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.d3)

Back to the Spanish again, but only for this one game, the next post is about something different again. This one was played on the second round of a tournament called 2014 October Split II that was held at Red Hot Pawn. The second round was played with four players, the group winners of round one. I played rather poorly on this round and I was only able to get one win, one draw and one loss with the black pieces and lost all three of my games where I controlled the white pieces. The only player who I was able to leave behind me on the standings on this second round was SuperMac. SuperMac's only win came from the game he or she played against me with the black pieces. The first big mistake of the game was seen when SuperMac played 13.Nf1.

The knight went away from d2 where it blocked the bishop, but it also left the knight on f3 not as well defended. Had I replied with what now looks so obvious of a move, 13...Nh4, I could have been on my way to victory. For some reason I went with the move 13...Rad8 and allowed my opponent to stay in the game. SuperMac used his or her chance and replied with the move 14.h3, which meant that I could no longer play Nh4. The bishop retreated to e6, which was obviously the only safe square for it. That being said, it was not the only option for me, but not the best one. A stronger move might have been 14...dxe4. It would have opened up the d-file and my opponent would have needed to find the strongest move in order to stay in the game. After the bishop had retreated to e6, SuperMac played 15.Ng3 and it would seem that White has been able to accomplish what he or she wanted. Unfortunately it did not meet the requirements of the position and I got another chance to get a clear advantage.

I then played 15...Nce7, which was not the best move, but at least I was slightly better after that. SuperMac then played 16.Ba4, which did not accomplish anything, except to maybe waste time, since the bishop does not really do anything useful at a4. The game continued be played from my point of view in a good way, though not perfectly up to the move 25.cxd4. I even had a winning advantage after 19.Ng3, which I met with the horrible move Ndf4 and even though I had still a clear advantage, it was less likely that I would win the game.

SuperMac blundered a second time in a row, giving me another chance for a winning advantage by playing 20.Bxf4, which I was able to get this time with my move 20...Nxf4. A few moves later my advantage disappeared with the move 25...Bg6.

The game continued quite evenly until my opponent chose to play 29.f4.

The game did not last long after that 29th move, my opponent resigned after 31...c5. While that position is advantageous for me and SuperMac's position seems to be very dire, I was not in a winning position. With precise play my opponent might have still been able to hold the game and achieve a draw.

[Event "Split"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2016.01.25"] [Round "2"] [White "SuperMac"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C64"] [WhiteElo "1666"] [BlackElo "1952"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "62"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 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 Variation. Zaitsev Variation}) 5. c3 Bb6 6. d3 {C64 Spanish Game: Classical Defence (3...Bc5) except 4.O-O Nf6} O-O 7. Bg5 (7. Na3 d5 8. h3 Ng6 9. exd5 Qxd5 10. Bc4 Qd7 11. Ng5 h6 12. Ne4 Qe7 13. Qh5 Nf4 14. Bxf4 exf4 15. Rae1 Na5 16. d4 Nxc4 17. Nxc4 Be6 18. d5 Bd7 19. Ned2 Qf6 20. Re5 Rfe8 21. Rfe1 Qg6 {Markovic, M (2540) -Kogan,A (2505) Sabac 1998 1/2-1/2 (45)}) (7. Be3 d6 8. Nbd2 Ng6 9. Nc4 Bxe3 10. Nxe3 Nce7 11. d4 c6 12. Bd3 Qb6 13. Qd2 Be6 14. Nf5 exd4 15. N3xd4 Rad8 16. Rfe1 Rfe8 17. Nxe6 fxe6 18. Nxe7+ Rxe7 19. Rad1 Ne5 20. Re2 Rf7 21. Qe3 c5 { Wyszomirski,K (1747)-Bitowt,J (1898) Warsaw 2013 1-0 (57)}) 7... f6 8. Bc1 Kh8 $146 (8... d6 9. Nbd2 f5 10. Nc4 fxe4 11. dxe4 Bg4 12. Nxb6 axb6 13. Be2 Ng6 14. Qb3+ Kh8 15. Re1 Nf4 16. Bxf4 Rxf4 17. h3 Bh5 18. Nd2 Bg6 19. f3 Qd7 20. g3 Rf6 21. Rad1 Bf7 22. Qc2 Rg6 23. g4 {Garcia Lopez,F (1679)-Calderon Diestro,M (1818) Collado Villalba 2009 1/2-1/2}) 9. Ba4 d5 10. Bc2 Bg4 11. Nbd2 Qd7 12. Re1 Ng6 {White has a cramped position. White's piece can't move: c1} 13. Nf1 $2 (13. exd5 Qxd5 14. h3 Bf5 $11) 13... Rad8 (13... Nh4 $142 $1 14. N1d2 d4 $19) 14. h3 $15 {White threatens to win material: h3xg4} Be6 (14... dxe4 15. dxe4 Qf7 16. Qe2 $15) 15. Ng3 (15. exd5 Bxd5 16. Be3 Nce7 $11) 15... Nce7 16. Ba4 ( 16. d4 dxe4 17. Nxe4 Nf5 $15) 16... c6 $17 17. Bc2 (17. Bb3 h6 18. Be3 Bxe3 19. Rxe3 c5 $15) 17... dxe4 (17... f5 18. exd5 Bxd5 19. Nxe5 Nxe5 20. Rxe5 $19) 18. Nxe4 (18. dxe4 Bxh3 $1 {Discovered attack: d1, Qd7-e6} 19. Qxd7 Bxd7 $17) 18... Nd5 (18... Bxh3 $142 19. gxh3 Qxh3 $17) 19. Ng3 $4 {further deteriorates the position} (19. d4 Ndf4 20. Ng3 Bd5 21. Bxf4 Nxf4 $17) 19... Ndf4 $4 {with this move Black loses his initiative} (19... Bxh3 {keeps an even firmer grip} 20. d4 Bxg2 21. a4 exd4 22. a5 $19) 20. Bxf4 $2 (20. d4 $142 c5 21. Bxg6 Nxg6 22. Be3 $17) 20... Nxf4 $19 (20... exf4 $6 21. Nf1 $11) 21. d4 (21. Nd2 $19 {doesn't do any good}) 21... exd4 (21... Bxh3 $142 {and Black has triumphed} 22. Re4 Bxg2 (22... Nxg2 $6 23. Nh4 f5 24. Qh5 fxe4 25. Bxe4 $19) 23. Rxf4 exf4 24. Kxg2 fxg3 25. fxg3 Rde8 $19) 22. Nxd4 $17 Bf7 (22... Bd5 23. Ngf5 Rfe8 24. Rxe8+ Qxe8 25. Qg4 $15) 23. Bf5 (23. Qf3 $5 {should be investigated more closely} Ng6 24. Rad1 $15) 23... Qc7 $17 24. Qc2 Bxd4 (24... g6 25. Be4 $17) 25. cxd4 Bg6 (25... g6 $5 26. Be4 Rxd4 $17) 26. Bxg6 $11 Nxg6 27. Rad1 Rd5 28. Qe4 Qd7 29. f4 (29. Qc2 f5 $11) 29... Rd8 30. Kh2 (30. f5 Ne5 $15 {Deflection: d4}) 30... Nf8 (30... c5 $5 $17) 31. Ne2 (31. b4 Ng6 $15) 31... c5 $17 0-1