B70 Sicilian Dragon: 6.g3 and 6.Be2 (without a later Be3) (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 g6 7.Be3 Bg7 8.Qd2 O-O)

The game below was played in a team match called KNOCKOUT S5 R1 Team 8 vs Kopaonik. This match consisted of 30 boards and I played on board 19 for Kopaonik. I was not able to get the best possible result out of my two games against wiseone22 as I lost my other game against him. The match ended with a score of 27 - 33 in favor of Kopaonik. It is always nice to see the team you represent win!

Almost never do I castle to the opposite side than my opponent, but I guess I should do that more often if this game is any indication. The attack seemed to flow rather naturally for me and up to move 30 or so I had good ideas on how to keep the attack going. Maybe from the move 32 onwards it was not so clear to me how I should proceed. After wiseone22 played 35...Qe7 I was a lot more confident again that I am going to win. In order for my opponent to get any counterplay, he should have kept the queens on the board. Admittedly it would not have been easy for him to defend that position, but it might have been better than to offer the exchange of queens.

The game started to go wrong for wiseone22 in a big way when my opponent played 16...Kh7. It may seem like a good idea to move the king off the g-file, in order to get away from the pins and if the king would have to move then h7 would be indeed the best square for the king. Moving the king was not necessary and there was a much better way to handle the position.

I was not able to find the strongest move in reply, which would have been 17.Nd5, and instead let my opponent off the hook a bit with the move 17.gxh5. I was still on the preferable side of the board in the game continuation, but not by much. It did not take long for the next blunder to manifest itself on the board, after the moves 17...Nxh5 18.Qe3, wiseone22 played b4 and drove the knight to a good square on d5, which is actually the only decent option for the knight. It was a better idea to play 18...e5. Unfortunately I let my advantage slip away from me a bit one more time when on move 20 I moved my knight to f4.

My opponent answered by playing the catastrophic 20...Qa5, which could have given me the keys to victory, had I then played a line starting with 21.Nxh5. An example line starting with that move is given in the game notation. I usually play too passive moves and this time was not an exception because I defended the pawn on a2 with 21.Kb1. Wiseone22 then another blunder, 21...Rc5, and I was given yet another chance to get a winning advantage. I did find the strongest reply finally and played 22.Nxh5, after which I was clearly in the driver's seat and even with my sometimes sloppy technique I was able to win the game eventually.

[Event "KNOCKOUT S5 R1 Team 8 vs Kopaoni"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2015.12.30"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "wiseone22"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B70"] [WhiteElo "1839"] [BlackElo "1702"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "127"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 {Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, Opocensky Variation} g6 (6... e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. O-O O-O { Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, Opocensky Variation, Traditional Line} ( 8... Be6 {Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, Opocensky Variation, Modern Line })) 7. Be3 Bg7 8. Qd2 O-O {B70 Sicilian Dragon: 6.g3 and 6.Be2 (without a later Be3)} 9. Bh6 Nc6 10. Bxg7 Kxg7 11. h4 h5 12. O-O-O (12. f3 Qb6 13. Nb3 a5 14. O-O-O Be6 15. f4 a4 16. Nd4 Nxd4 17. Qxd4 Qxd4 18. Rxd4 a3 19. b3 Rfc8 20. Kd2 Rc6 21. Bb5 Rc5 22. Bd3 Ng4 23. Rf1 f5 24. Na4 b5 25. Nc3 Rac8 26. Nxb5 fxe4 {Borkowski,F (2420) -Kuczynski,R (2450) Slupsk 1989 1-0 (34)}) 12... Bd7 13. f3 Rc8 $146 (13... Rh8 14. Nd5 Nxd5 15. exd5 Ne5 16. g4 hxg4 17. h5 gxf3 18. h6+ Kh7 19. Nxf3 Nxf3 20. Bxf3 Bf5 21. Qd4 Rg8 22. Be4 Bxe4 23. Qxe4 Rc8 24. Rdf1 f6 25. Qe6 Rf8 26. Rf3 Rc7 27. Rg3 Qc8 28. Qe4 {Granados Diaz,M (1831) -Shih,C (1460) Baku 2016 0-1 (43)}) (13... Qb6 14. Nxc6 Bxc6 15. Kb1 $11) 14. Rdg1 (14. g4 $5 {should be considered} hxg4 15. fxg4 Nxd4 16. Qxd4 $14) 14... b5 (14... e5 15. Nb3 Be6 16. Kb1 $11) 15. g4 $11 Nxd4 16. Qxd4 Kh7 $4 {gives the opponent counterplay} (16... hxg4 $5 {is an interesting alternative} 17. fxg4 e5 $11) 17. gxh5 (17. Nd5 $5 hxg4 18. fxg4 $16) 17... Nxh5 18. Qe3 (18. Bd3 Qc7 19. Nd5 Qc5 20. Qxc5 dxc5 21. Nxe7 Rce8 $16) 18... b4 (18... e5 $142 $5 $11 {is interesting}) 19. Nd5 $16 e6 (19... e5 20. Bxa6 Rb8 21. Be2 $18) 20. Nf4 (20. Nxb4 $142 a5 21. Nd3 $16) 20... Qa5 $4 {another bit of territory lost} (20... Qc7 21. Bd3 Qc5 22. Qd2 $14) 21. Kb1 (21. Nxh5 {and White can already relax} b3 22. axb3 Qa1+ 23. Kd2 Qxb2 $18) 21... Rc5 $4 (21... Qc5 $142 { was a good chance to save the game} 22. Qxc5 Rxc5 23. Nxh5 Rxh5 24. Bxa6 Bc6 $14) 22. Nxh5 $18 Rxh5 23. f4 Rh6 (23... Qc5 {is not much help} 24. Qg3 Rh6 $18 ) 24. Qg3 (24. h5 $142 {and White can already relax} Qc5 25. hxg6+ fxg6 26. Qg3 $18) 24... Bb5 $4 {sad, but how else could Black save the game?} (24... Bc6 $142 25. Bf3 Kg7 $16) 25. h5 $18 Rg8 26. Qg5 Kg7 (26... Be8 {doesn't improve anything} 27. hxg6+ Rgxg6 28. Rxh6+ Kg7 29. Rxg6+ fxg6 30. Qxa5 b3 31. axb3 d5 32. Qd8 Bf7 33. Rh1 Bg8 34. Qe7+ Bf7 35. e5 d4 36. Qf6+ Kg8 37. Rh8#) 27. hxg6 Rxg6 (27... Kf8 {does not improve anything} 28. Qxh6+ Ke7 29. gxf7 Rxg1+ 30. Rxg1 Kd7 31. f8=Q Kc6 32. Qxe6 Qc7 33. Bxb5+ Kxb5 34. Qexd6 Qxd6 35. Qxd6 b3 36. axb3 a5 37. Rg5#) 28. Qh6+ (28. Qe7 Bxe2 29. Rxg6+ Kxg6 30. Rg1+ Kh5 31. Qxf7+ Kh4 32. Qxg8 Qxa2+ 33. Kxa2 b3+ 34. cxb3 Bf3 35. Qg3+ Kh5 36. Qh3#) 28... Kf6 29. Rxg6+ (29. Qh4+ Rg5 30. Rxg5 Ke7 31. Rxb5+ Kd7 32. Rxa5 b3 33. cxb3 d5 34. Rxa6 d4 35. Bb5+ Kc8 36. Rc1+ Kb7 37. Qe7+ Kb8 38. Qc7#) 29... fxg6 30. Qg5+ Kf7 31. Rh7+ (31. Bc4 d5 32. exd5 Ke8 33. dxe6 Qc7 34. Bxb5+ axb5 35. Qxb5+ Kf8 36. Qxb4+ Ke8 37. Qe4 Qd6 38. Qa8+ Qd8 39. Qb7 Qe7 40. Qb5+ Kf8 41. f5 gxf5 42. Qxf5+ Ke8 43. Qb5+ Kf8 44. Rf1+ Qf6 45. Rxf6+ Ke7 46. Rf7+ Kd6 47. Rd7+ Kxe6 48. Qd5+ Kf6 49. Rf7+ Kg6 50. Qf5+ Kh6 51. Rh7#) 31... Rg7 32. Bh5 ( 32. Rxg7+ $142 {might be the shorter path} Kxg7 33. Bh5 $18) 32... Qc7 $4 { shortens the misery for Black} (32... Rxh7 $142 33. Qxg6+ Ke7 34. Qxh7+ Kd8 35. Qg8+ Kc7 36. Qg7+ Kc8 $18) 33. Rxg7+ (33. Qh6 Ke8 34. Bxg6+ Kd8 35. Rxg7 Kc8 36. Rxc7+ Kxc7 37. Qf8 b3 38. Be8 Bxe8 39. Qxe8 a5 40. f5 exf5 41. exf5 a4 42. f6 a3 43. axb3 a2+ 44. Kxa2 d5 45. f7 d4 46. f8=Q d3 47. Qb8+ Kd7 48. Qfe8#) 33... Kxg7 $18 34. Qxg6+ Kf8 (34... Kh8 {cannot change destiny} 35. Qxe6 Qh7 36. Qf6+ Qg7 37. Qxd6 $18) 35. Qxe6 (35. Qf6+ {keeps an even firmer grip} Kg8 36. Qxe6+ Kh8 $18) 35... Qe7 (35... Qg7 {a fruitless try to alter the course of the game} 36. Qxd6+ Qe7 37. Qd5 $18) 36. Qxe7+ Kxe7 37. Bg4 (37. Kc1 $142 $18 {makes it even easier for White}) 37... Bc6 (37... Be8 {hoping against hope } 38. Kc1 Bg6 $18) 38. e5 dxe5 39. fxe5 Be4 40. Kc1 a5 41. Kd2 a4 42. a3 bxa3 ( 42... b3 {cannot change what is in store for White} 43. cxb3 axb3 44. a4 Kd8 45. Ke3 Bb1 46. Kd4 Kc7 47. Kc5 Bg6 48. Be6 Be8 49. Bxb3 Kb7 50. Bd5+ Ka6 51. Bc6 Bh5 52. b4 Bd1 53. b5+ Ka5 54. b6 Ka6 55. e6 Bc2 56. Bb5+ Kb7 57. a5 Bb1 58. e7 Bg6 59. a6+ Kc8 60. a7 Kb7 61. Bc6+ Ka6 62. a8=Q#) 43. bxa3 Bd5 44. Bf5 Bc4 (44... Bf7 {is no salvation} 45. Kc3 Bh5 46. Kb4 Be2 47. c4 Ke8 48. c5 Kd8 49. c6 Kc7 50. Bd7 Bd1 51. e6 Kd6 52. Kb5 Bf3 53. Kb6 Bxc6 54. Bxc6 Kxe6 55. Kc5 Kf7 56. Bxa4 Ke6 57. Bb5 Kf7 58. a4 Ke6 59. a5 Kf7 60. a6 Ke6 61. a7 Kf6 62. a8=Q Kf5 63. Qf8+ Kg5 64. Qg7+ Kf4 65. Kd4 Kf3 66. Qg5 Kf2 67. Qg4 Ke1 68. Qe2#) 45. Kc3 Bb5 46. Kd4 Kd8 (46... Bc6 {doesn't change anything anymore} 47. c4 Bg2 48. c5 Bf3 49. Be4 Bg4 50. c6 Kd8 51. Bd5 Bd1 52. e6 Bh5 53. Kc5 Kc7 54. e7 Bg6 55. Be6 Be8 56. Bf5 Bxc6 57. Bg6 Bd7 58. e8=Q Bxe8 59. Bxe8 Kb7 60. Bb5 Ka7 61. Kc6 Kb8 62. Bxa4 Kc8 63. Bb5 Kd8 64. Kd6 Kc8 65. a4 Kb7 66. a5 Kb8 67. a6 Kc8 68. Bd7+ Kb8 69. Kc6 Ka7 70. Kb5 Kb8 71. Kb6 Ka8 72. Bc6+ Kb8 73. a7+ Kc8 74. a8=Q#) 47. c4 (47. Kc5 Bf1 48. Kd6 Bc4 49. Bd7 Ba2 50. e6 Bxe6 51. Kxe6 Kc7 52. c4 Kd8 53. c5 Kc7 54. Ke7 Kb8 55. Kd6 Ka7 56. c6 Ka6 57. c7 Kb7 58. c8=Q+ Kb6 59. Qb8+ Ka6 60. Bc8+ Ka5 61. Qb4#) 47... Be8 (47... Ba6 {does not win a prize} 48. Kd5 Kc7 49. e6 Bb7+ 50. Kc5 Bh1 51. e7 Bc6 52. Bg6 Bd7 53. e8=Q Bxe8 54. Bxe8 Kd8 55. Bxa4 Kc7 56. Kd5 Kb6 57. c5+ Ka5 58. c6 Kxa4 59. c7 Kxa3 60. c8=Q Kb3 61. Kd4 Kb2 62. Kd3 Ka2 63. Kc3 Ka1 64. Qb7 Ka2 65. Qb2#) 48. Kd5 Kc7 49. Kc5 (49. e6 Bh5 50. Kc5 Bd1 51. Bg6 Bg4 52. e7 Bd7 53. e8=Q Bxe8 54. Bxe8 Kd8 55. Bxa4 Kc7 56. Kd5 Kb6 57. c5+ Ka5 58. c6 Kxa4 59. c7 Kxa3 60. c8=Q Kb2 61. Kd4 Kb3 62. Qc3+ Ka2 63. Qb4 Ka1 64. Kc3 Ka2 65. Qb2#) 49... Bc6 ( 49... Bf7 {doesn't change the outcome of the game} 50. e6 Bh5 51. Bh7 Bg4 52. Bg8 Bd1 53. Bf7 Bf3 54. e7 Bc6 55. e8=R Bxe8 56. Bxe8 Kd8 57. Bxa4 Kc7 58. Kd5 Kb6 59. c5+ Ka5 60. c6 Kxa4 61. c7 Kxa3 62. c8=Q Kb2 63. Kd4 Kb3 64. Qc3+ Ka2 65. Qb4 Ka1 66. Kc3 Ka2 67. Qb2#) 50. Be6 (50. e6 Be8 51. Be4 Bh5 52. Bc6 Bd1 53. e7 Bh5 54. Bxa4 Kb7 55. Kd6 Ka6 56. c5 Ka5 57. Bb3 Bg6 58. c6 Be8 59. c7 Bd7 60. Kxd7 Kb5 61. c8=Q Kb6 62. Qc7+ Kb5 63. e8=Q Ka6 64. Bc4#) 50... Be8 ( 50... Be4 {cannot undo what has already been done} 51. Bd5 Bd3 52. Bc6 Bxc4 53. Kxc4 Kxc6 54. Kb4 Kd7 55. Kxa4 Kc6 56. Ka5 Kd5 57. Kb5 Ke6 58. Kc6 Kxe5 59. a4 Kd4 60. a5 Kc4 61. a6 Kd4 62. a7 Ke5 63. a8=Q Kd4 64. Qe8 Kc3 65. Qe2 Kd4 66. Kd6 Kc3 67. Kc5 Kb3 68. Qd2 Ka3 69. Kc4 Ka4 70. Qa2#) 51. Bd5 (51. Bg8 Kd7 52. e6+ Ke7 53. Bf7 Bxf7 54. exf7 Kxf7 55. Kd6 Kf8 56. Kd7 Kg7 57. c5 Kf6 58. c6 Ke5 59. c7 Kd4 60. c8=Q Kd3 61. Qc1 Ke4 62. Qc3 Kf5 63. Qe3 Kf6 64. Qf4+ Kg7 65. Ke6 Kg6 66. Qg3+ Kh7 67. Kf6 Kh8 68. Qg7#) 51... Bd7 (51... Bh5 {does not save the day} 52. Bc6 Bf7 53. Bxa4 Be6 54. Bb5 Bh3 55. a4 Kb7 56. a5 Kc7 57. a6 Bc8 58. a7 Kb7 59. Ba6+ Kxa7 60. Bxc8 Kb8 61. Bd7 Kb7 62. Kd6 Ka6 63. e6 Ka5 64. Kc5 Ka6 65. e7 Ka7 66. Bc6 Ka6 67. e8=Q Ka5 68. Qa8#) 52. e6 (52. Bf7 Bh3 53. e6 Bf5 54. e7 Bd7 55. e8=Q Bxe8 56. Bxe8 Kd8 57. Bxa4 Kc7 58. Kd5 Kb6 59. c5+ Ka5 60. c6 Kxa4 61. c7 Kxa3 62. c8=Q Kb2 63. Kd4 Kb3 64. Qc3+ Ka2 65. Qb4 Ka1 66. Kc3 Ka2 67. Qb2#) 52... Be8 53. Be4 Bh5 54. Bf5 (54. Bc6 Bd1 55. e7 Bh5 56. e8=Q Bxe8 57. Bxe8 Kd8 58. Bxa4 Kc7 59. Kd5 Kb6 60. c5+ Ka5 61. c6 Kxa4 62. c7 Kxa3 63. c8=Q Kb3 64. Kd4 Kb2 65. Qc3+ Kb1 66. Qd2 Ka1 67. Kc3 Kb1 68. Qb2#) 54... Be8 55. e7 (55. Bc2 Bc6 56. Bg6 Bh1 57. e7 Bc6 58. e8=Q Bxe8 59. Bxe8 Kd8 60. Bxa4 Kc7 61. Kd5 Kb6 62. c5+ Ka5 63. c6 Kxa4 64. c7 Kxa3 65. c8=Q Kb2 66. Kd4 Kb3 67. Qc3+ Ka2 68. Qb4 Ka1 69. Kc3 Ka2 70. Qb2#) 55... Bf7 56. Bg4 (56. Be6 Bh5 57. Kd5 Be8 58. Bf5 Bh5 59. Ke5 Kc6 60. Kf6 Be8 61. Bg6 Bd7 62. e8=Q Bxe8 63. Bxe8+ Kc5 64. Bf7 Kc6 65. Ke5 Kd7 66. Bd5 Ke8 67. c5 Kd7 68. c6+ Ke8 69. Be4 Ke7 70. Bg6 Kd8 71. Kd6 Kc8 72. c7 Kb7 73. Bd3 Kb6 74. c8=Q Ka7 75. Qc7+ Ka8 76. Be4#) 56... Be8 (56... Bg6 {doesn't do any good} 57. Be6 Bh5 58. Kd5 Be8 59. Bf5 Bh5 60. Ke5 Kc6 61. Kf6 Be8 62. Bg6 Bd7 63. e8=Q Bxe8 64. Bxe8+ Kc5 65. Bf7 Kd4 66. Bd5 Kd3 67. c5 Kd4 68. c6 Kxd5 69. c7 Kd4 70. c8=Q Ke3 71. Ke5 Kd3 72. Qc1 Ke2 73. Qc3 Kd1 74. Qb2 Ke1 75. Ke4 Kd1 76. Ke3 Ke1 77. Qa1#) 57. Kd5 (57. Bd1 Kd7 58. Bxa4+ Kxe7 59. Bxe8 Kxe8 60. Kd6 Kf8 61. c5 Kf7 62. c6 Kf6 63. c7 Kf5 64. c8=Q+ Ke4 65. Qg4+ Kd3 66. Qf3+ Kc2 67. Kc5 Kb1 68. Kc4 Kc1 69. Kc3 Kb1 70. Qb7+ Ka1 71. Qb2#) 57... Bc6+ (57... Bf7+ {is not the saving move} 58. Ke5 Kc6 59. Kf6 Be8 60. Be6 Kc5 61. Kg7 Kd6 62. Kf8 Bc6 63. Bd5 Bd7 64. e8=Q Bxe8 65. Kxe8 Kc5 66. Ke7 Kd4 67. Kd6 Ke3 68. c5 Kf2 69. c6 Ke1 70. c7 Kd1 71. c8=Q Ke2 72. Qc2+ Ke3 73. Qh2 Kd3 74. Qf2 Kc3 75. Qe2 Kd4 76. Qd2#) 58. Ke5 Be8 59. Bf3 (59. Bd1 Kd7 60. Bxa4+ Kxe7 61. Bxe8 Kxe8 62. Kd6 Kf8 63. c5 Kf7 64. c6 Kf6 65. c7 Kf5 66. c8=Q+ Ke4 67. Qg4+ Kd3 68. Qf3+ Kc2 69. Kc5 Kb1 70. Kc4 Ka2 71. Qg2+ Ka1 72. Kc3 Kb1 73. Qb2#) 59... Bf7 (59... Kd7 {doesn't get the cat off the tree} 60. Kf6 Kd6 61. Bd5 Kc5 62. Kg7 Kd4 63. Kf8 Bd7 64. e8=Q Bxe8 65. Kxe8 Kc3 66. c5 Kd4 67. c6 Kxd5 68. c7 Kc4 69. c8=Q+ Kd4 70. Qc2 Ke3 71. Qc3+ Ke4 72. Kf7 Kf4 73. Qd3 Kg4 74. Kf6 Kf4 75. Qe2 Kg3 76. Kf5 Kh3 77. Kf4 Kh4 78. Qh2#) 60. Bd5 Be8 (60... Bh5 {does not solve anything} 61. c5 Be8 62. Kf6 Kc8 63. Kg7 Kc7 64. Kf8 Bb5 65. e8=Q Bxe8 66. Kxe8 Kc8 67. c6 Kc7 68. Ke7 Kc8 69. Kd6 Kd8 70. c7+ Kc8 71. Be6+ Kb7 72. c8=Q+ Kb6 73. Qc7+ Kb5 74. Bc4#) 61. c5 Bg6 (61... Bd7 {hardly improves anything} 62. Kf6 Be8 63. Kg7 Bb5 64. Kf8 Bd7 65. e8=Q Bxe8 66. Kxe8 Kc8 67. c6 Kc7 68. Ke7 Kc8 69. Kd6 Kd8 70. c7+ Kc8 71. Be6+ Kb7 72. c8=Q+ Kb6 73. Qc7+ Kb5 74. Bc4#) 62. Kf6 Be8 63. Kg7 Kd7 (63... Bb5 {doesn't get the bull off the ice} 64. Kf8 Bd7 65. e8=Q Bxe8 66. Kxe8 Kc8 67. c6 Kc7 68. Ke7 Kc8 69. Kd6 Kd8 70. c7+ Kc8 71. Be6+ Kb7 72. c8=Q+ Kb6 73. Qc7+ Kb5 74. Bc4#) 64. Kf8 (64. Kf8 Bh5 65. Bf7 Bxf7 66. Kxf7 Kc6 67. e8=Q+ Kxc5 68. Qxa4 Kb6 69. Ke6 Kc5 70. Ke5 Kb6 71. Kd6 Kb7 72. Qb4+ Ka6 73. Kc6 Ka7 74. Qb7#) 1-0