C24 Bishop's Opening: 2...Nf6 (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nge7 5.d3 O-O 6.h3 d5 7.exd5 Nxd5)

This was played in the 2014 August Grand Seven Fourteen III tournament. Timeout was 7 days and there was also a timebank of 14 days. The tournament started on August 11th, 2014. I was on fourth place in the final standings and I was able to gather 93 points in 40 games. This is one of the few silly games where I have played the horrible 4...Nge7, thinking for whatever reason that the bishop was on b5 and not on c4. One would think that because this was a correspondence game, I would at least look the position properly before making my move, but in reality I usually just blitz the first few moves in the opening and do not always even look the location of all the pieces. I do remember going over the problem of the move 4...Nge7 in one of my previous posts, but maybe I will do so here as well.

In the game rkmmax played 5.d3, which let me off the hook and the game was evenly fought after that up to the move 23.dxe4. I played 23...a6, in order to prevent the queen check from b5. It was actually a very bad idea and I was indeed in a losing position after the reply 24.e5. I then moved my bishop to c5, maybe thinking that I might be able to play d3 in some situations and increase pressure towards f2. Next rkmmax played b4, which was a good move, but 25.Qf3 would have been much better.

The next turning point of the game was seen when rkmmax played 27.Qd5+ and threw the win away. The queen check allowed me to move my king to c8 and defend the pawn on b7. Even though my position may have seemed a bit more passive than that of my opponent's, the position should be equal.

The result of the game was decided when rkmmax played 35.Bd2. The reason why moving the bishop to d2 to protect the pawn on b4 can be seen in the game continuation 35...axb4 36.Bxb4 Kd5 37.f4 c5 38.Bd2 c4 39.dxc4+ Kxc4. It basically gave me the initiative, better placed king and a strong passed pawn on the d-file.

Rkmmax did try to fight on and see if I make a mistake that would justify the struggle, but it never happened. In a position where it became clear that I will be able to promote my a-pawn and my opponent could not do anything to stop it or generate counterplay, rkmmax resigned.

[Event "Grand Seven Fourteen"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2014.08.11"] [Round "1"] [White "rkmmax"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C24"] [WhiteElo "1477"] [BlackElo "1885"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "110"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nge7 5. d3 (5. Nc3 d6 6. a3 a6 7. h3 Nd4 8. Ng5 Ne6 9. Nxe6 fxe6 10. d3 O-O 11. Be3 b6 12. b4 Bd4 13. Bxd4 exd4 14. Ne2 c5 15. Qd2 d5 16. exd5 Nxd5 17. bxc5 bxc5 18. c3 e5 19. cxd4 cxd4 {Testa, M-Alvarez,J (2345) Santiago de Chile 1994 1-0 (71)}) 5... O-O (5... d6 6. Ng5 O-O 7. Qf3 Qd7 8. Nxf7 Ng6 9. Nxe5+ Kh8 10. Nxg6+ hxg6 11. Qxf8+ {1-0 (11) Costa,I (1401)-Pessoto,L (1763) Sao Paulo 2016}) 6. h3 $146 (6. Nbd2 d5 7. exd5 Nxd5 8. Re1 Re8 9. Ne4 Bb6 10. d4 Nxd4 11. Nxd4 exd4 12. Bxd5 Re5 13. Bc4 Qe7 14. Bg5 Qe8 15. Ng3 h6 16. Bf4 Rxe1+ 17. Qxe1 Bd7 18. Qxe8+ Rxe8 19. Bd2 Be6 20. Re1 Kf8 {Mar,K (2134)-Seruga,V Ptuj 2005 1-0 (32)}) (6. Bg5 d6 7. Nh4 h6 8. Ng6 Re8 9. Nxe7+ Nxe7 10. Bxe7 Qxe7 11. Nc3 Be6 12. Nd5 Bxd5 13. Bxd5 Kh8 14. Qh5 Rf8 15. c3 a6 16. Rad1 f5 17. exf5 Rf6 18. Bxb7 Raf8 19. d4 exd4 20. cxd4 Ba7 {Rodriguez Collado,A (1700)-Domenech Lopez,L (1700) Barcelona 2013 1-0}) ( 6. Nc3 d6 7. h3 Be6 8. Bxe6 fxe6 9. Bg5 h6 10. Bxe7 Qxe7 11. Qe2 Nd4 12. Nxd4 Bxd4 13. Qd2 Rf7 14. Rab1 c6 15. Nd1 Raf8 16. Ne3 Qg5 17. c3 Bb6 18. a3 Qh4 19. b4 Rf6 20. Rb2 Rg6 {Rasinar,L-Adam,A Eforie Nord 2001 0-1 (50)}) 6... d5 7. exd5 Nxd5 {C24 Bishop's Opening: 2...Nf6} 8. Bxd5 (8. a4 $5 $11 {has some apparent merit}) 8... Qxd5 $15 {Black has the pair of bishops} 9. Nc3 {White threatens to win material: Nc3xd5} Qd8 10. Bd2 Bf5 11. a3 {Controls b4} Re8 { Black has an active position} 12. Rb1 Nd4 (12... a5 13. Re1 $15) 13. Nxd4 exd4 ({Not} 13... Qxd4 14. Be3 Qd6 15. Qf3 Bxe3 16. fxe3 $14 (16. Qxf5 $143 Bb6 $11) (16. Qxe3 $6 b6 $11)) 14. Ne2 Qf6 (14... Qd5 15. Nf4 Qc6 16. Bb4 $11) 15. Ng3 $11 {White has a cramped position} Bg6 16. Re1 (16. f4 Bf5 $14) 16... Bd6 17. Rxe8+ Rxe8 18. Qf1 Kf8 19. Re1 Qh4 (19... Qd8 20. Ne4 $11) 20. Rxe8+ Kxe8 21. Qe2+ Kd7 22. Ne4 Bxe4 23. dxe4 a6 $2 (23... Kd8 $142 $14 {would keep Black alive}) 24. e5 $18 Bc5 (24... Bf8 25. Qf3 Qe7 26. Qxb7 Qxe5 27. Qxa6 $18) 25. b4 (25. Qf3 $142 {and White could have gained the advantage} Qe7 26. b4 $18) 25... Bb6 $16 26. Qf3 Qe7 $2 (26... Ke8 $142 $16) 27. Qd5+ $4 {White has let it slip away} (27. Qxb7 $142 {and the scales tip in favour of White} Qxe5 28. Qxa6 $18) 27... Kc8 $11 28. Bf4 Qe6 {Black threatens to win material: Qe6xd5} 29. Qf3 (29. Qe4 g6 $11) 29... g6 (29... Qf5 $5 30. a4 g6 $11) 30. g4 $11 Qc4 31. Qd3 (31. Bd2 $5 $11) 31... Qxd3 $15 {Black forks: a3+h3} 32. cxd3 {A bishop endgame occured} Kd7 33. Kg2 (33. Bg5 Ke6 34. f4 c5 $15) 33... Kc6 ( 33... Ke6 $142 $5 $17) 34. a4 a5 {Black threatens to win material: a5xb4} 35. Bd2 $2 (35. bxa5 $142 {and White is still in the game} Bxa5 36. Bg5 $15) 35... axb4 $19 36. Bxb4 Kd5 37. f4 c5 38. Bd2 $2 (38. Be1 $142 $19) 38... c4 39. dxc4+ (39. Kf3 {praying for a miracle} c3 40. Bc1 $19) 39... Kxc4 40. Kf3 Kd3 41. Be1 Bc5 42. f5 gxf5 43. gxf5 Kc2 44. e6 (44. Ke4 d3 45. Kd5 $19) 44... fxe6 45. fxe6 d3 46. a5 d2 47. Bxd2 Kxd2 48. Ke4 (48. Kg4 {does not help much} Kc3 49. h4 Kb4 50. Kf3 Kxa5 51. Ke2 b5 52. Kd3 Be7 53. h5 b4 54. Kc2 Ka4 55. h6 Ka3 56. Kb1 Kb3 57. Kc1 Kc3 58. Kb1 b3 59. Ka1 Bc5 60. Kb1 b2 61. e7 Bxe7 62. Ka2 Bh4 63. Kb1 Bd8 64. Ka2 Kc2 65. Ka3 b1=Q 66. Ka4 Qb3#) 48... Kc3 49. Kd5 (49. Ke5 {is not the saving move} Kb4 50. h4 Kxa5 51. h5 b5 52. Kd5 Kb6 53. h6 b4 54. Kc4 Be7 55. Kd4 Kb5 56. Kd3 b3 57. Kc3 Ka4 58. Kb2 Kb4 59. Kb1 Bf6 60. e7 Bxe7 61. Ka1 Kc3 62. Kb1 b2 63. Ka2 Bh4 64. Kb1 Bd8 65. Ka2 Kc2 66. Ka3 b1=Q 67. Ka4 Qb3#) 49... Be7 50. h4 (50. Ke4 {does not solve anything} Kb4 51. h4 Kxa5 52. h5 b5 53. Kd5 b4 54. Kc6 b3 55. Kd7 Ba3 56. e7 Bxe7 57. Kxe7 b2 58. Kf6 b1=Q 59. Ke5 Qb5+ 60. Ke4 Qxh5 61. Kf4 Kb4 62. Ke3 Qg4 63. Kd3 Kb3 64. Ke3 Kc3 65. Kf2 Kd3 66. Kf1 Ke3 67. Ke1 Qg1#) 50... Kb4 51. a6 (51. Kd4 {a fruitless try to alter the course of the game} Kxa5 52. h5 b5 53. Kd5 b4 54. Kc6 b3 55. Kd7 Bg5 56. e7 Bxe7 57. Kxe7 b2 58. Kf6 b1=Q 59. Ke5 Qb5+ 60. Ke4 Qxh5 61. Kf4 Kb4 62. Ke3 Qf5 63. Ke2 Kc3 64. Ke3 Qg4 65. Kf2 Kd3 66. Kf1 Ke3 67. Ke1 Qg1#) 51... bxa6 52. h5 (52. Kc6 {doesn't change anything anymore} a5 53. h5 a4 54. h6 a3 55. Kd7 Bc5 56. e7 Bxe7 57. Kxe7 a2 58. Kd6 a1=Q 59. Ke6 Kc5 60. Kf5 Qd4 61. Kg5 Kd5 62. Kf5 Qe5+ 63. Kg4 Ke4 64. Kh3 Kf3 65. Kh4 Qg3+ 66. Kh5 Qg4#) 52... Kb5 (52... a5 53. h6 a4 54. Kc6 a3 55. Kd7 Bg5 56. e7 Bxe7 57. Kxe7 a2 58. Kd6 a1=Q 59. Ke6 Kc5 60. Kf5 Qd4 61. Kg5 Kd5 62. Kf5 Qe5+ 63. Kg4 Ke4 64. Kh3 Kf3 65. Kh4 Qg3+ 66. Kh5 Qg4#) 53. Ke5 (53. Ke4 {doesn't get the bull off the ice} Kc5 54. h6 a5 55. Kd3 Kb4 56. Kc2 Kc4 57. Kb1 a4 58. Kc1 Kd3 59. Kb1 Kc3 60. Kc1 a3 61. Kb1 Kd2 62. Ka1 Kc1 63. Ka2 Kc2 64. Ka1 Kb3 65. Kb1 Bg5 66. e7 a2+ 67. Ka1 Bf6#) 53... a5 (53... Kc4 54. Ke4 a5 55. Ke3 a4 56. Kd2 a3 57. Kc2 h6 58. Kc1 Kd3 59. Kb1 Kc3 60. Kc1 a2 61. Kd1 a1=Q+ 62. Ke2 Qg1 63. Kf3 Kd3 64. Kf4 Bd6+ 65. Kf5 Qg5#) 54. Kd5 (54. Kd4 {doesn't improve anything} a4 55. Kc3 Kc5 56. h6 a3 57. Kb3 Kd4 58. Kc2 Kc4 59. Kc1 Kd3 60. Kb1 Kc3 61. Kc1 a2 62. Kd1 a1=Q+ 63. Ke2 Qg1 64. Kf3 Kd3 65. Kf4 Bd6+ 66. Kf5 Qg6#) 54... a4 55. Ke5 (55. Kd4 {doesn't do any good} Kb4 56. Kd3 Kb3 57. h6 a3 58. Ke4 a2 59. Kf3 a1=Q 60. Kf2 Qh1 61. Kg3 Qg1+ 62. Kf4 Kc4 63. Kf5 Kd3 64. Kf4 Bd6+ 65. Kf5 Qg6#) 55... a3 (55... a3 56. Kf4 a2 57. Ke3 a1=Q 58. Ke2 Qf6 59. Kd3 Qf1+ 60. Ke4 Bg5 61. e7 Kc4 62. Ke5 Qf6+ 63. Ke4 Qf4#) (55... Kc4 56. h6 a3 57. Kf5 a2 58. Kg4 a1=Q 59. Kh3 Qf1+ 60. Kg3 Bd6+ 61. Kg4 Qf4+ 62. Kh5 Qf3+ 63. Kh4 Be7#) 0-1