B95 Sicilian Najdorf: 6.Bg5 e6, unusual White 7th moves (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e6 7.O-O Qc7 8.Bg5 Be7)

The game below was played in a team match called OCD vs THE POWER OF CHESS: The Fair Match. The match was played on 53 boards between Obsessive Chess Disorder and THE POWER OF CHESS. I played on board 8 for OCD and managed to win both of my games, though it was by no means easy, I was actually losing the game below, but then my opponent stepped into a forced mate. If there is luck in chess, I experienced it during this game. The match ended with a score 45.5 - 60.5 is in favor of THE POWER OF CHESS. For the first 16 moves were played rather evenly, but then I made a poor choice with the move 17.exd5. Taking on d5 only improves my opponent's pieces and it would have been a better idea to play e5 and keep the light-squared bishop on b7 hitting the same colored pawn on d5. In the game continuation my opponent's pieces are much more active than mine.

The game continued with the moves 17...Nfxd5 18.Nxd5 and then my opponent blocked the scope of the light-squared bishop once again with the knight with the move 18...Nxd5. It removed some of the possibilities that my opponent would have had, had Judoman played the much better move 18...Bxd5. Taking with the bishop would have generated some pressure towards g2, but more importantly it would have also made the pawn on c2 overloaded and I would have needed to react to it, giving my opponent the initiative. The game was played relatively well by both players after that until I made the very foolish move 31.h3??

Playing 31.h3 was bad because the square g3 was weakened, so that my opponent was able to play 31...Bg3. At that moment I was quite lost, but I continued to fight on and it could have been rewarded on move 44 when my opponent blundered with the move Rf5. My path towards a draw could have started with the move 45.Rxf5, but I played the much more risky 45.Rd7, which seemed to me a more promising option.

Judoman replied with 45...R5f7 and I could have traded rooks again and the game might have been going towards a drawn again. I declined the trade of rooks once again and placed my rook to d6, which attacked the pawn on h6. My plan worked out, because it enabled the possibility for my opponent to blunder and blunder Judoman did.

Judoman protected the pawn by placing the king to h7, which threw the game away. With perfect play it would have been a forced mate in maybe eleven moves, but due to some inaccurate moves, the end became quicker and my opponent resigned after my 49th move Rg7+, which was the first move in a forced mate in three.

[Event "OCD vs THE POWER OF CHESS: The Fair Mat"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2015.07.03"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "Judoman"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B95"] [WhiteElo "1871"] [BlackElo "1739"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 {Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation. Opocensky Variation} e6 (6... e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. O-O Be6 { Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation. Opocensky Variation Modern Line} (8... O-O {Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation. Opocensky Variation Traditional Line})) 7. O-O Qc7 8. Bg5 Be7 {B95 Sicilian Najdorf: 6.Bg5 e6, unusual White 7th moves} 9. Kh1 h6 (9... Nbd7 10. Qd3 (10. f4 b5 11. Bf3 Bb7 12. a3 O-O 13. f5 e5 14. Nb3 Rfd8 15. Qe1 h6 16. Be3 Nb6 17. Rd1 Rac8 18. g4 d5 19. Bxb6 Qxb6 20. exd5 e4 21. Bg2 Nxd5 22. Qxe4 Rc4 23. Nxd5 Rxd5 24. Qxe7 Rxd1 {Saka,I-Durukan,I (1850) Antalya 2013 1-0 (46)}) 10... b6 11. f4 Bb7 12. Bf3 h6 13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14. Ndb5 axb5 15. Nxb5 Qc6 16. Nxd6+ Ke7 17. Nxb7 Bxb2 18. Rad1 Qc7 19. Qb3 Ba3 20. e5 Bc5 21. Nd6 Ra3 22. Qc4 Ra5 23. Rd3 Rb8 24. Nb5 {Horak,J (2241)-Vaculik,M (2260) Czechia 2006 1/2-1/2 (52)}) 10. Be3 O-O $146 (10... Nc6 11. Nxc6 Qxc6 12. f3 O-O 13. Bd3 Rd8 14. Qe2 b5 15. a3 Bb7 16. Rad1 Rac8 17. Qf2 Ba8 18. Ne2 d5 19. exd5 Nxd5 20. Bc1 Qc7 21. Qg3 Qxg3 {1/2-1/2 (21) Gavriljanchuk,D-Ivanov, R Zelenograd 1997}) (10... b5 11. f4 Bb7 12. Bf3 $11) 11. f4 {Black has a cramped position} Nc6 12. Qe1 b5 (12... d5 13. e5 Nxd4 14. Bxd4 $11) 13. a3 { Covers b4} (13. Nxc6 $5 {is interesting} Qxc6 14. Bf3 $14) 13... Bb7 14. Nb3 b4 15. axb4 Nxb4 16. Bd3 d5 17. exd5 (17. e5 $142 $5 {looks like a viable alternative} Ne4 18. Nd4 $11) 17... Nfxd5 $17 18. Nxd5 (18. Na5 $142 $17) 18... Nxd5 (18... Bxd5 $142 {and the scales tip in favour of Black} 19. Qe2 Nxd3 20. Qxd3 Qb7 $17) 19. Bd2 $11 {White has an active position} Bd6 {Black threatens to win material: Bd6xf4} (19... Rab8 20. Ra4 $11) 20. Qe4 {White has a mate threat} (20. Na5 Rab8 21. Nxb7 Qxb7 $14) 20... Nf6 $11 {Black threatens to win material: Nf6xe4} 21. Qd4 {White has an active position} (21. Qe2 e5 22. Na5 exf4 23. Nxb7 Qxb7 $11) 21... Qc6 {Black has a mate threat} (21... e5 22. fxe5 Bxe5 23. Qc5 $11) 22. Qf2 Ne4 23. Bxe4 Qxe4 24. Be3 (24. Na5 Bc5 25. Qg3 Bd4 26. Nxb7 Qxb7 $11) 24... Rac8 (24... Rfc8 25. c3 $15) 25. c3 $15 {Prevents intrusion on b4} f5 {Black has a new backward pawn: e6} (25... Rfd8 26. Kg1 $15 ) 26. Nd2 Qc6 27. Nf3 Qc7 28. Nd4 {White threatens to win material: Nd4xe6} Bd5 (28... Rce8 29. Qh4 $11) 29. Rfe1 (29. Rxa6 Qd7 30. Rd1 Bb8 $14) 29... e5 30. fxe5 Bxe5 31. h3 $4 {White is ruining his position} (31. Nf3 $142 {was a good chance to save the game} Rfe8 32. Rxa6 $11) 31... Bg3 (31... f4 $142 {keeps an even firmer grip} 32. Bd2 f3 33. Nxf3 $19) 32. Qf1 (32. Qd2 {doesn't change anything anymore} Bxe1 33. Rxe1 f4 $19) 32... Bxe1 (32... f4 $142 {finishes off the opponent} 33. Bd2 Bxe1 34. Bxe1 $19) 33. Rxe1 f4 34. Bc1 (34. Bf2 { cannot change destiny} Bc4 35. Qg1 Rb8 $19) 34... Rf6 (34... f3 35. gxf3 Qg3 $19) 35. Qf2 (35. Nf3 {does not win a prize} g5 $19) 35... Rcf8 36. Nf3 Re6 ( 36... Rg6 37. Rd1 Bxf3 38. Qxf3 $19) 37. Rd1 (37. Rxe6 {is not the saving move} Bxe6 38. Qd4 Qb7 39. Bxf4 Bxh3 $19) 37... Bxf3 38. Qxf3 Rg6 (38... Qe5 $142 { might be the shorter path} 39. c4 Qe2 40. h4 Qxf3 41. gxf3 $19) 39. Rd4 Rgf6 40. b3 g5 (40... Qb6 {and Black can already relax} 41. b4 Rd6 42. Rxf4 $19) 41. c4 Qa5 (41... Re6 $5 {seems even better} 42. Re4 Qc6 43. Rxe6 Qxe6 44. Kh2 $19) 42. Kh2 (42. Re4 Qf5 43. Bb2 Re6 $19) 42... Qe5 (42... Re8 $142 $5 43. Rd2 $19) 43. Rd5 Qe1 (43... Qc7 $142 $17) 44. Bb2 $2 (44. Bd2 $142 Qg3+ 45. Qxg3 fxg3+ 46. Kxg3 $17) 44... Rf5 $4 {allows the opponent back into the game} (44... Qg3+ $142 {Black has a promising position} 45. Qxg3 fxg3+ 46. Kxg3 Rb6 $19) 45. Rd7 (45. Rxf5 Rxf5 46. Qb7 Kf8 47. Ba3+ Kg8 48. Qc8+ Kg7 49. Qxf5 Qg3+ 50. Kg1 Qe1+ 51. Kh2 Qg3+ 52. Kg1 Qe1+ 53. Kh2 $11) 45... R5f7 {Black threatens to win material: Rf7xd7} (45... Re8 46. Bd4 Qg3+ 47. Qxg3 fxg3+ 48. Kxg3 $19) 46. Rd6 (46. Rxf7 $142 Rxf7 47. Qa8+ Rf8 48. Qd5+ Rf7 49. Qa8+ Rf8 50. Qxa6 Qg3+ 51. Kh1 Qe1+ 52. Kh2 $11) 46... Kh7 $4 {a weak move, ruining a winning position} ( 46... Qg3+ $142 47. Qxg3 fxg3+ 48. Kxg3 Rb7 $17) 47. Qd3+ Rf5 48. Rd7+ Kg6 ( 48... Kg8 {does not save the day} 49. Rg7+ Kh8 50. Rxg5+ Re5 51. Bxe5+ Qxe5 52. Rxe5 Kg7 53. Re6 f3 54. Qg6+ Kh8 55. Qxh6+ Kg8 56. Qg5+ Kf7 57. Qg6#) 49. Rg7+ (49. Rg7+ Kh5 50. Qf3+ Kh4 51. Qg4#) 1-0