D02 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 sidelines, including 2...Nf6 3.g3 and 2...Nf6 3.Bf4 (1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nbd2 Bf5)

This game was played in a team match called "LEGENDS ARE FOREVER OPEN CHALLENGE 2016". The match consisted of 55 boards and it was played between SHETOS and Chess School. I played on board 8 for Chess School and won both of my games against Silent_Venom. The match ended with a score of 35.5 - 74.5 in favor of Chess School.

The game shifted in my favor clearly after Silent_Venom played 8.Bb5. Moving the light-squared bishop to b5 was not a good idea because the pin on the diagonal is not that effective and because it would be in Silent_Venom's best interest to not trade it off.

The advantage that I might have had before, I lost when I played the somewhat clumsy looking move 12...Qe5. I played that move because I wanted to keep my pawn structure intact by taking with the queen on f5 if my opponent had decided to take the bishop with the knight, which happened later in the game. The next turning point of the game came when Silent_Venom played the move 16.Bb2, the bishop has a very grim future on b2 because the pawn on c3 is unlikely to move out of the way anytime soon.

I did not find the most accurate reply to 16.Bb2, which would have been Nb6, but instead I played my knight to e5 and directed my attention to the kingside. I ended up being on the worse side once again due to the move 18.bxa4, which was the simple answer to the threat towards my pawn on b5. I should have looked for more creative and better ways to do that same thing and I would have been doing a bit better at this point in the game. The advantage shifted a bit back and forth until Silent_Venom played 28.Kg1. With that move the position goes from even to my favor for the last time in this game. It is not the losing move, however, the losing move was the last move that Silent_venom played in this game 37.exd5, without that blunder Silent_Venom might have been able to draw the game.

[Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.01.11"] [Round "?"] [White "Silent_Venom"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "1784"] [BlackElo "1833"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "74"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 {Queen Pawn Game: Symmetrical Variation} 3. Nbd2 (3. c4 b5 {Queen's Pawn Game: Zilbermints Countergambit} (3... dxc4 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O a6 7. a4 {Queen's Gambit Accepted: Classical Defense, Rubinstein Variation})) (3. e3 Bf5 4. c4 c6 {Slav Defense: Quiet Variation, Schallopp Defense}) 3... Bf5 {D02 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 sidelines, including 2...Nf6 3.g3 and 2.. .Nf6 3.Bf4} 4. c3 e6 5. e3 (5. Nh4 Be4 (5... Bg6 6. Nxg6 hxg6 7. e3 Bd6 8. Nf3 c5 9. Qc2 Nc6 10. Bd2 e5 11. g3 e4 12. Ng1 Ng4 13. h3 Qf6 14. O-O-O Nxf2 15. c4 Nxh1 16. cxd5 Nb4 17. Qxe4+ Qe7 18. Bb5+ Kf8 19. Qxh1 a6 20. Bc4 {Leite, A-Nunes,G (1801) Hebraica 2015 0-1 (34)}) 6. Qb3 b6 7. Nhf3 Bd6 8. Ne5 Bf5 9. f3 Bxe5 10. dxe5 Nfd7 11. f4 O-O 12. Nf3 c5 13. g3 Nc6 14. Bg2 Be4 15. O-O Rb8 16. Qd1 b5 17. a3 a5 18. b4 cxb4 19. cxb4 axb4 {Astasio Lopez,D (2258)-Almagro Llamas,P (2492) Ourense 2008 0-1 (55)}) 5... c5 $146 (5... c6 6. Be2 Bd6 7. Ne5 Bxe5 8. dxe5 Ne4 9. O-O Nxd2 10. Bxd2 Nd7 11. f4 Be4 12. Qb3 Qb6 13. Qa3 Qc5 14. b4 Qe7 15. Rac1 O-O 16. c4 dxc4 17. Rxc4 f5 18. Rd4 Nb6 19. Rd1 Nd5 20. Qb2 {Nuzhdov,V (2011)-Rogov,I (1942) Novokuznetsk 2014 0-1 (44)}) 6. dxc5 Bxc5 7. Qa4+ (7. Be2 O-O $15) 7... Nbd7 8. Bb5 O-O 9. O-O a6 10. Be2 b5 {Black threatens to win material: b5xa4} (10... Qc7 11. Qh4 $17) 11. Qd1 Qc7 12. Nh4 { White's piece can't move: c1} Qe5 (12... Be4 $142 $5 $17) 13. Ndf3 $11 Qe4 14. Nxf5 Qxf5 15. b4 Bd6 (15... Bb6 $142 $11) 16. Bb2 $4 {gives the opponent new chances} (16. a4 $5 $14) 16... Ne5 (16... Nb6 $142 $5 $17) 17. Nd4 $15 { White threatens to win material: Nd4xf5} Qe4 (17... Qg6 18. a4 Nc4 19. Qc1 $11) 18. a4 $11 bxa4 19. Rxa4 Nc4 {Black threatens to win material: Nc4xb2. 'the knight is the knight!'} 20. Bc1 Rfc8 21. Bd3 Qh4 22. Nf3 {White threatens to win material: Nf3xh4} Qh5 23. g3 {Controls f4} Ng4 24. Kg2 {White king safety dropped} Nge5 25. Be2 Nxf3 {Black has a mate threat} 26. Bxf3 Qe5 {Black threatens to win material: Qe5xc3} 27. Qd3 Be7 (27... f5 28. Qd4 $15) 28. Kg1 { White king safety improved} (28. e4 $5 {is noteworthy} Qf6 29. Be2 $11) 28... Bf6 $15 29. Be2 Qxc3 30. Qxc3 Bxc3 31. h4 Kf8 32. Bd3 h6 33. f3 (33. e4 d4 $17) 33... a5 34. bxa5 Rxa5 35. Rxa5 Bxa5 ({Weaker is} 35... Nxa5 36. Ba3+ Kg8 37. Rc1 $15) 36. e4 (36. Kg2 Bd2 37. Bxd2 Nxd2 $17) 36... Nd2 (36... Ne5 $142 $5 37. Ba6 Ra8 $19) 37. exd5 $4 (37. Bxd2 $142 {would save the game} Bxd2 38. exd5 $15) 37... Nxf1 (37... Nxf1 38. Ba3+ Kg8 39. Bxf1 exd5 $19) 0-1

This line seems to favor the player who is controlling the black pieces, according to these eight reference games, but the amount of games is so small that one should not make too big decisions based on that. That being said, the move Nbd2 does not seem to be the best way to develop the knight, at least in my opinion.

[Event "Zenica"] [Site "Zenica"] [Date "1987.??.??"] [Round "4"] [White "Kovacevic, Vlatko"] [Black "Flear, Glenn C"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2490"] [BlackElo "2495"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "1987.04.??"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "YUG"] [SourceTitle "TD"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "1994.03.01"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nbd2 Bf5 4. c4 e6 5. Qb3 Nc6 6. c5 Rb8 7. e3 Nd7 8. Bb5 Na5 9. Qa3 c6 10. Bd3 Bxd3 11. Qxd3 b5 12. e4 dxe4 13. Qxe4 Nf6 14. Qc2 Nd5 15. O-O Be7 16. Re1 O-O 17. Ne4 Nb7 18. Neg5 g6 19. Qe4 Kg7 20. Qh4 h5 21. Bf4 Nxf4 22. Qxf4 Bxg5 23. Nxg5 Qe7 24. b4 a5 25. a4 bxa4 26. Rxa4 Ra8 27. Rea1 Ra6 28. Qe5+ Kh6 29. h4 Re8 30. Qe2 Rea8 31. g3 R6a7 32. Qf3 f6 33. Nh3 Ra6 34. Nf4 e5 35. Qe4 Qg7 36. dxe5 fxe5 37. Ne6 Qe7 38. Qxe5 Re8 39. Qe3+ Kh7 40. Nc7 1-0 [Event "Oz.com qual blitz"] [Site "ICC INT"] [Date "2000.03.05"] [Round "2"] [White "Ritter, Mark"] [Black "Dreev, Alexey"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2415"] [BlackElo "2680"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2000.03.05"] [EventType "swiss (blitz)"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "EXT 2001"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2000.11.22"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nbd2 Bf5 4. g3 e6 5. Bg2 c5 6. O-O Nc6 7. c3 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Nxd4 9. cxd4 Be7 10. Qa4+ Qd7 11. Qxd7+ Kxd7 12. Nf3 Rhc8 13. Bf4 Rc2 14. Rfc1 Rxb2 15. Rc7+ Ke8 16. h3 Bd8 17. Rc3 Rxe2 18. Bf1 Rb2 19. a4 a6 20. g4 Ne4 21. Re3 Bg6 22. Re2 Rxe2 23. Bxe2 f6 24. Nh4 Bf7 25. Rc1 g5 26. f3 gxf4 27. fxe4 dxe4 28. Bc4 Bb6 29. Ng2 Bxd4+ 30. Kf1 f3 31. Nh4 Be3 32. Rb1 Bg5 33. Nxf3 exf3 34. Rxb7 Bh4 35. Bd3 Rd8 36. Rb3 e5 37. Rc3 e4 38. Bc2 Rd2 39. a5 Bg6 40. Ba4+ Ke7 41. Rc7+ Ke6 42. Bb3+ Ke5 0-1 [Event "Balatonlelle GM"] [Site "Balatonlelle"] [Date "2002.06.26"] [Round "7"] [White "Varga, Zoltan"] [Black "Horvath, Adam"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2495"] [BlackElo "2464"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "2002.06.20"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "HUN"] [EventCategory "11"] [SourceTitle "EXT 2004"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2003.11.25"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nd2 d5 3. Ngf3 Bf5 4. c4 e6 5. Nh4 Bg6 6. Qb3 Qc8 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Nxg6 hxg6 9. e4 c6 10. e5 Ng4 11. Nf3 a5 12. a3 Be7 13. Bd3 Na6 14. h3 Nc7 15. Rg1 Nh6 16. g4 Ng8 17. Rg3 Ne6 18. Be3 Qc7 19. O-O-O a4 20. Qc2 b5 21. Kb1 b4 22. axb4 Bxb4 23. Rc1 Ne7 24. Ng5 Nxg5 25. Bxg5 O-O 26. Ka2 c5 27. Bxe7 Qxe7 28. dxc5 a3 29. b3 Qxe5 30. Rb1 Ra5 31. Qe2 Qxe2+ 32. Bxe2 Rxc5 33. Bd1 Rfc8 34. Rd3 Rc2+ 0-1 [Event "Bodensee-Cup 10th"] [Site "Germany"] [Date "2004.05.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Miltner, Arndt"] [Black "Papa, Severin"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D04"] [WhiteElo "2390"] [BlackElo "2405"] [PlyCount "96"] [EventDate "2004.05.??"] [EventType "team"] [EventRounds "3"] [EventCountry "GER"] [SourceTitle "EXT 2007"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2006.11.23"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nbd2 Bf5 4. e3 e6 5. Be2 Bd6 6. c4 c6 7. a3 Nbd7 8. b4 O-O 9. Bb2 Ne4 10. h3 Nxd2 11. Qxd2 Be4 12. Rc1 dxc4 13. Bxc4 a5 14. b5 Qe7 15. bxc6 bxc6 16. Bd3 Bxf3 17. gxf3 Bxa3 18. Bxa3 Qxa3 19. Rxc6 Rfd8 20. Qc3 Qe7 21. f4 Nf6 22. Ke2 Nd5 23. Qc5 Qh4 24. Be4 Rab8 25. Qxa5 Rb2+ 26. Rc2 Rxc2+ 27. Bxc2 Rc8 28. Bd3 Qh5+ 29. Kd2 Qf3 30. Rh2 Nxf4 31. Ba6 Ra8 32. Qc7 Nd5 33. Qb7 Rd8 34. Be2 Qf6 35. Bc4 Ne7 36. Ke2 Nf5 37. Rg2 Nxd4+ 38. exd4 Qxd4 39. Rg4 Qd1+ 40. Ke3 h5 41. Re4 Qe1+ 42. Kf3 Qh1+ 43. Ke2 Rd1 44. Qc8+ Kh7 45. Rf4 Qf1+ 46. Ke3 Qxh3+ 47. Rf3 Qg4 48. Qc5 f5 0-1 [Event "USA-ch"] [Site "San Diego"] [Date "2004.11.28"] [Round "4"] [White "Lakdawala, Cyrus"] [Black "Akobian, Varuzhan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D04"] [WhiteElo "2422"] [BlackElo "2571"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "2004.11.24"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "CBM 105"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2005.04.11"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nd2 d5 3. Ngf3 Bf5 4. e3 e6 5. Ne5 h6 6. Bd3 Nbd7 7. O-O Bd6 8. Ndf3 c6 9. b3 Ne4 10. Nxd7 Qxd7 11. Bb2 Bg4 12. h3 Bxf3 13. gxf3 Nf6 14. Kg2 g5 15. c4 O-O-O 16. Qc2 Rdg8 17. Rh1 Kb8 18. Bc3 h5 19. c5 Bc7 20. b4 g4 21. hxg4 hxg4 22. Rxh8 Rxh8 23. f4 Qd8 24. Rh1 Rxh1 25. Kxh1 Nh5 26. Be1 f5 27. Kg1 Nf6 28. a4 Kc8 1/2-1/2 [Event "Prague 5' m2"] [Site "Prague"] [Date "2006.08.04"] [Round "1"] [White "Hort, Vlastimil"] [Black "Jackova, Jana"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D11"] [WhiteElo "2512"] [BlackElo "2403"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2006.08.04"] [EventType "match (blitz)"] [EventRounds "4"] [EventCountry "CZE"] [SourceTitle "EXT 2009"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2008.11.26"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nd2 d5 3. Ngf3 Bf5 4. g3 Nbd7 5. Bg2 h6 6. O-O e6 7. b3 Be7 8. Bb2 O-O 9. c4 c6 10. e3 Re8 11. Qe2 a5 12. a3 Qb8 13. Rac1 Bh7 14. Rfd1 Ne4 15. Nxe4 Bxe4 16. Bh3 b5 17. Nd2 Bg6 18. cxb5 cxb5 19. Bf1 b4 20. a4 Nf6 21. Nf3 Bh5 22. h3 Bd6 23. g4 Bg6 24. Qb5 Qxb5 25. Bxb5 Rec8 26. Ne5 Bc2 27. Re1 Bxb3 28. f3 Nh7 29. Rxc8+ Rxc8 30. Nc6 Ra8 31. Rc1 Nf8 32. Ne5 f6 33. Nd3 Ng6 34. Nc5 Bxc5 35. Rxc5 Nh4 36. Kf2 Bd1 37. Kg3 g5 38. e4 Bxf3 39. Rc6 Bxe4 40. Rxe6 Rc8 41. Rc6 0-1 [Event "Chigorin Memorial 21st"] [Site "St Petersburg"] [Date "2013.10.06"] [Round "2"] [White "Burmakin, Vladimir"] [Black "Biriukov, Oleg V"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2581"] [BlackElo "2328"] [PlyCount "149"] [EventDate "2013.10.05"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "RUS"] [SourceTitle "CBM 156 Extra"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2013.10.22"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nbd2 Bf5 4. Nh4 Bc8 5. g3 e6 6. Bg2 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. O-O Nc6 9. c4 O-O 10. cxd5 exd5 11. Nb3 Bb6 12. Bg5 h6 13. Bxf6 Qxf6 14. Qd2 Be6 15. Nf3 Rad8 16. Rac1 d4 17. Ne1 Rfe8 18. Nd3 Bxb3 19. axb3 Qe6 20. Bxc6 bxc6 21. Rfe1 Qxb3 22. Rxc6 Rc8 23. Rxc8 Rxc8 24. Rc1 Re8 25. Rc6 Qb5 26. Rc2 Qb3 27. Rc6 Qb5 28. Qc2 Qf5 29. Nf4 Qxc2 30. Rxc2 g6 31. Kf1 h5 32. h4 Rd8 33. Ke1 Kg7 34. Rc6 Rd7 35. Nd3 Rd5 36. Kd2 Ba5+ 37. Kc2 Bb6 38. Kb3 Rd7 39. Kc2 Re7 40. Kd2 Ba5+ 41. Kd1 Bb6 42. Ke1 Rd7 43. Kf1 Re7 44. Nf4 Rd7 45. Kg2 Bc7 46. Nd3 Bb6 47. Kf3 Rd5 48. Ke4 Rd7 49. Ne1 Rb7 50. Rc2 Bd8 51. Nf3 Bf6 52. Nxd4 a5 53. e3 a4 54. Kd3 Rb4 55. Kc3 Rb6 56. Kc4 Rb8 57. Rd2 Ra8 58. Nb5 Be7 59. Rd7 a3 60. bxa3 Bxa3 61. Nc7 Rc8 62. Kd5 Kg8 63. Ke4 Bb2 64. f4 Rb8 65. Nd5 Re8+ 66. Kf3 Ra8 67. e4 Ra3+ 68. Kg2 Ra2 69. Kh3 Bg7 70. Rd8+ Kh7 71. e5 Re2 72. Nc7 Rc2 73. Ne8 Kh6 74. Rd7 Rc8 75. Nd6 1-0 [Event "CZE-chT 1617"] [Site "Czech Republic"] [Date "2017.04.02"] [Round "11.6"] [White "Londyn, Radek"] [Black "Laznicka, Viktor"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2422"] [BlackElo "2651"] [PlyCount "104"] [EventDate "2016.10.08"] [EventType "team-tourn"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "CZE"] [SourceTitle "Mega2017 Update 24"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2017.04.07"] [WhiteTeam "Lysa nad Labem II"] [BlackTeam "Novoborsky"] [WhiteTeamCountry "CZE"] [BlackTeamCountry "CZE"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nbd2 Bf5 4. Nh4 Bd7 5. e3 c5 6. Nhf3 Nc6 7. a3 b6 8. b3 cxd4 9. exd4 g6 10. Bb2 Bg7 11. Bd3 O-O 12. O-O Bf5 13. Ne5 Rc8 14. Ndf3 Bxd3 15. cxd3 Nb8 16. a4 Ne8 17. Re1 f6 18. Ng4 Qd7 19. Ne3 Nc6 20. Rc1 Nc7 21. Ba3 Ne6 22. Nc2 Rfe8 23. g3 Kf7 24. Kg2 a6 25. Bb2 Rc7 26. Ne3 Rb8 27. h4 b5 28. Ba1 h5 29. Re2 bxa4 30. bxa4 Rcb7 31. Bc3 Bh6 32. Ra2 Rb3 33. Nd2 R3b6 34. Nf3 Kg7 35. Raa1 Kf7 36. Ra2 Kg8 37. Raa1 R8b7 38. Ra2 Qd6 39. Raa1 Kf7 40. Ra2 Rb8 41. Raa1 Rb3 42. Ra2 Ng7 43. Bd2 Rxd3 44. Qc2 Rxd2 45. Qxd2 Nb4 46. Raa1 Qe6 47. Qc3 Nf5 48. Qc7 Nxe3+ 49. fxe3 Re8 50. Rc3 Qe4 51. Qb6 Nc2 52. Ra2 Ne1+ 0-1