C54 Giuoco Piano: 4.c3 Nf6, main lines with 5.d4 and 5.d3 (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O d6 5.c3 Nf6 6.b4 Bb6 7.d3 O-O 8.Bg5)

The game below was played in a team match called KNOCKOUT S5 R1 Team 8 vs Kopaonik. The match was played on 30 boards and I played on board 19 for Kopaonik. The match ended with a score of 27 - 33, so the match was quite evenly fought. I should not have lost this game, first time that I thought that I am probably going to win was when my opponent played 26.Nxe5, which I considered to be a blunder after I saw that if I take it with my pawn, I will be ahead in material. I saw at this point in the game the back rank weakness that my opponent tried to take advantage of.

I did avoid making stupid moves for awhile, but then for some reason I played 33...Nf4, which allowed 34.Qxf7. After the queen captured the rook, my only chance to hold the game was to play 34...Nxh3+ and go for the perpetual check. Wiseone22 would have needed to allow the perpetual because had the rook taken the knight, then I could have forced a mate. The key variations can be seen in the notation of the game.

I was very careful earlier not to move my key defender, the knight on g6, but I did it now because I thought that there are no moves that can take use of my back rank weakness. Obviously I completely missed 34.Qxf7, which enabled an equal position to occur on the board. I missed my chance to draw the game and played 34...h6, which should have been the losing move. However, wiseone22 for some reason took also my other rook with the queen, and I had a chance to get a winning advantage once again. Wiseone22 needed to play 35.Qd7, which would have saved the queen and guarded the pawn at h3 at the same time. My last chance to get a win would have started with the move 35...Qe3+, but instead I took the queen immediately, which allowed the sequence 36.Rd8+ Kg7 37.R1d7+ and then I resigned because I will lose my queen on g3.

[Event "KNOCKOUT S5 R1 Team 8 vs Kopaoni"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2015.12.30"] [Round "?"] [White "wiseone22"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "1688"] [BlackElo "1809"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O d6 5. c3 Nf6 6. b4 Bb6 7. d3 O-O 8. Bg5 { C54 Giuoco Piano: 4.c3 Nf6, main lines with 5.d4 and 5.d3} Be6 9. Bxe6 $146 (9. Nbd2 h6 (9... Ne7 10. Qb3 Bxc4 11. Nxc4 Ng6 12. a4 c6 13. a5 Bc7 14. d4 exd4 15. cxd4 h6 16. Bxf6 Qxf6 17. Rfe1 Rfe8 18. g3 Qe6 19. Qc3 Qg4 20. e5 dxe5 21. Ncxe5 Bxe5 22. Nxe5 Nxe5 23. dxe5 Rad8 24. a6 {Gaber,J (2123)-Frink,F (2239) Zalakaros 2004 0-1 (33)}) (9... Nb8 10. Qb3 Bxc4 11. Nxc4 Nbd7 12. Rad1 Qe7 13. Nh4 Qe6 14. a4 a6 15. Qc2 Ba7 16. Be3 g6 17. Bxa7 Rxa7 18. f4 exf4 19. Qf2 Raa8 20. Qxf4 Qg4 21. Qf2 Rae8 22. Ne3 Qe6 23. Nf3 Ng4 24. Qh4 {Mulenga,C (1915) -Aloulou,M (1722) Hammamet 2016 1-0 (43)}) (9... Qe7 10. a4 a6 11. a5 Ba7 12. Kh1 h6 13. Bh4 Rad8 14. b5 Bxc4 15. Nxc4 axb5 16. Ne3 Bxe3 17. fxe3 Qe6 18. Qb1 g5 19. Bg3 Na7 20. c4 c6 21. c5 Nh5 22. a6 bxa6 23. Rxa6 Qd7 24. d4 {Bird, H-Englisch,B London 1883 1/2-1/2 (44)}) 10. Bh4 Kh7 (10... g5 11. Bg3 d5 12. exd5 Nxd5 13. Qc2 Nf4 14. Rad1 Ne2+ 15. Kh1 Nxg3+ 16. fxg3 Re8 17. b5 Na5 18. Nxe5 Nxc4 19. Nexc4 Bg4 20. Nf3 Qd5 21. a4 Bf5 22. Nb2 Rad8 23. c4 Qd6 24. Nxg5 hxg5 25. Rxf5 {Ivanov,A (1444)-Tonkushin,K Gelendzhik 2015 1-0 (52)}) 11. a4 a6 12. Kh1 Rg8 13. Qc2 g5 14. Bg3 h5 15. h3 h4 16. Bh2 Nh5 17. d4 g4 18. Bxe6 fxe6 19. hxg4 Rxg4 20. dxe5 dxe5 21. Nc4 Ng3+ 22. fxg3 hxg3 23. Rad1 Qe7 { Boncourt-De Saint Amant,P Paris 1837 0-1 (39)}) 9... fxe6 {Black has new doubled pawns: e5+e6} 10. Qb3 Qd7 11. b5 {White threatens to win material: b5xc6} (11. a4 a6 $11) 11... Ne7 (11... Na5 $5 12. Qb4 h6 $15) 12. Nbd2 a6 13. Bxf6 (13. a4 Ba7 $14) 13... Rxf6 14. Nc4 Ba7 15. b6 cxb6 16. Nxb6 Bxb6 17. Qxb6 Rc8 18. c4 Rc6 19. Qb2 Ng6 20. Rab1 Rc7 21. Rfd1 Qc6 (21... Qf7 22. Qb6 Rxf3 23. gxf3 $11) 22. Rbc1 (22. Qb6 Qd7 $11) 22... b6 (22... Rxf3 23. gxf3 Nf4 24. Qd2 $11) 23. d4 (23. Rb1 Rb7 $14) 23... exd4 $11 24. Qxd4 e5 {Black threatens to win material: e5xd4} 25. Qd5+ Kh8 26. Nxe5 $4 {White has let it slip away} ( 26. Qxc6 $142 {was necessary} Rxc6 27. Rc3 $11) 26... dxe5 $19 ({Weaker is} 26... Nxe5 27. Qxe5 $5 {Deflection: d6} h6 28. Qd5 $16) 27. Qxe5 Qc5 (27... Rc8 $142 {might be the shorter path} 28. Qd5 Nf4 29. Qxc6 Rfxc6 $19) 28. Qd5 $4 { a blunder in a bad position} (28. Qxc5 Rxc5 29. Rd8+ Rf8 $19) 28... Qxf2+ $17 29. Kh1 Rcf7 30. h3 Qxa2 (30... Nf4 $142 $5 {makes it even easier for Black} 31. Qd2 Ne2 32. Rc2 Ng3+ 33. Kh2 Nf1+ 34. Rxf1 Qxf1 35. Rc1 $19) 31. Rd2 (31. c5 {hoping against hope} Qxd5 32. exd5 bxc5 33. Rxc5 $19) 31... Qa3 32. Rcd1 ( 32. Rdd1 {doesn't get the cat off the tree} Rf8 33. e5 Rf2 $19) 32... Qg3 ( 32... Nf4 $142 {keeps an even firmer grip} 33. Qd8+ Rf8 $19) 33. Kg1 (33. Qd3 { does not help much} Qf4 34. Qc3 $19) 33... Nf4 {Black has a mate threat} (33... Nh4 34. Qa8+ Rf8 35. Qxf8+ Rxf8 36. Rf1 Rxf1+ 37. Kxf1 Qf4+ 38. Rf2 Qc1+ 39. Ke2 Qxc4+ 40. Ke3 Qc3+ 41. Ke2 Qc2+ 42. Ke1 Qxe4+ 43. Kd1 Kg8 44. Re2 Qb1+ 45. Kd2 Nxg2 46. Re8+ Kf7 47. Rc8 Qe1+ 48. Kd3 Qd1+ 49. Ke4 Qd6 50. Kf3 Ne1+ 51. Ke2 Qe6+ 52. Kd1 Qxc8 53. h4 Qc2+ 54. Kxe1 Kg6 55. h5+ Kf5 56. h6 Ke4 57. hxg7 Ke3 58. g8=Q Qc1#) 34. Qxf7 $11 {White has a mate threat} h6 $4 {a transit from better to worse} (34... Nxh3+ $142 35. Kh1 Nf2+ (35... Rxf7 $4 {2 simply mating in} 36. Rd8+ Rf8 37. Rxf8#) 36. Kg1 Nh3+ (36... Rxf7 {2 leads to mate in } 37. Rd8+ Rf8 38. Rxf8#) 37. Kh1 Nf2+ (37... Rxf7 {2 will allow the opponent to give mate in} 38. Rd8+ Rf8 39. Rxf8#) 38. Kg1 Nh3+ $11 (38... Rxf7 {2 is refuted decisively by mate in} 39. Rd8+ Rf8 40. Rxf8#)) 35. Qxf6 $4 {an unfortunate move that relinquishes the win} (35. Qd7 $142 $16) 35... gxf6 ( 35... Qe3+ $142 {and Black has prevailed} 36. Kh2 gxf6 $19) 36. Rd8+ $18 Kg7 ( 36... Qg8 {no good, but what else?} 37. Rxg8+ Kxg8 $18) 37. R1d7+ (37. R1d7+ Kg6 38. Rg8+ Kh5 39. Rxg3 Ne2+ 40. Kf2 Nxg3 41. Kxg3 Kg6 42. Kf4 a5 43. g4 h5 44. gxh5+ Kxh5 45. Kf5 Kh4 46. Rd3 Kh5 47. Kxf6 a4 48. e5 Kh4 49. e6 a3 50. Rxa3 Kh5 51. e7 Kh6 52. e8=Q Kh7 53. Qg6+ Kh8 54. Qg7#) 1-0

Hmmm, all reference games so far have been draws, maybe I should include games from players 2000+ and not just from 2500+ players. The exception was my last post, but that was only because people who have ratings over 2500 had not played that line.

[Event "Asuncion zt 2.5"] [Site "Asuncion"] [Date "2009.06.12"] [Round "3"] [White "Rodriguez Vila, Andres"] [Black "Mareco, Sandro"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2524"] [BlackElo "2503"] [PlyCount "104"] [EventDate "2009.06.10"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "PAR"] [SourceTitle "CBM 130 Extra"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2009.07.02"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. b4 Bb6 6. d3 O-O 7. O-O d6 8. Bg5 Ne7 9. Nbd2 Ng6 10. Nh4 Nxh4 11. Bxh4 h6 12. Bb3 g5 13. Bg3 Bg4 14. Qe1 a6 15. Nc4 Ba7 16. Ne3 Bh5 17. f3 c6 18. Rd1 Bg6 19. d4 Qc7 20. dxe5 dxe5 21. Kh1 b5 22. c4 Qe7 23. c5 Rad8 24. Qc3 Bb8 25. a4 Nh5 26. axb5 axb5 27. Ra1 Rd4 28. Ra6 Qd7 29. Bc2 Rd8 30. Bf2 Kh7 31. Qb3 f6 32. Nf5 Bf7 33. Qb1 Qc8 34. Ra8 R4d7 35. Nd6 Qc7 36. g3 Ng7 37. f4 Ne8 38. Nxf7 Rxf7 39. Be3 Ng7 40. Bb3 Rfd7 41. fxg5 fxg5 42. Qc2 Rd3 43. Bc1 Qd7 44. Ba2 Rd1 45. Qe2 Rxf1+ 46. Qxf1 Qd1 47. Qxd1 Rxd1+ 48. Kg2 Rxc1 49. Bf7 Rc2+ 50. Kg1 Rc1+ 51. Kg2 Rc2+ 52. Kg1 Rc1+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Wch Rapid"] [Site "Doha"] [Date "2016.12.26"] [Round "5"] [White "Salem, AR Saleh"] [Black "Anton Guijarro, David"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2656"] [BlackElo "2650"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2016.12.26"] [EventType "swiss (rapid)"] [EventRounds "15"] [EventCountry "QAT"] [SourceTitle "Mega2016 Update 65"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2016.12.29"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 O-O 7. b4 Bb6 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 g5 10. Bg3 a5 11. b5 Ne7 12. Nbd2 Ng6 13. d4 Qe7 14. Re1 Nh7 15. Nf1 g4 16. N3d2 h5 17. h4 exd4 18. cxd4 Bxd4 19. Ne3 Bxa1 20. Qxa1 Qf6 21. e5 dxe5 22. Nd5 Qg7 23. Nxc7 Rb8 24. Ne4 Kh8 25. Nd6 f6 26. b6 Bd7 27. Bd3 Rfd8 28. Qc3 Nhf8 29. Qc4 Bc6 30. Nf7+ Kh7 31. Rxe5 fxe5 32. Bxe5 Bd5 33. Nxd5 Qxf7 34. Nf6+ Kg7 35. Nxh5+ Kg8 36. Nf6+ Kg7 37. Ne8+ Kg8 38. Nf6+ Kg7 39. Nh5+ Kg8 40. Nf6+ Kg7 41. Nh5+ Kg8 1/2-1/2