64 square madness that some of us call chess...: 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)

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.

A better move for Silent_Venom was 8.Be2, according to Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT at depth 32.

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.

16.a4 would have been a much better move because it has a threat attached to it and therefore it fights for the initiative.

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.

37.Bxd2 would have kept the dream of getting a draw from this game alive for Silent_Venom.

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Move	N	Result	Elo

Replay and check the LiveBook here

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 6.0-0 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 14.0-0-0 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 0-0 12.Nf3 c5 13.g3 Nc6 14.Bg2 Be4 15.0-0 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...c5N 5...c6 6.Be2 Bd6 7.Ne5 Bxe5 8.dxe5 Ne4 9.0-0 Nxd2 10.Bxd2 Nd7 11.f4 Be4 12.Qb3 Qb6 13.Qa3 Qc5 14.b4 Qe7 15.Rac1 0-0 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 0-0 7...Nbd7 8.Bb5 0-0 9.0-0 a6 10.Be2 b5 Black threatens to win material: b5xa4 10...Qc7 11.Qh4 11.Qd1 Qc7 12.Nh4 White's piece can't move: c1 Qe5 12...Be4!? 13.Ndf3= Qe4 14.Nxf5 Qxf5 15.b4 Bd6 15...Bb6= 16.Bb2?? gives the opponent new chances 16.a4!? 16...Ne5 16...Nb6!? 17.Nd4 White threatens to win material: Nd4xf5 Qe4 17...Qg6 18.a4 Nc4 19.Qc1= 18.a4= 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 28.Kg1 White king safety improved 28.e4!? is noteworthy Qf6 29.Be2= 28...Bf6 29.Be2 Qxc3 30.Qxc3 Bxc3 31.h4 Kf8 32.Bd3 h6 33.f3 33.e4 d4 33...a5 34.bxa5 Rxa5 35.Rxa5 Bxa5 Weaker is 35...Nxa5 36.Ba3+ Kg8 37.Rc1 36.e4 36.Kg2 Bd2 37.Bxd2 Nxd2 36...Nd2 36...Ne5!? 37.Ba6 Ra8-+ 37.exd5?? 37.Bxd2 would save the game Bxd2 38.exd5 37...Nxf1 37...Nxf1 38.Ba3+ Kg8 39.Bxf1 exd5-+ 0–1

White	EloW	Black	EloB	Res

Silent_Venom

1784

Vierjoki,T

1833

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.