A03 Bird's Opening with 1...d5 (1.g3 d5 2.f4)

This game was played in the first round of a tournament called Maximum ! at Chess.com. The tournament is currently on its second round. So far it has lasted over 3 years and it will likely last many more months. I played on group 4 and I was 5th in the final standings of the group with 13.5 points. It meant that I did not advance to the second round. My opponent in this game, ArcaniusDK, was on last place in the final standings of the group and alas could not get any points. Maybe the most important moment of this game was seen when my opponent played 9.h3.

The move 9.h3 weakened the pawn on g3 and it would have allowed me to play Nh5 and attack the pawn on g3 and maybe invited the move Kf2 in reply. That being said, it probably was not the correct move to make. 9...c4 is the engine's recommendation at depth 32 and Black should have a winning advantage. I played 9...b6 in the game, which was a good move, but not even close to being the strongest option. I made an inaccurate move on move 11 that gave my opponent better chances to hold the game.

ArcaniusDK then played the obvious and best move 12.Kh2, which protected the pawn on h3 in a sufficient way. Then I moved my pawn to d4 and my opponent replied with 13.e4. The move was a bit inaccurate, but nowhere close to being the losing move. However, after I took on e3 with my pawn, ArcaniusDK resigned, which was a bit premature in my opinion.

[Event "Maximum ! - Round 1"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2014.09.11"] [Round "?"] [White "ArcaniusDK"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A03"] [WhiteElo "1056"] [BlackElo "1804"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "26"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] {[%evp 9,26,-59,-14,-27,9,-25,-32,-57,-65,-181,-83,-106,-61,-120,-53,-56,-56, -68,-54]} 1. g3 {A00 Hungarian Opening} d5 2. f4 {A03 Bird's Opening with 1... d5} c5 3. Bg2 (3. Nh3 Nf6 4. Nf2 Nc6 5. Bg2 h5 6. c4 e6 7. e3 g6 8. b3 Bg7 9. Bb2 O-O 10. O-O b6 11. d3 Bb7 12. Na3 Qd7 13. Nc2 Rfe8 14. Rb1 Rad8 15. Qe2 e5 16. Bh3 Qe7 17. f5 g5 {Glienke,M (2305)-Gruenenwald,J (2330) Germany 1987 1-0 (49)}) 3... Nc6 (3... e6 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nf3 g6 6. O-O Bg7 7. Nbd2 O-O 8. e4 Qc7 9. c3 Nbd7 10. Nh4 Rb8 11. Nb3 b6 12. f5 dxe4 13. fxe6 fxe6 14. dxe4 e5 15. Nf3 Bb7 16. Ng5 Rbe8 17. Bh3 Qc6 18. Nd2 {Latreche,H-Mazouz,L (1599) Algier 2013 1/ 2-1/2}) {[%tqu "En","", "","","c2c4","",10]} 4. c4 $146 {[%mdl 512]} (4. c3 g6 5. d3 Bg7 6. Qb3 Nf6 7. e4 d4 8. Ne2 dxc3 9. Qxc3 O-O 10. Qxc5 Qxd3 11. Nbc3 e5 12. O-O Nd4 13. Nxd4 Qxd4+ 14. Qxd4 exd4 15. Ne2 d3 16. Nc3 Rd8 17. Bd2 Be6 18. b3 Ng4 {Jozwik, A-Brzostowska,M (2025) Augustow 1996 1/2-1/2 (49)}) (4. d3 Nf6 5. c3 e5 (5... e6 6. Nf3 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. d4 Ne4 9. e3 c4 10. a3 Na5 11. Nbd2 f5 12. Nxe4 fxe4 13. Nd2 Bd7 14. Bh3 b5 15. Rf2 Nc6 16. Qf1 Qe7 17. Qg2 a5 18. Nb1 b4 19. Bg4 bxc3 20. Nxc3 {De Barros E Silva,B (1881)-Vasconcelos,J (2143) Serra Talhada 2012 0-1 (73)}) 6. fxe5 Nxe5 7. Bg5 Be7 8. Bf4 Ng6 9. Nf3 Nxf4 10. Qa4+ Bd7 11. Qxf4 O-O 12. O-O Qb6 13. Qc1 Bd6 14. c4 Rae8 15. Ng5 Rxe2 16. Nc3 Rxb2 17. Rxf6 Rxg2+ 18. Kxg2 gxf6 {Koch,A-Jochem,H Germany 1992 1-0 (37)}) 4... Nf6 (4... dxc4 5. Na3) 5. d3 e6 {-0.14/28} (5... dxc4 $15 {-0.59/23 is more appropriate.} 6. dxc4 Qxd1+ 7. Kxd1 Bf5) 6. Nf3 Bd6 7. cxd5 exd5 {[%mdl 32]} 8. Qb3 O-O 9. h3 {-1.81/22} ({White should try} 9. O-O $15 {-0.65/24}) 9... b6 {-0.83/27} (9... Nh5 $19 {-1.81/22 and Black stays clearly on top.} 10. Kf2 Nf6) 10. O-O $17 Be6 {-0.61/24} (10... Re8 $17 {-1.06/22} 11. Bd2 Be6) 11. Qc2 {-1.20/21} ({White should play} 11. Qd1 $15 {-0.61/24}) 11... Qc8 {-0.53/25 } (11... Nh5 $17 {-1.20/21} 12. Kh2 Qf6) {[%tqu "En","", "","","g1h2","",10]} 12. Kh2 $1 $15 d4 13. e4 {[#] Hoping for e5. [%tqu "En", "","","","d4e3","",10] } dxe3 $1 {Accuracy: White = 21%, Black = 18%.} 0-1

A08 King's Indian Attack (1.g3 d5 2.Bg2 Nf6 3.Nf3 c5 4.O-O Nc6)

This is a rather old game, played over six years ago at Chess.com. At that time I was still creating open challenges and this is one of them. The game went wrong for me on move 11 when I moved my bishop to d7, which was passive and I should have gone for the aggressive square g4.

Armenia123 found the strongest reply 12.dxe4 and then I made the game losing blunder 12...Nxe4. A better alternative for me was 12...d4, but even then I would have been in serious trouble. The move 12...Nxe4 is a horrible move because it loses a piece by force. Had I not moved my bishop to d7 and ruined the connection between the queen and the bishop on d6, then the move Nxe4 would have been a playable option. The game ended with the moves 13.Nxe4 dxe4 14.Qxd6.

[Event "Let's Play!"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2011.07.31"] [Round "?"] [White "Armenia123"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A08"] [WhiteElo "1733"] [BlackElo "1863"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "27"] [EventDate "2011.??.??"] {[%evp 14,27,-54,-53,0,-26,-23,-43,46,43,108,127,508,516,541,514]} 1. g3 { A00 Hungarian Opening} d5 2. Bg2 Nf6 3. Nf3 c5 4. O-O Nc6 {A08 King's Indian Attack} 5. b3 e5 6. Bb2 Bd6 7. d3 (7. c4 d4 8. e3 O-O 9. exd4 cxd4 10. d3 h6 11. Re1 Bf5 12. a3 a5 13. Qc2 Nd7 14. Nbd2 Nc5 15. Ne4 Bxe4 16. dxe4 Qb6 17. Nd2 {1/2-1/2 (17) Aleksic,N (2417) -Pegorari,P (2380) Cutro 2001}) 7... O-O 8. Nbd2 {LiveBook: 9 Games. Black is slightly better.} Bf5 $146 {0.00/26} (8... Re8 $15 {-0.53/25} 9. e4 d4 10. a4 h6 11. Nc4 Be6 12. Nfd2 Bg4 13. f3 Bh5 14. Qe1 Nb4 15. Qd1 g5 16. Rf2 Qe7 17. Nxd6 Qxd6 18. Nc4 Qe7 19. Qd2 Nd7 20. f4 f6 21. Raf1 Rf8 22. Bh3 Nc6 23. Bf5 Kg7 {Macedo,A (1825)-Veiga,E (2082) Natal 2016 1-0 (45)}) (8... Bg4 9. e4 d4 10. h3 Bxf3 11. Nxf3 b5 12. a4 a6 13. Nh4 Re8 14. Nf5 Bf8 15. g4 c4 16. bxc4 bxc4 17. Ba3 Bxa3 18. Rxa3 c3 19. g5 Nd7 20. Qg4 Nf8 21. h4 Nb4 22. Rb3 a5 23. f4 {Kazarian,A (2162)-Paulet,I (2272) Amstelveen 2017 0-1 (37)}) (8... h6 9. c4 d4 10. Ne1 Be6 11. Ne4 Nxe4 12. dxe4 Rb8 13. Nd3 Qe7 14. f4 b5 15. f5 Bxc4 16. Rc1 Bxd3 17. exd3 f6 18. Bf3 a5 19. Bh5 Rfc8 20. Rb1 Nb4 21. a3 Na6 22. Qd2 Qd8 23. Rfc1 {Romano,J (1911)-Ruiz,C Buenos Aires 2003 0-1}) 9. e3 Re8 10. a3 e4 {0.46/25} (10... Qd7 $15 {-0.43/26} ) 11. Nh4 {[%tqu "En", "","","","f5g4","",10]} Bd7 {1.08/24} ({Better is} 11... Bg4 $1 $14 {0.43/27} 12. Bxf6 Bxd1 13. Bxd8 Bxc2) 12. dxe4 $16 Nxe4 $2 { 5.08/24 [%mdl 8192] [#]} (12... Be5 $16 {1.27/27}) 13. Nxe4 $18 dxe4 14. Qxd6 1-0 [Event "Chessmaster 8000 Rated Game"] [Site "?"] [Date "2002.09.19"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "Tasha"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A08"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "127"] [EventDate "2002.??.??"] 1. Nf3 {A04 Réti Opening} Nf6 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. O-O d5 {A08 King's Indian Attack} 5. e3 (5. b3 e5 6. Bb2 Bd6 7. c4 d4 8. e3 O-O 9. exd4 cxd4 10. d3 h6 11. Re1 Bf5 12. a3 a5 13. Qc2 Nd7 14. Nbd2 Nc5 15. Ne4 Bxe4 16. dxe4 Qb6 17. Nd2 {1/2-1/2 (17) Aleksic,N (2417)-Pegorari,P (2380) Cutro 2001}) 5... Bg4 {0.24/24} (5... e5 $17 {-0.79/21}) 6. d3 {-0.81/24} (6. h3 $11 {0.24/24} Bh5 7. d3) (6. d4 e6 7. Nc3 cxd4 8. exd4 Bd6 9. Bg5 h6 10. Bf4 Bxf4 11. gxf4 Ne4 12. h4 Bh5 13. Qe1 Nxc3 14. Qxc3 Rc8 15. Qb3 O-O 16. Qxb7 Bxf3 17. Bxf3 Nxd4 18. Bd1 Qxh4 19. Kg2 Qxf4 20. Qxa7 Nf5 {Villalba Galeano,A-Ramirez,L (1259) Ciudad del Este 2016 0-1}) 6... Qc7 $146 {0.08/23} (6... e5 $17 {-0.81/24}) (6... e6 7. b3 g6 8. Bb2 Bg7 9. Nbd2 O-O 10. h3 Bxf3 11. Nxf3 Re8 12. Qe2 e5 13. Rfd1 d4 14. e4 Nd7 15. Nd2 Qc7 16. Rf1 b5 17. a4 a6 18. f4 f6 19. h4 exf4 20. gxf4 Rac8 21. Rf2 {Lanchava,T (2276)-Gitu,P (1815) Tromsoe 2014 1-0 (52)}) 7. Nbd2 { -0.74/24} (7. h3 $11 {0.08/23} Bh5 8. b3) 7... Ne5 $2 {0.79/24 [#]} (7... Bh5 $17 {-0.74/24}) 8. h3 {White is better.} Nxf3+ {0.93/24} (8... Bxf3 $14 { 0.40/29} 9. Nxf3 Nc6) 9. Nxf3 $16 Bh5 {1.15/24} (9... Bxf3 $14 {0.43/28} 10. Qxf3 (10. Bxf3 O-O-O $14) 10... e5) 10. Qe1 {0.20/28} (10. b3 $16 {1.15/24}) 10... Bxf3 11. Bxf3 c4 {1.40/22} (11... Rd8 $11 {0.20/27}) 12. dxc4 {0.89/28} ( 12. e4 $142 {1.40/22}) 12... e6 {2.22/25} (12... Qxc4 $16 {0.89/28 was worth a try.} 13. Qd2 Rc8) 13. cxd5 $18 exd5 {2.69/23} (13... Nxd5 {1.94/26 might work better.} 14. Qe2 Rc8) 14. c3 {1.47/27} (14. e4 $18 {2.69/23}) 14... Bc5 { 1.97/22} (14... Bd6 $16 {1.47/27 is a better defense.} 15. Qe2 O-O) 15. b4 { 1.31/27} (15. b3 $18 {1.97/22}) 15... Bd6 $16 16. Bb2 {1.32/29} ({White should try} 16. Qe2 $18 {1.74/24}) 16... Qe7 {2.58/22} (16... O-O $16 {1.32/29 was necessary.} 17. Qe2 Be5) 17. Rd1 $18 Rd8 18. Qe2 {1.56/25} ({Better is} 18. Bxd5 $18 {2.63/24} Nxd5 19. Rxd5) 18... Kf8 $2 {3.51/23 [#]} (18... O-O $16 { 1.56/25} 19. Rd2 (19. Bxd5 Bxg3 20. Bg2 Be5 $16) 19... Qe6) 19. Rfe1 Be5 $2 { 3.94/22} (19... h5 {2.33/28} 20. c4 Bxb4) 20. e4 dxe4 21. Bxe4 ({Weaker is} 21. Rxd8+ Qxd8 22. Bxe4 Nxe4 $18) 21... Rxd1 22. Rxd1 $2 {1.53/27} (22. Qxd1 $18 { 4.81/25 is the precise move to win. aiming for Bxb7!} b6 23. Bc2) 22... Ne8 $2 {5.25/24} (22... Bxg3 $16 {1.53/27} 23. fxg3 Nxe4) 23. Qf3 h5 24. Bxb7 Rg8 $2 { 8.09/24} (24... h4 {3.99/27} 25. g4 Rh6) 25. h4 Nd6 26. Be4 Nxe4 27. Qxe4 g5 28. Rd5 Bf6 29. Qxe7+ Kxe7 30. hxg5 Bxg5 {Endgame KRB-KRB} 31. c4 h4 32. Kh2 hxg3+ 33. fxg3 Bf6 34. Bxf6+ Kxf6 {KR-KR} 35. Kg2 Rg4 36. Rc5 Rd4 37. a4 Ke6 38. Rc6+ Ke5 39. b5 Rd8 40. Rc7 Rd2+ 41. Kf3 Rc2 42. a5 Ke6 43. b6 axb6 44. axb6 Rb2 45. c5 Kd5 46. b7 f5 47. c6 {White mates.} Kc5 48. Rc8 Rb3+ 49. Kf4 Rb5 50. b8=Q Rxb8 51. Rxb8 Kxc6 {KR-KP} 52. Rf8 Kb5 53. Rxf5+ {KR-K} Kb4 54. g4 Kb3 55. g5 Kb2 56. g6 Kc2 57. g7 Kb2 58. g8=Q Kc3 59. Qd5 Kb2 60. Qd3 Ka2 61. Ra5+ Kb2 62. Re5 Ka1 63. Qd2 Kb1 64. Re1# {Accuracy: White = 51%, Black = 15%.} 1-0

D00 1.d4 d5: Unusual lines (1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 g6)

The game I am sharing today was played in a team match called Khamûl the Nazgûl at Chess.com. It was played on 17 boards between Lord Of The Rings and Cafe Jasmin - Open 24/7. I played on board 3 for Lord Of The Rings and I was able to win both of my games against my lower rated opponent. Lord Of The Rings was able to win the match with a score of 24.5 - 9.5. The first sign of trouble for nikdelhossein was when my opponent played 7.O-O. Unfortunately I did not find the move 7...Nxe5, which would have given me the initiative. The game might have continued 8.dxe5 Ng4 and now 9.f4 should not be played in view of very nasty move Qb6+. Therefore the move 9.e4 is much better.

I simply castled in the game, which should not have posed problems for my opponent, but nikdelhossein took another wrong turn with the move 8.a4. It was a better idea to just play 8.f4, so that if I were to take on e5, my opponent could take back with the f-pawn. I then took on e5 and when my opponent took back, I retreated with my knight to d7, which was not at all the correct idea. I needed to play 9...Ng4 in order to seize the advantage. My knight retreat equalized the position, but things started to go wrong again for nikdelhossein with the move 11.e6.

Moving the pawn to e6 loses the pawn by force, there is no way to protect the pawn sufficiently and therefore nikdelhossein should have gone for the counterattack with 12.e4 in reply to 11...Nc5. My opponent played 12.b4 instead and allowed me to take the pawn on e6 without any real resistance. I was not able to keep my advantage for a long time, since already with my 13th move d4, I threw most of my advantage away. Nikdelhossein should have played 14.Ne2 in order to take advantage of my mistake, but my opponent chose to play 14.exd4 instead and I replied by taking the pawn on d4 with my queen.

It forced the queen trade and everything seemed to go my way. For a few moves I was able to indeed play quite good moves, but then on move 20 I made a huge blunder cxb5. It would have allowed the knight to jump to d5 and my opponent would have had able counterplay for the lost material. Luckily for me, nikdelhossein played 21.Bxd6, which was much more easily dealt with than 21.Nd5 would have been. Up to the move 25.Kf1 I was on a clearly better side of the board, but then I played 25...a6 and the game was closer to a draw than one of the players winning the game again.

I played 25...a6, so that I could move my rook from a8, but alas it allowed the knight fork at c7, and my opponent could have won the pawn back from d5. For some reason nikdelhossein did not want to take back material, but moved the knight to e6 after Rac8. Both moves should be playable, but I would have gone for the material had I been the one controlling the white pieces. The game went downhill again for my opponent when nikdelhossein played 28.Nxg7.

A few moves later I messed up again and moved my king to f6 on move 31. I moved my king to f6 in order to protect my d-pawn. The problem with my move was that nikdelhossein could have replied with 32.Rb4 and the pressure against my b-pawn makes my progress in the position really difficult and my opponent does have enough compensation for the material at that point.

Nikdelhossein played 32.c4 in the game, which was the first of two consecutive blunders that my opponent made and caused my opponent's loss. For some reason the engine likes the move 32...Ke7 in reply and considers the position to be won for me. To me, it seemed more logical to go to e6 with the king and support the d-pawn. Then my opponent exchanged pawns, which was my opponent's final mistake, from which there was no coming back. My opponent continued the resistance up to the move 53...h3, after which nikdelhossein resigned.

[Event "Khamûl the Nazgûl - Board 3"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.04.16"] [Round "?"] [White "nikdelhossein"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D00"] [WhiteElo "1611"] [BlackElo "1820"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "106"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nc3 g6 {D00 1.d4 d5: Unusual lines} 4. Ne5 Bg7 5. g3 (5. h4 h5 6. Bf4 c5 7. Qd2 Qa5 8. O-O-O cxd4 9. Qxd4 O-O 10. f3 Be6 11. Qa4 Qc5 12. Qb5 Qc8 13. e3 a6 14. Qb4 Re8 15. Na4 Nc6 16. Qa3 Nxe5 17. Bxe5 Nd7 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. Qc3+ Qxc3 {Ryba,A (2149)-Joshi,S (2387) Parsippany 2011 1/2-1/2 (35)}) 5... Nbd7 $146 (5... b6 6. Bg2 Bb7 7. O-O Nbd7 8. Bf4 O-O 9. Qd2 e6 10. Bg5 Qc8 11. Bh6 a6 12. a4 c5 13. Bxg7 Kxg7 14. Nxd7 Qxd7 15. Qe3 Qd6 16. Rfd1 Rac8 17. h3 Qb8 18. a5 cxd4 19. Rxd4 b5 20. Rh4 {Radnoti,B (2275)-Rezsek,G Hungary 1991 1/2-1/2}) (5... c5 6. Bg2 cxd4 7. Qxd4 Nfd7 8. f4 Nxe5 9. fxe5 e6 10. e4 O-O 11. exd5 Nc6 12. Qc5 Nxe5 13. d6 b6 14. Qc7 Ba6 15. Qxd8 Raxd8 16. Bg5 f6 17. Bf4 Rxd6 18. Bxe5 fxe5 19. Ne4 Rd4 20. c3 {Campos,J (2255) -Bronstein,L (2390) Buenos Aires 1990 0-1}) 6. Bg2 c6 {Covers b5} 7. O-O (7. f4 a5 $11) 7... O-O ( 7... Nxe5 8. dxe5 Ng4 9. e4 $17) 8. a4 (8. f4 $142 $5 $11 {is an interesting idea}) 8... Nxe5 $17 9. dxe5 Nd7 (9... Ng4 $142 $5 $17) 10. f4 $11 f6 11. e6 ( 11. e4 $142 $5 {is interesting} dxe4 12. exf6 Qb6+ 13. Kh1 Nxf6 14. Qe2 $11) 11... Nc5 $17 12. b4 (12. e4 Nxe4 13. Nxe4 dxe4 14. Bxe4 f5 $17) 12... Nxe6 13. e3 d4 (13... f5 14. Qe1 $17) 14. exd4 (14. Ne2 $142 $5 $15 {must definitely be considered}) 14... Qxd4+ $17 15. Qxd4 Nxd4 16. Be4 (16. Rf2 Bf5 17. Ra2 Be6 $17 ) 16... Bf5 (16... f5 $142 $5 17. Bd3 Nxc2 18. Bxc2 Bxc3 19. Bb3+ Kg7 20. Rb1 $19) 17. Bxf5 $17 Nxf5 18. Re1 (18. Ne4 Rfd8 $17) 18... Kf7 (18... Nd4 $142 19. Rxe7 Nxc2 $17) 19. Ba3 $2 (19. Ra2 a5 20. Ne4 axb4 $19) 19... Nd6 (19... Nd4 $142 {keeps an even firmer grip} 20. Rec1 f5 $19) 20. b5 cxb5 (20... f5 $5 21. Bxd6 exd6 $19) 21. Bxd6 (21. Nd5 $5 {is worthy of consideration} Rfe8 22. Bxd6 exd6 23. Rxe8 Rxe8 24. axb5 $11) 21... exd6 $17 22. Nxb5 Rfd8 23. Rad1 d5 24. Re2 f5 25. Kf1 a6 {Black threatens to win material: a6xb5} (25... Rd7 $5 $17) 26. Nc7 $15 {White threatens to win material: Nc7xa8. White forks: a8+d5} Rac8 {Black threatens to win material: Rc8xc7} 27. Ne6 {White threatens to win material: Ne6xd8} Rd7 28. Nxg7 (28. Ng5+ $5 {is an interesting alternative} Kg8 29. Rde1 $15) 28... Kxg7 $17 29. Rd4 (29. Red2 b6 $17) 29... Rc4 30. Red2 Rxd4 31. Rxd4 Kf6 (31... b6 $17) 32. c4 $2 (32. Rb4 $142 $5 $11 {has some apparent merit}) 32... Ke6 (32... Ke7 $142 $17) 33. cxd5+ $4 {solves nothing} (33. a5 $142 $17) 33... Rxd5 $19 34. Rb4 (34. Rc4 {doesn't do any good} b5 35. axb5 axb5 $19) 34... b5 35. axb5 axb5 36. Ke2 Kd6 37. Ke3 (37. Rb2 {otherwise it's curtains at once} Kc5 38. Rc2+ Kb6 39. Rb2 $19) 37... Kc5 38. Rb3 (38. Rb1 { the last chance for counterplay} b4 39. h3 $19) 38... Kc4 39. Ra3 (39. Rb1 { hoping against hope} Rd3+ 40. Ke2 $19) 39... b4 40. Ra7 Kc3 (40... b3 41. Rb7 Rb5 42. Rc7+ Kb4 43. Rc1 b2 44. Rd1 Kc3 45. Rd3+ Kc4 46. Rd4+ Kc5 47. Rd1 b1=Q 48. Rxb1 Rxb1 49. Ke2 Kd4 50. h3 Rb2+ 51. Kd1 Kd3 52. Ke1 h6 53. g4 h5 54. h4 hxg4 55. h5 gxh5 56. Kf1 g3 57. Kg1 h4 58. Kf1 h3 59. Ke1 Rb1#) 41. Rxh7 Rc5 42. Rb7 (42. Rg7 {does not save the day} Rc6 43. Rd7 b3 44. Rd3+ Kc2 45. Rd2+ Kc1 46. Rd4 b2 47. Rb4 b1=Q 48. Rxb1+ Kxb1 49. Kd4 Re6 50. Kd3 Re1 51. h3 Rg1 52. Kd4 Rxg3 53. h4 Kc2 54. Ke5 Kd3 55. Kd6 Ke4 56. Kc5 Rf3 57. Kc6 Rxf4 58. h5 gxh5 59. Kc5 h4 60. Kc6 Rf2 61. Kb5 h3 62. Kc5 h2 63. Kd6 h1=Q 64. Kc6 Rc2+ 65. Kd7 Qh7+ 66. Kd6 Qc7+ 67. Ke6 Rc6#) 42... b3 43. Rd7 (43. g4 {does not solve anything} Rc4 44. gxf5 gxf5 45. Rd7 Re4+ 46. Kf3 b2 47. Rd1 Ra4 48. Rb1 Ra1 49. Rxb2 Kxb2 50. Kg3 Kc3 51. Kf2 Ra6 52. Kg3 Rh6 53. Kg2 Kd3 54. Kg3 Rh7 55. Kg2 Ke2 56. Kg3 Kf1 57. h3 Rh5 58. h4 Ke2 59. Kg2 Rxh4 60. Kg3 Rg4+ 61. Kh2 Kf2 62. Kh3 Rxf4 63. Kh2 Rh4#) 43... b2 44. Rb7 Kc2 45. Kd4 Rc6 (45... Rc3 46. Rxb2+ Kxb2 47. Ke5 Rc6 48. Kd4 Re6 49. Kd5 Re2 50. h3 Rh2 51. g4 Rxh3 52. gxf5 Rh5 53. Ke5 Rxf5+ 54. Ke4 Kc2 55. Ke3 Kc3 56. Ke4 Kd2 57. Kd4 Rxf4+ 58. Ke5 g5 59. Ke6 g4 60. Kd5 g3 61. Ke6 Ke3 62. Kd5 g2 63. Ke6 g1=Q 64. Ke5 Qg5+ 65. Ke6 Rf6+ 66. Ke7 Qg7+ 67. Ke8 Rf8#) 46. Kd5 Ra6 47. Ke5 (47. Rc7+ {a fruitless try to alter the course of the game} Kb1 48. h3 Ka1 49. Rb7 b1=Q 50. Rxb1+ Kxb1 51. Ke5 Ra3 52. g4 Rxh3 53. g5 Ra3 54. Kf6 Ra6+ 55. Ke5 Kc2 56. Kd4 Kd2 57. Kc5 Ra4 58. Kd6 Rxf4 59. Kc5 Ke3 60. Kd6 Re4 61. Kc5 f4 62. Kd6 f3 63. Kc5 f2 64. Kd6 f1=Q 65. Kc6 Qa6+ 66. Kd7 Rh4 67. Ke8 Rh7 68. Kf8 Qa8#) 47... b1=Q 48. Rxb1 Kxb1 49. h4 (49. Kd4 {is not much help} Kc2 50. h3 Re6 51. Kd5 Re3 52. g4 Rxh3 53. gxf5 Rh5 54. Kd4 Rxf5 55. Ke3 Kc3 56. Ke4 Kd2 57. Kd4 Rxf4+ 58. Ke5 g5 59. Ke6 Kc3 60. Kd5 Rf1 61. Ke6 g4 62. Kd5 g3 63. Ke6 g2 64. Kd5 g1=Q 65. Ke6 Qg6+ 66. Kd5 Rf5+ 67. Ke4 Qe6#) 49... Ra3 50. h5 (50. Ke6 {hardly improves anything} Rxg3 51. Ke5 Rg4 52. Kf6 Kc2 53. Ke5 Rxh4 54. Kf6 Rxf4 55. Kxg6 Rf1 56. Kg5 Kd3 57. Kf6 f4 58. Ke5 Ke3 59. Kf6 f3 60. Ke5 f2 61. Kf6 Rb1 62. Ke5 f1=Q 63. Ke6 Qa6+ 64. Kd5 Rb5+ 65. Kc4 Qc6#) 50... gxh5 51. Kxf5 Rxg3 52. Ke4 (52. Kf6 { does not help much} h4 53. f5 h3 54. Ke5 h2 55. f6 h1=Q 56. f7 Qh5+ 57. Kd6 Qxf7 58. Kc5 Rg5+ 59. Kd4 Qf4+ 60. Kd3 Rg2 61. Kc3 Rg3#) 52... h4 53. f5 h3 ( 53... h3 54. f6 h2 55. Kf4 Rd3 56. f7 h1=Q 57. f8=Q Qf1+ 58. Ke4 Qe2+ 59. Kf5 Rf3+ 60. Kg6 Qg2+ 61. Kh7 Rxf8 62. Kh6 Rh8#) 0-1

C50 Hungarian Defence and Giuoco Pianissimo (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Be7 5.c3 d6 6.cxd4 Nf6 7.Nc3)

This was played in a team match called TMCL 2016 Sub-Div. WL1 R3. It was played between Battle For Victory and TribaL KnighTs on 100 boards. I played on board 52 for Battle For Victory and won both my games on time. We were able to win the match with a score of 142 - 58. The only critical position in this game came after my 9th move Re8. In that position Zalan10 played 10.e5, which started the downhill from which my opponent could not recover from.

The most accurate move in reply would have been 10...Bxf3, according to the engine at depth 30. Both the game continuation and the move suggested wins a pawn, but the game continuation resulted in more exchanges than the move 10...Bxf3 would have. Zalan10's 16th move Rc1 was the final nail in the coffin and the game ended quickly after that.

[Event "TMCL 2016 Sub-Div. WL1 R3 - Board 52"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.04.25"] [Round "?"] [White "Zalan10"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "1482"] [BlackElo "1816"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "36"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Be7 5. c3 d6 6. cxd4 Nf6 7. Nc3 {C50 Hungarian Defence and Giuoco Pianissimo} O-O 8. h4 $146 (8. h3 Nxe4 (8... h6 9. O-O Re8 10. Bf4 Nxe4 11. Qb3 Nxc3 12. Bxf7+ Kf8 13. Bxe8 Ne2+ 14. Kh1 Qxe8 15. Be3 Qh5 16. Rfe1 Bxh3 17. Nh2 Nexd4 18. Bxd4 Nxd4 19. Qxb7 Re8 20. gxh3 Nc2 21. Qxc7 Nxa1 22. Rxa1 Qxh3 23. Qxa7 {Nouri,A (1506)-Darsalia,N Batumi 2016 1/2-1/2 }) 9. Nxe4 d5 10. Bd3 dxe4 11. Bxe4 Bb4+ 12. Kf1 Qd6 13. Bd2 Bxd2 14. Qxd2 Bd7 15. Rd1 Rfe8 16. Qd3 h6 17. g3 Nb4 18. Qb1 Bc6 19. Bxc6 Qxc6 20. Kg2 Rad8 21. a3 Nd5 22. Rhe1 a5 {Parniani-Boysan,M Varna 1962 1/2-1/2 (49)}) (8. d5 Ne5 9. Nxe5 dxe5 10. O-O h6 11. h3 Nd7 12. Qh5 Bd6 13. Be3 a6 14. Rac1 Qe7 15. Ne2 Nf6 16. Qf3 Nh7 17. Ng3 Qh4 18. Nf5 Bxf5 19. Qxf5 Rad8 20. Bd3 Nf6 21. Rc3 Rfe8 22. Rfc1 g6 {Horvath,G (2310)-Knezevic,M (2455) Keszthely 1981 1/2-1/2}) (8. Bb3 Bg4 9. O-O Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. Qd3 Nc6 12. dxc5 dxc5 13. Qxd8 Rfxd8 14. Bg5 Bxf3 15. gxf3 h6 16. Be3 a6 17. Rad1 Rac8 18. Rxd8+ Rxd8 19. Rd1 Rxd1+ 20. Bxd1 Kf8 21. f4 Nd7 22. Nd5 Nb4 {Zajic,J-Novacek,J Prague 1968 1/2-1/2}) (8. Bd3 Bg4 9. Be3 Nb4 $14) 8... Bg4 {White has a very active position} (8... Nxe4 9. Nxe4 d5 10. Bd3 dxe4 11. Bxe4 $15) 9. Be3 (9. d5 Ne5 10. Be2 $11) 9... Re8 (9... Nxe4 $142 10. Nxe4 d5 $15) 10. e5 $4 {throwing away the advantage} (10. Qb3 Bh5 11. Bd3 $14 (11. Qxb7 $143 Na5 12. Qa6 Nxc4 13. Qxc4 Nxe4 $15)) 10... dxe5 11. dxe5 Qxd1+ 12. Rxd1 Bxf3 13. gxf3 Nxe5 14. Be2 a6 (14... Rad8 15. h5 $17) 15. Rg1 ( 15. h5 Ned7 $17) 15... Rad8 16. Rc1 (16. Rxd8 $5 Bxd8 17. f4 $17) 16... Nd3+ $19 17. Bxd3 Rxd3 18. Ke2 Red8 0-1

C50 Hungarian Defence and Giuoco Pianissimo (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Qf6)

This game was played in a team match called TMCL 2016 Div C R4 OCD v World Friendship. The match was played on 57 boards between Obsessive Chess Disorder and World Friendship. I played on board 22 for OCD and won both my games against Susi. Obsessive Chess Disorder won the match with a score of 79.5 - 34.5. The last move of the opening 5...Qf6 is something that players should avoid of playing, since White can get a clear advantage because of it. Had I replied with 6.Nb5, it would have punished my opponent for the early queen movement. I usually just like to develop my pieces as quickly as possible and not move my pieces multiple times in the opening. However, I should remember in the future not to play 6.Be3, like I did in the game and instead jump with the knight to b5 if I end up in this position again.

Susi then moved the d-pawn forward one square, which was a huge blunder, since it complicates the development of the kingside pieces in a big way. It would have been a much better idea to develop the bishop to c5 first, so that the pieces would not be in the way of each other and piece development would be easy. Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT actually thinks that the game should be lost for Black after 6...d6. Alas, I was not able to play the most accurate moves and I made moves like 9.Nde2 and 12.Qe2 that enabled my opponent to get back into the game.

Susi was not able use the chance I gave him, he castled long when he should have played 12...g6 in preparation of fianchettoing the bishop and castling onto the kingside. I did not find the best follow up either, I just played 13.a3 with the idea of b4, b5. It was maybe a bit slow way of doing things and placing either of my knights to d5 was a much better idea. Susi then had the option to play 13...g5 and kick my knight away from f4 to h5 or d5. From h5 it would have prevented the development of the bishop, which was probably something I would have wanted to do. However, the knight on h5 would not have done anything else at h5 and would be also a bit out of play. My opponent chose to play 13...Kb8, which started the downfall, but it was not the losing move. The losing move Susi played against 14.b4 and it was 14...Na7. It was very important for my opponent to get some play in the position and not just try to defend against the onslaught. Susi's best chance for that play would have come in the form of 14...g5. It would have attacked the knight on f4 and had it gone to d5, then the bishop could have been developed finally to g7, where it would have controlled the long diagonal.

[Event "TMCL 2016 Div C R4 OCD v World Friendshi"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.04.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "Susi"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "1814"] [BlackElo "1712"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 h6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Qf6 {C50 Hungarian Defence and Giuoco Pianissimo} 6. Be3 d6 $2 $146 (6... Ne5 7. Bb3 Bb4+ 8. c3 Ba5 9. f4 Ng6 10. O-O d6 11. e5 Qe7 12. e6 fxe6 13. Qh5 Qf6 14. Qxa5 b6 15. Qb5+ Bd7 16. Qh5 N8e7 17. Nd2 d5 18. N2f3 c5 19. Ne2 O-O-O 20. Ne5 Be8 21. Nxg6 {Haidinger, E (1690)-Galic,S (1883) Croatia 2016 1-0 (58)}) (6... Bc5 7. c3 Ne5 (7... b6 8. O-O Bb7 9. Nxc6 Qxc6 10. Bd5 Qb5 11. Bxb7 Rb8 12. Bd5 Qxb2 13. Qb3 Qxb3 14. axb3 c6 15. Bc4 Bxe3 16. fxe3 Nf6 17. Rxa7 O-O 18. e5 Ng4 19. Rxd7 Nxe5 20. Rd4 b5 21. Be2 Ra8 22. c4 {Rigonati,E (1802)-Ferreira de Souza,R (1800) Sao Bernardo do Campo 2012 1-0}) 8. Be2 Qg6 9. O-O Nf6 10. Nd2 O-O 11. Nf5 Bd6 12. f4 Neg4 13. Bd4 h5 14. h3 Nh6 15. Nxh6+ Qxh6 16. e5 Nd5 17. exd6 Nxf4 18. dxc7 Qg5 19. Rxf4 Qxf4 20. Bxh5 d5 21. Qe2 {Velicka,P (2430)-Blatny,P (2560) Czechia 1997 1-0 (34)}) (6... a6 7. Nc3 Bb4 8. O-O Bxc3 9. bxc3 b5 10. Bb3 Nge7 11. f4 Bb7 12. Qe2 O-O-O 13. Rad1 d6 14. Qg4+ Kb8 15. Qe2 Na7 16. Qd3 c5 17. c4 cxd4 18. Bxd4 Qg6 19. f5 Qg4 20. Rde1 Rde8 21. cxb5 {Garrido,E-Gonzalez,E Santiago de Chile 1994 1-0 (33)}) (6... Bc5 $142 {and Black is still in the game} 7. c3 Nge7 $11) 7. Nc3 $18 a6 8. O-O Nge7 9. Nde2 (9. f4 $142 $5 $18) 9... Be6 $16 10. Bxe6 Qxe6 (10... fxe6 11. b4 g6 12. a4 Nxb4 13. Rb1 $16) 11. Nf4 Qd7 12. Qe2 {White has a very active position} (12. Re1 g5 13. Bd4 Ne5 $16) 12... O-O-O (12... g6 $14) 13. a3 {Black has a cramped position. Black's piece can't move: f8} (13. Nfd5 $5 Nxd5 14. Nxd5 $16 (14. exd5 $6 Ne5 $14)) 13... Kb8 (13... g5 $142 $5 {might be a viable alternative} 14. Nh5 f5 $11) 14. b4 $16 Na7 $2 (14... g5 $142 15. Nfd5 Bg7 $16) 15. a4 $18 {White plans b5} c6 $2 ( 15... Nac8 16. Rab1 $18) 16. Bxa7+ (16. b5 $142 {and the result of the game is clear: White will win} a5 17. Bb6 $18) 16... Kxa7 17. b5 c5 (17... g5 18. Nh5 d5 19. bxa6 bxa6 20. Nb5+ Ka8 $18) 18. bxa6 b6 (18... bxa6 {a last effort to resist the inevitable} 19. Rfb1 Qc8 $18) 19. Nb5+ Ka8 20. Rfd1 (20. Qc4 $142 { and White can already relax} d5 21. Nxd5 Nxd5 22. Rfd1 $18) 20... Nc8 (20... Qc6 {there is nothing else anyway} 21. Qc4 g5 $18) 21. Nd5 Qc6 22. a5 c4 23. Nd4 (23. axb6 Nxb6 24. Qe3 Kb8 25. Nxb6 d5 26. Rdb1 dxe4 27. Qf4+ Bd6 28. a7+ Kb7 29. a8=Q+ Rxa8 30. Nxd6+ Qxd6 31. Nxa8+ Kc6 32. Ra6+ Kd7 33. Qxd6+ Ke8 34. Nc7#) 23... Qc5 $18 24. axb6 (24. Qf3 Be7 25. e5 Ka7 26. exd6 Bxd6 27. Nc7 Bxh2+ 28. Kh1 Qxc7 29. Nb5+ Kxa6 30. Nxc7+ Bxc7 31. axb6+ Kb5 32. Rd5+ Rxd5 33. Qxd5+ Kxb6 34. Rb1+ Ka6 35. Qb7+ Ka5 36. Qb5#) 24... Nxb6 25. Nxb6+ Qxb6 26. Qxc4 d5 27. exd5 Bc5 28. Rab1 Qd6 (28... Qc7 {doesn't get the cat off the tree} 29. Nc6 Bb6 30. Qb5 Rb8 31. Nxb8 Rxb8 32. d6 Qc5 33. a7 Rb7 34. Qe8+ Kxa7 35. d7 Qxf2+ 36. Kh1 Qc5 37. Rxb6 Qxb6 38. Ra1+ Qa6 39. Qa8+ Kb6 40. Qxa6+ Kc7 41. d8=Q+ Kxd8 42. Qxb7 h5 43. Ra8#) 29. Nc6 (29. Nb5 Bb6 30. Nxd6 Rxd6 31. a7 h5 32. Rxb6 Rxb6 33. d6 h4 34. Qd5+ Kxa7 35. Ra1+ Ra6 36. Qc5+ Ka8 37. Rxa6+ Kb7 38. Ra7+ Kb8 39. Qc7#) 29... Rd7 (29... Rb8 {doesn't change the outcome of the game} 30. Nxb8 Rxb8 31. Rxb8+ Kxb8 32. Qb5+ Bb6 33. Rb1 Ka7 34. Qxb6+ Qxb6 35. Rxb6 Kxb6 36. d6 g5 37. c4 g4 38. a7 Kxa7 39. d7 Kb7 40. d8=Q Kc6 41. Qd5+ Kb6 42. c5+ Kb5 43. c6+ Kb6 44. Qd7 g3 45. c7 h5 46. c8=Q gxf2+ 47. Kxf2 h4 48. Qdb7+ Ka5 49. Qca8#) 30. Rb5 (30. Qb5 Qc7 31. Qxc5 h5 32. Rb7 Qxh2+ 33. Kxh2 Rxb7 34. axb7+ Kxb7 35. Rb1+ Kc7 36. Qe7+ Kc8 37. Rb8#) 30... Ba7 (30... Qxc6 { does not win a prize} 31. Rxc5 Qd6 32. Rc6 Qb8 33. d6 Rhd8 34. Qd5 Ka7 35. Qd4+ Ka8 36. Rb6 h5 37. Rxb8+ Rxb8 38. Qc5 Rb2 39. Re1 h4 40. Re8+ Rb8 41. Qc6+ Ka7 42. Rxb8 Kxb8 43. Qxd7 h3 44. Qb7#) 31. Rdb1 Qf6 (31... Rc8 {cannot undo what has already been done} 32. Rb7 Rxc6 33. dxc6 Qd1+ 34. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 35. Qf1 Rxf1+ 36. Kxf1 Bb8 37. c7 Bxc7 38. Rxc7 g5 39. c4 g4 40. Rb7 g3 41. fxg3 h5 42. c5 h4 43. c6 h3 44. c7 hxg2+ 45. Kg1 f6 46. c8=Q#) 32. Nxa7 Rxa7 (32... Kxa7 { doesn't improve anything} 33. Qc5+ Ka8 34. Rb6 h5 35. Rxf6 Rb8 36. Qc6+ Ka7 37. Qxd7+ Ka8 38. Rxb8+ Kxb8 39. Qb7#) 33. Rb6 (33. Rb6 Re7 34. Rxf6 Rb8 35. Rxb8+ Ka7 36. Qc5+ Kxb8 37. Qxe7 Kc8 38. Qe8+ Kc7 39. Rc6#) (33. d6 Qe7 34. dxe7 Rxe7 35. Qc6+ Ka7 36. Rb7+ Rxb7 37. Qxb7#) 1-0

C50 Hungarian Defence and Giuoco Pianissimo (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O d6 5.d3)

I am still going through my team match games from Chess.com and this one was played in a team match called 3.) 1/1/2016. HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016=SRETNA NOVA 2016.GODINA. It was played between MY FRIENDS International MY FRIENDS--MOJI PRIJATELJI and ISK Crvena Zvezda on 12 boards. I played on board 5 for MY FRIENDS International MY FRIENDS--MOJI PRIJATELJI and in addition to this draw, I was able to win my other game against vladoo76. The match ended with a score of 15 - 9 in our favor! While this game ended in a draw, there were few moments in the game where I could have seized a clear advantage. First of which came when my opponent played 23.Rf2. I had already a small advantage at that point, due to the inaccurate move 20.Nf3, so the combined effort of the 20th and 23rd move of vladoo76 led into a position where I was clearly better.

In the game I replied with 23...c6, which was not as good as the move 23...Nxd5. Knight can take on d5 due to the pin on the e-file. It is rather embarrassing that I did not see the obvious way to win a pawn. That being said my move is maybe good enough for a clear advantage. Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT at depth 37 seems to think so. Vladoo76 continued with 24.dxc6 and then I chose the wrong capture, I took on c6 with the pawn when I ought to have captured the pawn with my queen. The next moment in the game where my opponent started to go towards a clearly inferior position was seen when vladoo76 chose to play 30.Qc4.

Moving the queen off the b-file enabled me to play 30...Qb6+ without having the possibility for my opponent to trade queens. It was actually the best reply and the continuation 31.Kh1 Ng4 was the right idea, but then I deviated from the correct plan when I replied to 32.h3 with the move 32...Nf6. I should have played 32...Nf2+, which was the logical continuation for the sequence of moves started by 30...Qb6+. My 32nd move was not completely awful, I should still be preferred in the position, but the game would likely end up being a draw. We did end up agreeing to a draw a few moves later, but unfortunately for me, I did not understand how bad the last move 35.Qa6 actually was.

It turns out that I was in a winning position and agreed to a draw. It was not the first time I have made a bad judgement call on a position and it definitely is not going to be the last time. The game could have continued 35...Nh5 36.Rc2 d5 37.Qd3, for instance, and vladoo76 should be clearly on the defensive side of the board.

[Event "3.) 1/1/2016. HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016=SRETN"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.01.01"] [Round "?"] [White "vladoo76"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "1684"] [BlackElo "1806"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O d6 5. d3 {C50 Hungarian Defence and Giuoco Pianissimo} Be6 6. Bxe6 fxe6 7. c3 (7. Bg5 Nf6 8. Nc3 Qe7 9. Nb5 O-O-O 10. Nh4 h6 11. Bd2 g5 12. Nf3 a6 13. Nc3 Na5 14. a3 Nc4 15. Bc1 Be3 16. Bxe3 Nxb2 17. Qb1 {1-0 (17) Eschweiler,C-Hirsekorn,G (737) Magdeburg 2015}) 7... Nf6 (7... Bb6 8. Ng5 Qf6 9. Qh5+ g6 10. Qh3 h6 11. Nf3 O-O-O 12. Be3 g5 13. Nbd2 Nge7 14. Nc4 Rdg8 15. Nxb6+ axb6 16. d4 g4 17. Qh4 Qg6 18. Nd2 d5 19. f3 gxf3 20. g3 dxe4 21. Qxe4 Nf5 22. Nxf3 {Hunko,G (2054)-Toth,J (2043) Hungary 2006 0-1 (49)}) 8. d4 $146 (8. h3 O-O 9. Ng5 Qd7 10. Nd2 d5 11. Nb3 Bb6 12. c4 h6 13. Nf3 Rf7 14. c5 Ba5 15. Bd2 Bxd2 16. Qxd2 Qe7 17. Rac1 Raf8 18. a3 Nd7 19. Rc2 Qf6 20. Qe2 Qg6 21. Nbd2 Nf6 22. Nh4 Qg5 {Scherbakova,G-Nagorny,D Odessa 2007 1-0 (43)}) 8... exd4 9. cxd4 Bb6 10. d5 exd5 11. exd5 Ne7 {Black threatens to win material: Ne7xd5} 12. Nc3 {White has an active position} O-O { Black castles and improves king safety} 13. Ng5 {Black has a cramped position} Qd7 14. Be3 Bxe3 (14... Ba5 15. Ne6 Rfe8 16. Nf4 $15) 15. fxe3 $11 Ng6 (15... h6 16. Ne6 Rf7 17. e4 $11) 16. e4 (16. Qb3 Rab8 $14) 16... Rfe8 17. Qd3 Re7 18. Qc4 {White has an active position} Ne5 {Black threatens to win material: Ne5xc4 } 19. Qe2 h6 20. Nf3 (20. Ne6 Rf7 $11) 20... Nxf3+ $15 21. Qxf3 Rae8 22. Rae1 Re5 23. Rf2 (23. Qd3 c5 $15) 23... c6 (23... Nxd5 24. Nxd5 Rxd5 25. Qc3 $17) 24. dxc6 bxc6 {Black has new hanging pawns: c6+d6} (24... Qxc6 25. Rd1 $17) 25. Rfe2 Rf8 26. Qd3 Qe6 27. Qa6 Qd7 28. Qa3 (28. Qd3 Rf7 $15) 28... Qc7 $15 29. Qb3+ Kh8 30. Qc4 (30. Qb4 $142 $5 $15 {is noteworthy}) 30... Qb6+ $17 31. Kh1 Ng4 32. h3 (32. g3 $142 $17) 32... Nf6 (32... Nf2+ $142 $5 33. Kh2 Rg5 $17) 33. Qd3 Qb4 {Increasing the pressure on the isolated pawn on e4} (33... Nh5 34. g4 Nf4 35. Qxd6 $17) 34. a3 $11 {White threatens to win material: a3xb4} Qb8 35. Qa6 1/2-1/2

B00 Queen's Fianchetto Defence, Nimzowitsch Defence (1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 e5 3.d5 Nce7 4.c4 Ng6 5.Nf3)

This is one of the many team match games I have played at Chess.com. The match was played between La Belle France and Вежливые люди on 11 boards. I played on board 4 for La Belle France and in addition to this loss, I managed to draw my other game against Dreadnought53. Luckily for the team, other members were able to play better than me and we ended up winning the match with a score of 16.5 - 5.5. It was my opponent, who first made a mistake in this game, which resulted in a position where I was clearly better. Dreadnought53 played 8...h4, which does give a bit more room for the rook on h8 to move, but nothing more.

My best option was to develop my bishop to e2 and castle on the kingside after that. The way my opponent played the game up to that point, I did not like the idea of castling kingside, so I moved my queen to d2, which prepared castling on the queenside. Actually it was not that easy for my opponent to attack on the kingside, so I should not have been that worried about the possible attack. The next mistake was played by my opponent on move 18. In the game my opponent played 18...Nxd3+ and Dreadnought53's position started to fall apart.

Everything went my way until I played 25.Qf5. With that move I went from having a winning advantage to being only slightly better. I probably did not like to play Rf5, because allowing the queen exchange on g4 did not look like a good idea to me. Admittedly it still looks something I would not dare to attempt of playing, but according to the engine I should have a winning advantage in that continuation.

The game continued to be played in a roughly even manner until my opponent played 41...Re7, which was a huge blunder that could have lost Dreadnought53 the game. I found the strongest move according to Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT at depth 41, 42.Rxe7+. I thought at the time that this should be a rather straightforward win and up to the move 45...d5 I was indeed going towards a win.

After my opponent's 46th move the situation at the board had become difficult for me to play and finding the right move was not as easy as it was a couple of moves earlier. I played 46.exd5+ because I thought that I can't allow my opponent to have a protected passed pawn on the center of the board. It was not a good idea because after 46...Kxd5, the Black king seems to be much better placed at the center when compared to its counterpart, which aimlessly attacks the pawn on h4. That being said, I should still have a good position, but not as promising as it would have been after 46.Bd2.

It was only after 46...Kxd5 that I completely threw my advantage away by moving my king to f5. The move 47.b6 seems to be much better alternative. The last blunder of the game was played by me on move 52, I took on h4 with my bishop, not realizing that it is easily refuted with the move 52...Bd6 and I am hopelessly lost.

I had very good chances to win this game, I was given the chance to win multiple times, but Dreadnought53 was able to complicate things enough that I made awful moves, which resulted in my loss.

[Event "La Belle France vs ???????? ???? - Board"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.03.20"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "Dreadnought53"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B00"] [WhiteElo "1809"] [BlackElo "1905"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "106"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5 3. d5 {Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation, Linksspringer Variation} (3. dxe5 Nxe5 (3... Qh4 {Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation, Herford Gambit}) (3... Bc5 {Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation, Bielefelder Gambit}) 4. Nf3 {Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation, Paulsen Attack}) 3... Nce7 4. c4 Ng6 5. Nf3 {B00 Queen's Fianchetto Defence, Nimzowitsch Defence} Be7 $146 {Black's piece can't move: c8} (5... Nf6 6. Qc2 ( 6. Bd3 Bc5 7. Nc3 O-O 8. h3 a5 9. g3 d6 10. Qe2 Bd7 11. Be3 b6 12. Kf1 Bxe3 13. Qxe3 h6 14. Bc2 Nh7 15. Kg2 Ne7 16. Nd2 f5 17. exf5 Bxf5 18. Nde4 Rf7 19. f3 Qf8 20. h4 Nf6 {Neat,K (2315)-Watson,I (2210) Brighton 1980 1/2-1/2}) 6... Bc5 (6... Bb4+ 7. Nbd2 O-O 8. a3 Bxd2+ 9. Bxd2 d6 10. g3 Bg4 11. Bg2 Qc8 12. h3 Bd7 13. h4 Nh5 14. c5 f5 15. c6 bxc6 16. dxc6 Be6 17. Ng5 f4 18. Nxe6 Qxe6 19. g4 f3 20. Bf1 Nhf4 21. Bc4 {Wang,Z (2515)-Lin,W (2545) Beijing 1993 0-1 (40)}) 7. h3 d6 8. a3 a5 9. Nc3 Bd7 10. Na4 Nxe4 11. Nxc5 Nxc5 12. b3 Qf6 13. Be3 b6 14. Rc1 Nf4 15. Bxf4 Qxf4 16. Rd1 Bf5 17. Qc3 Qe4+ 18. Be2 Qc2 19. Qe3 Qxb3 20. Qg5 {Garcia,H-Figueroa,E Buenos Aires 1965 0-1 (39)}) (5... Bc5 6. Bd3 (6. Nc3 a6 7. Be2 d6 8. O-O h6 9. Bd2 N8e7 10. a3 O-O 11. b4 Ba7 12. Rc1 Nf4 13. Bxf4 exf4 14. Na4 Ng6 15. c5 Re8 16. cxd6 cxd6 17. Nd2 Qg5 18. Kh1 Nh4 19. Bf3 Qd8 20. Nb2 g5 {Lilley,G-Pokorny,J Kuortane 1976 1-0 (66)}) 6... N8e7 7. O-O d6 8. a3 a5 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Na4 Ba7 11. b4 Bd7 12. b5 h6 13. Nc3 f5 14. exf5 Bxf5 15. Bxf5 Nxf5 16. Qe2 Qd7 17. Ne4 Rf7 18. a4 Bd4 19. Ra2 Raf8 20. Rc2 {Ernst, K-Kaulfuss,H (2190) Darmstadt 1994 0-1 (34)}) (5... Nf6 6. Qe2 $11) 6. Nc3 d6 7. h3 {Prevents intrusion on g4} h5 (7... Nf6 8. Be2 $14) 8. Be3 h4 9. Qd2 (9. Be2 Nf6 $16) 9... Nf6 $14 10. Bd3 Nh5 11. O-O-O {Black has a cramped position} Ngf4 {Black threatens to win material: Nf4xg2} 12. Bf1 (12. Rdg1 Nxd3+ 13. Qxd3 c5 $11) 12... Bd7 13. Ne2 g5 14. Ne1 f5 {Nimzovich: attack the chain at its base} 15. f3 (15. Bxf4 $5 {is worth looking at} Nxf4 16. Nxf4 gxf4 17. Bd3 $11) 15... fxe4 (15... Nxe2+ 16. Bxe2 Ng3 17. Rg1 fxe4 18. c5 $17) 16. fxe4 $15 g4 ( 16... c5 17. Nf3 $15) 17. Nxf4 Nxf4 (17... exf4 18. Bd4 Bf6 19. Rg1 $11) 18. Nd3 (18. Bxf4 exf4 19. hxg4 Bxg4 $14) 18... Nxd3+ (18... Nh5 $5 {should be examined more closely} 19. Nf2 g3 $11) 19. Bxd3 $16 g3 (19... Rg8 20. Rdf1 $16) 20. Be2 (20. Rhf1 $142 c5 21. dxc6 Bxc6 22. c5 $18) 20... b6 $4 {another step towards the grave} (20... O-O $142 $16) 21. Rdf1 $18 Bf6 22. Qd1 (22. Rf3 { makes it even easier for White} O-O 23. Rhf1 Qe7 $18) 22... Ke7 $2 (22... O-O $142 23. Bg4 Qe7 $18) 23. Bg4 Bxg4 24. Qxg4 (24. hxg4 $142 {seems even better} Qg8 25. Rf5 $18) 24... Qg8 25. Qf5 {White threatens to win material: Qf5xf6} ( 25. Rf5 $142 {White missed this excellent chance} Qxg4 26. hxg4 $18) 25... Rf8 $14 26. Rf3 Kd8 {Black king safety improved} 27. Rhf1 (27. Qg4 Qxg4 28. hxg4 Be7 29. Rxf8+ Rxf8 $11) 27... Be7 28. Qe6 Qxe6 29. dxe6 Rxf3 {Black forks: e3+f1} 30. Rxf3 {White has a new passed pawn: e6} Rg8 31. Rf5 Rg6 {Black threatens to win material: Rg6xe6} 32. Rh5 Rxe6 33. Rh8+ Kd7 34. Rh7 Kc6 35. Kd2 a5 36. b3 Bd8 37. Rh8 {White threatens to win material: Rh8xd8} Be7 38. Rh7 Bf6 39. Rh6 Kd7 40. Ke2 Bd8 41. Rh7+ Re7 $4 {letting the wind out of his own sails} (41... Kc8 $142 $11 {was possible}) 42. Rxe7+ $18 Bxe7 43. Kf3 Ke6 $4 { a blunder in a bad position} (43... Kc6 $18) 44. Kg4 b5 45. cxb5 d5 46. exd5+ ( 46. Bd2 $142 {secures the point} dxe4 47. Bxa5 Bd8 $18) 46... Kxd5 47. Kf5 $4 { spoils everything} (47. b6 $142 {secures victory} cxb6 48. Bxb6 $16) 47... Bd8 (47... Bc5 48. Bg5 e4 49. Bxh4 $11) 48. Bg1 (48. Bd2 $5 Kd4 49. Bxa5 $11) 48... Be7 $11 49. Be3 {Twofold repetition} Bc5 {Black threatens to win material: Bc5xe3} 50. Bg5 e4 51. Kg4 {White threatens to win material: Kg4xh4} Kd4 52. Bxh4 $4 {allows the opponent back into the game} (52. Kxh4 $142 {would save the game} e3 53. Kxg3 $11) 52... Bd6 $19 53. Bf6+ (53. b6 {cannot change destiny} cxb6 54. Bd8 b5 $19) 53... Kd3 (53... Kd3 54. Bd8 e3 $19) 0-1

C78 Spanish Game: Archangelsk and Möller Defences (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Bc5 5.c3 d6 6.d4 Bb6 7.d5 a6 8.Ba4)

This very short game was played in a team match called TMCL 2016 Div C4 Round 5 Obsessive Chess Disorder!! v The United States Chess Club. It was played on 36 boards and I played on board 10 for Obsessive Chess Disorder. From my two games I was only able to win the game you can view below, the other game I lost. We were able to win the match with a score of 47 - 25!! This game features only one position of interest and that can be seen after the move 5.c3. The position after White's 5th move signifies the opening called C64 Spanish Game: Classical Variation. Zukertort Gambit, though it is likely that in many sources Spanish Game is replaced with Ruy Lopez. Previously I had this game in a post that named after C64 Spanish Game: Classical Variation. Zukertort Gambit, but I had to move this game here due to the way I am doing the opening classification these days. One should never go for this line C78 Spanish Game: Archangelsk and Möller Defences with Black pieces, because the position is quite lost after 5...d6.

The problem with the move was that I could just reply with 6.d4 and there is no way for LangstonTillman to save the piece. If the bishop moves to b6, like it did in the game, then the move 7.d5 wins the knight due to the pin that would not have existed without the d-pawn's advance. LangstonTillman replied with 7...a6, but it did not help because there was no b5 to follow it up, because the bishop blocked the pawn on b7. It was really easy to play the game after that and the game was resigned by my opponent a few moves later.

[Event "TMCL 2016 Div C4 Round 5 Obsessive Chess"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.05.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "LangstonTillman"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C78"] [WhiteElo "1818"] [BlackElo "1667"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "21"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Bc5 5. c3 {Spanish Game: Classical Variation. Zukertort Gambit} d6 (5... O-O 6. d4 Bb6 7. Bg5 {Spanish Game: Classical Variation. Modern Main Line}) 6. d4 Bb6 7. d5 a6 (7... O-O 8. dxc6 Nxe4 9. Qd5 {1-0 (9) Filev,G (2389)-Neichev,I Sofia 2010}) 8. Ba4 {C78 Spanish Game: Archangelsk and Möller Defences} Bxf2+ $146 (8... Bd7 9. dxc6 bxc6 (9... Bxc6 10. Bxc6+ bxc6 11. Bg5 h6 12. Bh4 O-O 13. Qa4 c5 14. Nbd2 Qe7 15. Nc4 Qe6 16. Bxf6 Qxf6 17. Nxb6 cxb6 18. c4 Rfb8 19. Qc2 b5 20. b3 b4 21. a3 a5 22. axb4 axb4 23. Qb2 Qf4 24. Qd2 {Kulovana,E-Burilova,P Czechia 2000 1-0}) 10. Bg5 (10. Qe2 O-O 11. Bg5 Re8 12. Nbd2 h6 13. Be3 Qe7 14. h3 Qe6 15. Bb3 Qe7 16. Rad1 Be6 17. Bxb6 cxb6 18. Bxe6 Qxe6 19. Nc4 b5 20. Nxd6 Red8 21. Nf5 Rxd1 22. Rxd1 Qxa2 23. Ne7+ Kf8 24. Nxc6 Rc8 {Zvereva,M (1632) -Rodha,A Durban 2014 1-0 (33)}) 10... O-O 11. Re1 h6 12. Be3 Re8 13. Bxb6 cxb6 14. Qxd6 Re6 15. Qd3 Qe7 16. Nbd2 Rd6 17. Qe2 b5 18. Bc2 Rd8 19. Rad1 Nh5 20. Nf1 Nf4 21. Qe3 Rg6 22. g3 Qe6 23. Nh4 {Attieh,W-Ghazi,H Beirut 2009 1-0 (39)}) (8... Nxe4 9. dxc6 bxc6 10. Bxc6+ {1-0 (10) Wodniak,S-Zawadka,P Polanica Zdroj 2012}) (8... Nxe4 9. dxc6 O-O $18) 9. Rxf2 b5 10. dxc6 bxa4 11. Qxa4 1-0

A07 Réti Opening: New York and Capablanca Systems (1.g3 e5 2.Bg2 Nf6 3.d3 d5 4.Nc3 Be6 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.O-O Be7 7.Bg5 O-O)

At Chess.com there is a tournament in progress called "EXPECT NO MERCY - NAZARETH TOUR!!!", from which this game is taken. This is from the first round of the tournament, which is nearly complete, there is only one game left to finish, before the second round can begin. I managed to win my group, which means I will take part on round 2, the only player from my group that will do so, since only the winner advances from one round to another. My opponent in the game below, csabiu, was on second place in the final standings of group 7 with 6 points, half a point behind me. Starting with the move 13.Kh1, csabiu's position went downhill for two consecutive moves.

I replied with 13...Bxh4 because it ruined the pawn structure on the kingside and I thought that is worth of giving up the bishop pair. I seem to have been correct the judgement since Stockfish also likes the move. Csabiu's next move 14.gxh4 was the second mistake in a row, it was better to take on h3 first. In the game continuation I should have then played 14...Bxg2+, but instead I went for the move 14...Qg4, which threatened mate, but it was easily dealt with 15.Rg1. The game continued in a roughly even manner until my opponent played 19.Rg2.

With the move played in the game my opponent went from a slightly favorable position to one where csabiu were clearly worse. For example, the game might have continued 19...dxc3 20.Bxc3 Rad8 and the weak central pawns should put csabiu on the defensive. I went for the wrong move order unfortunately, I played 19...Rad8, which would have allowed my opponent to take on d4 and the position would have been equal. Csabiu moved the knight to g1 on move 20 instead, which was perhaps the worst move of the game up to that point because I could have been able to get a winning advantage starting with 20...dxc3. I do not know why I did not play it, even though I had clearly planned on doing it after Rad8. There really was no threat along the g-file, so I can't remember my reasoning why I played 20...Kh8. It was an okay move and I should be in the favorable side of the board, but it would have made my job of winning the game much easier, had I just taken on c3. Because I allowed my opponent some breathing room, csabiu was able to play 21.Nf3 and attack my queen. I moved the queen to h3 thinking that I can use the diagonal c8-h3 for retreating the queen safely. It was not the right idea, however, I should have just moved the queen to h5.

Csabiu's reply 22.Rg3 was first of two consecutive bad moves made by my opponent. I then had two good squares for the queen, h5 and e6, I chose the latter. It was answered by the terrible move 23.Qf1 and I was given another chance to get a winning advantage starting with 23...dxc3. Unfortunately I was too defensively minded once again and overprotected the g7 pawn with my rook. Even after that my position should be quite good when compared to that of my opponent. Everything went on more or less my way after that up to the move 32.Nh4.

For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to play 32...Qg5 and I completely missed the annoyance factor caused by 33.Ng6+. It would have won the pawn back and the position would have been evenly fought, had my opponent just played 34.Nxf4 after I moved my king to g8. I guess csabiu thought that he or she can actually win the game in the game continuation 34.Rxe8+ Rxe8 35.Qd5+ and it would have been true had I not been able to just take the queen on d5 with its counterpart. In fact the move 34.Rxe8+ should have meant a loss for csabiu, but I was able to mess up this game with two consecutive bad moves, first one being 36...Re2 and the second 37...Rd2.

The game ended to a perpetual check that I allowed when I played 38...Rxd3.

[Event "EXPECT NO MERCY - NAZARETH TOUR!!! - Ro"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.01.07"] [Round "?"] [White "csabiu"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A07"] [WhiteElo "1654"] [BlackElo "1814"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] {[%evp 17,87,-20,-14,-22,-23,-22,5,-4,33,-59,-65,-90,57,0,0,0,0,0,40,-41,93, -113,0,-246,-71,-80,-17,-86,-89,-204,-106,-144,-113,-136,-65,-76,-54,-129,-64, -74,-72,-144,-133,-197,-191,-184,-192,-322,-31,-25,-25,-349,-356,-457,-451, -432,-59,-85,-37,-29,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. g3 {A00 Hungarian Opening} e5 2. Bg2 Nf6 3. d3 d5 {[%mdl 32]} 4. Nc3 Be6 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. O-O Be7 7. Bg5 O-O { A07 Réti Opening: New York and Capablanca Systems} 8. e4 d4 9. Ne2 Qd7 { LiveBook: 3 Games} (9... h6 10. Bd2 Qd6 11. Ne1 Nd7 12. f4 f5 13. h3 fxe4 14. dxe4 a5 15. Nd3 Bc4 16. b3 Bf7 17. Kh1 Bf6 18. Qe1 Nc5 19. Nec1 Nd7 20. Ne2 Nc5 {1/2-1/2 (20) Hickl,J (2500)-Hort,V (2580) Dortmund 1989}) 10. Nh4 $146 (10. Bd2 Bh3 11. Bxh3 Qxh3 12. Ng5 Qh5 13. f4 Ng4 14. Nf3 f5 15. exf5 Rxf5 16. Kg2 Raf8 17. c3 Kh8 18. h3 Ne3+ 19. Bxe3 dxe3 20. Qb3 exf4 21. Nxf4 Rxf4 22. gxf4 Qg6+ 23. Kh1 e2 24. Rg1 Qh5 {Movsziszian,K (2464)-Aabling Thomsen,J (2341) San Sebastian 2016 1/2-1/2 (31)}) (10. Kh1 Bh3 11. Nfg1 Bxg2+ 12. Kxg2 Ng4 13. Bxe7 Nxe7 14. h3 Nf6 15. f4 exf4 16. Nxf4 Qb5 17. Rb1 Rad8 18. Nf3 c5 19. g4 c4 20. g5 Nd7 21. h4 Ne5 22. Nxe5 Qxe5 23. Nh5 Ng6 24. Qg4 cxd3 {Grabner,J-Kunschek,H Vienna 1998 0-1 (40)}) (10. Bc1 Bg4 11. Nd2 Nh5 12. a3 a5 13. f3 Bh3 14. Rf2 Ra6 15. Qf1 Bxg2 16. Qxg2 Nd8 17. Nc4 Qe6 18. a4 g6 19. g4 Ng7 20. f4 exf4 21. Bxf4 c5 22. Bd2 Nc6 23. Nf4 Qd7 24. Raf1 Nb4 {Petran,P (2410)-Karsa,L (2390) Hungary 1994 1-0}) 10... h6 11. Bd2 Bh3 12. a3 Nh7 13. Kh1 {-0.59/21} (13. Bxh3 $14 {0.33/27} Qxh3 14. Nf5) {[%tqu "En","","","","e7h4","",10]} 13... Bxh4 $1 $15 14. gxh4 {[%tqu "En","","","","h3g2","",10]} Qg4 {0.57/26} (14... Bxg2+ $1 $17 {-0.90/26} 15. Kxg2 f5) 15. Rg1 {0.00/30} (15. Bxh3 $14 {0.57/26} Qxh3 16. Ng3) 15... Qxh4 $11 16. Bxh3 Qxh3 17. Rg3 Qh4 18. c3 {-0.41/25} (18. Qg1 $14 { 0.40/27}) 18... Nf6 {0.93/27} (18... dxc3 $15 {-0.41/25 stays ahead.} 19. Nxc3 Kh8) 19. Rg2 $2 {-1.13/23 [#]} (19. Qf1 $16 {0.93/27 and life is bright.}) { [%tqu "En","","","","d4c3","",10]} 19... Rad8 {0.00/28} ({Black should try} 19... dxc3 $1 $17 {-1.13/23} 20. Nxc3 Nd4) 20. Ng1 $2 {-2.46/25} (20. cxd4 $11 {0.00/28 and White is okay.} exd4 21. Ng3) 20... Kh8 $2 {-0.71/26} (20... dxc3 $19 {-2.46/25 and Black stays clearly on top.} 21. Bxc3 {[%tqu "En","","","", "f6e4","",10]} Nxe4 $1 {[%mdl 512]}) 21. Nf3 Qh3 {-0.17/27} (21... Qh5 $17 { -0.80/23} 22. cxd4 Nxd4 23. Nxd4 Rxd4) 22. Rg3 {-0.86/25} (22. cxd4 $11 { -0.17/27 keeps the balance.} exd4 23. Ng1) 22... Qe6 $17 {[#] And now ...dxc3 would win.} 23. Qf1 {-2.04/23} (23. cxd4 $17 {-0.89/26} Nxd4 24. Bb4) 23... Rg8 {-1.06/26} (23... dxc3 $19 {-2.04/23} 24. bxc3 Ne7) 24. Rh3 Nh7 25. c4 f5 { -0.65/28} (25... g5 $17 {-1.36/25} 26. b4 f5 27. exf5 Qxf5) 26. exf5 $15 Qxf5 { [%tqu "En","","","","f1g2","",10]} 27. b4 {-1.29/23} (27. Qg2 $1 $15 {-0.54/27} Rd6 28. Rg1) {[%tqu "En","","","", "g7g5","",10]} 27... Ne7 {-0.64/29} (27... g5 $1 $17 {-1.29/23 ...g4 is the strong threat.} 28. Ng1 Rg6) 28. Re1 Ng6 $36 { [%mdl 2048] Keeping White busy.} 29. Re4 {-1.44/25} ({White should play} 29. Rg3 {-0.72/26}) 29... Rge8 30. Qg2 {-1.97/24} (30. Nh4 $17 {-1.33/28 might work better.} Nxh4 31. Rexh4) {[%tqu "En","","","", "g6f4","",10]} 30... Nf4 $1 $19 31. Bxf4 exf4 32. Nh4 {-3.22/25} (32. Nxd4 {-1.92/28 was the only defense.} Qd7 33. Nf3) 32... Qg5 $2 {-0.31/30} (32... Rxe4 $19 {-3.22/25} 33. dxe4 Qf7 34. Ng6+ Kg8) 33. Ng6+ $15 Kg8 34. Rxe8+ $4 {-3.49/29 [%mdl 8192]} (34. Nxf4 $11 {-0.25/29 and White stays safe.} Qf5 35. Rxe8+ Rxe8 36. Qg3) 34... Rxe8 $19 35. Qd5+ Qxd5+ 36. cxd5 {[%mdl 4096] Endgame KRN-KRN} Re2 $2 {-0.59/30} (36... Ng5 $19 {-4.32/30} 37. Rh5 Re1+ 38. Kg2 f3+ 39. Kg3 Rg1+ 40. Kf4 Rg2 41. Rxg5 Rxg5 42. Ne7+ Kf7) 37. Rf3 Rd2 {-0.37/30} (37... Nf6 $17 {-0.85/25} 38. Kg2 Rd2 39. Rxf4 Rxd3) 38. Rxf4 $15 Rxd3 39. Ne7+ {The position is equal.} (39. d6 $5 Rd1+ 40. Kg2 cxd6 41. Ne7+ Kh8 42. Ng6+ Kg8 43. Ne7+ Kh8 44. Ng6+ Kg8 $11) 39... Kh8 40. Ng6+ Kg8 {White must now prevent . ..Nf6.} 41. Ne7+ Kh8 42. Ng6+ Kg8 {Hoping for ...Nf6.} 43. Ne7+ Kh8 44. Ng6+ {Accuracy: White = 17%, Black = 15%.} 1/2-1/2

C98 Closed Spanish Game: Chigorin Defence, 11.d4 Qc7 12.Nbd2 Nc6 (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.h3 Na5 9.c3 O-O 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Qc7 12.Nbd2 cxd4 13.cxd4 Nc6 14.Nf1 exd4 15.Bf4)

While I do still keep correcting and perhaps improving on my previously posted games, this game may be something I have not shared in this blog before. I am maybe 90% sure that it has not appeared here before, the reason why I share this now, is that it was the next one on the list of analysed games in the database I am going through. It is actually a mixed bunch of games, containing both previously shared and games that have not appeared here before. I will mainly concentrate on making changes to the old posts, but these new games may appear from time to time. This game was played at Chess.com in a team match called EPIC MATCH. It was played between The King Attackers and DORU-66 & HIS BEST FRIENDS on 60 boards. I played on board 9 for DORU-66 & HIS BEST FRIENDS and lost both of my games. The final result, however, was 51.5 - 68.5 in our favor! For the first 23 moves the game both players made reasonable moves, but then it was me who messed up and then it was quickly over for me.

In the game I played 24.Nexd4, which was the game losing blunder. I did continue playing for awhile, but the game continuation shows quite well how hopeless my task was. The game ended in a position where the material is even, but I could not prevent my opponent from queening the a-pawn without giving my queen for it.

[Event "EPIC MATCH - Board 9"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.04.24"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "Ardell9648"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C98"] [WhiteElo "1808"] [BlackElo "1980"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. h3 Na5 9. c3 O-O 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Qc7 12. Nbd2 cxd4 13. cxd4 {Spanish Game: Morphy Defense. Chigorin Defense Panov System} Nc6 14. Nf1 exd4 15. Bf4 { C98 Closed Spanish Game: Chigorin Defence, 11.d4 Qc7 12.Nbd2 Nc6} Be6 16. a3 Nd7 17. Rc1 Qb6 18. Ng3 g6 $146 {Secures f5+h5} (18... Nde5 19. Nf5 Bf6 20. b3 (20. Nxd6 Rfd8 21. Nxe5 Bxe5 22. Bxe5 Nxe5 23. Nf5 d3 {0-1 (23) Nurkic,S (2395) -Lazic,M (2495) Pula 1990}) 20... Rfd8 21. N3xd4 Nxd4 22. Nxd4 Bxh3 23. Be3 Bg4 24. f3 Bh5 25. Ne6 Qa5 26. Nxd8 Rxd8 27. Rf1 g5 28. g4 Bg6 29. Qd5 Qxa3 30. Bd1 h6 31. Be2 Qb2 32. Rf2 Qa3 33. Kg2 {Salas Romo,J-Letelier Martner,R Santiago de Chile 1951 0-1 (40)}) (18... Nde5 19. Nf5 $11) 19. Ne2 $11 {The pressure on the isolated pawn grows. White threatens to win material: Ne2xd4} Bf6 20. Bxd6 Rfc8 21. Bd3 {The white bishop is safe in front of d4} Nce5 22. Bxe5 Nxe5 23. Rxc8+ Rxc8 24. Nexd4 $2 (24. Nf4 $142 $11 {is a viable option}) 24... Nxf3+ $17 25. Nxf3 Bxb2 26. a4 $4 {terrible, but the game is lost in any case} (26. Ng5 $142 $19) 26... Rc1 27. Qe2 Rxe1+ 28. Nxe1 bxa4 29. Bxa6 Bc3 30. Nf3 (30. Nc2 { praying for a miracle} Qb2 31. Kh2 $19) 30... a3 31. Bc4 Bxc4 32. Qxc4 Qb2 ( 32... Qb2 33. Kh2 a2 34. Qf1 a1=Q 35. Qxa1 Qxa1 36. h4 Qf1 37. h5 gxh5 38. Kg3 Ba5 39. e5 Bb6 40. Kf4 Bxf2 41. g4 Qd3 42. gxh5 Qe3+ 43. Kg4 Qe4+ 44. Kg5 Qxf3 45. e6 f6+ 46. Kh6 Be3#) 0-1

B76 Sicilian Dragon: Yugoslav Attack, 9.g4 and 9.O-O-O (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.Qd2 O-O 8.O-O-O Qa5 9.Be2 d6 10.f3 Nxd4 11.Bxd4 Be6 12.Kb1)

The game I am sharing today was played in a mini-tournament called "ichthus's mini-tournament v" and it was held at GameKnot. It was an invitation only mini-tournament and 9 players took part in it. This has been so far the only mini-tournament I have been able to win. My opponent, ichthus, who created the mini-tournament was on 5th place in the final standings. The first real mistake according to Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT is 12...Kh8, though 8...Qa5 may need to be looked at more closely, better moves were probably available for my opponent on move 8. Not sure what the idea behind the move 12...Kh8 was, it seems to be just wasting time.

I replied with 13.g4, and my plan was to try and open files on the kingside. Ichthus then tried to get some play on the c-file by moving the rook from a8 to c8. I should have then played 14.a3, according to the engine at depth 32. I played 14.b3 in the game and the advantage I had before vanished into thin air. A few moves later my opponent threw the game away when he moved the knight to g3 on move 17.

The blunder by my opponent allowed forced mate, starting with 18.Qh6+. After seeing my 18th move, ichthus resigned, which was probably the best thing to do in that position.

[Event "ichthus's mini-tournament v"] [Site "http://gameknot.com/chess.pl?"] [Date "2016.10.19"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "ichthus"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B76"] [WhiteElo "1792"] [BlackElo "1868"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "35"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 {Sicilian Defense: Old Sicilian. Normal} 5. Nc3 g6 (5... e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 (8... Be6 {Sicilian Defense: Lasker-Pelikan Variation, Bird Variation}) 9. Bxf6 (9. Nd5 {Sicilian Defense: Lasker-Pelikan Variation, Sveshnikov Variation, Chelyabinsk Variation} ) 9... gxf6 10. Nd5 f5 11. Bxb5 {Sicilian Defense: Lasker-Pelikan Variation. Sveshnikov Variation Peresypkin's Sacrifice}) 6. Be3 Bg7 7. Qd2 O-O 8. O-O-O Qa5 (8... Ng4 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. Bg5 Rb8 11. Bc4 Qb6 12. Bb3 Qxf2 13. Rdf1 Qxd2+ 14. Kxd2 Bh6 15. Bxh6 Nxh6 16. Rf4 d6 17. h3 Be6 18. g4 Bxb3 19. axb3 f6 20. Ra1 Rb7 21. Ra6 Rc8 22. Rf1 Nf7 23. Rfa1 {Dengler,P (2330)-Schindler,W (2295) Bayern 1994 0-1 (56)}) 9. Be2 $146 (9. Nb3 Qc7 10. Bf4 (10. Bh6 a5 11. Bxg7 Kxg7 12. f4 a4 13. Nd4 Nxd4 14. Qxd4 Qxf4+ 15. Kb1 d6 16. g3 Qg5 17. Nxa4 Qa5 18. Nc3 Be6 19. Bc4 Bxc4 20. Qxc4 Rfc8 21. Qb3 Rc7 22. Rdf1 Rf8 23. h3 Qa6 24. Nd5 Nxd5 {Verhasselt,K (1596)-Barbier,A (1660) Bruges 2012 1/2-1/2 (45)}) 10... d6 11. Bb5 a6 12. Nd5 Qd8 13. Nxf6+ exf6 14. Bxc6 bxc6 15. Bxd6 Re8 16. Ba3 Qxd2+ 17. Rxd2 Bh6 18. Rhd1 Bxd2+ 19. Rxd2 Be6 20. Nc5 Rad8 21. Re2 Bg4 22. f3 Be6 23. e5 Bxa2 {Foldes,M (1159)-Gil Ojeda,L Tenerife 2015 1-0 (52)}) (9. Bc4 Ne5 10. Bb3 a6 11. h4 b5 12. a3 b4 13. Nb1 Nxe4 14. Qe1 Qc7 15. Qxb4 e6 16. Nxe6 dxe6 17. Qxe4 Bb7 18. Qb4 Bxg2 19. Rhe1 Nf3 20. Bb6 Qb7 21. Re3 Bh6 22. Ba4 Rab8 23. Bc5 Qxb4 {Kanteraki,M (1171)-Mashchenko,T Al Ain 2013 0-1}) (9. f3 d6 $16) 9... d6 $14 10. f3 {Covers g4} Nxd4 11. Bxd4 Be6 {Black threatens to win material: Be6xa2} 12. Kb1 {B76 Sicilian Dragon: Yugoslav Attack, 9.g4 and 9.O-O-O} Kh8 (12... Rfc8 $5 {is interesting} 13. a3 Rab8 $11) 13. g4 $16 Rac8 14. b3 (14. a3 $5 $16) 14... a6 {Consolidates b5} 15. h4 h5 (15... Nd7 16. Nd5 Qxd2 17. Rxd2 Bxd5 18. exd5 $11) 16. gxh5 Nxh5 17. Kb2 {White king safety dropped} (17. Qh6+ Kg8 18. Bxg7 Nxg7 19. Nd5 Bxd5 20. Rxd5 $11 (20. exd5 $2 Rxc2 21. Kxc2 Qxa2+ 22. Kc3 b5 (22... Qxe2 $6 23. Qd2 Rc8+ 24. Kb2 Qxf3 25. Rhf1 $19) 23. Bxb5 axb5 $19)) 17... Ng3 $4 {ignoring the path to victory} ( 17... Kh7 $142 $15 {the only rescuing move}) 18. Qh6+ (18. Qh6+ Kg8 19. Qxg7#) 1-0

B85 Sicilian Scheveningen: 6.Be2 a6, lines with early Be3 (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Be2 e6 7.O-O a6 8.Be3 Be7 9.f4 Qc7 10.Bf3 O-O 11.Qe1 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 e5 13.Be3 b5)

This one was played in a team match called LullabyVisca vs !♔NM Aww-Rats Free Video Lessons!♔ at Chess.com. The match was played on 90 boards and I played on board 20 for LullabyVisca, out of the two games I was only able to win this game, the other game I lost. The match ended with a score of 99 - 81 in our favor, according to Chess.com. The comment section of the match is full of accusations between two players and about the real score of the match, but I am not going to go into that rabbit hole here. The first blunder of the game was seen when my opponent played 17...f6. Up to that point both players were able to play good moves.

Cratercat played 17...f6, which gave me a chance for a clear advantage, had I replied with 18.Bg4. Instead of trying to get advantage of the weakened light squares around the king, I moved my pawn to f5 in an attempt to open a diagonal for my dark-squared bishop and focus on the square g7. The second blunder by my opponent came quickly after this when Cratercat played 19...Qc6.

Moving the queen to c6 was horrible because I could have replied with 20.b4 and my opponent would have needed to loss some material. If the knight would go to d7, then a line like 21.Bh6 Bf8 22.Rxd6 might occur and it would be clear that Cratercat's position is lost. The same idea can be seen in the following continuation 20...Na4 21.Nxa4 bxa4 22.Bh6 Bf8 23.Rxd6. Actually the engine thinks that it is better to just give up the knight on c5 after b4 and move the queen to e8 instead at depth 28. I played 20.Nd5 in the game, which was enough for a winning advantage. It was answered with 20...Bd8, making the position of my opponent even worse. Now that the bishop could no longer come in the defense of g7, I decided to threaten mate with 21.Bh6. It was easily dealt with the reply 21...Qd7. Again pushing my pawn to b4 was my strongest alternative on move 21. Had I done that I would have been on my way to win the game. After the queen had moved to d7, I finally played b4, but at that time the reason why it would have been a strong move earlier had already disappeared.

Cratercat moved the threatened knight to a4, since it was the only safe square for the piece, but it was a better idea to take on d5 first. The move 22...Na4 gave me an opportunity to play 23.Nxf6+, which would have probably ended the game quicker due to the continuation 23...Bxf6 24.Rxd6 Qf7 25.Rd7. I was not paying enough attention to the position and played the horrible move 23.Kh1 for some incomprehensible reason. At that moment I was actually slightly worse, luckily for me, my opponent made the game losing move next. Cratercat played 23...Nc3, which lost material by force.

I finally found the refutation to one of my opponent's blunders and the game continued with the moves 24.Nxc3 Rxc3 25.Rxd6 Qf7. At that time I was not only up a pawn in material, but I also could have started a forced mate in three sequence with 26.Rxd8+. I obviously was not thinking my reply to 25...Qf7 all that much, because I chose the move 26.Rd7 instead of the forced mate... The line I chose easily wins the game as well, but I could have avoided some unnecessary moves, had I gone with the strongest continuation.

[Event "LullabyVisca vs !?NM Aww-Rats Free Vid"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2015.08.19"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "Cratercat"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B85"] [WhiteElo "1874"] [BlackElo "1743"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 {Sicilian Defense: Old Sicilian. Normal} 5. Nc3 d6 (5... e5 6. Nxc6 {Sicilian Defense: Lasker-Pelikan Variation, Exchange Variation} (6. Nb3 {Sicilian Defense: Lasker-Pelikan Variation, Schlechter Variation}) (6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. Nd5 Bg7 {Sicilian Defense: Lasker-Pelikan Variation, Sveshnikov Variation, Novosibirsk Variation})) 6. Be2 e6 7. O-O a6 8. Be3 Be7 9. f4 Qc7 10. Bf3 O-O 11. Qe1 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 e5 13. Be3 b5 {B85 Sicilian Scheveningen: 6.Be2 a6, lines with early Be3} 14. a3 Bb7 15. Qg3 (15. Rd1 Bc6 16. f5 a5 17. g4 Qb7 18. Nd5 Bxd5 19. exd5 e4 20. g5 exf3 21. gxf6 Bxf6 22. Bd4 Rfe8 23. Qg3 Bxd4+ 24. Rxd4 Qb6 25. c3 Re4 26. f6 g6 27. Rfd1 Rae8 28. Qxf3 R4e5 29. Qf2 Rf5 {Paoli,E (2270)-Ornstein,A (2430) Eksjo 1975 0-1 (49)}) 15... Rfc8 $146 (15... Nd7 16. f5 Bf6 17. Qg4 Nb6 18. Be2 Nc4 19. Bxc4 Qxc4 20. Qh5 Bxe4 21. g4 g6 22. Qh3 Bh8 23. f6 Bb7 24. Qh4 Qc6 25. Qg3 d5 26. Bg5 d4 27. Nd1 Qxc2 28. Rc1 Qe4 29. Re1 Qd5 30. Rxe5 { Potievskaya,A (1884) -Gudkov,G (1865) Petrozavodsk 2012 1/2-1/2 (38)}) (15... Kh8 16. Rad1 Bc6 (16... Rac8 17. Kh1 Rfe8 18. fxe5 dxe5 19. Nd5 Bxd5 20. exd5 Bd6 21. Qh3 e4 22. Bg4 Nxg4 23. Qxg4 f6 24. h4 Qe7 25. c3 a5 26. h5 Rf8 27. Rf5 h6 28. Bf4 Rc4 29. Re1 Re8 30. Qg6 Bxf4 31. Rxf4 {Jacek,K (2126) -Kowalski,M (1756) Koszalin 2012 1-0 (57)}) 17. Rd3 a5 18. Rfd1 b4 19. Nd5 Bxd5 20. exd5 e4 21. R3d2 exf3 22. Qxf3 bxa3 23. bxa3 Nd7 24. Bf2 Bf6 25. Qd3 Rac8 26. Rb1 Rb8 27. Rdd1 Rxb1 28. Rxb1 Rb8 29. Qd1 Rxb1 30. Qxb1 {Cwiek,P (1730) -Choisy,M (2094) La Roche sur Yon 2008 0-1 (42)}) 16. Rad1 Nd7 17. Rd2 f6 $2 (17... exf4 18. Bxf4 Ne5 19. Bh5 $11) 18. f5 $4 {Black has a cramped position. White loses the upper hand} (18. Bg4 $5 $16) 18... Nc5 (18... Nb6 19. Rd3 $11) 19. Rfd1 ( 19. Qh4 $142 $14) 19... Qc6 $4 (19... Na4 $142 {and Black can hope to live} 20. Nxa4 bxa4 $11) 20. Nd5 (20. b4 $142 {seems even better} Qe8 21. bxc5 Rxc5 22. Bxc5 dxc5 $18) 20... Bd8 $4 {sad, but how else could Black save the game?} ( 20... Qd7 $142 21. Nxe7+ Qxe7 22. Rxd6 Qf8 23. Bxc5 Rxc5 $18) 21. Bh6 {White has a mate threat} (21. b4 $142 {secures the win} Qe8 22. bxc5 $18) 21... Qd7 $14 {Black has a cramped position} 22. b4 {White threatens to win material: b4xc5} Na4 $4 (22... Bxd5 $142 23. bxc5 Bc6 $14) 23. Kh1 (23. Nxf6+ $142 { ends the debate} Bxf6 24. Rxd6 $18) 23... Nc3 $4 {stumbles just before the finish line} (23... Qf7 $142 {was a good chance to save the game} 24. Rc1 Kh8 $15) 24. Nxc3 $18 Rxc3 (24... Bc7 $18 {otherwise it's curtains at once}) 25. Rxd6 Qf7 (25... g5 {is not the saving move} 26. Rxd7 Bd5 27. Bxg5 Rxf3 28. gxf3 fxg5 29. Qxe5 Bf7 30. Rxd8+ Rxd8 31. Rxd8+ Be8 32. Rxe8+ Kf7 33. Qe7#) 26. Rd7 (26. Rxd8+ Rxd8 27. Rxd8+ Qe8 28. Qxg7#) 26... Be7 $18 27. Rxb7 Rxc2 28. h3 ( 28. Bh5 Qf8 29. Rdd7 Rac8 30. Qb3+ Kh8 31. Rxe7 Rc1+ 32. Bd1 Qxe7 33. Rxe7 gxh6 34. h3 Rg8 35. Qf7 Rxd1+ 36. Kh2 Rxg2+ 37. Kxg2 Rd2+ 38. Kf3 Rd3+ 39. Ke2 Rd2+ 40. Kxd2 a5 41. Qxh7#) 28... Kh8 29. Be3 (29. Rdd7 gxh6 30. Rxe7 Rc1+ 31. Kh2 Qg8 32. Rg7 h5 33. Bxh5 Rd8 34. Rxg8+ Rxg8 35. Bg6 Rg7 36. Rb8+ Rg8 37. Qh4 Rc7 38. Qxf6+ Rcg7 39. Rxg8+ Kxg8 40. Qd8#) 29... Qf8 30. Rdd7 Re8 31. Ra7 (31. Bh5 Rb8 32. Rxb8 Qxb8 33. Rxe7 Qf8 34. Rf7 Qg8 35. Bg6 a5 36. Qh4 Rc8 37. Re7 a4 38. Bh6 Rd8 39. Bxg7+ Qxg7 40. Rxg7 Rd1+ 41. Kh2 h5 42. Qxh5+ Kxg7 43. Qh7+ Kf8 44. Qf7#) 31... Ra2 32. Bc5 (32. Bh5 Ra8 33. Rxa8 Qxa8 34. Rxe7 Ra1+ 35. Kh2 Qf8 36. Re8 Qxe8 37. Bxe8 Rxa3 38. Qf2 a5 39. Qd2 Rd3 40. Qxd3 g5 41. Qd8 a4 42. Qxf6+ Kg8 43. Bf7+ Kf8 44. Bc5#) 32... Ra1+ (32... Rd2 {doesn't do any good } 33. Rxd2 Bxc5 34. bxc5 Re7 35. Rxe7 Qxe7 36. c6 b4 37. Rd7 Qf8 38. c7 g5 39. fxg6 Qc5 40. gxh7 Qc1+ 41. Kh2 Qg1+ 42. Kxg1 b3 43. c8=Q#) 33. Kh2 Bxc5 (33... Ra8 {doesn't get the cat off the tree} 34. Rxa8 Qxa8 35. Bh5 a5 36. Bxe7 Qc8 37. Rd8+ Qxd8 38. Bxd8 Rc1 39. Qd3 Kg8 40. Qd5+ Kh8 41. Qxb5 Rh1+ 42. Kxh1 g6 43. Bxf6+ Kg8 44. Qe8#) 34. bxc5 Rxa3 (34... g5 {hardly improves anything} 35. fxg6 Kg8 36. Rg7+ Kh8 37. Rxh7+ Kg8 38. Rh8+ Kxh8 39. Qh4+ Qh6 40. Qxh6+ Kg8 41. Qg7#) 35. Rxg7 (35. Rxg7 Qg8 36. Rxg8+ Rxg8 37. Qh4 Rxg2+ 38. Bxg2 Rxh3+ 39. Bxh3 h6 40. Qxf6+ Kg8 41. Qg7#) 1-0

B73 Sicilian Dragon: Classical System without 9.Nb3 (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 d6 7.O-O g6 8.Be3 Bg7 9.f4 O-O 10.Kh1)

This is my second challenge game against quagliarellasabino and my second win against this player and at this point I thought that I could win games against almost anybody. I had quite good results in games that were finished on one sitting. The first position that I will take a look at is the one seen after the move 10.Kh1. In the game quagliarellasabino played e5, which would have allowed me to destroy my opponent's pawn structure, had I went for the continuation 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.fxe5 dxe5 13.Bg5 and then my opponent would have had some problems with the knight on f6. It would have been clear at that point that I would be the one with the initiative.

I should really remember this idea when I end up in a similar position in the future, because I have instinctively moved my knight to b3 in these types of positions before. The position should be roughly even after my 11th move Nb3. Then my opponent made an even bigger blunder than on the previous move, and moved the queen to c7. Much better alternatives for quagliarellasabino were 11...exf4, 11...b5 and 11...Re8. In order to take advantage of the blunder, I needed to reply with 12.fxe5 and the idea is that my opponent can't really take back the pawn because if he or she does, quagliarellasabino would lose even more material. An example line might go 12...dxe5 13.Rxf6 Bxf6 14.Nd5 Qd8 15.Bb6 Qd6 and after 16.Bc7 I would end up in a position that would be easily winning. I obviously missed this great opportunity and instead connected the rooks with the move 12.Qd2. I should still be in the favorable side of the board even after the game continuation, but the likely result would probably a draw. That is if neither side blunders, like my opponent did in the game by playing the move 12...Be6.

I had third consecutive chance to get a good advantage, but once again I failed to see the correct idea, this time my path towards victory would have started with the move 13.f5. The reason I probably decided not to play 13.f5 was that I disliked the look of 13...gxf5 14.exf5, which creates a protected passed pawn for my opponent. It would have also ruined the pawn cover in front of quagliarellasabino's king. Maybe I also thought that maybe my opponent can play Kh8 and Rg8 and maybe use the opened g-file for attack. That being said, it does seem rather silly to me now. In the game I played 13.Bf3, with the idea of getting the square d5 more firmly in my control. The bishop unfortunately is not well placed at f3 and it is almost like a tall pawn there and it also blocks the path of my rook. It did not take long for the next horrible move to be seen on the board, the move 15...Rfd8 created some problems once again for my opponent.

Again I had the possibility to play f5, but instead I played 16.Qf2, which threatened the move 17.Bb6. It was a good move, but not as strong as 16.f5. Quagliarellasabino saw the threat of Bb6, but replied to it incorrectly by moving the queen to e7. The best move, according to the engine seems to be 16...exf4, but even that continuation should clearly favor me. I would have probably then played Bb6, which actually is not as good as taking on f4. Keeping the good dark-squared bishop alive and not trading it to the passive rook seems to be the right idea. With correct play I should be winning after my opponent's 16th move, but I kept ignoring the strongest move f5 and went to a more evenly fought continuation by placing my f-rook to e1. Then the game continued to be played evenly up to the move 29.Rb4, which was surprising, considering the amount of mistakes during the first 16 moves.

Quagliarellasabino played in the game 29...b6, which placed the pawn on a more shaky square. It was rather well protected at b7, since there was no easy way for me to attack the pawn there, but on b6 it became much more vulnerable attacks. It also took away some squares from the rook on c6, a fact that I could have taken advantage of by playing Bb5, followed by Be3, for instance, but in the game I preferred to play Be3 first for some reason. Maybe I thought that I can do it in this order too, but I was mistaken and Bb5 is clearly the better move to make. Both players avoided making mistakes up to the move 36...Qb3 and for the first time in the game I was the one who ended up being clearly lost when I moved my rook to e1 on move 37.

My move was so bad because my opponent could have replied with the crushing move 37...Qb8!! I would have likely resigned the game, had I seen that move. Quagliarellasabino did not see that and played 37...Be5, which is a strong move, but not as game ending as 37...Qb8. I wanted to hold on to the material, so moved my queen to h4, thinking that I may survive after all. Actually my best chance was to take the bishop. Had I done that though, I might have just resigned. My opponent should have then played 38...Bf6 and I would have likely continued with Qg3, which would have allowed Qb8 to be played once again. Luckily for me, quagliarellasabino chose to trade the rooks, after which the position had become even again. On move 40 it was my opponent's turn to blunder and my journey towards a win could have started for one more time.

Quagliarellasabino played 40...Qe6, which was not a good idea because I could have brought my bishop into play via c5. Instead I played 41.c4, which made the advancement of the pawns a bit difficult. It lead into an even position and we kept making good enough moves to hold the equality up to the move 49.Kc3. With my opponent's 49th move Qc1+, quagliarellasabino's final downhill began.

Even though I replied with the rather bad move 50.Kd3, I should still be clearly better. B3 was actually a much better square for the king. Quagliarellasabino replied by moving the queen to g1, which was the final nail in the coffin, after that it was clear that I am going to win the game, well up to the move 54...Bd6 at least.

The last move of the game, 55.Qd2, is actually only good enough for a draw. Unfortunately for my opponent, he or she lost the game on time.

[Event "Challenge 32697460"] [Site "online arena"] [Date "2015.08.22"] [Round "1"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "quagliarellasabino"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B73"] [WhiteElo "1789"] [BlackElo "1738"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "109"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 {Sicilian Defense: Old Sicilian. Normal} 5. Nc3 a6 (5... e5 6. Ndb5 (6. Nf3 {Sicilian Defense: Lasker-Pelikan Variation, Retreat Variation}) 6... d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 (8... Be6 {Sicilian Defense: Lasker-Pelikan Variation, Bird Variation}) 9. Nd5 {Sicilian Defense: Lasker-Pelikan Variation, Sveshnikov Variation, Chelyabinsk Variation}) 6. Be2 d6 7. O-O g6 8. Be3 Bg7 9. f4 O-O 10. Kh1 {B73 Sicilian Dragon: Classical System without 9.Nb3} e5 (10... Nxd4 11. Bxd4 b5 12. e5 dxe5 13. fxe5 Nd7 14. e6 fxe6 15. Bxg7 Kxg7 16. Rxf8 Qxf8 17. Qd2 Nf6 18. Bf3 Ra7 19. Ne4 Rd7 20. Qe2 Qd8 21. Rf1 Qb6 22. Ng5 Rd6 23. Bg4 h6 24. Ne4 Rd5 25. Bf3 {Ruxton,K (2325) -Borge,N (2245) Arnhem 1989 0-1 (65)}) 11. Nb3 (11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. f5 d5 13. Bc5 Re8 14. fxg6 hxg6 15. Bf3 Be6 16. Qe2 Nd7 17. Ba3 Nf6 18. Rad1 Qa5 19. Qe1 d4 20. Nd5 Qxe1 21. Nxf6+ Bxf6 22. Rdxe1 Be7 23. Bxe7 Rxe7 24. Be2 a5 25. a3 Rb7 { Farnault,E (2032) -Wolff,M (1643) Berlin 2015 0-1 (57)}) 11... Qc7 12. Qd2 { White has an active position} Be6 $146 (12... b5 13. a3 Bb7 14. fxe5 Nxe5 15. Bd3 Neg4 16. Bf4 Nh5 17. h3 Ne5 18. Bh6 Ng3+ 19. Kh2 Nxe4 20. Bxe4 {0-1 (20) Arnav,D-Ulhas,V (1867) Nagpur 2008}) (12... Ne7 $142 $16) 13. Bf3 $4 {gives the opponent new chances} (13. f5 $5 Bxb3 14. axb3 $18) 13... Rac8 (13... exf4 14. Bxf4 Ne5 15. Be2 $11) 14. Rad1 (14. f5 Bc4 15. Rfd1 b5 $14) 14... Bxb3 ( 14... exf4 $5 15. Bxf4 Ne5 $11) 15. axb3 {White has the pair of bishops} Rfd8 ( 15... exf4 16. Bxf4 Ne5 17. Be2 $14) 16. Qf2 (16. f5 gxf5 17. exf5 d5 $18) 16... Qe7 (16... exf4 17. Bxf4 Ne5 $16) 17. Rfe1 (17. f5 $142 {and the scales tip in favour of White} d5 18. Nxd5 Nxd5 19. exd5 $18) 17... exf4 $14 18. Bxf4 {Attacking the isolated pawn on d6} Ne5 {A valuable piece} 19. Nd5 (19. Bg5 $5 {must definitely be considered} Rf8 20. Nd5 $14) 19... Nxd5 $11 20. Rxd5 { The rook dominates} (20. exd5 Qf6 21. Bxe5 dxe5 22. g4 $15) 20... Rc6 (20... Nxf3 $142 $5 21. gxf3 Bxb2 $17) 21. c3 $11 Rdc8 22. Red1 Qe6 23. h3 {Secures g4 } h5 24. Be2 Kh7 25. Qg3 Rb6 (25... Re8 26. Qe3 $14) 26. b4 $14 Rbc6 27. b5 axb5 28. Rxb5 R8c7 29. Rb4 b6 (29... Nc4 30. Qf2 $11) 30. Be3 (30. Qe1 Ra7 $16) 30... Nc4 31. Bxc4 (31. Bg1 $142 $5 $16) 31... Rxc4 $11 32. Rxb6 {Increasing the pressure on the isolated pawn on d6} Rxe4 33. Bf4 {White threatens to win material: Bf4xd6} (33. Bg1 Be5 34. Qf3 Rf4 $11) 33... Rd7 (33... Rc5 34. Rb4 $15 (34. Rbxd6 $2 {doesn't lead to anything significant} Qf5 35. Be3 Be5 $19) ( 34. Rdxd6 {once again taking the pawn is naive} Qf5 35. Rb4 Rxb4 36. cxb4 Rc4 $19)) 34. Rbxd6 (34. Bxd6 Be5 35. Qd3 Bxd6 36. Rxd6 Re1+ 37. Kh2 Qe5+ 38. Qg3 Qxg3+ (38... Rxd1 $6 {is a bad alternative} 39. Qxe5 R7xd6 40. b4 $11) 39. Kxg3 Rxd1 $19) (34. Rdxd6 $4 Rxd6 35. Rxd6 Qf5 $19) 34... Rxd6 35. Bxd6 {White has a new protected passed pawn: c3} (35. Rxd6 $4 Qc4 36. Rd1 Rxf4 $19) 35... Re2 { Black threatens to win material: Re2xb2} 36. Ba3 Qb3 37. Re1 $4 {White lets it slip away} (37. Rf1 $142 $11 {and White hangs on}) 37... Be5 $17 38. Qh4 $2 ( 38. Qxe5 $142 Rxe5 39. Rxe5 $17) 38... Rxe1+ $4 {gives away a clear win} (38... Bf6 $142 $1 {finishes off the opponent} 39. Qxf6 Rxe1+ 40. Kh2 Re2 $19) 39. Qxe1 $11 Qd5 40. Qe2 Qe6 (40... Bb8 41. Kg1 $11) 41. c4 (41. Bc5 $142 $5 Qf5 42. Bg1 $16) 41... Qf5 $11 {Black has a mate threat} 42. g4 {White threatens to win material: g4xf5} Qf4 43. gxh5 Qc1+ 44. Kg2 Qg5+ 45. Kf2 Qg3+ ({Worse is } 45... gxh5 46. Qe4+ Kh8 47. Ke2 $16) 46. Kf1 Qxh3+ {Black forks: h5} 47. Ke1 Qh1+ 48. Kd2 Bf4+ (48... Qxh5 49. c5 $11) 49. Kc3 (49. Kd3 $142 Qh3+ 50. Kc2 Qxh5 51. Qd3 Qh2+ 52. Kb3 $11) 49... Qc1+ (49... gxh5 $142 $5 {should not be overlooked} 50. Qd3+ Kg8 $11) 50. Kd3 (50. Kb3 $142 g5 51. Ka4 $16) 50... Qg1 $4 {another step towards the grave} (50... Qb1+ $142 51. Kd4 Qg1+ 52. Ke4 g5 $16) 51. hxg6+ $18 Qxg6+ (51... Kxg6 52. c5 Qc1 53. Bb4 $18) 52. Kc3 (52. Qe4 Bc7 53. c5 f5 54. Qe7+ Kh6 55. Qxc7 f4+ 56. Kd2 Qg2+ 57. Kc3 Qf3+ 58. Kb4 Qe4+ 59. Ka5 f3 $18) 52... Qf6+ 53. Kb3 Qb6+ (53... Kg6 54. Qd3+ Qf5 55. Kc2 $18) 54. Bb4 Bd6 (54... Bc7 {there is nothing else anyway} 55. Qe4+ Kg7 $18) 55. Qd2 (55. Qd2 Bc5 56. Ka4 Qc6+ 57. Ka3 Qa6+ 58. Kb3 $11) (55. Qd3+ f5 56. Qxf5+ Kh6 57. Qe6+ Kh7 58. Qd7+ Kg8 59. Qxd6 Qe3+ 60. Bc3 Kh7 61. Qc7+ Kg6 62. Qg7+ Kf5 63. Qf6+ Kg4 64. Qd4+ Qxd4 65. Bxd4 Kf4 66. c5 Kf5 67. c6 Ke6 68. Bc5 Kd5 69. c7 Kxc5 70. c8=Q+ Kd6 71. Qf5 Ke7 72. Kc4 Kd6 73. Kb5 Kc7 74. Qe5+ Kb7 75. Qe7+ Kc8 76. Kc6 Kb8 77. Qb7#) 1-0

B46 Sicilian: Taimanov, 5.Nc3 a6 (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e6 7.O-O Be7 8.Be3 O-O)

This is taken from the fourth round of the 15 minute tournament that was played March 21st 2015 at the FIDE Online Arena. This was also the last round game and I ended the tournament with a score of three wins and one loss. The game started to go clearly wrong for vincenzo48 already on move 9. The problem with the move is that I could have replied with e5 and the knight would have needed to move to maybe d5 and I could have doubled vincenzo48's pawns. The only other option would have been to move the knight to e8, but that would have been a really horrible square for the knight.

I had unfortunately too passive mind set once again and played 10.a3, in order to prevent b4. After that the position ought to be even. The equality remained until I played the sloppy move 29.Qf6. I did end up on the worse side of the board after that. My opponent replied correctly with 29...Qc5+ and then I went from being slightly worse to being clearly worse with the move 30.Kg2. My best option was to move my king to h1.

In the game vincenzo48 played 30...Rdd6, which allowed me to get back into the game. The best move for my opponent seems to be 30...e5, because that way vincenzo48 would have been able to get a protected passed pawn. The game continued evenly after that up to the move 32.Kh3. Both players then blundered, first my opponent with the move 32...Rd7 and then me with the move 33.Qg5. While neither move was bad enough to lose the game, they were enough to shift the advantage from one side to the other, with my 33rd move even clearly to the side of my opponent.

The game continued with the moves 33...Kg7 34.Re5 and then for the last time my opponent blundered and moved the queen to d6. Moving the the queen to c4, a2 or b3 would have kept vincenzo48 clearly fighting for the win. With that one unfortunate queen move the game continued to be played equally to its completion. The only reason I was the winner is due to the fact that my opponent ran out of time a few moves later.

Game number two. This game is taken from the 2014 August Grand Seven Fourteen II tournament and it was played at Red Hot Pawn. This was the first tournament I have ever won at RHP and currently it is also the only one I have been able to win! Even though I ended up winning this game, it was me who ended up being on the clearly worse side of the board when I played 16.f3. Apsol did not find the strongest reply, 16...d5, which was also the starting point for the path towards a clear advantage. Apsol chose the move 16...Nc4, after which my opponent has only a slight advantage.

The next turning point came when apsol played 19...exd5 and the balance shifted slightly in my favor. A few moves later my opponent made the huge game losing blunder 22...Qc8 and after that it was very easy game for me to win.

I did obviously find the fork on e7, but apsol did not resign yet, my opponent continued for a couple of moves before he or she resigned after 25.Rfe1.

[Event "Tournament 28099658"] [Site "online arena"] [Date "2015.03.21"] [Round "4"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "vincenzo48"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B46"] [WhiteElo "1831"] [BlackElo "1505"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 {Sicilian Defense: Old Sicilian. Normal} 5. Nc3 a6 (5... e5 6. Ndb5 (6. Nb3 {Sicilian Defense: Lasker-Pelikan Variation. Schlechter Variation}) 6... d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. Nd5 Bg7 {Sicilian Defense: Lasker-Pelikan Variation. Sveshnikov Variation Novosibirsk Variation} (10... f5 11. Bxb5 {Sicilian Defense: Lasker-Pelikan Variation. Sveshnikov Variation Peresypkin's Sacrifice})) 6. Be2 e6 7. O-O Be7 8. Be3 O-O {B46 Sicilian: Taimanov, 5.Nc3 a6} 9. f4 b5 (9... d5 10. e5 Nd7 11. Kh1 (11. Rf3 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 b5 13. Bd3 f5 14. Rh3 Nc5 15. Qh5 h6 16. Qg6 Kh8 17. Rg3 Rg8 18. Rh3 Rf8 19. Rg3 Rg8 20. Qh5 Qe8 21. Qh3 Qf7 22. Be2 Bd7 23. Bh5 g6 24. Bf3 Kh7 25. Re1 Rac8 {Toth,L (1727)-Hadrik,C (1949) Hungary 2016 1-0}) 11... Nxd4 12. Bxd4 Bc5 13. Bxc5 Nxc5 14. Qd4 Qb6 15. Rab1 Nd7 16. Qd3 f6 17. exf6 Nxf6 18. Bf3 Bd7 19. Rfe1 Qc7 20. Re5 Rac8 21. Rbe1 b5 22. a3 Qc4 23. f5 Qxd3 24. cxd3 {Moiseev,V (2480)-Milanesi,B Oberwart 1991 1/2-1/2 (50)}) 10. a3 Bb7 $146 (10... Bc5 11. Bf2 Qb6 12. Nxc6 Bxf2+ 13. Rxf2 dxc6 14. e5 Rd8 15. Qf1 Nd5 16. Nxd5 Rxd5 17. Bd3 a5 18. Kh1 g6 19. Rf3 Bb7 20. Rg3 b4 21. Bc4 Rd2 22. Bb3 Rad8 23. axb4 Rf2 24. Qg1 Rdd2 25. Rf3 {Bratkovic,J (1941)-Gratton,D (1733) Nova Gorica 2013 1/2-1/2}) 11. Nxc6 Bxc6 12. Bd3 d5 13. exd5 Nxd5 14. Nxd5 Bxd5 15. Qh5 g6 {Prevents intrusion on f5} 16. Qg4 f5 {Black threatens to win material: f5xg4} (16... Bf6 17. Rab1 $15) 17. Qe2 $11 Rc8 18. c3 {Consolidates b4} Qd6 19. Bd4 Qc6 20. Rf2 Bc5 21. Qe5 Bxd4 {Black forks: f2+e5} 22. Qxd4 Rfd8 23. Qe3 Bc4 24. Bxc4 Qxc4 25. Re1 Rc6 26. Rfe2 Rd3 27. Qe5 Rdd6 28. g3 Rd5 { Black threatens to win material: Rd5xe5} 29. Qf6 {Attacks the backward pawn on e6} (29. Qb8+ $5 {deserves consideration} Rc8 30. Qb7 $11) 29... Qc5+ $17 30. Kg2 (30. Kh1 e5 31. Qg5 $15) 30... Rdd6 (30... e5 $142 $5 31. Qg5 e4 $17) 31. Qe7 Qd5+ 32. Kh3 Rd7 (32... Rb6 $142 $11) 33. Qg5 $4 {White is ruining his position} (33. Qe8+ $142 Kg7 34. Re5 $16) 33... Kg7 $17 34. Re5 Qd6 (34... Qc4 $142 $5 35. Qh4 h6 $19) 35. g4 {White threatens to win material: g4xf5} h6 { Black threatens to win material: h6xg5} 36. Qh4 Qd3+ (36... Qd2 37. R1e3 Qd1 38. gxf5 Qf1+ 39. Kg3 gxf5 40. Qh3 Qxh3+ 41. Kxh3 $15) 37. R5e3 $11 {White threatens to win material: Re3xd3} Qd6 38. gxf5 exf5 39. Re7+ (39. Re7+ Rxe7 40. Rxe7+ Kf8 41. Re3 $11) 1-0 [Event "Grand Seven Fourteen"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2014.08.11"] [Round "1"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "apsol"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B46"] [WhiteElo "1871"] [BlackElo "1650"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 {Sicilian Defense: Four Knights Variation} 6. Be2 (6. Ndb5 Bc5 {Sicilian Defense: Four Knights Variation, Cobra Variation}) (6. Nxc6 {Sicilian Defense: Four Knights Variation, Exchange Variation}) 6... Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. Be3 a6 {B46 Sicilian: Taimanov, 5.Nc3 a6} 9. h3 $146 {Black has a cramped position. Black's piece can't move: c8} (9. a3 d6 (9... b5 10. Nxc6 dxc6 11. Qxd8 Rxd8 12. Bb6 Rd7 13. Rfd1 Rb8 14. Ba5 Rbb7 15. b4 Rxd1+ 16. Rxd1 Rd7 17. e5 Nd5 18. Ne4 f5 19. exf6 Nxf6 20. Rxd7 Bxd7 21. Bf3 h6 22. h3 Nd5 23. Kf1 Kf7 24. Ke2 {Genzor,M (1643) -Uhrecky,U (1664) Slovakia 2015 1/2-1/2 (34)}) 10. Nf3 h6 11. Qd2 e5 12. h3 Be6 13. Nd5 Nxe4 14. Nxe7+ Nxe7 15. Qb4 Bd5 16. c4 a5 17. Qa4 Bc6 18. Qc2 Nf5 19. Rad1 Nxe3 20. fxe3 Qe7 21. Bd3 f5 22. Nd2 Ng3 23. Rf2 Qg5 {Aedo,L (1554)-Lopez, R (1805) La Florida 2003 0-1}) (9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. f4 d5 11. exd5 cxd5 12. Bd4 Qc7 13. Kh1 Bb7 14. Bd3 Rac8 15. Rf3 Ne4 16. Bxe4 dxe4 17. Rg3 f6 18. Qg4 Rf7 19. Qxe6 Qd6 20. Qb3 Qb4 21. Re3 Qxb3 22. cxb3 Bd6 23. g3 Rd7 {Knight,S (2104) -Ivanov,S (2261) Caleta 2010 0-1 (42)}) (9. Kh1 Qc7 10. Qe1 b5 11. Bd3 Ng4 12. Nf3 Bb7 13. h3 Nxe3 14. Qxe3 Bf6 15. Qd2 Rac8 16. Rac1 Rfd8 17. Rfe1 h6 18. Nd1 Ne5 19. Nxe5 Bxe5 20. Re2 d5 21. Qe1 Bf4 22. Ne3 dxe4 23. Bxe4 Bxe4 {Goulart, C-Farhat,S S Sebastiao do Paraiso 2001 1-0}) (9. f4 d5 10. exd5 Nxd4 11. Qxd4 exd5 12. Rad1 Bf5 13. Rd2 Ne4 14. Nxe4 Bxe4 15. Bf3 Bf6 16. Qb4 Bxf3 17. Rxf3 Qc7 18. Bd4 Bxd4+ 19. Qxd4 Rad8 20. Qc3 Qb6+ 21. Qd4 Qc7 22. Rc3 Qe7 23. Re3 Qf6 {Simo,J (2049)-Kobzak,G (1662) Hungary 2002 1-0 (46)}) 9... Qc7 {White has an active position} 10. Nb3 {White has a very active position} b5 {White has an active position} 11. a3 {White has a very active position} Bb7 {White has an active position} (11... Ne5 12. f4 Nc4 13. Bxc4 bxc4 14. Nd2 $11) 12. Qd2 { White has a very active position} (12. f4 b4 13. axb4 Nxb4 $11) 12... Rad8 ( 12... Ne5 13. Qd4 $15) 13. Nc5 Bc8 14. Rad1 (14. Nb3 d6 $11) 14... Ne5 $15 15. Nb3 {Black has a cramped position} Bb7 (15... Nc4 16. Bxc4 bxc4 17. Nd4 $17) 16. f3 {Covers g4} (16. Qd4 d5 17. Qb6 Qxb6 18. Bxb6 Rc8 $11) 16... Nc4 17. Bxc4 bxc4 18. Nd4 d5 19. exd5 exd5 {Black has an active position.} (19... Nxd5 $142 20. Nxd5 Rxd5 $17 (20... exd5 $6 21. Nf5 $11)) 20. Nf5 $14 Bc5 21. Bxc5 Qxc5+ 22. Qd4 Qc8 $4 (22... Qxd4+ $142 {was much better} 23. Nxd4 Rfe8 $14) 23. Ne7+ $18 Kh8 24. Nxc8 Rxc8 25. Rfe1 1-0