. Kg1 $19) 21. Qe2 (21. Kh1 {desperation} Qf4 22. Rg2 $19) 21... Qf4+ 22. Kh1 Rh6 23. Qg2 g6 (23... Rg6 $142 {nails it down} 24. Rf1 Rxg2 25. Rxg2 Qxd4 $19) 24. Rad1 (24. e6 {is not much help} fxe6 25. Qg4 Qxg4 (25... Qxd2 $6 {is much weaker} 26. Qxe6+ Kg7 27. Qe7+ Kg8 28. Qe6+ Kg7 29. Qe7+ Kg8 30. Qe8+ Kg7 31. Qe7+ $11) 26. fxg4 Rxh3+ 27. Kg2 Re3 $19) 24... Rh4 25. Rc2 (25. b3 {cannot change destiny} Rb4 $19) 25... Qf5 26. Kh2 (26. Kg1 {what else?} Rxh3 27. Rf1 $19) 26... Rxd4 $3 {Decoy: d4. . . . . . . .} (26... Rxd4 27. Rxd4 Qxe5+ 28. f4 Qxd4 $19) 0-1 [Event "NEGMET DAVVOD 1-100 - Board 23"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.04.03"] [Round "?"] [White "pittbul_tao"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C64"] [WhiteElo "1736"] [BlackElo "1827"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "42"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. O-O Nge7 5. c3 Bb6 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4 { C64 Spanish Game: Classical Defence (3...Bc5) except 4.0-0 Nf6} d5 8. e5 Bg4 9. Nc3 (9. Be3 O-O 10. Na3 (10. Be2 Nf5 11. Nc3 Re8 12. h3 Bxf3 13. Bxf3 Nfxd4 14. Bxd5 Rxe5 15. Bc4 Qh4 16. Kh2 Rd8 17. Qg4 Qxg4 18. hxg4 Nc2 19. Bxb6 cxb6 20. Rad1 N2d4 21. a3 b5 22. Bd3 b4 23. axb4 Nxb4 24. Be4 Ndc6 {Raivio,P-Vierjoki,T (1692) Finland 2009 1/2-1/2 (54)}) 10... f5 11. exf6 Rxf6 12. Be2 h6 13. h3 Bxf3 14. Bxf3 Nf5 15. Nc2 Qd6 16. b4 Nce7 17. g3 Ng6 18. Bg2 c6 19. Qg4 Bc7 20. b5 Raf8 21. bxc6 bxc6 22. Bd2 R8f7 23. Ne3 h5 {Hernandez Sanchez,J (2323)-Polo, V (2171) Pamplona 2012 1/2-1/2 (48)}) (9. Be2 Bxf3 10. Bxf3 Nxd4 11. Re1 O-O 12. Be3 Nxf3+ 13. Qxf3 Ng6 14. Bxb6 axb6 15. Na3 c6 16. Rad1 Qg5 17. Qg3 Qxg3 18. hxg3 Rfe8 19. f4 b5 20. Rd4 h5 21. Kh2 Ra4 22. Rxa4 bxa4 23. Nc2 c5 { Albicker,L (1504)-Waisberg,A (1876) Plzen 2016 0-1 (33)}) 9... O-O 10. Be3 Nf5 $146 (10... Bxf3 11. gxf3 Kh8 (11... Nf5 12. Bxc6 bxc6 13. Kh1 Qh4 14. Ne2 f6 15. Bf4 Qh3 16. Ng1 Qh5 17. Rc1 Nxd4 18. exf6 Rxf6 19. Bg3 Rh6 20. f4 Qg6 21. Kg2 Rf8 22. Qd2 Nf5 23. Qc2 Qh5 24. Kh1 Qg4 25. Qd3 Rff6 26. Qf3 {Gotschacher, R-Novak,I Weymouth 1968 0-1 (37)}) 12. Kh1 f5 13. f4 g5 14. Ne2 Ng6 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. Qd2 gxf4 17. Nxf4 Nxf4 18. Bxf4 c5 19. Bg5 Qe8 20. Bf6+ Rxf6 21. exf6 Qe4+ 22. f3 Qxd4 23. Qh6 Rg8 24. Rg1 {1-0 (24) Ratcu,T-Krivec,J Bratislava 1993 }) (10... Bxf3 $142 11. Qxf3 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 Bxd4 $17) 11. h3 $2 (11. Bxc6 $142 { and White can hope to live} bxc6 12. Qd3 $15) 11... Bxf3 $19 12. Qxf3 Nfxd4 13. Bxd4 Nxd4 (13... Bxd4 $6 14. Qxd5 Nxe5 15. Rad1 Bxc3 16. bxc3 Qxd5 17. Rxd5 $17 ) 14. Qd3 $2 (14. Qg3 c6 15. Bd3 g6 $19) 14... Nxb5 (14... c6 {makes it even easier for Black} 15. Ba4 f6 16. e6 $19) 15. Qxb5 $2 (15. Nxb5 Qh4 16. a4 $17) 15... c6 16. Qd3 Qg5 (16... Re8 {might be the shorter path} 17. Rae1 Qc7 18. Qd2 $19) 17. Kh1 (17. Rae1 Rae8 $19) 17... Qxe5 18. Rae1 Qf6 19. f4 (19. Na4 Bd4 $19 (19... Bxf2 $6 20. Qc2 Bxe1 21. Rxf6 gxf6 22. Nc5 $19)) 19... Rfe8 20. f5 (20. Re2 {doesn't do any good} g6 $19) 20... Ba5 (20... Qd6 {keeps an even firmer grip} 21. Ne2 Bc7 22. g3 $19) 21. Nd1 (21. Re2 $19 {there is nothing better in the position}) 21... Bxe1 0-1