B32 Sicilian: Löwenthal and Kalashnikov Variations (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 d6 6.c4 a6 7.N5a3 Nf6 8.Nc3 Be7 9.Be2)

For the game I am sharing today I changed the way the analysis is done for the notation. For this game and the ones that are coming in the future I will be using Fritz 16's Full Analysis function, which will do a tactical analysis for the full game. There will still be reference games in the notation, but there will also be engine evaluations and at what depth it was taken from. For instance, after the move 10...Nd4 it says in the notation 0.57/24, which means that the position in White's favor for 0.57 pawns and the engine came to that conclusion at depth 24. At least I think the number after the forward slash is the depth, I could not confirm that when I was looking into it. If someone reading this has better knowledge of it and disagrees with this, do let me know in the comments. There will be also some diagrams in the notation and at the end of the notation there is a comment where it says how precisely both players played the game, which in my opinion is a good addition to the analysis. The precision was not good for either player in this game, but then again this was a blitz game and neither player is that high rated, so inaccurate play is expected.

Both 1.e4 and the reply c5 (1174330 games, score 50.6%) are the most played moves. While I have tried to play the Sicilian a few times, it has never been something that I would like to play with either color. 2.Nf3 (1028045 games, score 51%) followed the path of most often played moves. The next move, 2...Nc6 (317478 games, score 51.8%), was the 2nd most played move. The most played move being 2...d6 (418805 games, score 51.4%). Next I followed the path that most players had taken with the move 3.d4 (212068 games, score 51.8%). While it is not the only move played in the position, the reply 3...cxd4 (211026 games, score 50.9%), is by far the most popular move. The second most played move is 3...e6 (572 games, score 74.9%). The same pattern of most played moves continued when I played 4.Nxd4 (209948 games, score 50.8%). Then Kojjootti played 4...e5 (25575 games, score 52%), which is the 3rd most commonly played move in my reference database. More often seen are the moves 4...Nf6 (103994 games, score 50.4%) and 4...g6 (46572 games, score 50.5%).

Clearly the most played move was played by me next, as I moved my knight to b5, which has appeared in 20830 games with a score of 54.4%. The next move, 5...d6 (14450 games, score 51.8%), is the most played move and it is a move that has been played by strong Grand Masters like Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, Garry Kasparov and Teimour Radjabov. The game continued to follow the game between Magnus Carlsen (2862) and Yifan Hou (2673), played at the 77th Tata Steel Masters on January 17th, 2015, up to my next move 6.c4 (4858 games, score 52.8%). 6.c4 is the second most popular move in the position, only behind the move 6.Nc3 (7888 games, score 50.8%). Kojjootti was the first one to deviate from that game with the move 6...a6 (596 games, score 62.4%), which is the 3rd most often occurred move. The choice of the strongest players and most players reaching the position has been 6...Be7 (3385 games, score 50.6%). It was also the move that Yifan Hou played in the game against Magnus Carlsen. The second most often played move is 6...Be6 (615 games, score 52.3%).

The next move, 7.N5a3 (213 games, score 58.7%), I have played pretty much automatically in this same position, but with this analysis I have seen that highest rated players prefer to play 7.N5c3 (381 games, score 64.3%) instead, so I probably should change to it as well, especially since it scores better than the move I have previously chosen. I have played 7.N5a3 for the reason that I have wanted to develop my other knight to c3. We then followed the game between Paolo Capitelli (2161) and Rolly Martinez (2360), played at Verona on January 2nd, 2005, up to the move 9...O-O. The move 7...Nf6 is the most often played move and it has appeared in 106 games with a score of 58.1, according to my database that is. The next move 8.Nc3 (102 games, score 58.9%) is also the most popular option in the position. The same goes for the reply 8...Be7 (195 games, score 61.9%). The strongest players that have chosen the move 8...Be7 are Arkadij Naiditsch (2705) and Rauf Mamedov (2650), to name only the two strongest players. The game continued with the main move 9.Be2 (214 games, score 54.2%).

Then Kojjootti played 9...O-O, a move that was also played by GM John D M Nunn against Comp Mephisto 68020 in 1992, for instance. Next I also decided to castle and by so doing followed the blitz game between Thomas Luther (2577) and Eugeny Atarov, played on April 14th, 2004. The move my opponent chose next, 10...Nd4 (26 games, score 50%), which is the 2nd most common move in the position, has not been played by any Grand Master, at least according to my reference database. Most popular move has been 10...Be6 (53 games, score 56.6%). I then decided to save my bishop pair by playing 11.Bd3 (2 games, score 25%, 3rd most popular move), but it was too passive and I should have played 11.Nc2 (31 games, score 45.2%) instead, which is also the main move in the position. The 2nd most often played move is 11.Be3 (15 games, score 53.3%). It was then replied with the move 11...Bg4 (2 games, score 50%), which is barely the most often played move. In both games it was answered by 12.f3, like in my game. In both of those games the next move was 12...Be6, so the move 12...Bh5 that my opponent played in this game is a novelty.

[Event "Live Chess"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.07.19"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "Kojjootti"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B32"] [WhiteElo "1756"] [BlackElo "1733"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "86"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nb5 d6 6. c4 a6 7. N5a3 Nf6 8. Nc3 Be7 9. Be2 {B32 Sicilian: Löwenthal and Kalashnikov Variations} O-O 10. O-O Nd4 {0.57/24 LiveBook: 8 Games} (10... Be6 $11 {0.10/27}) 11. Bd3 $14 (11. Nc2 Nxe2+ 12. Qxe2 Be6 13. a4 Qd7 14. Ne3 Bd8 15. Rd1 Bb6 16. Ncd5 Bxd5 17. Nxd5 Nxd5 18. Rxd5 Qc6 19. b3 Bc5 20. Rb1 f5 21. exf5 Rxf5 22. Be3 Raf8 23. Bxc5 dxc5 24. Rf1 b5 25. axb5 axb5 {Kasimdzhanov,R (2704)-Piorun,K (2609) Berlin 2015 1-0 (38)}) 11... Bg4 {The position is equal.} 12. f3 Bh5 $146 {1.05/26} ( 12... Bd7 $11 {0.20/26 keeps the balance.}) (12... Be6 13. Be3 (13. Nc2 Nxc2 14. Qxc2 Rc8 15. Qe2 Nd7 16. Nd5 Bg5 17. b3 Bxc1 18. Raxc1 Nc5 19. Bb1 Qg5 20. Rcd1 Kh8 21. Kh1 g6 22. Qb2 Kg8 {1/2-1/2 (22) Grass,E-Fink,P (1755) Oberbernhards 2004}) 13... Rc8 14. Qd2 Nc6 15. Nc2 Na5 16. b3 Qc7 17. Rac1 Nc6 18. Rfd1 Ne8 19. Bf2 g6 20. Ne3 Qd8 21. Ned5 Bg5 22. Be3 Bxe3+ 23. Qxe3 f5 24. f4 fxe4 25. Bxe4 exf4 26. Nxf4 Bg4 27. Re1 {Koszela,S (1872)-Anfinogenov,A (2100) Piestany 2011 1/2-1/2 (74)}) 13. Kh1 {0.46/27} (13. Nc2 $16 {1.05/26}) 13... Bg6 14. Nc2 {0.45/26} (14. Be3 $16 {0.86/24}) 14... Nc6 {1.00/24} (14... Ne6 $14 {0.45/26}) 15. Ne3 {0.48/29} (15. Be3 $16 {1.00/24}) 15... Nh5 {1.30/22 } (15... Rc8 $14 {0.48/29}) 16. Ncd5 {0.85/27} (16. Ned5 $142 {1.30/22}) 16... Bg5 {1.36/23} (16... Nf6 $142 {0.85/27}) 17. Qb3 {0.50/27} (17. g3 $1 $16 { 1.36/23}) 17... Rb8 18. Qb6 {0.15/28} ({White should play} 18. g3 $16 {0.82/24} ) 18... Qd7 {0.72/28} (18... Nf4 $11 {0.15/28} 19. Qxd8 Rfxd8 20. Nxf4 Bxf4) 19. b3 $2 {-6.84/26 [#]} (19. Bd2 $16 {0.72/28}) 19... Nf4 $2 {0.23/30} (19... Bd8 $1 $19 {-6.84/26} 20. Ba3 Re8) 20. Nxf4 $2 {-2.65/26} (20. Ng4 $11 {0.23/30 }) 20... Bxf4 $2 {0.61/26} (20... Bd8 $1 $19 {-2.65/26} 21. Nfd5 Bxb6 22. Nxb6 Qd8) 21. Nd5 {0.04/26} (21. Ba3 $14 {0.61/26}) 21... Bxc1 $11 22. Raxc1 { 0.00/31} (22. Rfxc1 $14 {0.42/25} Nd4 23. Rd1) 22... Nd4 23. Qb4 {-0.11/26} ( 23. Qc7 $142 {0.30/25} Qxc7 24. Nxc7) 23... f5 {0.42/25} ({Better is} 23... Rfd8 $11 {-0.11/26}) 24. Qe1 f4 25. c5 Bh5 {0.44/28} (25... dxc5 $11 {0.00/34 is more appropriate.} 26. Rxc5 Qd6) 26. cxd6 Qxd6 27. Bc4 Kh8 28. Bd3 g5 29. h3 Qh6 30. Kg1 {-0.75/24} (30. Be2 $11 {-0.28/28 should be considered.}) 30... Qd6 {0.00/34} (30... Bxf3 $1 $17 {-0.75/24 Strongly threatening ...g4.} 31. Rxf3 ( 31. gxf3 Qxh3 32. Qf2 g4 $17) 31... Nxf3+ 32. gxf3 Qxh3) 31. Rc7 {-0.60/25} ( 31. Qa5 $11 {0.00/34}) 31... Nc6 {0.00/31} ({Black should try} 31... Rfc8 $15 { -0.60/25} 32. Rc4 b5) 32. Qc3 {-0.71/28} (32. Qf2 $11 {0.00/31 remains equal.}) 32... Be8 {0.44/25} (32... Bf7 $17 {-0.71/28} 33. Rc1 Bxd5 34. Rxh7+ Kxh7 35. exd5+ Kg7 36. dxc6 Rbc8) 33. Rc1 $14 h5 {1.20/26} (33... Rg8 $14 {0.45/30}) 34. Bxa6 {-0.30/27} (34. Qc5 $16 {1.20/26} Qxc5+ 35. Rxc5) 34... bxa6 $11 35. Rxc6 Bxc6 36. Qxc6 Qxc6 37. Rxc6 $16 {Endgame KRR-KRN} Kg7 {-0.13/35} (37... Rbc8 $1 $15 {-0.63/30} 38. Re6 Rc1+ 39. Kh2 g4 40. hxg4 (40. fxg4 hxg4 41. hxg4 f3 $11) 40... hxg4 41. Rxe5 (41. fxg4 f3 $15) 41... gxf3 42. gxf3 Rf7 43. Rh5+ Kg7) 38. Rxa6 Rbc8 39. Re6 $1 Rc1+ $1 40. Kh2 $2 {-4.65/30} (40. Kf2 $1 $15 {-0.55/28}) 40... g4 $1 $19 41. hxg4 {-52.48/27} (41. Re7+ $142 {-4.50/33} Rf7 42. hxg4 Rxe7 43. Nxe7 hxg4 44. fxg4) 41... hxg4 {[#] ( -> ...Rh8+)} 42. fxg4 Rh8+ 43. Rh6 Rxh6# {Precision: White = 16%, Black = 18%.} 0-1 [Event "Live Chess"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.07.21"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "Kojjootti"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B32"] [WhiteElo "1814"] [BlackElo "1702"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "101"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nb5 d6 6. c4 a6 7. N5a3 Nf6 8. Nc3 Be7 9. Be2 {B32 Sicilian: Löwenthal and Kalashnikov Variations} O-O 10. O-O Nd4 {LiveBook: 8 Games} 11. Bd3 (11. Nc2 Nxe2+ 12. Qxe2 Be6 13. a4 Qd7 14. Ne3 Bd8 15. Rd1 Bb6 16. Ncd5 Bxd5 17. Nxd5 Nxd5 18. Rxd5 Qc6 19. b3 Bc5 20. Rb1 f5 21. exf5 Rxf5 22. Be3 Raf8 23. Bxc5 dxc5 24. Rf1 b5 25. axb5 axb5 { Kasimdzhanov,R (2704)-Piorun,K (2609) Berlin 2015 1-0 (38)}) 11... Bg4 { The position is equal.} 12. f3 Bh5 $146 {0.86/25} (12... Bd7 $14 {0.35/27}) ( 12... Be6 13. Be3 (13. Nc2 Nxc2 14. Qxc2 Rc8 15. Qe2 Nd7 16. Nd5 Bg5 17. b3 Bxc1 18. Raxc1 Nc5 19. Bb1 Qg5 20. Rcd1 Kh8 21. Kh1 g6 22. Qb2 Kg8 {1/2-1/2 (22) Grass,E-Fink,P (1755) Oberbernhards 2004}) 13... Rc8 14. Qd2 Nc6 15. Nc2 Na5 16. b3 Qc7 17. Rac1 Nc6 18. Rfd1 Ne8 19. Bf2 g6 20. Ne3 Qd8 21. Ned5 Bg5 22. Be3 Bxe3+ 23. Qxe3 f5 24. f4 fxe4 25. Bxe4 exf4 26. Nxf4 Bg4 27. Re1 { Koszela,S (1872)-Anfinogenov,A (2100) Piestany 2011 1/2-1/2 (74)}) 13. Kh1 h6 14. Be3 Ne6 15. Nc2 g5 {1.13/25} (15... Nd7 $14 {0.64/28 is more appropriate.}) 16. Qd2 Nf4 17. Ne2 {0.64/28} ({Better is} 17. a4 $16 {1.12/23}) 17... Kh8 { 1.14/24} (17... Bg6 $14 {0.64/28}) 18. Ng3 {0.47/26} (18. Bf2 $16 {1.14/24}) 18... Bg6 $14 19. Bxf4 gxf4 20. Nf5 Rg8 {0.57/24} (20... Bxf5 $1 $11 {-0.10/25} 21. exf5 d5) 21. Nxh6 {0.00/30} (21. Nxe7 $14 {0.57/24} Qxe7 22. Rfd1) 21... Rg7 $1 $11 22. Nf5 {-1.03/25} (22. Nb4 $11 {0.00/30 remains equal.}) 22... Rh7 {-0.14/29} (22... Bxf5 $1 $17 {-1.03/25} 23. exf5 d5) 23. Nxe7 Qxe7 24. Qf2 Nh5 25. Kg1 Qg5 26. Rfd1 {-0.41/29} (26. Rfe1 $1 $11 {0.00/27 was preferrable.}) 26... Rd8 {0.00/29} (26... Nf6 $15 {-0.41/29 feels stronger.}) 27. Nb4 Rg7 { 1.22/25} (27... Nf6 $11 {0.00/28}) 28. Nd5 $36 {White is in control.} Nf6 $2 { 4.96/25 [#]} (28... Rh7 $16 {1.18/28 is a better chance.}) 29. Rd2 $2 {0.67/28} ({Only move:} 29. h4 $18 {4.96/25} Nxe4 30. Bxe4) 29... Nxd5 $14 30. cxd5 f6 { 1.24/29} ({Black should try} 30... Rh7 $14 {0.66/31}) 31. Rc1 $16 Bh5 {1.75/25} (31... Rdg8 $16 {1.14/31 was called for.}) 32. Kf1 {0.97/27} (32. Rc3 $18 { 1.75/25}) 32... Be8 {2.07/27} (32... Rdg8 $16 {0.97/27}) 33. Qb6 $1 $18 Rgd7 { 2.60/26} (33... Rdd7 $142 {1.93/30} 34. Rc8 Rg8) 34. Rc7 Qg7 35. Rdc2 Rxc7 36. Rxc7 (36. Qxc7 Qd7 $18) 36... Rd7 37. Rc8 Qe7 $2 {7.18/29} (37... Qg6 {3.28/28} 38. Kg1 Kh7) 38. b4 Kg7 39. b5 Bg6 40. bxa6 bxa6 41. Bxa6 ({Much less strong is } 41. Qxa6 Rc7 $18) 41... f5 42. Qb8 {1.12/29} (42. Bd3 $18 {2.56/24 is more deadly.}) 42... fxe4 $16 43. Rg8+ ({Much worse is} 43. Rh8 $6 Qf7 $11) 43... Kh6 44. Rh8+ Kg5 $2 {4.39/29} (44... Bh7 $16 {1.09/27}) 45. h4+ $18 Kf6 46. fxe4 Ra7 $2 {5.59/27} (46... Rc7 {3.30/30 was necessary.} 47. Kg1 Rc2) 47. Rf8+ $2 {1.72/29} (47. Rh6 {5.59/27 Strongly threatening h5.} Kf7 48. Bd3) 47... Bf7 48. Bb5 {0.00/31} ({White should play} 48. h5 $16 {1.19/26}) 48... Rxa2 { 0.72/26} (48... Kg7 $11 {0.00/31} 49. a4 Rb7) 49. Bc6 {0.00/35} (49. Rd8 $1 $16 {0.72/26 Hoping for Rd7.} Kg7 50. Qxd6 Ra1+ 51. Ke2 Ra2+ 52. Kd1 Qxd6 53. Rxd6) 49... Ra7 50. h5 {[#] Black must now prevent h6.} f3 $2 {2.18/28} (50... Ra1+ $11 {0.00/34} 51. Ke2 Kg5) 51. gxf3 {Precision: White = 38%, Black = 18%.} 1-0

Here are some of the latest and highest rated games that reached the position after 9.Be2.

[Event "Wch Rapid"] [Site "Berlin"] [Date "2015.10.11"] [Round "7"] [White "Ganguly, Surya Shekhar"] [Black "Piorun, Kacper"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B32"] [WhiteElo "2652"] [BlackElo "2609"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2015.10.10"] [EventType "swiss (rapid)"] [EventRounds "15"] [EventCountry "GER"] [SourceTitle "Mega2015 Update 47"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2015.10.16"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nb5 d6 6. c4 Be7 7. N1c3 a6 8. Na3 Nf6 9. Be2 Nd4 10. Nc2 Nxe2 11. Qxe2 Be6 12. b3 O-O 13. O-O Qd7 14. Bb2 b5 15. cxb5 axb5 16. Nb4 Rfc8 17. Rfd1 Qb7 18. f3 Rc5 19. Rac1 Rac8 20. Nd3 R5c7 21. Nb4 Rc5 22. Ncd5 Nxd5 23. exd5 Bd7 24. f4 Rxc1 25. Bxc1 Bf6 26. Bb2 Re8 27. Qc2 Bg4 28. Rf1 g6 29. Nc6 Bg7 30. fxe5 dxe5 31. Qc5 f6 32. d6 Bd7 33. Ne7+ Kh8 34. Rxf6 Rxe7 35. dxe7 Bxf6 36. e8=Q+ 1-0 [Event "Wch Blitz"] [Site "Berlin"] [Date "2015.10.13"] [Round "3"] [White "Kasimdzhanov, Rustam"] [Black "Piorun, Kacper"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B32"] [WhiteElo "2704"] [BlackElo "2609"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2015.10.13"] [EventType "swiss (blitz)"] [EventRounds "21"] [EventCountry "GER"] [SourceTitle "Mega2015 Update 47"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2015.10.16"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nb5 d6 6. c4 Be7 7. N1c3 a6 8. Na3 Nf6 9. Be2 Nd4 10. O-O O-O 11. Nc2 Nxe2+ 12. Qxe2 Be6 13. a4 Qd7 14. Ne3 Bd8 15. Rd1 Bb6 16. Ncd5 Bxd5 17. Nxd5 Nxd5 18. Rxd5 Qc6 19. b3 Bc5 20. Rb1 f5 21. exf5 Rxf5 22. Be3 Raf8 23. Bxc5 dxc5 24. Rf1 b5 25. axb5 axb5 26. Rxe5 Rxe5 27. Qxe5 bxc4 28. bxc4 Re8 29. Qf5 g6 30. Qg5 Re4 31. Rd1 Qe6 32. Qd8+ Kg7 33. Rd7+ Kh6 34. Qf8+ Kg5 35. Rd5+ Qxd5 36. h4+ Rxh4 37. cxd5 Rd4 38. Qxc5 1-0 [Event "Olongapo City op"] [Site "Olongapo City"] [Date "2015.11.13"] [Round "7"] [White "Nguyen, Duc Hoa"] [Black "Mozharov, Mikhail"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B32"] [WhiteElo "2500"] [BlackElo "2573"] [PlyCount "62"] [EventDate "2015.11.09"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "10"] [EventCountry "PHI"] [SourceTitle "Mega2015 Update 52"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2015.11.20"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nb5 d6 6. c4 Be7 7. N1c3 a6 8. Na3 Nf6 9. Be2 O-O 10. Nc2 Be6 11. O-O Rc8 12. Be3 Na5 13. b3 b5 14. Nb4 bxc4 15. Nbd5 Nxd5 16. Nxd5 Rb8 17. Qd2 Bxd5 18. Qxd5 cxb3 19. Rab1 b2 20. Bd2 Nb7 21. Bxa6 Nc5 22. Bc4 Bg5 23. Bc3 Bc1 24. Rfxc1 bxc1=Q+ 25. Rxc1 Qg5 26. Re1 Na4 27. Ba5 Rfc8 28. Bb3 Nc5 29. Bc4 h6 30. a3 Na4 31. Ba2 Rc5 0-1 [Event "TUR-chT"] [Site "Izmir"] [Date "2016.07.27"] [Round "3.2"] [White "Salgado Lopez, Ivan"] [Black "Antipov, Mikhail Al"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B44"] [WhiteElo "2651"] [BlackElo "2584"] [PlyCount "141"] [EventDate "2016.07.25"] [EventType "team-swiss"] [EventRounds "13"] [EventCountry "TUR"] [SourceTitle "Mega2016 Update 45"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2016.08.12"] [WhiteTeam "Turk Hava Yollari"] [BlackTeam "Tas Duvar"] [WhiteTeamCountry "TUR"] [BlackTeamCountry "TUR"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nb5 d6 6. c4 Nf6 7. N1c3 a6 8. Na3 Be7 9. Be2 e5 10. Be3 Be6 11. O-O O-O 12. Rc1 Rc8 13. Re1 Nd7 14. Qd2 h6 15. Nc2 Re8 16. Red1 Bf8 17. Nd5 Nc5 18. f3 Ne7 19. Nc3 Nd7 20. b3 Nc6 21. Bf1 Qc7 22. b4 Qb8 23. Rb1 Qa8 24. Nd5 Ne7 25. a4 Bxd5 26. cxd5 Rc7 27. Na3 Rec8 28. Rbc1 Rxc1 29. Rxc1 Rxc1 30. Qxc1 a5 31. bxa5 Qxa5 32. Bb5 Qd8 33. Nc4 Nc8 34. Qd2 Be7 35. Qa5 Nb8 36. Kf1 Kf8 37. Ke2 Qxa5 38. Nxa5 b6 39. Nc6 Nxc6 40. Bxc6 Bg5 41. Bf2 Ke7 42. Kd3 Kd8 43. Kc4 Kc7 44. Be8 f6 45. Kb5 Bc1 46. Ka6 Ba3 47. Bf7 Bc5 48. Be1 Bd4 49. h4 Bc5 50. Be6 Bd4 51. g3 Be3 52. h5 Bd4 53. f4 exf4 54. gxf4 Ne7 55. a5 g6 56. axb6+ Bxb6 57. Bc3 gxh5 58. Bxf6 Ng6 59. f5 Nf4 60. Be7 Bd4 61. f6 Ng6 62. Bf7 Ne5 63. Bxh5 Nd7 64. f7 Bg7 65. e5 dxe5 66. d6+ Kc6 67. Bf3+ Kc5 68. Kb7 Kd4 69. Kc7 Nc5 70. d7 Nxd7 71. Kxd7 1-0

C13 French: Classical System: 4.Bg5 Be7, Alekhine-Chatard Attack (1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bg5 e6 4.e4 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Be7 6.Nxf6+)

While the game did not start as French, it transposed to it with the move 4.e4. More common move order might be 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Be7 6.Nxf6+. In the game I played my main reply to 1.d4, which is 1...Nf6 (1167513 games, score 53.1%). It is also the preferred choice in most of the games in my reference database. The next move, 2.Nc3 (22830 games, score 49.5%), is the 4th most played move in the position. The more played moves are 2.c4 (747741 games, score 53.6%), 2.Nf3 (305961 games, score 52.2%) and 2.Bg5 (51350 games, score 54.2%). I continued with the most popular reply with the move 2...d5 (15469 games, score 46.9%). My opponent's third move, Bg5 (16043 games, score 51.1%), is the most often occurred move in the position. It has been played frequently by Grand Master Hikaru Nakamura, for example. The latest game example from GM Hikaru Nakamura (2779) is from the game against Xiangzhi Bu (2705) that was played at the World Chess Rapid Championships at Doha on December 28th, 2016. That game ended in a draw. With my next move, 3...e6 (3654 games, score 60.3%), I allowed the game to transpose into a variation of the French Defence. According to the score, I should avoid the move 3...e6, which is the second most played in the move in the position, in the future as it seems to favor White quite well. Next time I should maybe play the move 3...Nbd7 (5810 games, score 46.3%), which is the most popular move.

Kojjootti's next move, 4.e4 (2982 games, score 62.9%), has been clearly the most played move. The second most common move in the position is 4.Nf3 (380 games, score 52.8%). After the 4th move, the amount of reference games went up to 35553, due to the transposition to the variation of the French. In 10649 out of those games, the move I played, 4...dxe4 was chosen. It has a score of 55.2%. It was the second most often played move, only behind the move 4...Be7 (15243 games, score 58.7%). The reply 5.Nxe4 (10237 games, score 55.4%) is, not surprisingly, clearly the most played move. It has been played by strong Grand Masters such as Garry Kasparov, Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian and Viswanathan Anand. Then I played 5...Be7 (8484 games, score 56.3%), which was again the most often occurred move. Kojjootti then chose to play 6.Nxf6+ (1017 games, score 47.6%), which is the second most played move in the position. Much more often the move 6.Bxf6 (7150 games, score 57.9%) has been played. Only based on the scores, I am glad that my opponent chose to take on f6 with the knight. That being said, it has been played by strong players like Arkadij Naiditsch (2657) and Vladimir Onischuk (2614), the ratings have been taken from the games where the players have had their highest ratings while playing that move.

In order to keep my pawn structure intact, I took back on f6 with my bishop. It had been played in 942 games with a score of 47.7%. The move 6...gxf6 (73 games, score 45.9%) has also been played. The next move, 7.Be3 (31 games, score 61.3%), is the second most commonly seen move, only behind the move 7.Bxf6 (906 games, score 47.2%). The highest rated player to choose the move 7.Be3, is Bogdan Belyakov (2513), according to my reference database. Bogdan Belyakov played the move against Artem Isaykin (1924) and it was played at Khanty Mansiysk on March 29th, 2016. The game continued with the most popular move 7...O-O (12 games, score 58.3%). The reply 8.c3 had only been played in 2 games before this one with a score of 100%. While there was a more popular move 8.Nf3 (7 games, score 50%), the strongest player reaching the position chose to play 8.c3 and that player is Bogdan Belyakov. Kojjootti's 8th move was also the last one that had been played previously, in the Belyakov - Isaykin game that I mentioned before, Isaykin played 8...b6. The other move that had been tried in the position before this game is 8...Qe7. Both moves had been played only once and in both games White won. It seems that my novelty, 8...Nc6, is better than the previously tried moves, at least according to the engine evaluation. However, the difference is not that big and both 8...b6 and 8...Qe7 are likely playable.

[Event "Live Chess"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.07.19"] [Round "?"] [White "Kojjootti"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C13"] [WhiteElo "1724"] [BlackElo "1775"] [Annotator "Stockfish 9 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bg5 e6 4. e4 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Nxf6+ {C13 French: Classical System: 4.Bg5 Be7, Alekhine-Chatard Attack} Bxf6 7. Be3 O-O (7... Nd7 8. Nf3 c5 9. c3 cxd4 10. Nxd4 O-O 11. Be2 Nb6 12. Nb5 Bd7 13. O-O Bxb5 14. Bxb5 Qc7 15. Qf3 Rfd8 16. Rad1 Nd5 17. Bc1 Rac8 18. Bd3 a6 19. Be4 Qc4 20. a3 b5 21. Rd2 Nb6 22. Rfd1 {Hedke,F (2285)-Bartelborth,T (2225) Germany 1990 1/2-1/2 (42) }) 8. c3 (8. Nf3 b6 9. g3 Bb7 10. Bg2 Nd7 11. c3 Qe7 12. O-O Rfd8 13. Qc1 Rac8 14. h4 c5 15. dxc5 Nxc5 16. Bxc5 Qxc5 17. Qc2 g6 18. Rad1 Qh5 19. Nh2 Bxg2 20. Kxg2 Rd5 21. Rxd5 Qxd5+ 22. f3 Rd8 {Tambara,N (1702)-Flech,R (1805) Porto Alegre 2017 1/2-1/2 (80)}) 8... Nc6 $146 (8... b6 9. Nf3 Nd7 10. Bd3 Bb7 11. Qc2 h5 12. O-O-O Qe7 13. Bh7+ Kh8 14. Be4 Bxe4 15. Qxe4 g6 16. g4 hxg4 17. Qxg4 Kg7 18. h4 Rh8 19. h5 Rag8 20. hxg6 Rxh1 21. Rxh1 fxg6 22. Ng5 Bxg5 23. Bxg5 { Belyakov,B (2513)-Isaykin,A (1924) Khanty Mansiysk 2016 1-0}) (8... Qe7 9. Nf3 Rd8 10. Qc2 Nd7 11. Bd3 h6 12. O-O-O c5 13. dxc5 Nxc5 14. Bh7+ Kh8 15. Rxd8+ Qxd8 16. Bxc5 Qd5 17. Bd4 Bxd4 18. Be4 Qxa2 19. Nxd4 Bd7 20. Qb3 Qa1+ 21. Bb1 Qa6 22. Qc2 g6 23. Qd2 {Lopatina,O (2091)-Batcengel,S (2068) Rijeka 2011 1-0}) 9. Bd3 (9. Nf3 Re8 $11) 9... g6 (9... e5 $5 10. d5 Ne7 $15) 10. Nf3 $11 b6 ( 10... e5 $5 {must definitely be considered} 11. dxe5 Nxe5 12. Nxe5 Bxe5 $11) 11. h4 $14 Bb7 (11... Rb8 12. Be4 Ne7 13. Bg5 $16) 12. h5 $16 Ne7 $2 (12... e5 13. hxg6 hxg6 14. Be4 exd4 15. Nxd4 (15. cxd4 $143 Qe7 16. Bxc6 Bxc6 $17) 15... Nxd4 16. Bxb7 $14) 13. hxg6 $4 {releasing the pressure on the opponent} (13. Ng5 $142 $5 Bxg5 14. Bxg5 $18) 13... fxg6 $16 14. Rg1 (14. Qe2 Qd6 $14) 14... Bg7 (14... c5 15. dxc5 bxc5 16. Bh6 $11) 15. Bg5 (15. Qe2 Nd5 $11) 15... Rf7 ( 15... Qd6 $5 $11 {is worth consideration}) 16. Ne5 {White threatens to win material: Ne5xf7} Rf8 $2 (16... Bxe5 $5 17. dxe5 Qd5 $16) 17. Qe2 (17. Qg4 Bxe5 18. Qxe6+ Rf7 19. Qxe5 Qd5 $18) 17... Qd6 18. g4 $4 {weakening the position} ( 18. O-O-O $142 $18 {and White gets the upper hand}) 18... Nd5 19. Be4 (19. O-O-O Nf4 20. Bxf4 Rxf4 $11) 19... Bxe5 (19... c5 20. f3 Qc7 21. Qh2 cxd4 22. cxd4 $15) 20. dxe5 (20. Bxd5 $5 Qxd5 21. Qxe5 $11) 20... Qxe5 $15 21. Bh6 $4 ( 21. Bxd5 Qxd5 22. f4 Rf7 $17) 21... Rf7 (21... Nxc3 $142 {and Black has reached his goal} 22. bxc3 Qxc3+ (22... Bxe4 $6 {is impossible} 23. Rg3 Rfd8 24. Bd2 $17) (22... Qxe4 $6 {is a bad alternative} 23. Bxf8 Qxe2+ 24. Kxe2 Rxf8 25. g5 $11) 23. Kf1 Qxa1+ 24. Kg2 Qe5 $19) 22. f4 $2 (22. f3 $142 $5 $15 { and White is still in the game}) 22... Nxf4 $19 23. Bxf4 Qxe4 24. Qxe4 Bxe4 25. Bxc7 $4 {leading to a quick end} (25. Bg5 $142 $19) 25... Rxc7 26. O-O-O (26. Rc1 {does not solve anything} Rf8 $19) 26... Bd5 27. Kb1 Rf8 28. Rg3 (28. g5 { does not help much} Rf2 $19) 28... Rf3 29. Rxf3 (29. Rgg1 {is no salvation} g5 $19) 29... Bxf3 30. g5 (30. Rg1 {what else?} g5 31. Kc1 $19) 30... Bxd1 (30... Bxd1 31. Kc1 Rd7 32. c4 e5 33. b4 e4 34. c5 bxc5 35. bxc5 Ba4 36. Kb2 e3 37. c6 Bxc6 38. a3 e2 39. a4 e1=Q 40. Kc2 Qd2+ 41. Kb1 Rb7+ 42. Ka1 Qb2#) 0-1

Some of the latest and highest rated games from my reference database that reached the position after 6.Nxf6+ can be viewed below.

[Event "Vidmar Memorial 20th"] [Site "Bled"] [Date "2016.06.24"] [Round "1"] [White "Naiditsch, Arkadij"] [Black "Skoberne, Jure"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C13"] [WhiteElo "2657"] [BlackElo "2572"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2016.06.24"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "SLO"] [EventCategory "15"] [SourceTitle "Mega2016 Update 40"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2016.07.09"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Nxf6+ Bxf6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Nf3 c5 9. Bb5+ Bd7 10. Qe2 a6 11. Bxd7+ Nxd7 12. O-O-O O-O 13. d5 exd5 14. Rxd5 Rfe8 15. Qd3 Nb6 16. Rd6 Re6 17. Rxe6 Qxe6 18. Ng5 Qg6 19. Qxg6 hxg6 20. Rd1 Nc4 21. b3 Ne5 22. h3 c4 23. f4 Nc6 24. bxc4 Re8 25. Rd7 f6 26. Nf3 Re4 27. Rxb7 Rxf4 28. Rc7 Rxc4 29. Nd2 Rc5 30. Rc8+ Kh7 31. h4 g5 32. hxg5 fxg5 33. Nf3 1-0 [Event "Baku ol (Men) 42nd"] [Site "Baku"] [Date "2016.09.03"] [Round "2.24"] [White "Stojanovic, Dalibor"] [Black "Bluebaum, Matthias"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C13"] [WhiteElo "2505"] [BlackElo "2626"] [PlyCount "134"] [EventDate "2016.09.02"] [EventType "team-swiss"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "AZE"] [SourceTitle "Mega2016 Update 50"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2016.09.18"] [WhiteTeam "Bosnia&Hercegovina"] [BlackTeam "Germany"] [WhiteTeamCountry "BIH"] [BlackTeamCountry "GER"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Nxf6+ Bxf6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Nf3 O-O 9. c3 b6 10. Bd3 Bb7 11. Qe2 Bxf3 12. gxf3 Nd7 13. O-O-O Rad8 14. Qe4 Qh6+ 15. Qe3 Qh4 16. Rhg1 Nf6 17. Qe5 c5 18. dxc5 Rd5 19. Qg3 Qh6+ 20. Kb1 Rxc5 21. Bc2 g6 22. Rd4 Rd5 23. Rgd1 Rfd8 24. Rxd5 Rxd5 25. Rxd5 Nxd5 26. Qb8+ Kg7 27. Qe5+ Nf6 28. a4 Qh4 29. Qc7 Qxf2 30. Qxa7 Qg1+ 31. Ka2 Qxh2 32. Bb3 Qd6 33. a5 bxa5 34. Qxa5 h5 35. c4 h4 36. c5 Qe5 37. f4 Qxf4 38. c6 Ne8 39. Qc3+ Kh7 40. Bc2 Nc7 41. Bb3 Kg8 42. Qd3 Kg7 43. Qc3+ e5 44. Qd3 Qd4 45. Qf1 f5 46. Qe1 Kf6 47. Qa5 Qd6 48. Qc3 g5 49. Qc4 e4 50. Qf7+ Ke5 51. Qg7+ Kf4 52. Qd7 Qe5 53. Qd2+ e3 54. Qh2+ Ke4 55. Qg2+ Kd4 56. Qxg5 h3 57. Qh4+ Kc5 58. Bd1 h2 59. Bf3 e2 60. Qe1 Qe3 61. Qa5+ Kd6 62. Qb4+ Ke6 63. Qc4+ Ke5 64. Qf7 e1=Q 65. Qxc7+ Kf6 66. Qd8+ Qe7 67. c7 Qa5+ 0-1 [Event "Saint Louis Winter-B"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.03.11"] [Round "1"] [White "Hess, Robert L"] [Black "Rambaldi, Francesco"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C13"] [WhiteElo "2571"] [BlackElo "2559"] [PlyCount "150"] [EventDate "2017.03.11"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "USA"] [EventCategory "11"] [SourceTitle "Mega2017 Update 22"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2017.03.24"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Nxf6+ Bxf6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Nf3 O-O 9. c3 b6 10. a4 Bb7 11. a5 Rd8 12. Be2 c5 13. O-O cxd4 14. Nxd4 bxa5 15. Qb3 Bd5 16. Qa4 e5 17. Nc2 Qb6 18. Ne3 Nc6 19. Nxd5 Rxd5 20. Bf3 Rd6 21. Rad1 Rf6 22. Rd5 Rf4 23. b4 Rc8 24. Rd6 Rf6 25. bxa5 Qc7 26. Rxf6 gxf6 27. Qg4+ Kf8 28. Qf5 Ke7 29. a6 Nd8 30. Bg4 Ne6 31. Qxh7 Qxc3 32. h4 Qc4 33. Bxe6 Kxe6 34. h5 Qg4 35. Qd3 Qc4 36. Qh3+ f5 37. h6 Kf6 38. h7 Kg7 39. Qxf5 Qxa6 40. Re1 Rh8 41. Qxe5+ Qf6 42. Qg3+ Qg6 43. Qc3+ Kxh7 44. Qd4 Rb8 45. Qxa7 Rb1 46. Rxb1 Qxb1+ 47. Kh2 Kg8 48. Qd4 Qa2 49. Kg3 Qb3+ 50. Kh4 Qc2 51. g4 Qh7+ 52. Kg3 Qb1 53. Kf4 Qc1+ 54. Qe3 Qc6 55. Kg3 Qb5 56. f4 Qb8 57. Qe5 Qd8 58. f5 f6 59. Qe3 Qc7+ 60. Kg2 Kg7 61. Kh3 Qb7 62. Kh4 Qc7 63. Qd2 Qb7 64. Qd6 Qa7 65. Qd2 Qb7 66. Qe3 Qc7 67. Kh3 Qb7 68. Kg3 Qc7+ 69. Kh3 Qb7 70. g5 fxg5 71. Qxg5+ Kf8 72. Qf6+ Kg8 73. Qe6+ Kf8 74. Qf6+ Kg8 75. Qe6+ Kf8 1/2-1/2 [Event "EU-ch 18th"] [Site "Minsk"] [Date "2017.06.05"] [Round "6"] [White "Onischuk, Vladimir"] [Black "Howell, David"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C13"] [WhiteElo "2608"] [BlackElo "2684"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "2017.05.30"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "BLR"] [SourceTitle "Mega2017 Update 34"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2017.06.16"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Nxf6+ Bxf6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Nf3 O-O 9. Qd2 c5 10. O-O-O Rd8 11. Qc3 cxd4 12. Rxd4 Rxd4 13. Qxd4 Qxd4 14. Nxd4 b6 15. Be2 Bb7 16. Nb5 Nd7 17. Rd1 Nf6 18. f3 Kf8 19. c4 Ke7 20. Kd2 g5 21. Ke3 Bc6 22. Nc3 a5 23. b3 h6 24. a3 Ne8 25. g4 Nd6 26. f4 Rc8 27. Rc1 f5 28. h3 Kf6 29. Rd1 gxf4+ 30. Kxf4 e5+ 31. Ke3 f4+ 32. Kf2 Ke6 33. Nd5 Ne4+ 34. Ke1 Bxd5 35. Rxd5 Nc3 36. Bd3 e4 37. Rd4 Ke5 38. Rd7 Ke6 39. Rd4 Ke5 40. Rd7 exd3 41. Rxd3 Nb1 42. a4 Ke4 43. Rd1 Nc3 44. Rd6 Ke3 0-1 [Event "Wch Blitz (Women)"] [Site "Riadh"] [Date "2017.12.29"] [Round "10"] [White "Gunina, Valentina"] [Black "Ju, Wenjun"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C13"] [WhiteElo "2510"] [BlackElo "2567"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2017.12.29"] [EventType "swiss (blitz)"] [EventRounds "21"] [EventCountry "SAU"] [SourceTitle "Mega2018 Update 11"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2018.01.05"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Nxf6+ Bxf6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Nf3 O-O 9. Bd3 c5 10. Qe2 cxd4 11. Qe4 g6 12. Nxd4 e5 13. Nf3 Nc6 14. O-O Bf5 15. Qe3 e4 16. Bxe4 Bxe4 17. Qxe4 Qxb2 18. Rab1 Qxa2 19. Rxb7 Rac8 20. Ng5 Qa5 21. Qh4 h5 22. Ne4 Qe5 23. Nf6+ Kg7 24. Nd7 Qd5 25. Qf6+ Kg8 26. Nxf8 Rxf8 27. Rc7 Nd4 28. h3 Re8 29. c4 Qe4 30. Qxf7+ 1-0

A00 Irregular Openings (1.g3 d5 2.Bg2)

The move 1.g3 (44495 games, score 55%) is the 6th most played move in my reference database. The moves that people were more likely to play were 1.e4 (3440262 games, score 52.9%), 1.d4 (2149509 games, score 54.5%), 1.Nf3 (528976 games, score 55.4%), 1.c4 (449325 games, score 54.3%) and 1.f4 (45513 games, score 48.7%). My opponent's reply, 1...d5 (15198 games, score 53.8%) is the most popular move that has been played against 1.g3. Not surprisingly, 2.Bg2 (10609 games, score 53.2%), the logical follow-up to 1.g3, is also the most often played move. After that the game went onto to a strange and rarely played path as my opponent chose to play 2...d4 (2 games, score 100%), a move that makes no sense to me. The moves that had seen more play were, 2...Nf6 (4643 games, score 55.7%), 2...c6 (2585 games, score 51.3%), 2...e5 (1922 games, score 48.8%), 2...c5 (602 games, score 52.7%), 2...g6 (374 games, score 50.3%), 2...e6 (281 games, score 60.9%), 2...Nc6 (78 games, score 53.2%), 2...Bf5 (72 games, score 62.5%), 2...f5 (24 games, score 43.8%), 2...Bg4 (14 games, score 46.4%), 2...b6 (7 games, score 92.9%) and 2...h5 (3 games, score 0%). If one were to play moves only based on the percentages, you would play the move 2...h5, because it has performed the best for Black as the player who has controlled the black pieces has won all three games. In two out of those three games, the winning side was clearly the higher rated player, but there is one game that might be worthy to note, the game between Muhamed Sinanovic (2386) and Damir Samovojska (2307) that was played at Šibenik on September 28th, 2009, where the lower rated player was able to win.

In those two games where the move 2...d4 was played, White was the winner and this game followed the game between Ervin Mozes (2385) and Daniel Koval (2190), played at Sárospatak in 1994, up to the move 3.Nf3. In that game the move 3...g6 (2 games, score 100%) was played, but in my game the move that was chosen by Kojjootti was 3...c5 (5 games, score 60%), which is actually the most often occurred move. For this game I took the N signing for novelty out of its place, since it was after 3...c5 and therefore incorrectly placed. Next I simply castled, which had been seen in 8 games before this one with a score of 56.3%. In all of those 8 games, it was replied with 4...Nc6, like in this game. My 5th move, e3, had not been played in any of the games that appear in my reference database, so it can be called a novelty. The three moves that had been played were 5.d3 (6 games, score 41.7%), 5.c3 (2 games, score 100%) and 5.e4 (1 game, score 100%).

[Event "Live Chess"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.07.19"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "Kojjootti"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A00"] [WhiteElo "1759"] [BlackElo "1731"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] {[%evp 9,74,29,62,54,33,10,47,39,33,41,41,22,23,11,31,16,154,155,152,155,147, 140,143,75,83,79,391,366,352,16,51,0,14,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,-28,-25,-35,-73,-64, -77,-87,-84,-107,-102,-225,-220,-185,-13,-675,-668,-29983,-29984,-5506,0,0,0,0, 29997,29998,29999]} 1. g3 d5 2. Bg2 {A00 Irregular Openings} d4 (2... c5 3. f4 g6 4. d3 Bg7 5. c3 Nc6 6. Nh3 Nf6 7. O-O O-O {1/2-1/2 (7) Petran,P (2410) -Tibensky,R (2410) Topolcianky 1994}) 3. Nf3 (3. d3 c5 4. Nd2 Nc6 5. b3 e5 6. Nc4 Bd7 7. e4 b5 8. Nd2 Be7 9. a4 bxa4 10. Rxa4 Nf6 11. Ngf3 O-O 12. O-O Qc7 13. Nh4 g6 14. Nc4 Kg7 15. f4 Ng8 16. Nf3 f6 17. Ra1 Bg4 {Krolik,W (1703) -Jaskowski,T (1978) Katy Rybackie 2009 1-0 (38)}) 3... c5 $146 (3... g6 4. b4 Bg7 5. Bb2 e5 6. O-O Ne7 7. e3 O-O 8. a3 c5 9. bxc5 Na6 10. a4 Nxc5 11. Ba3 Ne6 12. Ra2 Re8 13. exd4 exd4 14. d3 Nc6 15. Nfd2 Bf8 16. Qc1 Ng5 17. h4 Ne6 18. Ne4 {Mozes,E (2385)-Koval,D (2190) Sarospatak 1994 1-0}) 4. O-O Nc6 5. e3 Nf6 6. exd4 cxd4 7. d3 e6 8. Nbd2 {White is slightly better.} Bc5 9. Nb3 Bb6 10. Re1 O-O 11. Bg5 a5 12. Nbd2 a4 {1.54/26} (12... h6 $11 {0.16/28} 13. Bh4 Bc5) { [%tqu "En","","","","d2e4","",10]} 13. Ne4 $1 $16 Ra5 14. Nxf6+ gxf6 15. Bh6 Re8 {[%tqu "En","","","","f3d2","",10]} 16. Nh4 {0.75/28} ({White should play} 16. Nd2 $1 {1.43/22}) 16... f5 17. Qh5 {[#] Hoping for Bg5.} Ne5 $2 {3.91/27 [%mdl 8192]} (17... Bd7 $16 {0.79/25 is a better chance.}) 18. Bg5 f6 {[%tqu "En","","","","g5f6","",10]} 19. Bh6 $2 {0.16/25} (19. Bxf6 $1 $18 {3.52/26 [%mdl 512]} Qxf6 20. Qxe8+ Qf8 21. Qxf8+ Kxf8 22. b4) 19... Qe7 20. h3 Qf7 21. Qe2 Ng6 22. Nxg6 hxg6 23. Bd2 Re5 $36 {[%mdl 2048] Black fights for an advantage.} 24. Qd1 Rxe1+ 25. Qxe1 e5 26. b3 {[%tqu "En","","","","e5e4","",10] } e4 $1 {[%mdl 512]} 27. dxe4 fxe4 28. bxa4 e3 29. fxe3 dxe3 30. Bc3 {-2.25/25} (30. Ba5 $17 {-1.02/29 keeps fighting.} Bc7 31. Rb1) 30... e2+ $19 31. Kh2 f5 $2 {-0.13/26} (31... Kg7 $19 {-1.85/22 White must now prevent ...Bc5.} 32. Rb1 Bc5) 32. Bb2 $2 {-6.75/26 [%mdl 8192]} (32. Qd2 $11 {-0.13/26}) 32... f4 { [%mdl 32]} 33. Qc3 fxg3+ 34. Kh1 {[%tqu "En","","","","b6d4","",10]} e1=Q+ $2 { 0.00/31} (34... Bd4 $1 $19 {-55.06/24 [%mdl 512]} 35. Qxg3 (35. Qxd4 e1=Q+) 35... Re3) 35. Rxe1 $11 Rxe1+ 36. Qxe1 Qf2 $2 {#3/32 [%mdl 8192] [#]} (36... Bxh3 $11 {0.00/31} 37. Qxg3 (37. Bxh3 $2 {leads to mate.} Qf3+ 38. Bg2 Qh5+ 39. Bh3 Qxh3#) 37... Bxg2+ 38. Kxg2 Qd5+ 39. Qf3 Qd2+ 40. Kf1 Bc5) 37. Qe8+ Kh7 38. Qh8# {Accuracy: White = 30%, Black = 40%.} 1-0 [Event "Yahoo"] [Site "?"] [Date "2005.12.08"] [Round "?"] [White "atiqman"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A00"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "72"] 1. g3 d5 2. Bg2 {A00 Irregular Openings} c5 3. e3 (3. f4 g6 4. d3 Bg7 5. c3 Nc6 6. Nh3 Nf6 7. O-O O-O {1/2-1/2 (7) Petran,P (2410)-Tibensky,R (2410) Topolcianky 1994}) 3... Nc6 4. Ne2 e5 $146 (4... g6 5. d4 cxd4 6. exd4 Bg7 7. O-O Nf6 8. c3 O-O 9. Nd2 Bg4 10. h3 Bf5 11. Nf3 Qd7 12. g4 Be4 13. Ne5 Nxe5 14. dxe5 Bxg2 15. exf6 Bxf1 16. fxg7 Kxg7 17. Kxf1 h5 18. Qd4+ f6 19. Qf4 { Sindarov,I (2229)-Kondakov,A (1703) Batumi 2016 1/2-1/2 (44)}) (4... Nf6 5. O-O e6 6. d4 Be7 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. b3 O-O 9. Bb2 Be7 10. Nd2 b6 11. c4 Bb7 12. Nf4 dxc4 13. Nxc4 Qxd1 14. Rfxd1 Rfd8 15. Ne5 Rxd1+ 16. Rxd1 Rd8 17. Rxd8+ Nxd8 18. Bxb7 Nxb7 19. Nc6 {Sivic,J-Greifoner,S Maribor 2001 1-0 (41)}) 5. O-O Nf6 6. b3 Be6 7. Bb2 Be7 8. Nbc3 {The position is equal.} O-O 9. Nb5 {-0.63/18} (9. f4 $11 {-0.02/18}) 9... a6 $15 10. Na3 Qd7 11. d4 cxd4 12. exd4 e4 $36 {Black is more active.} 13. Nf4 Bg4 14. Nb1 $2 {-6.95/18} (14. f3 $15 {-0.36/18} exf3 15. Bxf3) 14... Bxd1 $19 15. Rxd1 Nb4 16. Na3 Rac8 17. c3 Nc6 18. Re1 Bd6 {[#] And now ...Bxf4 would win.} 19. Bh3 Ng4 {aiming for ...Bxf4.} 20. Nxd5 Bxa3 21. Nb6 {-5.74/25} (21. Bxa3 {-3.82/18 was the only defense.} Qxd5 22. Bxg4) 21... Qe7 22. Bxa3 Qxa3 23. Nxc8 Rxc8 24. Bxg4 Re8 25. Bd7 Re7 26. Bf5 Qb2 27. Bxe4 { -8.42/14 [#]} (27. Rad1 $142 {-4.08/16}) 27... Rxe4 $1 {Black is clearly winning.} 28. Rab1 (28. Rxe4 Qxa1+) 28... Rxe1+ 29. Rxe1 Kf8 30. d5 Nd8 31. d6 Qxc3 32. Re3 Qc1+ 33. Kg2 Qc6+ 34. Kg1 Qxd6 35. a4 Ne6 36. b4 Qxb4 {Accuracy: White = 15%, Black = 36%.} 0-1 [Event "Rated game, 2m + 0s"] [Site "Main Playing Hall"] [Date "2008.03.04"] [Round "?"] [White "Medulla"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A00"] [WhiteElo "1686"] [BlackElo "1609"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2008.03.04"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] 1. g3 d5 2. Bg2 {A00 Irregular Openings} c5 3. c3 $146 (3. d4 Nc6 4. dxc5 Nf6 5. Bg5 e6 6. e4 Be7 7. Bxf6 Bxf6 8. c3 d4 9. f4 e5 10. Nf3 Qe7 11. fxe5 Nxe5 12. Nxe5 Qxe5 13. cxd4 Qxd4 14. Qxd4 Bxd4 15. Nc3 Bxc5 16. Nd5 O-O 17. O-O-O Bg4 {Schonken,C (1036)-De Villiers,A (1300) Gauteng 2017 0-1}) (3. f4 Nc6 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nh3 g6 6. O-O Bg7 7. c3 O-O 8. Nf2 e5 9. Na3 Nh5 10. e4 exf4 11. gxf4 d4 12. c4 Qh4 13. Nh1 Bg4 14. Qd2 Bh6 15. Nc2 f5 16. e5 Nxe5 17. Qe1 Qxe1 { Petran,P (2440)-Horvath,P (2380) Hungary 1993 0-1 (45)}) (3. e3 Nc6 (3... e5 4. b3 Nf6 5. Bb2 Nc6 6. d3 Bd6 7. Nd2 Bg4 8. Bf3 Be6 9. Bg2 Qd7 10. h3 h5 11. Qe2 Nb4 12. Qd1 a5 13. a3 Nc6 14. Bf3 b5 15. c3 g6 16. h4 O-O 17. Qe2 a4 18. d4 { Spano,A (1419)-Baccelliere,A (1673) Napoli 2015 0-1}) 4. Ne2 g6 5. d4 cxd4 6. exd4 Bg7 7. O-O Nf6 8. c3 O-O 9. Nd2 Bg4 10. h3 Bf5 11. Nf3 Qd7 12. g4 Be4 13. Ne5 Nxe5 14. dxe5 Bxg2 15. exf6 Bxf1 16. fxg7 Kxg7 17. Kxf1 h5 {Sindarov,I (2229)-Kondakov,A (1703) Batumi 2016 1/2-1/2 (44)}) 3... Nc6 4. d4 e6 5. a3 Nf6 {0.15/24} (5... b6 $142 {-0.30/26}) 6. Bg5 {-1.30/24} (6. b3 $11 {0.15/24 keeps the balance.}) 6... Be7 {-0.05/27} (6... Qb6 $17 {-1.30/24} 7. Ra2 cxd4 8. Bxf6 gxf6) 7. e3 $11 c4 {0.33/28} ({Better is} 7... O-O $15 {-0.32/26}) 8. b3 {-0.81/23} (8. Ne2 $14 {0.33/28 stays ahead.}) 8... b5 {0.07/29} (8... cxb3 $17 {-0.81/23 Hoping for ...Na5.} 9. Qxb3 O-O) 9. a4 {-0.63/27} ({White should play} 9. Nd2 $11 {0.07/29}) 9... bxa4 $2 {1.58/22 [#]} (9... Na5 $1 $15 { -0.63/27 keeps the upper hand.} 10. bxc4 bxc4) 10. bxc4 $16 Bb7 {2.09/24} ( 10... Rb8 $142 {1.64/26}) 11. c5 O-O 12. Bxf6 Bxf6 13. Qxa4 Qc8 {1.94/24} ( 13... Ne7 $16 {1.34/26}) 14. Nd2 {1.41/28} (14. Ne2 $18 {1.94/24}) 14... Rd8 { 2.02/25} (14... a5 $16 {1.41/28} 15. Ne2 Ne7) 15. Ngf3 Qc7 {2.14/25} (15... a5 {1.66/29 was necessary.} 16. O-O Ne7) 16. O-O $18 e5 {2.58/22} (16... a5 $142 { 1.75/30} 17. e4 Nb8) 17. Rfb1 e4 18. Ne1 Ne7 {4.55/23} (18... Bc8 $142 {2.93/28 } 19. c4 Bd7) 19. c4 Bc6 20. Qa5 Qxa5 21. Rxa5 dxc4 22. Nxc4 Bd5 23. Nd6 { White is clearly winning.} Ng6 24. Nxe4 Bxe4 25. Bxe4 Rab8 26. Bxg6 Rxb1 27. Bxb1 Rb8 28. Be4 g6 29. Kf1 Bd8 30. Rxa7 Kg7 31. Ra8 Rxa8 32. Bxa8 {Accuracy: White = 34%, Black = 3%.} 1-0 [Event "Rated game, 2m + 0s"] [Site "Main Playing Hall"] [Date "2008.03.27"] [Round "?"] [White "Aurechess"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A00"] [WhiteElo "1224"] [BlackElo "1633"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2008.03.04"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] 1. g3 d5 2. Bg2 {A00 Irregular Openings} c5 3. e3 (3. f4 g6 4. d3 Bg7 5. c3 Nc6 6. Nh3 Nf6 7. O-O O-O {1/2-1/2 (7) Petran,P (2410)-Tibensky,R (2410) Topolcianky 1994}) 3... Nc6 4. Ne2 e5 $146 (4... g6 5. d4 cxd4 6. exd4 Bg7 7. O-O Nf6 8. c3 O-O 9. Nd2 Bg4 10. h3 Bf5 11. Nf3 Qd7 12. g4 Be4 13. Ne5 Nxe5 14. dxe5 Bxg2 15. exf6 Bxf1 16. fxg7 Kxg7 17. Kxf1 h5 18. Qd4+ f6 19. Qf4 { Sindarov,I (2229)-Kondakov,A (1703) Batumi 2016 1/2-1/2 (44)}) (4... Nf6 5. O-O e6 6. d4 Be7 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. b3 O-O 9. Bb2 Be7 10. Nd2 b6 11. c4 Bb7 12. Nf4 dxc4 13. Nxc4 Qxd1 14. Rfxd1 Rfd8 15. Ne5 Rxd1+ 16. Rxd1 Rd8 17. Rxd8+ Nxd8 18. Bxb7 Nxb7 19. Nc6 {Sivic,J-Greifoner,S Maribor 2001 1-0 (41)}) 5. d4 e4 6. O-O Nf6 {[#]} 7. f3 {-0.49/25} (7. c4 $1 $14 {0.48/25}) 7... exf3 $15 8. Bxf3 { Black is slightly better.} Bh3 9. Bg2 {-1.06/23} ({White should play} 9. Re1 $15 {-0.42/26}) 9... Qd7 {-0.53/28} (9... Bxg2 $17 {-1.06/23} 10. Kxg2 h5) 10. Rxf6 {-1.78/24} (10. Bxh3 $15 {-0.53/28} Qxh3 11. Nf4) 10... gxf6 $19 11. Nf4 { -2.35/25} (11. Bxh3 $17 {-1.33/27} Qxh3 12. Nbc3) 11... Bg4 $2 {0.40/24} (11... Bxg2 $19 {-2.35/25} 12. Kxg2 Bh6 13. dxc5 Bxf4 14. exf4 O-O-O) 12. Qf1 $14 Be6 {0.85/26} (12... O-O-O $11 {0.00/26 remains equal.}) 13. Nxe6 $4 {-1.82/26} ( 13. Nc3 $16 {0.85/26}) 13... Qxe6 $2 {0.65/22} (13... fxe6 $19 {-1.82/26} 14. Nd2 Nb4) 14. Nc3 O-O-O $2 {6.72/20} ({Don't go for} 14... cxd4 $2 15. Nxd5 Bd6 16. exd4 $18) (14... Rd8 $14 {0.52/28}) 15. Nb5 $2 {-0.22/29} (15. Bh3 $18 { 6.72/20}) 15... a6 $2 {4.47/21} (15... Rg8 $1 $11 {-0.22/29}) 16. Nc3 $2 { -1.15/27} (16. Bh3 $18 {4.47/21} axb5 17. Bxe6+ fxe6 18. a4) 16... Bh6 $2 { 7.57/25} ({But not} 16... cxd4 $2 17. Bh3 $18) (16... Kb8 $17 {-1.15/27}) 17. Qe2 $4 {-2.18/27} (17. Bh3 $18 {7.57/25}) 17... cxd4 18. exd4 Qxe2 {-0.75/28} ( 18... Bxc1 $142 {-1.53/25} 19. Rxc1 Nxd4) 19. Nxe2 $17 Bxc1 20. Rxc1 Rde8 { -0.29/33} ({Black should try} 20... Ne7 $17 {-0.89/29}) 21. Nc3 $2 {-2.25/23} ( 21. Kf2 $11 {-0.29/33 and White has nothing to worry.}) 21... Nxd4 $19 22. Nxd5 $2 {-8.53/21} (22. Bxd5 {-2.12/29} Re7 23. Kf2) 22... Ne2+ 23. Kh1 Nxc1 24. Nxf6 Re6 {-7.21/25} (24... Re1+ $142 {-#12/23} 25. Bf1 Rxf1+ 26. Kg2 Rxf6 27. g4 Ne2 28. c4 h5 29. g5 Rf4 30. h3 Rd8 31. b4 Rd1 32. h4 Rg1+ 33. Kh3 Rg3+ 34. Kh2 Rxh4#) 25. Nd5 Nxa2 26. b3 Nc1 {[#] And now ...Re1+ would win.} 27. Nf4 Rd6 {White must now prevent ...Rd1+.} 28. Nd5 Rhd8 29. Ne7+ Kb8 30. h4 Re6 31. Nf5 Ne2 32. c4 Nd4 33. Ng7 Re1+ 34. Kh2 Nxb3 35. Nf5 Rd2 {Black mates.} 36. c5 Ree2 37. Ne3 Rxe3 38. Kh3 Nxc5 39. Bf1 Rf2 40. Bc4 Rff3 41. Bxf7 Rxf7 {Accuracy: White = 8%, Black = 19%.} 0-1 [Event "Rated game, 2m + 0s"] [Site "Main Playing Hall"] [Date "2008.03.27"] [Round "?"] [White "Yeti"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A00"] [WhiteElo "1297"] [BlackElo "1655"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "111"] [EventDate "2008.03.04"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] 1. g3 d5 2. Bg2 {A00 Irregular Openings} c5 3. b3 Nc6 4. Bb2 e5 (4... Nf6 5. d3 {0-1 (49) Krolik,W (1703)-Staruch,R (1991) Katy Rybackie 2009}) 5. d3 Nf6 (5... f6 6. Nf3 Be6 7. Nbd2 d4 8. O-O Qd7 9. Nh4 Bd6 10. e3 Nge7 11. e4 Nd8 12. Nc4 Nf7 13. a4 Nc6 14. f4 Bxc4 15. bxc4 exf4 16. gxf4 O-O-O 17. Nf5 Bf8 18. Bh3 Kb8 19. Nh6 Qc7 20. Nxf7 {Bernshteyn,M (2395)-Sosulin,E (2342) Tula 2015 0-1 (42)}) 6. Nd2 Be7 7. Ngf3 $146 (7. e3 O-O 8. Ne2 Bg4 9. h3 Be6 10. a3 Rc8 11. g4 Qc7 12. Ng3 c4 13. dxc4 dxc4 14. b4 Nxb4 15. Nde4 Nxe4 16. Bxe4 c3 17. Bc1 Nc6 18. O-O Rcd8 19. Qe2 Na5 20. Bd3 Bc4 21. Ne4 Bxd3 {Krolik,W (1703)-Staruch,R (1991) Katy Rybackie 2009 0-1 (49)}) 7... O-O {0.38/18} ({Black should try} 7... Qc7 $15 {-0.40/21}) 8. O-O {-0.39/17} (8. Nxe5 $14 {0.38/18} Nxe5 9. Bxe5) 8... Bf5 {0.73/18} (8... Qc7 $15 {-0.39/17}) 9. Re1 {-0.38/18} (9. Nxe5 $16 {0.73/18} Nxe5 10. Bxe5) 9... e4 {0.17/22} (9... Qc7 $15 {-0.38/18}) 10. Nh4 $11 Qd7 { 0.93/17} (10... Bd7 $11 {0.16/18}) 11. dxe4 $16 dxe4 {[#]} 12. Nxe4 $1 Qxd1 ( 12... Bxe4 13. Qxd7) 13. Raxd1 Bxe4 14. Bxf6 $1 Bxg2 15. Bxe7 Nxe7 16. Nxg2 Nc6 17. Rd5 b6 18. Rd6 {0.73/19} (18. c3 $142 {1.35/22}) 18... Nb4 19. Rd2 Nxa2 20. c3 {-0.88/18} (20. Ne3 $14 {0.42/22 stays ahead.}) 20... Nxc3 $17 21. Rc1 { -1.43/22} (21. Rd3 $142 {-0.88/21} Nb5 22. Red1) 21... Nb5 22. Nf4 Rfd8 23. Rcd1 Re8 {-0.62/22} (23... Rxd2 $17 {-1.47/21} 24. Rxd2 Nd4) 24. e3 $15 Nc3 25. Rc1 Ne4 26. Rd3 Rad8 27. Rcd1 Rxd3 28. Rxd3 $17 {Endgame KRN-KRN} g6 29. Nd5 { With the idea f3.} Rf8 30. f3 Nd6 $2 {3.11/24} (30... Ng5 $15 {-0.47/19 keeps the upper hand.} 31. Kf2 Kg7) 31. Nf6+ Kg7 32. Rxd6 Re8 $2 {10.91/18} (32... Rc8 {2.77/21} 33. Nd5 c4 34. bxc4 Rxc4) 33. Nxe8+ $18 Kf8 34. Nc7 Ke7 35. Rd3 a5 36. e4 f5 37. exf5 gxf5 38. g4 fxg4 39. fxg4 b5 40. Nxb5 Ke6 41. g5 { [#] Hoping for Nc3.} Kf5 42. h4 Kg4 43. Rc3 Kxh4 44. Rxc5 {White threatens Nd6 and mate.} Kg4 45. Nd6 Kh5 46. Rxa5 {Intending b4 and mate.} Kg6 47. b4 { White mates.} Kg7 48. b5 Kg6 49. b6 Kg7 50. b7 Kg6 51. b8=Q Kh5 52. Nf7 Kg4 53. Qb4+ Kf3 54. Ra3+ Ke2 55. Qb2+ Kd1 56. Ra1# {Accuracy: White = 28%, Black = 27%.} 1-0 [Event "Rated game, 2m + 0s"] [Site "Main Playing Hall"] [Date "2008.05.29"] [Round "?"] [White "zlatko_Mos"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A00"] [WhiteElo "1564"] [BlackElo "1550"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (5s)"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2008.03.04"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] 1. g3 d5 2. Bg2 {A00 Irregular Openings} c5 3. b3 (3. f4 g6 4. d3 Bg7 5. c3 Nc6 6. Nh3 Nf6 7. O-O O-O {1/2-1/2 (7) Petran,P (2410)-Tibensky,R (2410) Topolcianky 1994}) 3... Nc6 (3... e5 4. Bb2 {1-0 (30) Osipow,N (2179)-Kubica,K (1751) Pszczyna 2009}) 4. Bb2 e5 5. Nc3 $146 (5. d3 f5 (5... f6 6. Nf3 Be6 7. Nbd2 d4 8. O-O Qd7 9. Nh4 Bd6 10. e3 Nge7 11. e4 Nd8 12. Nc4 Nf7 13. a4 Nc6 14. f4 Bxc4 15. bxc4 exf4 16. gxf4 O-O-O 17. Nf5 Bf8 18. Bh3 Kb8 19. Nh6 Qc7 20. Nxf7 {Bernshteyn,M (2395)-Sosulin,E (2342) Tula 2015 0-1 (42)}) (5... Nf6 6. Nd2 Be6 7. e4 (7. e3 Bd6 8. Ne2 Qd7 9. h3 Rc8 10. c4 d4 11. e4 a6 12. f4 g6 13. Nf3 Nh5 14. f5 gxf5 15. exf5 Bxf5 16. g4 Rg8 17. Nh4 Bxg4 18. hxg4 Qxg4 19. Bf3 Qg5 20. Bc1 Nf4 21. Bxf4 exf4 {Osipow,N (2179)-Kubica,K (1751) Pszczyna 2009 1-0}) 7... d4 8. Ngf3 Nd7 9. O-O Be7 10. a4 a6 11. Qe2 O-O 12. Nc4 Qc7 13. Nfd2 b5 14. axb5 axb5 15. Rxa8 Rxa8 16. Na3 Qb7 17. Ra1 Nb4 18. Qd1 Ra5 19. f4 f5 20. exf5 {Tiele,E-De Hoop,T Hengelo 2000 0-1 (43)}) 6. Nf3 Bd6 7. Nbd2 Nf6 8. Rc1 e4 9. dxe4 dxe4 10. Ng1 Qe7 11. Nc4 Bc7 12. e3 O-O 13. Ne2 Be6 14. O-O Bxc4 15. bxc4 Be5 16. Nc3 Qe6 17. Qe2 Na5 18. Ba1 Nxc4 19. Nb5 Rf7 {Kirschner,M (1567)-Lebermann,H (2063) Bad Homburg 2006 0-1 (61)}) 5... Nf6 {-0.77/20} (5... d4 $142 {-1.20/16} 6. Nd5 Bd6) 6. d3 {-1.34/20} (6. e4 $142 {-0.77/20}) 6... Bd6 $2 {1.39/19} (6... Be7 $17 {-1.34/20}) 7. e3 $2 {-1.50/19} (7. Nxd5 $16 { 1.39/19 stays on course.} Nxd5 8. Bxd5) 7... O-O $2 {0.98/19} (7... d4 $17 { -1.50/19} 8. Ne4 Nxe4 9. Bxe4 O-O) 8. Qd2 $2 {-1.77/16} (8. Nxd5 $16 {0.98/19 and life is bright.} Nxd5 9. Bxd5) 8... Be6 {-1.04/20} ({Better is} 8... Bc7 $19 {-1.77/16 White must now prevent ...Ba5.} 9. Na4 Qd6) 9. O-O-O {-2.21/18} ( 9. Nge2 $17 {-1.04/20}) 9... d4 $19 10. exd4 $2 {-3.84/18} (10. Nb5 {-1.82/21}) 10... Nxd4 $2 {-0.17/22} (10... cxd4 $19 {-3.84/18 Hoping for ...Bb4.} 11. Ne4 Nxe4 12. Bxe4 Rc8) 11. Ne4 $2 {-2.16/17} (11. Nge2 $11 {-0.17/22 and White has nothing to worry.}) 11... Nc6 $2 {0.83/21} (11... Nxe4 $19 {-2.16/17} 12. Bxe4 Qd7) 12. Nxf6+ {0.02/20} (12. f4 $16 {0.83/21}) 12... Qxf6 $11 {[#]} 13. f4 $1 exf4 $2 {9.29/17} (13... Nd4 $11 {0.00/22}) 14. gxf4 $2 {-1.01/21} (14. Bxf6 $18 {9.29/17} gxf6 15. Ne2) 14... Bxf4 $2 {1.54/21} (14... Qxf4 $17 {-1.01/21} 15. Qxf4 Bxf4+ 16. Kb1 Rae8) 15. Ne2 $2 {-9.50/20} (15. Bxf6 $16 {1.54/21} Bxd2+ 16. Rxd2 gxf6 17. Bxc6 bxc6 18. Ne2) 15... Bxd2+ $19 16. Rxd2 Qe7 17. Rg1 f6 18. Nf4 Bf7 19. Re2 Qd7 20. Bh3 Qd6 21. Ng2 Rae8 22. Ree1 Rxe1+ 23. Rxe1 Re8 24. Rg1 Re2 25. Nh4 Nd4 {-19.87/24} (25... Qxh2 $142 {-#9/21} 26. Rxg7+ Kf8 27. Bxf6 Rxc2+ 28. Kb1 Nb4 29. Be7+ Ke8 30. Rg8+ Bxg8 31. Bd7+ Kxd7 32. Bg5 Qh1+ 33. Bc1 Qxc1#) 26. Nf5 Rxc2+ 27. Kb1 {[#]} Nxf5 $1 28. Bxf5 Rxh2 {-64.95/26} ( 28... Qxh2 $142 {-#10/29} 29. Bc3 Rxc3 30. Rc1 Rxc1+ 31. Kxc1 Qf4+ 32. Kc2 Qxf5 33. Kc3 Bg6 34. Kc4 Qxd3+ 35. Kxc5 Qc3+ 36. Kd6 Qc6+ 37. Ke7 Bf5 38. Kd8 Qd7#) 29. Be4 {[#]} b6 {-74.53/28} (29... Rxb2+ $142 $1 {-#17/29} 30. Kxb2 Qd4+ 31. Kc2 Qf2+ 32. Kd1 Qxg1+ 33. Kd2 Qf2+ 34. Kd1 Bh5+ 35. Kc1 Qe1+ 36. Kc2 Qd1+ 37. Kb2 Qd2+ 38. Kb1 Bf7 39. Bf5 Qe1+ 40. Kc2 Qf2+ 41. Kc1 Qxf5 42. Kd2 Qf3 43. Kc3 Qd1 44. d4 Qxd4+ 45. Kc2 Bg6+ 46. Kc1 Qc3+ 47. Kd1 Bh5#) 30. a3 Qf4 {Black mates.} 31. Ka2 Qf2 32. Rb1 Bg6 33. Bxg6 hxg6 {Accuracy: White = 0%, Black = 3%.} 0-1 [Event "ICC 5 0"] [Site "Internet Chess Club"] [Date "2014.09.26"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "Tocklin, Tomi"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A00"] [WhiteElo "1592"] [BlackElo "1502"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. g3 d5 2. Bg2 {A00 Irregular Openings} c5 3. e3 (3. f4 g6 4. d3 Bg7 5. c3 Nc6 6. Nh3 Nf6 7. O-O O-O {1/2-1/2 (7) Petran,P (2410)-Tibensky,R (2410) Topolcianky 1994}) 3... Nc6 4. b3 (4. Ne2 g6 5. d4 cxd4 6. exd4 Bg7 7. O-O Nf6 8. c3 O-O 9. Nd2 Bg4 10. h3 Bf5 11. Nf3 Qd7 12. g4 Be4 13. Ne5 Nxe5 14. dxe5 Bxg2 15. exf6 Bxf1 16. fxg7 Kxg7 17. Kxf1 h5 18. Qd4+ f6 {Sindarov,I (2229) -Kondakov,A (1703) Batumi 2016 1/2-1/2 (44)}) 4... Nf6 $146 (4... e5 5. d3 Be6 6. Bb2 f6 7. Ne2 Qd7 8. Nd2 O-O-O 9. a3 Kb8 10. d4 Bh3 11. O-O h5 12. Nf3 cxd4 13. exd4 e4 14. Nh4 g5 15. Ng6 Rh6 16. Nxf8 Rxf8 17. Kh1 h4 18. Ng1 Bxg2+ 19. Kxg2 {Ngo,D-Leong,I (2188) Huy 2009 0-1}) 5. Bb2 g6 {0.20/25} ({Black should play} 5... e5 $15 {-0.59/22}) 6. d3 {-0.40/22} (6. Nf3 $11 {0.20/25}) 6... Bg7 {0.04/26} (6... e5 $15 {-0.40/22 deserves consideration.}) 7. Nd2 {-0.64/24} ( 7. Nf3 $11 {0.04/26}) 7... O-O {-0.16/25} (7... e5 $15 {-0.64/24}) 8. Ngf3 { The position is equal.} h6 {0.25/25} (8... Qc7 $15 {-0.50/23}) 9. O-O {-0.18/24 } (9. Ne5 $142 {0.25/25}) 9... Be6 {0.31/23} (9... Bg4 $11 {-0.18/24}) 10. Re1 {-0.17/23} (10. c4 $14 {0.31/23}) 10... Qd7 11. Ne5 {-0.21/27} (11. c4 $142 { 0.21/25}) 11... Nxe5 $11 12. Bxe5 Bh3 13. Qf3 $2 {-3.86/23 [#]} (13. Qe2 $11 { 0.22/28 and White has nothing to worry.}) 13... Bxg2 $2 {0.11/27} (13... Bg4 $19 {-3.86/23} 14. Bxf6 (14. Qf4 $2 Nh5 $19) 14... Bxf3 15. Bxg7 Kxg7 16. Nxf3 Rae8) 14. Kxg2 Rac8 {0.25/28} (14... Nh7 $142 {-0.28/28} 15. Bxg7 Kxg7) 15. e4 $2 {-1.30/27} (15. Qe2 $11 {0.25/28}) 15... dxe4 {-0.23/30} ({Black should try } 15... Nxe4 $1 $17 {-1.30/27} 16. dxe4 Bxe5) 16. Nxe4 Nxe4 {0.22/31} (16... Ng4 {-0.23/30 is more appropriate.} 17. Bxg7 Kxg7) 17. Qxe4 Qc6 $2 {1.75/35 [#] } (17... Rfe8 $11 {-0.08/31}) 18. Qxc6 Rxc6 19. Bxg7 Kxg7 20. Rxe7 $18 { Endgame KRR-KRR} b5 {2.66/29} (20... Rb8 $142 {1.62/37} 21. Rae1 a5) 21. Rxa7 c4 $2 {4.32/28} (21... Re8 {2.66/32 was called for.} 22. Kf1 c4 23. dxc4 bxc4) 22. dxc4 bxc4 23. a4 {1.95/40} (23. b4 $142 {4.02/26}) 23... cxb3 24. cxb3 Rd8 $2 {4.43/31} (24... Rb8 {1.95/32} 25. Rb1 Rcb6) 25. Ra2 Rd3 $2 {5.53/25} (25... Rb8 {2.75/33} 26. a5 Rxb3) 26. Rb2 {White is clearly winning.} Rb6 27. b4 Rd4 28. b5 Kf6 29. a5 Rb8 30. b6 {Accuracy: White = 20%, Black = 15%.} 1-0

Below you can view some of the latest and highest rated games that have reached the position after 2.Bg2.

[Event "SUI-chT"] [Site "Switzerland"] [Date "2017.05.14"] [Round "4.3"] [White "Hickl, Joerg"] [Black "Petrov, Nikita"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A00"] [WhiteElo "2556"] [BlackElo "2511"] [PlyCount "134"] [EventDate "2017.03.19"] [EventType "team-swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "SUI"] [SourceTitle "Mega2017 Update 32"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2017.06.02"] [WhiteTeam "Riehen"] [BlackTeam "Geneve"] [WhiteTeamCountry "SUI"] [BlackTeamCountry "SUI"] 1. g3 d5 2. Bg2 e5 3. d3 Nf6 4. c4 dxc4 5. Qa4+ Bd7 6. Qxc4 Nc6 7. Nf3 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Nbd2 h6 10. Nb3 Be6 11. Qc2 a5 12. Bd2 a4 13. Nc1 Qd7 14. a3 Bf5 15. e4 Bg4 16. Bc3 Bxf3 17. Bxf3 Rfd8 18. Rd1 Nd4 19. Bxd4 Qxd4 20. Ne2 Qb6 21. Rac1 c6 22. Kg2 Ra5 23. h4 Qa7 24. Rd2 Bc5 25. Rf1 Bd4 26. Nc3 Qc5 27. Qc1 Raa8 28. Bd1 Rd7 29. Rc2 Qe7 30. Re1 Bb6 31. Rd2 Ba5 32. Re3 Rd4 33. Bf3 Rad8 34. Rd1 b5 35. Qc2 Bb6 36. Na2 R4d6 37. Ree1 Qe6 38. Qb1 Nd7 39. Nc1 Nc5 40. Be2 Qf6 41. Bf3 Qe6 42. Rf1 Qd7 43. Be2 Rf6 44. Bf3 Rd6 45. Be2 Qe6 46. Qc2 Rf8 47. f4 exf4 48. Rxf4 Qe7 49. Bg4 Ne6 50. Bxe6 Qxe6 51. Qe2 Rfd8 52. Rdf1 R8d7 53. h5 Bd8 54. Qc2 c5 55. Qxc5 Bg5 56. Qc8+ Kh7 57. Rxf7 Rxf7 58. Qxe6 Rxe6 59. Rxf7 Bxc1 60. Rf2 Rd6 61. Rc2 Be3 62. Rc3 Bd4 63. Rc2 Be5 64. Rd2 b4 65. Kf3 b3 66. Ke3 Bd4+ 67. Ke2 Rf6 0-1 [Event "FIDE World Cup"] [Site "Tbilisi"] [Date "2017.09.05"] [Round "1.4"] [White "Pourramezanali, Amirreza"] [Black "Yu, Yangyi"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A08"] [WhiteElo "2533"] [BlackElo "2744"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2017.09.03"] [EventType "k.o."] [EventRounds "7"] [EventCountry "GEO"] [SourceTitle "Mega2017 Update 49"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2017.09.29"] 1. g3 d5 2. Bg2 g6 3. d3 Bg7 4. Nd2 c5 5. e4 dxe4 6. dxe4 Nc6 7. Ngf3 Nf6 8. O-O O-O 9. Qe2 Qc7 10. c3 e5 11. a4 h6 12. Nc4 Be6 13. Nfd2 Rfe8 14. Re1 Rad8 15. Nf1 Bxc4 16. Qxc4 Na5 17. Qe2 Nb3 18. Rb1 Nxc1 19. Rbxc1 h5 20. Qb5 Bh6 21. Rcd1 a6 22. Qc4 Qc6 23. a5 b5 24. axb6 Qxb6 25. Qa2 Kg7 26. Bf3 a5 27. Rb1 Rd6 28. Qc4 Rb8 29. Bd1 Qb5 30. Qa2 Qd3 31. Be2 Qxe4 32. Bc4 Qf5 33. h3 Ne4 34. Rxe4 Qxe4 35. Bxf7 Rf8 36. Bc4 Rxf2 37. Kxf2 Rf6+ 38. Kg1 Be3+ 39. Nxe3 Qxe3+ 40. Kh1 Rf2 0-1 [Event "Saint Louis Fall-A"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.09.12"] [Round "7"] [White "Petrosian, Tigran L"] [Black "Meier, Georg"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A00"] [WhiteElo "2615"] [BlackElo "2651"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2017.09.06"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "USA"] [EventCategory "15"] [SourceTitle "Mega2017 Update 48"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2017.09.22"] 1. g3 d5 2. Bg2 e5 3. d3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Bd6 5. O-O O-O 6. c4 dxc4 7. dxc4 c6 8. Nc3 h6 9. Qc2 Be6 10. Rd1 Qc7 11. b3 Nbd7 12. Bb2 Rad8 13. Na4 Rfe8 14. c5 Be7 15. Nd2 Nd5 16. a3 b5 17. cxb6 axb6 18. Nc3 Rc8 19. Rac1 Qb8 20. b4 Red8 21. Be4 Nf8 22. Nf3 b5 23. Nxe5 Bg5 24. Nd3 Bxc1 25. Qxc1 Nf6 26. Bg2 Bc4 27. Nc5 Rxd1+ 28. Nxd1 N8d7 29. Nxd7 Nxd7 30. Bh3 Be6 31. Qc3 Nf6 32. Bxe6 fxe6 33. Ne3 Qc7 1/2-1/2 [Event "RUS-ch blitz"] [Site "Sochi"] [Date "2017.10.02"] [Round "19"] [White "Yuffa, Daniil"] [Black "Inarkiev, Ernesto"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A08"] [WhiteElo "2527"] [BlackElo "2694"] [PlyCount "110"] [EventDate "2017.10.02"] [EventType "swiss (blitz)"] [EventRounds "20"] [EventCountry "RUS"] [SourceTitle "Mega2017 Update 50"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2017.10.05"] 1. g3 d5 2. Bg2 e5 3. d3 c5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. O-O Nf6 6. e4 d4 7. a4 Be7 8. Na3 Bg4 9. h3 Bh5 10. Nc4 Nd7 11. Qe1 O-O 12. Nh2 b6 13. h4 f6 14. Bh3 Bf7 15. f4 Rb8 16. Nf3 a6 17. Bd2 b5 18. axb5 axb5 19. Na5 Nxa5 20. Rxa5 c4 21. Ra7 Nc5 22. Ba5 Qe8 23. Qe2 Ra8 24. Rxa8 Qxa8 25. Bb4 Qa2 26. fxe5 Qxb2 27. Bxc5 Bxc5 28. e6 Bh5 29. g4 Be8 30. g5 Bh5 31. Qg2 b4 32. gxf6 Rxf6 33. Ng5 Rxf1+ 34. Qxf1 Be7 35. Bg4 Be8 36. Qf4 Qb1+ 37. Kh2 Qxc2+ 38. Kh3 Qxd3+ 39. Bf3 Bxg5 40. hxg5 Qe3 41. Qf5 Bg6 42. Qg4 Kf8 43. Kg2 Qd2+ 44. Kh3 Qe3 45. Kg2 d3 46. Qg3 Qb6 47. Qf4+ Ke8 48. Qe5 b3 49. Qxg7 b2 50. e7 b1=Q 51. Qf8+ Kd7 52. Bg4+ Kc7 53. Qc8+ Kd6 54. Qe6+ Kc5 55. Qd5+ Kb4 0-1 [Event "Huaian IMSA blitz 2nd"] [Site "Huaian"] [Date "2017.12.12"] [Round "8.3"] [White "Mamedov, Rauf"] [Black "Korobov, Anton"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A07"] [WhiteElo "2709"] [BlackElo "2652"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2017.12.12"] [EventType "tourn (blitz)"] [EventRounds "22"] [EventCountry "CHN"] [SourceTitle "Mega2017 Update 60"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2017.12.15"] 1. g3 d5 2. Bg2 g6 3. d3 Bg7 4. Nd2 e5 5. e4 Ne7 6. exd5 Nxd5 7. Ngf3 O-O 8. O-O Nc6 9. Re1 h6 10. a3 a5 11. Rb1 Kh7 12. c4 Nde7 13. b4 axb4 14. axb4 Qxd3 15. b5 Nd4 16. Nxe5 Qc2 17. Bb2 Qxd1 18. Rbxd1 Nc2 19. Re2 Ra2 20. Bc3 Nf5 21. Nb3 Nce3 22. Rxa2 Nxd1 23. Ba1 Re8 24. Nd3 Nc3 25. Ra8 Nd6 26. Nd2 Bf5 27. Rxe8 Nxe8 28. Bxc3 Bxc3 29. Ne4 Bd4 30. Kf1 Nd6 31. f3 Nxe4 32. fxe4 Be6 33. c5 Bc4 34. Ke2 Bxb5 35. Kd2 c6 36. e5 Kg7 37. Be4 h5 38. e6 fxe6 39. Nf4 Bxc5 40. Nxe6+ Kf6 41. Nxc5 Ke5 42. Bxg6 Kd5 1-0 [Event "Huaian IMSA blitz 2nd"] [Site "Huaian"] [Date "2017.12.13"] [Round "14"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Grischuk, Alexander"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B10"] [WhiteElo "2799"] [BlackElo "2772"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2017.12.12"] [EventType "tourn (blitz)"] [EventRounds "22"] [EventCountry "CHN"] [SourceTitle "Mega2017 Update 61"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2017.12.22"] 1. g3 d5 2. Bg2 e5 3. d3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Bd6 5. Nbd2 O-O 6. e4 c6 7. O-O Re8 8. Re1 Nbd7 9. c3 h6 10. Qc2 Nf8 11. b3 Ng6 12. Bb2 Bg4 13. h3 Be6 14. Rad1 Qc7 15. Nf1 Rad8 16. Ne3 Qc8 17. Kh2 b5 18. a4 bxa4 19. bxa4 Qb7 20. Nf5 dxe4 21. dxe4 Bb3 22. Qc1 Bxd1 23. Rxd1 Bc5 24. Re1 Bxf2 25. Rf1 Bc5 26. Nd2 Re6 27. Qc2 Qd7 28. Nb3 Bf8 29. Bc1 Qd3 30. Qb2 Nxe4 31. Rf3 Qd7 32. Qc2 Nf6 33. Rf2 Qd1 34. Qa2 Rb8 35. Rb2 Rxb3 36. Rxb3 Qxc1 37. Rb8 Qxc3 38. Qf2 e4 39. Qxa7 e3 0-1 [Event "EU-ch blitz"] [Site "Katowice"] [Date "2017.12.15"] [Round "21"] [White "Duda, Jan Krzysztof"] [Black "Wojtaszek, Radoslaw"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B10"] [WhiteElo "2717"] [BlackElo "2736"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "2017.12.15"] [EventType "swiss (blitz)"] [EventRounds "22"] [EventCountry "POL"] [SourceTitle "Mega2017 Update 61"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2017.12.22"] 1. g3 d5 2. Bg2 c6 3. d3 Nf6 4. Nd2 e5 5. Ngf3 Bd6 6. e4 dxe4 7. dxe4 O-O 8. O-O Qe7 9. b3 Bg4 10. Nc4 Bxf3 11. Qxd6 Qxd6 12. Nxd6 Bxg2 13. Kxg2 b6 14. Rd1 Nbd7 15. f3 Rfd8 16. a4 Nf8 17. Bb2 Ng6 18. a5 b5 19. Nb7 Rdc8 20. a6 c5 21. Ra5 c4 22. b4 c3 23. Bc1 Rc6 24. Be3 Ne8 25. Bc5 Nf8 26. Rd3 Ne6 27. Rxc3 N8c7 28. Rca3 f6 29. Kf2 g5 30. Ke2 h5 31. c3 h4 32. Be3 Kf7 33. Nc5 h3 34. Kd3 Rd8+ 35. Kc2 Ra8 36. Ra1 Nxc5 37. Bxc5 Ke6 38. Kb3 Rd8 39. Bxa7 Rd3 40. Bc5 Rxf3 41. a7 Na8 42. Rxb5 1-0 [Event "Gibraltar Masters 16th"] [Site "Caleta"] [Date "2018.01.27"] [Round "5"] [White "Moussard, Jules"] [Black "Saric, Ivan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A03"] [WhiteElo "2571"] [BlackElo "2664"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "2018.01.23"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "10"] [EventCountry "GGB"] [SourceTitle "Mega2018 Update 16"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2018.02.09"] 1. g3 d5 2. Bg2 c6 3. f4 h5 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. Ne5 Nf6 6. d3 Nbd7 7. Nd2 Qc7 8. Nxd7 Bxd7 9. Nf3 O-O-O 10. c3 e6 11. Qc2 c5 12. Bd2 Be7 13. O-O-O Be8 14. Kb1 Rd6 15. e4 Ra6 16. c4 d4 17. f5 Ng4 18. Rde1 exf5 19. exf5 Bf6 20. h3 Ne3 21. Bxe3 dxe3 22. Rxe3 Ba4 23. Qe2 Bc6 24. Re1 Qa5 25. b3 Bxf3 26. Bxf3 Rd8 27. Qc2 Rb6 28. Re8 Qa3 29. Rxd8+ Kxd8 30. Bd1 a5 31. Re2 a4 32. Qc1 Qb4 33. Qd2 axb3 34. axb3 Ra6 35. Qxb4 Ra1+ 36. Kc2 cxb4 37. Re4 Ra2+ 38. Kc1 Ra1+ 39. Kc2 1/2-1/2 [Event "Gibraltar Masters 16th"] [Site "Caleta"] [Date "2018.01.31"] [Round "9"] [White "Moussard, Jules"] [Black "Adams, Michael"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A00"] [WhiteElo "2571"] [BlackElo "2709"] [PlyCount "58"] [EventDate "2018.01.23"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "10"] [EventCountry "GGB"] [SourceTitle "Mega2018 Update 16"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2018.02.09"] 1. g3 d5 2. Bg2 e5 3. c3 Nf6 4. d4 Nbd7 5. Nf3 Bd6 6. dxe5 Nxe5 7. Nxe5 Bxe5 8. Bf4 Bxf4 9. Qa4+ c6 10. Qxf4 O-O 11. Nd2 Re8 12. e3 Qb6 13. Qb4 Qxb4 14. cxb4 d4 15. e4 a5 16. bxa5 Rxa5 17. O-O Be6 18. a3 g6 19. Rfc1 Rd8 20. Bf1 h5 21. Bc4 Bxc4 22. Rxc4 Ng4 23. Rb4 Rc5 24. h3 Ne5 25. f4 Nd3 26. Nb3 Rc2 27. Rxd4 Rxd4 28. Nxd4 Rxb2 29. Rd1 Nf2 0-1 [Event "PRO League Stage"] [Site "chess.com INT"] [Date "2018.01.31"] [Round "3"] [White "Margvelashvili, Giorgi"] [Black "Dreev, Alexey"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A11"] [WhiteElo "2530"] [BlackElo "2653"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "2018.01.18"] [EventType "team-swiss (rapid)"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "Mega2018 Update 16"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2018.02.09"] [WhiteTeam "Seattle Sluggers"] [BlackTeam "San Diego Surfers"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] 1. g3 d5 2. Bg2 c6 3. c4 Nf6 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. O-O Nbd7 6. Na3 Nb6 7. Qc2 g6 8. Nxc4 Bg7 9. b3 Bf5 10. d3 Qc8 11. Bb2 Bh3 12. e4 Bxg2 13. Kxg2 O-O 14. d4 Ne8 15. Rac1 Nd6 16. Rfe1 Nbxc4 17. bxc4 b5 18. Nd2 Qa6 19. c5 Nb7 20. a3 Rfd8 21. e5 Na5 22. Bc3 Rd5 23. Bxa5 Qxa5 24. Nf3 Rdd8 25. Qb3 e6 26. Red1 Bh6 27. Ra1 Qc7 28. h4 Qd7 29. Qd3 Qd5 30. h5 a5 31. hxg6 fxg6 32. Rh1 Bg7 33. Qe3 Rf8 34. g4 Ra7 35. Rh3 Raf7 36. Rg3 Bh6 37. g5 Bxg5 38. Qd3 Bf4 39. Rh3 Bxe5 40. Rg1 Bxd4 41. Qxd4 Rxf3 42. Qxd5 Rxf2+ 43. Kh1 exd5 44. a4 b4 0-1

A01 Nimzowitsch-Larsen Opening (1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 Nc6 3.e3 d5)

The move 1.b3 (31169 games, score 50.9%) is 7th most tried first move, according to my reference database. More often seen moves were 1.e4 (3418269 games, score 52.9%), 1.d4 (2134323 games, score 54.5%), 1.Nf3 (525023 games, score 55.4%), 1.c4 (446529 games, 54.3%), 1.f4 (45271 games, score 48.6%) and 1.g3 (44283 games, score 55.1%). The reply 1...e5 (13202 games, score 49.8%) is the favorite move of most players. It has been played such strong players as Levon Aronian, Garry Kasparov, Wesley So and Fabiano Caruana. The logical follow-up to 1.b3 was 2.Bb2 (12740 games, score 50.1%), but other moves have been tried too, however much more rarely. Then I played 2...Nc6 (9708 games, score 49.8%), which has been clearly the most played move in the position. The next move, 3.e3 (7213 games, score 50.8%), is the most played move and Grand Masters like Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Maxime Vachier Lagrave have played it. My reply, 3...d5 (2076 games, score 50.7%), is the second most often played move in the position and it has been played players such as Hikaru Nakamura, Peter Heine Nielsen, David Howell and Ivan Saric have played it. GM Hikaru Nakamura (2760) played it in a game against GM Baadur Jobava (2711) at Beijing Sportaccord rapid blindfold on December 18th, 2012. The most often played move is 3...Nf6 (3176 games, score 49.7%). Then with the move 4.d4 (23 games, score 45.7%) my opponent went to a line that is rarely played and according to my reference database, no Grand Master has played the move. The following moves, 4.Bb5 (2022 games, score 52.8%), 4.Nf3 (141 games, score 49.3%), 4.c4 (43 games, score 39.5%), 4.d3 (32 games, score 48.4%) and 4.g3 (30 games, score 33.3%), have seen more play. I continued the game with the move 4...Bd6, which had not been played before in the position. The four moves that had been played before are 4...exd4 (12 games, 41.7%), 4...e4 (11 games, score 59.1%), 4...Bf5 (1 game, score 0%) and 4...Bb4 (1 game, score 0%).

[Event "Live Chess"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.07.19"] [Round "?"] [White "Kojjootti"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A01"] [WhiteElo "1739"] [BlackElo "1741"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] {[%evp 9,60,-24,-35,-28,13,-41,7,-140,-159,-147,-139,-236,-117,-130,-97,-88, -63,-87,-69,-68,-59,-58,-51,-60,0,0,35,11,18,-3,48,48,183,175,254,221,229,227, 268,250,216,220,530,583,579,566,570,570,811,804,1446,1415,1275]} 1. b3 e5 { A01 Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Modern Variation [%mdl 32]} 2. Bb2 Nc6 3. e3 d5 { A01 Nimzowitsch-Larsen Opening} 4. d4 Bd6 $146 (4... exd4 5. exd4 Nf6 (5... Qe7+ 6. Be2 Bg4 7. h3 Bxe2 8. Nxe2 Qd7 9. O-O g6 10. Nd2 Bg7 11. Nf3 Nge7 12. Nf4 O-O 13. Nd3 Rfe8 14. c3 {1/2-1/2 (14) Asfora,M (2270)-Toth,C (2380) Guarapuava 1992}) 6. Nf3 Bd6 (6... Bg4 7. Nbd2 Bd6 8. h3 Bh5 9. c4 O-O 10. cxd5 Nxd5 11. Be2 Qe7 12. O-O Ba3 13. Bxa3 Qxa3 14. Re1 Rfe8 15. Qc1 Qd6 16. Qc2 Bg6 17. Qb2 Ncb4 18. Rac1 c6 19. a3 Rxe2 20. Rxe2 Nd3 21. Qa1 {Jauschneg,T (800) -Pernerstorfer,M (1085) Mureck 2015 0-1 (62)}) 7. c4 Bg4 8. Nbd2 Bb4 9. Be2 O-O 10. O-O Re8 11. cxd5 Nxd5 12. Bc4 Bxd2 13. Qxd2 Bxf3 14. gxf3 Re6 15. Qc2 Qd6 16. Bc1 Rae8 17. Qf5 Rg6+ 18. Kh1 Nf6 19. Bf4 {Jauschneg,T-Hanc,N (1426) Mureck 2017 1/2-1/2 (53)}) (4... e4 5. c4 Nf6 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. Bc4 Be6 8. Ne2 Qg5 9. O-O O-O-O 10. f4 exf3 11. Rxf3 Bd6 12. Nd2 Bg4 13. Ne4 Qg6 14. Nxd6+ Rxd6 15. Rg3 Re8 16. h3 Bxe2 17. Rxg6 Bxd1 18. Rxd6 cxd6 19. Rxd1 {Da Rosa,H (1715)-Ferreira,C (1416) Hebraica 2016 0-1 (56)}) 5. Nf3 e4 6. Nfd2 Nf6 { 0.13/26} (6... Nce7 {-0.28/25 is superior.}) 7. a3 {-0.41/23} (7. c4 $11 { 0.13/26}) 7... Bg4 {0.07/27} (7... Ng4 $15 {-0.41/23} 8. Qe2 Ne7) 8. f3 { -1.40/24} (8. Be2 $11 {0.07/27 keeps the balance.} Bxe2 9. Qxe2) 8... exf3 $17 9. gxf3 Bf5 10. Nc3 {-2.36/24} (10. Bg2 $17 {-1.39/26}) 10... Bg6 {-1.17/28} ( 10... O-O $19 {-2.36/24 and Black stays clearly on top. Hoping for ...Ng4!} 11. Bg2 Qe7) 11. Nb5 Qe7 12. Nxd6+ Qxd6 13. Be2 O-O 14. Nf1 Rfe8 15. Qd2 a5 16. O-O-O Reb8 {0.00/25} (16... a4 $15 {-0.60/21} 17. b4 Ne7) 17. Ng3 $11 b5 18. Rhe1 Ne7 19. Bf1 Ra6 {0.48/24} ({Black should play} 19... Nf5 $11 {-0.03/26}) 20. e4 $14 {[#] Black must now prevent e5.} dxe4 {1.83/25} (20... Qd7 $14 { 0.48/26}) 21. fxe4 $18 {And now e5 would win.} Qd7 {2.54/23} (21... Nd7 $142 { 1.75/26} 22. d5 f6) 22. d5 a4 {[%tqu "En","","","","b3b4","",10]} 23. b4 $1 Rd8 24. Qf4 Rd6 25. Be5 Rb6 $2 {5.30/23 [#]} (25... Nfxd5 {2.20/26 is more resistant.} 26. exd5 Rxd5 27. Rxd5 Nxd5) 26. Bxc7 {White is clearly winning.} Rb7 27. Bxd8 Qxd8 28. d6 Nc8 29. e5 Nd5 30. Rxd5 Nb6 {Accuracy: White = 61%, Black = 34%.} 1-0 [Event "rated blitz match"] [Site "Free Internet Chess Server"] [Date "2008.12.28"] [Round "?"] [White "armandoalejandro"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A01"] [WhiteElo "1470"] [BlackElo "1539"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2008.??.??"] 1. b3 e5 {A01 Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Modern Variation} 2. Bb2 Nc6 3. e3 d5 { A01 Nimzowitsch-Larsen Opening} 4. Ne2 f5 5. d3 Nf6 6. g3 {-0.77/23} (6. d4 $11 {-0.15/25}) 6... Bd6 {-0.29/24} ({Better is} 6... Be6 $17 {-0.77/23}) 7. Bg2 $11 O-O $146 (7... Be6 8. Nd2 Qd7 9. h3 O-O-O 10. Nf3 h6 11. Qd2 e4 12. Nfd4 exd3 13. cxd3 Kb8 14. O-O h5 15. Nxc6+ Qxc6 16. Rfc1 Qd7 17. h4 Rhg8 18. Nf4 Qf7 19. Qe2 g5 20. hxg5 Rxg5 21. Nh3 Rg6 22. Bxf6 {Goncalves,I-Bocangel Chavez, M (1583) Bento Goncalves 2010 1/2-1/2 (42)}) 8. O-O {[#]The position is equal.} e4 {0.28/27} (8... f4 $142 $1 {-0.25/25}) 9. Bxf6 {-0.46/24} (9. c4 $11 { 0.28/27}) 9... Qxf6 {0.34/24} (9... Rxf6 $15 {-0.46/24} 10. c4 Nb4) 10. Nd2 $2 {-1.21/21} (10. Nbc3 $14 {0.34/24 was the only good move.}) 10... Bd7 {0.00/28} (10... Ne7 $17 {-1.21/21} 11. Rb1 a6) 11. d4 {-1.18/24} (11. dxe4 $11 {0.00/28 keeps the balance.} dxe4 12. Nc4) 11... g5 {0.25/25} (11... Ne7 $17 {-1.18/24} 12. c4 c6) 12. c4 $1 Ne7 $2 {2.42/22 [#]} (12... Rae8 $11 {-0.11/27 and Black has nothing to worry.}) 13. c5 $18 f4 $2 {4.10/22} (13... Bxc5 {2.22/26 might work better.} 14. dxc5 Bb5) 14. cxd6 cxd6 {With the idea ...f3.} 15. exf4 gxf4 16. Nxf4 Kh8 17. Qh5 Qxd4 {4.79/24} (17... Qg7 $142 {3.27/29} 18. Bh3 Bxh3 19. Nxh3 Rf6) 18. Rad1 {2.70/30} (18. Rac1 $142 {4.79/24}) 18... Rf5 $2 {6.10/25} ( 18... Qg7 {2.70/30} 19. Bh3 Bxh3 20. Nxh3 Rf5) 19. Qe2 Qe5 20. Bh3 {White is clearly winning.} a6 21. Bxf5 Nxf5 22. Qh5 Kg8 23. g4 Nd4 {8.01/25} (23... Qxf4 $142 {4.48/27} 24. gxf5 Kh8) 24. Qxe5 dxe5 25. Nxd5 Ne2+ 26. Kh1 Nf4 27. Nf6+ Kg7 28. Nxd7 Rd8 29. Nxe5 {Accuracy: White = 23%, Black = 5%.} 1-0

The latest and highest rated games from my reference database can be seen below.

[Event "China Elite Mind Basque (Women)"] [Site "Huaian"] [Date "2016.03.03"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Zhao, Xue"] [Black "Kosteniuk, Alexandra"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A01"] [WhiteElo "2506"] [BlackElo "2554"] [PlyCount "123"] [EventDate "2016.03.02"] [EventType "swiss (rapid)"] [EventRounds "5"] [EventCountry "CHN"] [SourceTitle "Mega2016 Update 23"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2016.03.11"] 1. b3 e5 2. Bb2 Nc6 3. e3 d5 4. Bb5 Bd6 5. Nf3 f6 6. c4 Nge7 7. Nc3 a6 8. Ba4 O-O 9. O-O Nb4 10. d4 e4 11. Ne1 Be6 12. a3 Nbc6 13. Bxc6 bxc6 14. c5 Bxh2+ 15. Kxh2 f5 16. f4 Kh8 17. Rh1 Ng8 18. Kg1 Nf6 19. Qe2 Ng4 20. Nd1 g5 21. Nf2 gxf4 22. exf4 Rg8 23. Nc2 Rb8 24. b4 Rg6 25. Nxg4 Rxg4 26. Qf2 Qg8 27. Rh3 Rf8 28. Ne3 Rg6 29. Bc3 Rf7 30. Be1 Rfg7 31. Qe2 Bc8 32. Bh4 Qf7 33. Qf2 Qe6 34. Bg5 Kg8 35. Kh2 h6 36. Bh4 Kf7 37. Rh1 Bd7 38. Kg1 Be8 39. Qe2 Qc8 40. Be1 Rh7 41. Rh5 Bd7 42. R1h3 Kf6 43. Qf2 Qf8 44. Qh4+ Kg7 45. Rg3 Rxg3 46. Qxg3+ Kh8 47. Qh3 Qg7 48. Qh4 Be8 49. Qd8 Qd7 50. Qf6+ Qg7 51. Qxg7+ Kxg7 52. Rxf5 Bd7 53. Re5 Kf7 54. Bh4 Kf8 55. Be7+ Rxe7 56. Rh5 Kg7 57. Kf2 Rf7 58. Kg3 Rf6 59. Re5 Rf8 60. Kf2 Kf6 61. g4 Rb8 62. g5+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Moscow Nutcracker rapid"] [Site "Moscow"] [Date "2016.12.21"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Artemiev, Vladislav"] [Black "Morozevich, Alexander"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A01"] [WhiteElo "2653"] [BlackElo "2676"] [PlyCount "95"] [EventDate "2016.12.21"] [EventType "schev (rapid)"] [EventRounds "8"] [EventCountry "RUS"] [SourceTitle "Mega2016 Update 65"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2016.12.29"] [WhiteTeam "Princes"] [BlackTeam "Kings"] [WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"] [BlackTeamCountry "RUS"] 1. b3 e5 2. Bb2 Nc6 3. e3 d5 4. Bb5 Nge7 5. Bxe5 a6 6. Bxc6+ Nxc6 7. Bb2 Bd6 8. Nf3 O-O 9. Nc3 Qf6 10. Rb1 Qg6 11. Nxd5 Be6 12. Nc3 f5 13. h4 f4 14. h5 Qh6 15. e4 Bg4 16. d4 Rad8 17. Qd3 b5 18. Nd5 g5 19. c4 Bc8 20. cxb5 axb5 21. Qxb5 Nb8 22. Qc4 Be6 23. Qc2 c6 24. Nb6 Na6 25. a3 g4 26. Nd2 f3 27. gxf3 Bf4 28. Nbc4 Nc7 29. a4 Nd5 30. exd5 cxd5 31. Ne5 Bf5 32. Qd1 g3 33. Rg1 Qxh5 34. Nf1 g2 35. Rxg2+ Kh8 36. Rg1 Rde8 37. Rc1 h6 38. Qe2 Rb8 39. Ng3 Qh2 40. Rh1 Qg2 41. Qf1 Qxf1+ 42. Kxf1 Rxb3 43. Nxf5 Rxf5 44. Rc8+ Kh7 45. Rc7+ Kg8 46. Rg1+ Bg5 47. Bc1 Rb1 48. Ke2 1-0 [Event "US op 118th"] [Site "Norfolk"] [Date "2017.08.06"] [Round "9"] [White "Li, Ruifeng"] [Black "Lenderman, Aleksandr"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A01"] [WhiteElo "2568"] [BlackElo "2585"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2017.07.29"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "Mega2017 Update 43"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2017.08.18"] 1. b3 e5 2. Bb2 Nc6 3. e3 d5 4. Bb5 Bd6 5. f4 f6 6. Nh3 Nh6 7. Qh5+ Nf7 8. Nc3 a6 9. Be2 Be7 10. fxe5 fxe5 11. O-O g6 12. Qf3 Be6 13. e4 Nd4 14. Qd3 Nxe2+ 15. Nxe2 d4 16. c3 c5 17. cxd4 cxd4 18. Nhf4 exf4 19. Nxf4 Qd7 20. Qxd4 Rg8 21. Qb6 Nd8 22. Rac1 Qd6 23. Qe3 Rf8 24. e5 Qd7 25. d4 Bg5 26. Ba3 Rf5 27. Qe4 Qf7 28. g3 Bxf4 29. Rxf4 Rxf4 30. Qxf4 Qxf4 31. gxf4 Rc8 32. Kf2 Rxc1 33. Bxc1 Nc6 34. Ke3 Kd7 35. Ba3 Bd5 36. Bd6 Ke6 37. Kd3 Kf5 38. Kc3 0-1 [Event "SWE-chT 1718 Elite"] [Site "Sweden"] [Date "2017.10.20"] [Round "1.2"] [White "Jobava, Baadur"] [Black "Hammer, Jon Ludvig"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A01"] [WhiteElo "2705"] [BlackElo "2632"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2017.10.20"] [EventType "team-tourn"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "SWE"] [SourceTitle "CB43_2017"] [SourceDate "2017.10.25"] [WhiteTeam "Malmo"] [BlackTeam "Stockholm Rockaden"] [WhiteTeamCountry "SWE"] [BlackTeamCountry "SWE"] 1. b3 e5 2. Bb2 Nc6 3. e3 d5 4. Bb5 Bd6 5. Nf3 f6 6. d4 e4 7. Nfd2 f5 8. c4 a6 9. Bxc6+ bxc6 10. Ba3 Nf6 11. Bxd6 cxd6 12. Nc3 Be6 13. cxd5 Nxd5 14. Nxd5 Bxd5 15. Qh5+ g6 16. Qh6 Kf7 17. h4 Qa5 18. Qf4 Ke6 19. h5 g5 20. Qxg5 Rag8 21. Qh6+ Ke7 22. g3 Rg4 23. Rh4 Rxh4 24. Qg5+ Kd7 25. Qg7+ Ke6 26. gxh4 Qd8 27. O-O-O Rg8 28. Qxh7 Rg2 29. h6 Qa5 30. Kb1 Qc3 31. Qc7 Rxf2 32. h7 Qd3+ 33. Kb2 Rxd2+ 34. Rxd2 Qxd2+ 35. Ka3 Qc1+ 36. Ka4 Bxb3+ 37. Ka5 1-0 [Event "Wch Rapid"] [Site "Riadh"] [Date "2017.12.27"] [Round "7"] [White "Short, Nigel D"] [Black "Howell, David"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A01"] [WhiteElo "2678"] [BlackElo "2676"] [PlyCount "99"] [EventDate "2017.12.26"] [EventType "swiss (rapid)"] [EventRounds "15"] [EventCountry "SAU"] [SourceTitle "Mega2018 Update 11"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2018.01.05"] 1. b3 e5 2. Bb2 Nc6 3. e3 d5 4. Bb5 Bd6 5. Nf3 Qe7 6. d4 e4 7. Ne5 Qg5 8. Kf1 Nge7 9. h4 Qf6 10. c4 O-O 11. Bxc6 bxc6 12. c5 Nf5 13. Kg1 Be7 14. h5 Qe6 15. Ng4 Bg5 16. Nc3 Ng3 17. fxg3 Qxg4 18. Qe1 Re8 19. Bc1 Ba6 20. Rh3 Re6 21. Qd1 Qxd1+ 22. Nxd1 Be2 23. Nf2 f5 24. Rh1 Rh6 25. Nh3 Rxh5 26. Nxg5 Rxg5 27. Bd2 a5 28. Kf2 Bd3 29. a4 Rg6 30. Ra3 Rf6 31. b4 axb4 32. Bxb4 Rff8 33. a5 Rab8 34. Bc3 Ba6 35. Ra2 Rb3 36. Rc1 Rfb8 37. Rcc2 Rb1 38. g4 fxg4 39. Kg3 h5 40. Rab2 R1xb2 41. Rxb2 Rf8 42. Kh4 g6 43. Be1 Bb5 44. Bg3 Rf7 45. Rf2 Rxf2 46. Bxf2 Kf7 47. Kg5 Ba6 48. Bg3 Bb5 49. Bxc7 Ba6 50. g3 1-0

E01 Catalan: Early deviations (1.Nf3 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 c6 4.d4 d5 5.O-O e6 6.Nbd2 Bd6 7.c4 O-O 8.b3 Nbd7 9.Bb2 Ne4 10.Ne5)

The first move by my opponent, 1...f5 (17832 games, score 55%), was the 5th most common reply to 1.Nf3. More common moves were 1...Nf6 (239780 games, score 55.7%), 1...d5 (143901 games, score 55.6%), 1...c5 (59809 games, score 53.6%) and 1...g6 (28633 games, score 53.2%). Then I played 2.g3 (5810 games, score 58.1%), which was the most popular move played in the position. Kojjootti's next move 2...Nf6 (5146 games, score 58.3%) was also the most often tried move. The game continued with another most often played move 3.Bg2 (4784 games, score 58.8%). The next move was the rather rarely seen 3...c6 (26 games, score 67.3%), it was the 6th most played move in the position. The moves 3...g6 (2857 games, score 57.5%), 3...e6 (1079 games, score 63.3%), 3...d6 (847 games, score 57.2%), 3...d5 (57 games, score 61.4%) and 3...Nc6 (47 games, 60.6%) were more often played than 3...c6. My 4th move, d4 (2 games, score 100%), was the rarest move that has been played in the position. 4.O-O (25 games, score 68%), 4.c4 (4 games, score 62.5%) and 4.d3 (4 games, score 75%) are the other moves seen in the position.

The next move that appeared on the board was 4...d5 (9 games, score 75%), which is the 4th most common move in the position. More common are the moves 4...d6 (45 games, score 68.9%), 4...g6 (37 games, score 55.4%) and 4...e6 (20 games, score 72.5%). With the move 5.O-O (47 games, score 62.8%) the game followed the most often played line once again. The reply 5...e6 (45 games, score 64.4.%) continued to be most popular move in the position. I then played 6.Nbd2 (51 games, score 56.9%), which was the 3rd most often played move. More popular moves were 6.c4 (366 games, score 62.2%) and 6.b3 (188 games, score 64.4%). The next move, 6...Bd6 (48 games, score 58.3%), is the most played move in the position, according to my reference database. Same was true with my 7th move, c4 (34 games, score 48.5%). The next move 7...O-O (498 games, score 57.9%) also followed the most often played line. Players such as Yi Wei (2734), Michal Krasenkow (2661), Pavel V Tregubov (2642) and Vladimir Burmakin (2627), for instance, have played the move 7...O-O in their games. The following move, 8.b3 (227 games, score 52.4%), is the most often occurred move and strong players like Alexander G Beliavsky (2649), Evgeny Postny (2642), Yuri Vovk (2628) and Alexander Graf (2613) have played the move.

8...Nbd7 (79 games, score 57%) is the most popular move as a reply to 8.b3. My next move 9.Bb2 (156 games, score 52.6%) is the most natural move in the position and therefore it is no surprise that it was the most often played move. It has been played by strong players such as Ruslan Ponomariov (2756), Alexander G Beliavsky (2649), Yuri Vovk (2628) and Zdenko Kozul (2619). The reply 9...Ne4 (130 games, score 53.1%) was the most popular move in the position. The same goes for the move 10.Ne5 (117 games, score 54.3%). And for the reply 10...Nxe5 (47 games, score 51.1%). Not a huge surprise that taking back the knight with 11.dxe5 (47 games, score 51.1%) is the only move played in the position. The next move, 11...Be7 (4 games, score 75%), is the second most played move, only behind the more active 11...Bc5 (35 games, score 50%). Once again it says in the notation prematurely that the move 12.Qc2 is a novelty, when it is not a novelty as it had been played once before this game. That game found in the reference database was a short draw in which Black's 12th move was b6. Therefore the real novelty was the move 12...g5 played by my opponent.

[Event "Live Chess"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.07.18"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "Kojjootti"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E01"] [WhiteElo "1762"] [BlackElo "1730"] [Annotator "Stockfish 9 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. Nf3 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 c6 4. d4 d5 5. O-O e6 6. Nbd2 Bd6 7. c4 O-O 8. b3 Nbd7 9. Bb2 Ne4 10. Ne5 {E01 Catalan: Early deviations} Nxe5 11. dxe5 Be7 ( 11... Bc5 12. Nxe4 (12. e3 b6 13. Nf3 Be7 14. Qe2 c5 15. Rfd1 Bb7 16. h4 Qe8 17. Nh2 g5 18. hxg5 Bxg5 19. Nf1 Bh6 20. f3 Ng5 21. Nd2 Qh5 22. Kf2 Qg6 23. Rh1 Rad8 24. Rh4 Bg7 25. f4 Ne4+ 26. Nxe4 fxe4 {Otalora,C (2175)-Pachon,A (2006) Medellin 2017 1-0 (36)}) 12... dxe4 13. Qxd8 Rxd8 14. Rfd1 Rxd1+ 15. Rxd1 Be7 16. f3 exf3 17. exf3 a5 18. a4 Kf7 19. f4 Ra7 20. Kf2 c5 21. Ke3 b6 22. Bc6 Rc7 23. Bb5 Bb7 24. Rd6 Bxd6 25. exd6 Rc6 26. Be5 {Ricardi,P (2500)-Lorenzini,M (2466) La Plata 2012 1-0 (72)}) 12. Qc2 $146 (12. cxd5 Nxd2 (12... exd5 13. Qc2 Be6 14. e3 h5 15. f3 Nxd2 16. Qxd2 h4 17. b4 Qb6 18. a3 c5 19. bxc5 Bxc5 20. Bd4 Bxd4 21. Qxd4 Qxd4 22. exd4 hxg3 23. hxg3 Rac8 24. Rfc1 Rxc1+ 25. Rxc1 Rc8 26. Rxc8+ Bxc8 27. Kf2 {Mertens,M-Lange,C Kassel 1996 1/2-1/2 (36)}) 13. Qxd2 cxd5 14. Rac1 Bd7 15. Bd4 a5 16. Bc5 Bc6 17. e3 Qc7 18. Qd4 Bxc5 19. Rxc5 b6 20. Rc3 Qb7 21. Rfc1 Rac8 22. Bf1 Bd7 23. b4 Rxc3 24. Rxc3 axb4 25. Qxb4 Rc8 26. Rxc8+ Bxc8 {Telitsyn,A-Savchenko,A (2263) Odessa 2008 1-0 (46)}) (12. e3 a5 13. cxd5 exd5 14. a4 Be6 15. Nf3 Qc7 16. Qc2 Bb4 17. Rfd1 Qe7 18. Nd4 Bd7 19. Ne2 Rac8 20. Nf4 Nc5 21. Nd3 Nxd3 22. Qxd3 Be6 23. Bc3 Rfd8 24. Bxb4 Qxb4 { 1/2-1/2 (24) Kastner,O (2137)-Starek,S (1995) Litomysl 2011}) (12. Nxe4 fxe4 13. Qc2 $11) 12... g5 (12... Nxd2 13. Qxd2 dxc4 14. Bd4 $11) 13. Nxe4 $14 ({ Inferior is} 13. Bxe4 fxe4 14. Rad1 Bd7 $11) 13... fxe4 {Black has new doubled pawns: e4+e6} 14. Qd2 (14. f3 Bd7 $11) 14... g4 (14... Bd7 15. Bd4 $14) 15. f4 (15. Rad1 $5 $16) 15... gxf3 $11 16. exf3 exf3 (16... dxc4 17. Qf2 exf3 18. Bxf3 cxb3 19. axb3 $11) 17. Rxf3 $14 Rxf3 18. Bxf3 Bg5 (18... dxc4 19. Qxd8+ Bxd8 20. bxc4 $14) 19. Qd3 (19. Qd4 $142 Qb6 20. c5 $14) 19... Qf8 $2 (19... Qa5 $142 $14 {and Black can hope to survive}) 20. Rf1 $18 Qg7 $2 (20... Qh6 $142 21. Kg2 Bd7 $18) 21. cxd5 cxd5 22. Rf2 $4 {instead of simply winning the game} (22. Bxd5 $142 {and White has prevailed} Bd7 23. Bxb7 $18) 22... Bd7 ( 22... Qg6 23. Qd4 Bd7 24. Kg2 $14) 23. Rc2 (23. Bxd5 $5 Rd8 24. Be4 $16) 23... Bc6 (23... Be8 24. Rf2 Bg6 25. Qe2 $11) 24. b4 (24. Bd4 Rf8 $11) 24... a6 25. Qd4 (25. Bg4 Be3+ 26. Qxe3 Qxg4 $11) 25... Rf8 $15 {Black threatens to win material: Rf8xf3} 26. Bg2 $2 (26. Kg2 $142 $15 {would bring relief}) 26... Qh6 27. Re2 (27. Rc3 Qg6 28. Rf3 Rxf3 29. Bxf3 Qb1+ 30. Kf2 Bb5 $19) 27... Bb5 28. Re1 Bd2 29. Qg4+ Kh8 30. Rd1 $4 {a blunder in a bad position} (30. Ra1 Rf2 31. Kh1 $19) 30... Qe3+ $18 31. Kh1 Be2 32. Qxe6 Bxd1 33. h4 (33. Qb6 {doesn't change anything anymore} Qxb6 34. e6+ Kg8 35. e7 Kf7 36. exf8=Q+ Kxf8 37. h4 Qf2 38. Bg7+ Kxg7 39. h5 Bf3 40. Bxf3 Be3 41. h6+ Kxh6 42. a3 Qg1#) 33... Qxg3 34. Qxd5 (34. Bd4 {cannot change what is in store for White} Bf3 35. Bxf3 Qxf3+ 36. Kh2 Qe2+ 37. Kh3 Rf3+ 38. Kg4 Rd3+ 39. Kf5 Qf3#) 34... Rf1+ $1 {Deflection: f3} 35. Bxf1 (35. Bxf1 Bf3+ {Mate attack Deflection}) 35... Bf3+ 36. Bg2 (36. Qxf3 {does not solve anything} Qxf3+ 37. Kh2 Bf4+ 38. Kg1 Qg3+ 39. Bg2 Be3+ 40. Kh1 Qxh4+ 41. Bh3 Qxh3#) 36... Bxd5 (36... Qxg2#) 37. Bxd5 (37. e6+ {is no salvation} Kg8 38. Bxd5 Qh3+ 39. Kg1 Be3#) 37... Bc3 (37... Qh3+ 38. Kg1 Be3#) 38. Bxc3 $19 Qxc3 39. e6 Qxb4 (39... Qe1+ 40. Kg2 Qd2+ 41. Kg3 Qxd5 42. e7 Qe5+ 43. Kg4 Qxe7 44. Kf4 Qxh4+ 45. Ke5 Qxb4 46. Kd5 h5 47. a3 Qe7 48. a4 h4 49. a5 h3 50. Kc4 h2 51. Kb3 h1=Q 52. Kc3 Qc1+ 53. Kd4 Qee3+ 54. Kd5 Qc6#) 40. Kg2 ( 40. Bf3 {does not improve anything} Qxh4+ 41. Kg2 Qc4 42. Kg3 Qxe6 43. a4 Qe5+ 44. Kf2 Qd4+ 45. Ke1 Qxa4 46. Bd1 Qd4 47. Bc2 a5 48. Ke2 a4 49. Bxa4 Qxa4 50. Kf3 Qd4 51. Ke2 h5 52. Kf3 h4 53. Ke2 Qc3 54. Kd1 h3 55. Ke2 h2 56. Kd1 h1=Q+ 57. Ke2 Qhe1#) 0-1

Here are some of the latest and highest rated games from my reference database that reached the position after 10.Ne5.

[Event "Pardubice Czech op 22nd"] [Site "Pardubice"] [Date "2011.07.30"] [Round "9"] [White "Jedlicka, Ales"] [Black "Totsky, Leonid"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E01"] [WhiteElo "2282"] [BlackElo "2484"] [PlyCount "102"] [EventDate "2011.07.22"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "CZE"] [SourceTitle "CBM 143 Extra"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2011.08.29"] 1. d4 e6 2. Nf3 f5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 d5 5. O-O Bd6 6. c4 c6 7. Nbd2 Nbd7 8. b3 O-O 9. Bb2 Ne4 10. Ne5 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Bc5 12. Nxe4 fxe4 13. e3 b6 14. Rc1 Bd7 15. Rc2 Qe7 16. Bd4 Bb4 17. Qe2 Rad8 18. a4 Be8 19. Rfc1 c5 20. Bb2 Bg6 21. Rd1 Qg5 22. h4 Qe7 23. Rcc1 h6 24. cxd5 exd5 25. Bh3 Bf5 26. Bxf5 Rxf5 27. Qg4 Qe6 28. Rc4 h5 29. Qe2 Rdf8 30. Rc2 Rf3 31. Kg2 Kh8 32. Rf1 Qg4 33. Qd1 d4 34. e6 d3 35. e7 Re8 36. Rc4 Rxe7 37. Rxe4 Rxg3+ 38. fxg3 Qxe4+ 39. Kh2 Qd5 40. Rf8+ Kh7 41. Qf1 d2 42. Bxg7 Rxg7 43. Qb1+ Rg6 44. Qb2 Rg8 45. Qc2+ Kg7 46. Rf1 Re8 47. Qb2+ Qe5 48. Qc2 Qxe3 49. Qf5 Qe2+ 50. Kg1 Qxf1+ 51. Kxf1 d1=Q+ 0-1 [Event "Sao Bernardo do Campo 1st"] [Site "Sao Bernardo do Campo"] [Date "2012.07.04"] [Round "4"] [White "Maia, Luciano Malta"] [Black "Rodi, Luis Ernesto"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A90"] [WhiteElo "2279"] [BlackElo "2363"] [PlyCount "120"] [EventDate "2012.07.03"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "BRA"] [EventCategory "2"] [SourceTitle "CBM 149 Extra"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2012.08.24"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 c6 3. c4 e6 4. Nbd2 f5 5. g3 Nf6 6. Bg2 Bd6 7. b3 O-O 8. Bb2 Ne4 9. O-O Nd7 10. Ne5 Qe7 11. Ndf3 Ndf6 12. Qc2 Bd7 13. Nd3 Ng4 14. Nfe5 Nef6 15. Bc1 Ne8 16. Bd2 Ngf6 17. f3 Rc8 18. c5 Bb8 19. Rae1 Nc7 20. a4 Be8 21. e4 dxe4 22. fxe4 fxe4 23. Bxe4 Rd8 24. Qb2 Nxe4 25. Rxf8+ Qxf8 26. Rxe4 Nd5 27. Re1 Qe7 28. Qc1 h6 29. Qd1 Bf7 30. Qe2 Re8 31. Rf1 Rf8 32. Bxh6 gxh6 33. Qg4+ Qg5 34. Nxf7 Rxf7 35. Qxe6 Qe3+ 36. Qxe3 Nxe3 37. Re1 Nd5 38. Re8+ Rf8 39. Re6 Kg7 40. Kg2 a5 41. Nb2 h5 42. Nc4 Bc7 43. Re1 h4 44. Re4 hxg3 45. hxg3 Kf7 46. Rh4 Rg8 47. Rh7+ Ke6 48. Kf2 Bxg3+ 49. Ke2 Bc7 50. Kd3 Rg3+ 51. Kc2 Rc3+ 52. Kb2 Rf3 53. Kc2 Rf7 54. Rh8 Kd7 55. Ra8 Rf2+ 56. Kd3 Rf3+ 57. Ke4 Rxb3 58. Nxa5 Re3+ 59. Kf5 Bxa5 60. Rxa5 Re8 0-1 [Event "ARG-ch 86th"] [Site "La Plata"] [Date "2012.07.12"] [Round "11"] [White "Ricardi, Pablo"] [Black "Lorenzini, Martin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E01"] [WhiteElo "2500"] [BlackElo "2466"] [PlyCount "143"] [EventDate "2012.07.04"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "ARG"] [SourceTitle "CBM 149 Extra"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2012.08.24"] 1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. b3 Nf6 4. g3 Nbd7 5. Bg2 c6 6. Bb2 Bd6 7. d4 Ne4 8. O-O O-O 9. Nbd2 f5 10. Ne5 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Bc5 12. Nxe4 dxe4 13. Qxd8 Rxd8 14. Rfd1 Rxd1+ 15. Rxd1 Be7 16. f3 exf3 17. exf3 a5 18. a4 Kf7 19. f4 Ra7 20. Kf2 c5 21. Ke3 b6 22. Bc6 Rc7 23. Bb5 Bb7 24. Rd6 Bxd6 25. exd6 Rc6 26. Be5 g6 27. Bxc6 Bxc6 28. d7 Ke7 29. Bc7 Kxd7 30. Bxb6 Kd6 31. Bxa5 e5 32. Bc3 e4 33. Be1 Bd7 34. Bf2 Kc6 35. Kd2 Be6 36. Be3 Bc8 37. a5 Ba6 38. Ke2 Bc8 39. Kf2 Ba6 40. Kg2 Bc8 41. Kg1 Ba6 42. Kf2 Bc8 43. Kg2 Kd6 44. Kh3 Kc6 45. Kh4 h6 46. h3 Kd6 47. g4 Kc6 48. g5 h5 49. Kg3 Kb7 50. Bxc5 Ka6 51. Bb6 e3 52. Kf3 h4 53. Kxe3 Bb7 54. Ke2 Bg2 55. b4 Bxh3 56. b5+ Kb7 57. Bg1 Bg2 58. Kd3 Bf1+ 59. Kd4 h3 60. a6+ Kc7 61. Kc5 Be2 62. Kb4 Bf1 63. c5 Be2 64. c6 Kb8 65. Kc5 Bf1 66. Kb6 Bg2 67. Bh2 Bf3 68. a7+ Ka8 69. Kc7 Bg2 70. Bg3 h2 71. Bxh2 Bf3 72. Kd8 1-0 [Event "Al Ain op 4th"] [Site "Al Ain"] [Date "2015.12.23"] [Round "1"] [White "Anurag, Mhamal"] [Black "Kovalenko, Igor"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A06"] [WhiteElo "2390"] [BlackElo "2680"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "2015.12.23"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "UAE"] [SourceTitle "Mega2016 Update 14"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2016.01.08"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. b3 Nf6 3. Bb2 Nbd7 4. g3 e6 5. Bg2 Bd6 6. c4 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. d4 Ne4 9. Ne5 f5 10. Nd2 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Bc7 12. Nxe4 fxe4 13. f3 exf3 14. exf3 Qe7 15. Kh1 Bd7 16. f4 Rad8 17. Qc1 Ba5 18. Bc3 Bb4 19. Bxb4 Qxb4 20. f5 exf5 21. cxd5 cxd5 22. Bxd5+ Kh8 23. Qc7 Be6 24. Bxe6 Qe4+ 25. Kg1 Rd2 26. Rf2 Rxf2 27. Kxf2 Qd4+ 28. Kg2 Qxa1 29. Bf7 Qb2+ 30. Kh3 Qd4 31. e6 Qg4+ 32. Kg2 Qe2+ 33. Kh3 Qg4+ 34. Kg2 Qe2+ 35. Kh3 Qf1+ 36. Kh4 Qe2 0-1

A10 English Opening: Unusual Replies for Black (1.c4 f5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.d3 c6 4.g3 e6 5.Bg2 d5 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Nf3 Bd6 8.O-O O-O)

My opponent's reply to 1.c4, 1...f5 (16401 games, score 54.2%), is the 7th most often played move in the position, according to my reference database. More common moves against 1.c4 were 1...Nf6 (142556 games, score 54.5%), 1...e5 (106650 games, score 54.1%), 1...c5 (54778 games, score 55.1%), 1...e6 (53919 games, score 54.5%), 1...g6 (32975 games, score 52.5%) and 1...c6 (30736 games, score 55.1%). The second move by me, 2.Nc3 (5760 games, score 51.2%) is the most played move, but it does not score as well as 2.g3 (4303 games, score 55.6%) and 2.Nf3 (2850 games, score 55.7%), for instance. The reply 2...Nf6 (5366 games, score 51.1%) was the most popular choice among players. I then played 3.d3 (259 games, score 52.5%), which is the 4th most often played move, only behind the moves 3.g3 (3254 games, score 52.5%), 3.d4 (913 games, score 50.1%) and 3.Nf3 (773 games, 46.7%). The reply was the rarely seen move 3...c6, only two games in the database with a 50% score. The moves 3...g6 (99 games, score 51.5%), 3...e5 (75 games, score 52%), 3...e6 (56 games, score 54.5%), 3...d6 (33 games, 53%) and 3...b6 (5 games, score 40%) have been preferred more than what my opponent played in the game. Players rated 2055 and 2061 had played the move 3...c6. Due to the rare move order, this game went to previously unseen path when I played 4.g3. The only two moves seen in that position are 4.Bg5 and 4.e3 and both moves have been played once, according to my reference database. In the game where 4.Bg5 was played, White won and in the game where 4.e3 was played, Black won the game. However, in the latter game, the player who controlled the black pieces was over 500 points higher rated than the player who controlled the white pieces.

With my 5th move, Bg2 (4 games, score 50%) the game was brought back to previously played lines. 5.Bg2 is the most played move in the position. The next move 5...d5 (26 games, score 71.2%), gave even more reference games and it was also the most often played move. The game continued with the most popular moves in the position when I replied with the move 6.cxd5 (21 games, score 61.9%). The same pattern continued with the response 6...exd5 (18 games, score 63.9%). My 7th move, Nf3 (19 games, score 68.4%), has seen play by some strong players, the highest rated of them being Normunds Miezis, who was rated 2509 at the time of the game where the move 7.Nf3 was played by the Grand Master. The next move, 7...Bd6 (27 games, score 55.6%), was also most often played move. We kept following the game Normunds Miezis (2509) - Sascha Aulich (1908), played on October 4th, 2007, up to the move 8...O-O. Both moves 8.O-O (25 games, score 58%) and 8...O-O (80 games, score 63.3%) were most often played moves in the position. Once again there is a bit of a conflict in the notation of the novelty with my reference database, since the move 9.Bg5 has been played in 11 games with a score of 59.1%. It was the 2nd most played move, only behind the move 9.e4 (77 games, score 84.4%). Then Kojjootti played 9...Qe8 (2 games, score 100%), which was the 3rd most often played move. More often the moves 9...h6 (9 games, 38.9%) and 9...Nbd7 (3 games, score 66.7%) can be seen in the database. The next move 10.Qb3 had been seen only once before and in that game the player controlling the white pieces won the game. The move 10...Kh8 is actually the real novelty that was played in this game. Previously the move 10...Nbd7 was played in that position.

[Event "Live Chess"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.07.18"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "Kojjootti"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A10"] [WhiteElo "1774"] [BlackElo "1724"] [Annotator "Stockfish 9 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. c4 f5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. d3 c6 4. g3 e6 5. Bg2 d5 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Nf3 Bd6 8. O-O O-O {A10 English Opening: Unusual Replies for Black} 9. Bg5 $146 (9. e3 Nbd7 10. a3 Qe8 11. b4 a6 12. Re1 Qg6 13. Nh4 Qf7 14. Nxf5 Bc7 15. f4 Bb6 16. Bb2 Re8 17. Kf2 Nf8 18. Nd6 Ng4+ 19. Qxg4 Bxg4 {1/2-1/2 (19) Burzler,A-Antusch,I Germany 1997}) (9. e4 dxe4 10. dxe4 Nxe4 11. Nxe4 fxe4 12. Qb3+ Kh8 $16) 9... Qe8 $2 (9... h6 10. Bd2 $14) 10. Qb3 (10. Bxf6 Rxf6 11. e4 dxe4 12. dxe4 Bc5 $18) 10... Kh8 (10... Nbd7 11. Qc2 $14) 11. Rfe1 (11. e3 Nbd7 $14) 11... Nbd7 ( 11... Na6 $14) 12. d4 (12. e3 $142 $5 $16) 12... Ne4 13. Nxe4 $2 (13. Bf4 $5 { is worthy of consideration} Bxf4 14. gxf4 $15) 13... fxe4 $17 14. Nd2 Qh5 15. Be3 Nf6 16. f3 exf3 (16... a5 17. a4 $17) 17. exf3 b6 (17... a5 18. Re2 $15) 18. Rac1 {White threatens to win material: Rc1xc6} (18. Qc2 Bd7 $11) 18... Bd7 19. Bf2 (19. Nf1 Rae8 $15) 19... g5 (19... h6 20. a3 $11) 20. Re3 (20. Nf1 Qg6 $15) 20... g4 (20... Qf7 21. Rce1 $15) 21. f4 {White has a new protected passed pawn: f4} c5 $4 {Black lets it slip away} (21... Qg6 22. Nf1 $15) 22. Re2 $4 {overlooking an easy win} (22. dxc5 $142 {and White could have gained the advantage} bxc5 23. Qa3 $18) 22... c4 $11 {Black gets more space} 23. Qc2 ( 23. Qd1 Qf7 $11) 23... Bf5 (23... Bxf4 24. Qc3 Bf5 $17) 24. Qa4 $2 (24. Qd1 Qg6 $15) 24... Bd7 $4 {Black threatens to win material: Bd7xa4. a transit from better to worse} (24... Bxf4 $142 {and the scales tip in favour of Black} 25. Rce1 Bd3 $17) 25. Qd1 $11 b5 (25... Qf7 $11) 26. Qe1 (26. Re5 Qf7 $11 (26... Bxe5 $2 27. dxe5 (27. fxe5 $143 Ng8 $17) 27... Ng8 28. Ne4 $18)) 26... Rae8 ( 26... Bf5 $15) 27. Rxe8 (27. Re5 $142 $5 {is a viable option} Bf5 28. Nf1 $11) 27... Rxe8 $17 (27... Bxe8 $6 28. Nf1 $11) (27... Qxe8 $6 28. Nf1 $15) ({ Instead of} 27... Nxe8 28. Nf1 $14) 28. Qf1 (28. Qd1 $5 $17) 28... Qg6 $19 29. Re1 $4 {the position was bad, and this mistake simply hastens the end} (29. Qd1 $142 Bf5 30. Nf1 $19) 29... Rxe1 (29... Qc2 $142 {keeps an even firmer grip} 30. Rxe8+ Bxe8 31. Qe1 $19) 30. Qxe1 Bf5 (30... Qc2 $142 {and Black has triumphed} 31. Nf1 Qxb2 $19) 31. Nf1 $11 {White has a cramped position} Ne4 ( 31... b4 32. Ne3 Be4 33. f5 Bxf5 34. Nxd5 Nxd5 35. Bxd5 $11) 32. Ne3 (32. Qa5 Bf8 (32... Nxf2 $143 33. Kxf2 Be4 34. Qd8+ Kg7 35. Qd7+ Kg8 36. Bxe4 Qxe4 37. Qxg4+ (37. Qxd6 $6 Qxd4+ 38. Ke1 Qe4+ 39. Kd1 Qf3+ 40. Ke1 Qe4+ 41. Kd1 Qf3+ 42. Ke1 Qe4+ $11) 37... Kf8 38. Ne3 $16) 33. Qd8 Qd6 34. Qxd6 Nxd6 $14) 32... Nxf2 (32... Be6 33. a4 Bf8 34. axb5 Nxf2 35. Kxf2 $11) 33. Qxf2 {Black has the pair of bishops} (33. Kxf2 Qf6 34. Qc3 Bf8 $14) 33... Qe6 (33... Be4 $5 34. f5 Qg5 $11) 34. Bxd5 $14 Qd7 (34... Qf6 35. Bc6 $14) 35. Nxf5 (35. h3 $142 $5 $16) 35... Qxf5 $14 36. Bc6 Qb1+ 37. Kg2 b4 $2 (37... Qd3 $142 $14) 38. d5 $4 { throws away the game} (38. Qe2 $142 $18 {with excellent chances for White}) 38... Qd1 $4 {makes life more difficult} (38... Qe4+ $142 {seems even better} 39. Kf1 c3 $19) 39. Bb5 $4 {throws away a nice position} (39. Qe3 $142 $11 { would be a reprieve}) 39... c3 (39... Qxd5+ 40. Kf1 Bc5 41. Qc2 b3 42. Qc3+ Bd4 43. Bc6 Qc5 44. Qxd4+ Qxd4 45. axb3 cxb3 46. Ke1 Qxb2 47. Be4 Qd4 48. Bf5 Qc5 49. Bb1 Qc1+ 50. Kf2 Qxb1 51. Ke3 b2 52. h3 Qc1+ 53. Kd4 b1=Q 54. hxg4 Qb6+ 55. Ke5 Qce3+ 56. Kf5 Qg6#) 40. bxc3 (40. Ba4 Qxa4 41. Qd4+ Kg8 42. Qe4 $19) 40... bxc3 41. Qe2 (41. Ba4 {hardly improves anything} Qxd5+ 42. Kf1 Qc4+ 43. Ke1 Qxa4 44. Qe3 Qc6 45. Qe6 c2 46. Qf6+ Kg8 47. Qg5+ Kf7 48. Qf5+ Ke7 49. Qxh7+ Kd8 50. Qg8+ Kc7 51. Qg7+ Kc8 52. Qh8+ Kd7 53. Qh7+ Be7 54. Qf5+ Kd8 55. Qd3+ Kc8 56. Qf5+ Kb7 57. Qxc2 Bb4+ 58. Kf2 Qxc2+ 59. Kf1 Qd1+ 60. Kg2 Qf3+ 61. Kg1 Bc5#) 41... Qxe2+ (41... Qxd5+ 42. Kf2 Bc5+ 43. Ke1 Qh1+ 44. Qf1 Qe4+ 45. Qe2 Qb1+ 46. Qd1 c2 47. Qxb1 cxb1=Q+ 48. Kd2 Qb2+ 49. Kd3 Qd4+ 50. Ke2 Qe3+ 51. Kd1 Bb4 52. Kc2 Qc3+ 53. Kb1 Ba3 54. h3 Qb2#) 42. Bxe2 c2 (42... c2 43. Bxg4 c1=Q 44. Bf3 Qb2+ 45. Kh3 Qf2 46. Bh5 Qf1+ 47. Kg4 Qd1+ 48. Kg5 Be7+ 49. Kf5 Qxh5+ 50. Ke4 Bc5 51. d6 Qg6+ 52. f5 Qg4+ 53. Kd5 Qd4+ 54. Kc6 Qxd6+ 55. Kb5 a6+ 56. Kc4 Qd4+ 57. Kb3 Qd3+ 58. Kb2 Ba3+ 59. Ka1 Qd1#) 0-1

Another set of the latest and highest rated reference games can be seen below.

[Event "MGL-ch 55th"] [Site "Ulaanbaatar"] [Date "2015.04.21"] [Round "6"] [White "Mungunkhuu, Mijgee"] [Black "Munkhgal, Gombosuren"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A10"] [WhiteElo "2202"] [BlackElo "2419"] [PlyCount "112"] [EventDate "2015.04.18"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "13"] [EventCountry "MGL"] [EventCategory "3"] [SourceTitle "Mega2015 Update 24"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2015.05.08"] 1. c4 f5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. d3 e6 4. Nf3 d5 5. cxd5 exd5 6. g3 c6 7. Bg2 Bd6 8. O-O O-O 9. a3 a5 10. Bg5 h6 11. Bd2 Nbd7 12. Qc2 Nc5 13. b4 Ne6 14. Rab1 f4 15. b5 fxg3 16. hxg3 Bxa3 17. bxc6 bxc6 18. Qa4 Bc5 19. Ne5 Qd6 20. Qxc6 Qxe5 21. Qxa8 Ng4 22. Qxd5 Qxg3 23. Qh5 Nxf2 24. Nd5 Nd1+ 25. Be3 Nxe3 26. Rxf8+ Nxf8 27. Nxe3 Bxe3+ 28. Kh1 Bg4 29. Bd5+ Kh8 30. Qh2 Qxh2+ 31. Kxh2 Bxe2 32. Kg2 Bc5 33. Rb5 Bb4 34. Be4 Bg4 35. d4 Kg8 36. Rb7 Bd7 37. Bd5+ Be6 38. Be4 Bd7 39. Bd5+ Kh8 40. Kf3 Be7 41. Ra7 a4 42. Bf7 a3 43. Ke4 g5 44. Ke5 Kg7 45. Be8 Bxe8 46. Rxe7+ Bf7 47. Ra7 Ng6+ 48. Kf5 a2 49. d5 Ne7+ 50. Ke5 Nxd5 51. Rxa2 Nf4 52. Ra6 Be6 53. Ra7+ Kg6 54. Ra6 h5 55. Ke4 h4 56. Kf3 Kf5 0-1 [Event "Andorra op 33rd"] [Site "Erts"] [Date "2015.07.25"] [Round "8"] [White "Berkovich, Mark A"] [Black "Simon Padros, Emili"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A04"] [WhiteElo "2376"] [BlackElo "2229"] [PlyCount "100"] [EventDate "2015.07.18"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "AND"] [SourceTitle "Mega2015 Update 36"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2015.07.31"] 1. Nf3 e6 2. g3 f5 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. O-O d5 5. c4 c6 6. Nc3 Bd6 7. d3 O-O 8. cxd5 exd5 9. e4 Bb4 10. exd5 Bxc3 11. bxc3 Nxd5 12. c4 Nf6 13. Rb1 Na6 14. Be3 h6 15. Qb3 Re8 16. d4 Re7 17. Ne5 Be6 18. Rfd1 Kh7 19. Qa4 Qc8 20. d5 cxd5 21. cxd5 Bd7 22. Qd4 Ne4 23. Nxd7 Qxd7 24. Rbc1 b6 25. Qd3 Nac5 26. Qc2 Rc8 27. Bf4 g6 28. h4 Ree8 29. Qb2 Qg7 30. Qxg7+ Kxg7 31. d6 Rcd8 32. Rd5 g5 33. hxg5 hxg5 34. Bxe4 Nxe4 35. Be5+ Kf7 36. f3 Nc5 37. Bd4 Ke6 38. Re5+ Kxd6 39. Rxf5 Ne6 40. Be3 Rc8 41. Rd1+ Ke7 42. Re1 Kd6 43. Rf6 Kd5 44. Rd1+ Ke5 45. Rf7 Rf8 46. Rdd7 Rxf7 47. Rxf7 Rc3 48. f4+ gxf4 49. Bxf4+ Nxf4 50. gxf4+ Ke4 1/2-1/2 [Event "Manacor 7th"] [Site "Manacor"] [Date "2016.02.25"] [Round "6"] [White "Salomon, Johan"] [Black "Stremavicius, Titas"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A04"] [WhiteElo "2450"] [BlackElo "2468"] [PlyCount "138"] [EventDate "2016.02.21"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "ESP"] [EventCategory "10"] [SourceTitle "Mega2016 Update 22"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2016.03.03"] 1. Nf3 f5 2. d3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. g3 Nf6 6. Bg2 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. Nc3 c6 9. e4 fxe4 10. dxe4 Nxe4 11. Nxe4 dxe4 12. Ng5 Be7 13. Qh5 Bxg5 14. Bxg5 Qe8 15. Qxe8 Rxe8 16. Rae1 Bf5 17. f3 Nd7 18. fxe4 Be6 19. Rd1 Ne5 20. a3 h6 21. Bf4 Nc4 22. Bc1 Rad8 23. h3 a5 24. g4 a4 25. Kf2 Ne5 26. Kg3 Bb3 27. Rxd8 Rxd8 28. Kf4 Nc4 29. Kg3 Rd3+ 30. Kh2 Rd7 31. Rf5 g6 32. Rf2 Kg7 33. Bf1 Nd6 34. Bg2 Re7 35. Rd2 Nc4 36. Rd8 g5 37. Bd2 Nxd2 38. Rxd2 Kf6 39. Rd6+ Re6 40. Rd7 b5 41. Kg3 Ke5 42. Kf2 Rd6 43. Rxd6 Kxd6 44. e5+ Kd7 45. Be4 c5 46. Bf5+ Ke7 47. Ke3 b4 48. Kd2 Bd5 49. Kd3 Bb3 50. Kd2 Bc4 51. Bc2 Bb5 52. Bf5 Bf1 53. Bc2 Bxh3 54. Bxa4 Bxg4 55. Bb3 Be6 56. Bd1 bxa3 57. bxa3 Bd5 58. Bg4 h5 59. Bxh5 Ke6 60. a4 Kxe5 61. Ke3 Kf5 62. Be2 g4 63. a5 g3 64. a6 g2 65. Kf2 Ke5 66. Bg4 c4 67. Bd1 c3 68. a7 Kd4 69. Bc2 Kc5 0-1 [Event "Ulaanbaatar Ikh Nuudel op"] [Site "Ulaanbaatar"] [Date "2016.10.01"] [Round "3"] [White "Mungunkhuu, Mijgee"] [Black "Bilguun, Sumiya"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A10"] [WhiteElo "2240"] [BlackElo "2444"] [PlyCount "52"] [EventDate "2016.09.29"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "MGL"] [SourceTitle "Mega2016 Update 53"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2016.10.08"] 1. c4 f5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. d3 e6 4. Nf3 d5 5. cxd5 exd5 6. g3 c6 7. Bg2 Bd6 8. O-O O-O 9. Rb1 a5 10. a3 Na6 11. Bg5 h6 12. Bxf6 Qxf6 13. Qc2 f4 14. Na4 Bg4 15. Qc3 Qe7 16. Rfe1 Nc7 17. Rbc1 Rae8 18. d4 Nb5 19. Qd2 Qf6 20. Rcd1 fxg3 21. hxg3 Re4 22. Rf1 Bxf3 23. exf3 Rxd4 24. Qc2 Rc4 25. Nc3 Nxc3 26. bxc3 Rxc3 0-1

A36 Symmetrical English vs ...g6: 4. Bg2 Bg7 (1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7)

For this game my reference database did not seem to work as intended in ChessBase 12, it did not show the amount of games for the first moves, not sure why that was the case, so I am using the LiveBook for this game instead. The move 1.c4 appears in 127948 games with the average performance of the move 56%. The average Elos of the players in the games used is 2440. 1.c4 is the 4th most commonly seen move, only behind the moves 1.e4 (808553 games, result 54%, Elo-average 2422), 1.d4 (662131 games, result 55%, Elo-average 2438) and 1.Nf3 (191956 games, result 55%, Elo-average 2438). According to the LiveBook, the reply 1...c5 (15734 games, result 56%, Elo-average 2426) was the 4th most popular move to play. More popular were 1...Nf6 (36075 games, result 57%, Elo-average 2415), 1...e5 (27446 games, result 53%, Elo-average 2432) and 1...e6 (19057 games, result 56%, Elo-average 2429). The second move by my opponent, 2.Nc3 (4532 games, result 52%, Elo-average 2410) was the second most played move. The most played move was 2.Nf3 (22343 games, result 56%, Elo-average 2454).

I then played 2...Nc6 (2280 games, result 54%, Elo-average 2402), which was also the second most played move. The most played move was 2...Nf6 (4773 games, result 57%, Elo-average 2417). The game continued with the 2nd most popular move, 3.g3 (1565 games, result 54%, Elo-average 2405). Much more often in that position, the move 3.Nf3 (5248 games, result 55%, Elo-average 2457), was seen. After 3.g3 I played 3...g6 (1513 games, result 53%, Elo-average 2407), which was the most often played move. As the next move was the very natural 4.Bg2 (2801 games, result 53%, Elo-advantage 2410), it is not surprising that it is also the most commonly seen move in the position. Same is true with the next move, 4...Bg7 (6671 games, result 51%, Elo-average 2427).

The 5th move by my opponent was the rarely seen 5.f4 (6 games, result 42%, Elo-average). It is the 10th most played move. More popularly played moves have been 5.Nf3 (5188 games, result 49%, Elo-average 2409), 5.a3 (1588 games, result 53%, Elo-average 2435), 5.e3 (1354 games, result 49%, Elo-average 2411), 5.e4 (862 games, result 44%, Elo-average 2354), 5.d3 (766 games, result 53%, Elo-average 2415), 5.Rb1 (111 games, result 54%, Elo-average 2418), 5.b3 (94 games, result 51%, Elo-average 2454), 5.Nh3 (31 games, result 50%, Elo-average 2407) and 5.h4 (12 games, result 67%, Elo-average 2387). The next move, 5.e6 (2 games, result 50%, Elo-average 2402), was the second most played move, but only barely. Slightly more often seen move is 5...d6 (3 games, result 67%, Elo-average 2439). The next move, 6.Nf3 (2 games, result 0%, Elo-average 2365), shared the most often played move status with 6.e4 (2 games, result 50%, Elo-average 2295). Also the two replies, 6...Nge7 (2 games, result 0%, Elo-average 2372) and 6...d6 (2 games, result 50%, Elo-average 2375) shared that same status. It does say in the notation that the move 7.e4 is a novelty, but the LiveBook has one game featuring that move, with a result of 50% and Elo of the player who played the move 2330. The other move that had been played in that position is 7.O-O (2 games, result 25%, Elo-average 2430). In that one game, the player controlling the black pieces played 7...d6 (result 0%, Elo-average 2330).

[Event "Live Chess"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.07.18"] [Round "?"] [White "Kojjootti"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A36"] [WhiteElo "1713"] [BlackElo "1806"] [Annotator "Stockfish 9 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 {A36 Symmetrical English vs ...g6: 4. Bg2 Bg7} 5. f4 e6 6. Nf3 (6. d3 Nge7 7. e4 O-O 8. Nf3 d5 9. O-O dxc4 10. dxc4 Bxc3 11. bxc3 Qxd1 12. Rxd1 b6 13. g4 Ba6 14. f5 gxf5 15. exf5 Bxc4 16. f6 Nd5 17. Nd2 Be2 18. Re1 Bxg4 19. c4 Ndb4 20. Re3 Bf5 {Vokac,M (2480)-Navara,D (2479) Kunzak 2001 1/2-1/2 (49)}) 6... Nge7 7. e4 $146 (7. O-O O-O (7... d5 8. cxd5 exd5 9. d3 d4 10. Ne4 b6 11. Qa4 O-O 12. Bd2 Bd7 13. Qc2 Nd5 14. Rac1 Re8 15. Rfe1 Bf5 16. Nh4 Bc8 17. Kh1 h6 18. Bf1 f5 19. Nf2 Kh7 20. Ng2 Bb7 21. Kg1 Qf6 22. Nd1 {Mayer,H (1900)-Moeller,D (1985) Berlin 2016 0-1}) 8. Rb1 (8. e4 d6 9. Kh1 a6 10. a3 Rb8 11. Rb1 b5 12. cxb5 axb5 13. d3 b4 14. axb4 Nxb4 15. Be3 Ba6 16. Ne1 Rc8 17. Rf2 d5 18. exd5 exd5 19. Na4 d4 20. Bd2 Nxd3 21. Nxd3 Bxd3 22. Rc1 Qd6 {Martin Salguero,D (1828)-Homs Jimenez,P (1722) Santa Eulalia de Roncana 2015 0-1 (32)}) 8... Rb8 9. b3 a6 10. Bb2 b5 11. cxb5 axb5 12. Ne4 Bxb2 13. Rxb2 Qb6 14. Kh1 d5 15. Nf6+ Kg7 16. Ng4 Nf5 17. Nfe5 Nxe5 18. Nxe5 f6 19. Nf3 Nd6 20. e3 Bb7 21. Rb1 Rbc8 {Stefan,E-Proorocu,D Sovata 2002 1/2-1/2}) (7. O-O O-O $15) 7... d5 (7... O-O 8. O-O $11) 8. cxd5 exd5 9. e5 {This push gains space} (9. d3 $11) 9... Bf5 (9... Bg4 10. h3 Bxf3 11. Qxf3 $17) 10. a3 $4 { White is ruining his position} (10. d4 c4 11. O-O Rb8 $11) 10... a6 (10... d4 11. Na4 c4 $15) 11. O-O O-O (11... Bd3 12. Rf2 $11) 12. Re1 (12. d4 c4 $11) 12... b5 (12... Qb6 13. d3 $11) 13. d3 {Consolidates e4} (13. d4 c4 $11) 13... Rb8 (13... Qb6 14. h3 $11) 14. Nh4 (14. d4 c4 $11) 14... Be6 15. g4 (15. Ne2 $11) 15... d4 {Black threatens to win material: d4xc3} (15... Nd4 $142 $5 16. h3 Nec6 $15) 16. Ne4 $11 {White threatens to win material: Ne4xc5} Nd5 17. g5 { White wins space} Qb6 $2 (17... Ne3 $142 $5 {is worth looking at} 18. Bxe3 dxe3 19. Rxe3 Nd4 $11) 18. Nf6+ $16 Nxf6 $4 {leads to further unpleasantness} (18... Bxf6 19. gxf6 Ne3 $18) 19. exf6 $18 ({Less advisable is} 19. gxf6 Rfe8 20. f5 Bxf5 21. Nxf5 gxf5 $18) 19... Bh8 (19... Rbe8 {cannot undo what has already been done} 20. fxg7 Kxg7 21. Bd2 $18) 20. Qf3 Na5 (20... Bd7 {cannot change destiny} 21. f5 Rbe8 22. Rxe8 Bxe8 23. Qd5 $18) 21. f5 Bd7 22. fxg6 (22. Nxg6 { might be the shorter path} hxg6 23. fxg6 fxg6 24. Qd5+ Rf7 $18) 22... hxg6 23. Bf4 Bc6 24. Qg3 Ra8 (24... Bxg2 {does not help much} 25. Bxb8 Qxb8 26. Qxg2 $18 ) 25. Bd6 (25. Bc7 $142 {makes it even easier for White} Qb7 26. Re7 Bxg2 27. Bxa5 $18 (27. Qxg2 $6 Qxg2+ 28. Kxg2 Nc6 $18)) 25... Rfe8 (25... Bxg2 {is not much help} 26. Bxf8 Rxf8 27. Qxg2 $18) 26. Be7 (26. Rxe8+ Rxe8 27. Nxg6 fxg6 28. Rf1 $18) 26... Bxg2 27. Qxg2 (27. Nxg2 Nc6 28. Qd6 Rac8 $18) 27... c4 ( 27... Qb7 {doesn't do any good} 28. Re4 Rxe7 29. Rxe7 Qxg2+ 30. Kxg2 c4 $18) 28. Rf1 (28. Nxg6 Bg7 29. Qh3 c3 30. fxg7 fxg6 31. Bf8 Re3 32. Qh8+ Kf7 33. g8=Q+ Ke8 34. Qgg7 Rxe1+ 35. Rxe1+ Qe6 36. Bb4#) 28... cxd3 $4 {Black falls apart.} (28... Qc6 $142 29. Qg3 Rxe7 30. fxe7 Re8 $18) 29. Nxg6 $1 $18 { Mate attack} fxg6 30. f7+ Kg7 31. fxe8=Q (31. Qh3 Qf6 32. Rxf6 d2 33. Qh6#) 31... Rxe8 32. Bf6+ (32. Rae1 Qc6 33. Qf2 Qd5 34. Bf6+ Kf7 35. Qxd4 Qg2+ 36. Kxg2 Re2+ 37. Rxe2 dxe2 38. Qd7+ Kf8 39. Qe7+ Kg8 40. Qe8+ Kh7 41. Qxh8#) 32... Kg8 33. Bxh8 (33. Rae1 Qc6 34. Qh3 Re2 35. Qxh8+ Kf7 36. Bxd4+ Ke6 37. Qg8+ Ke7 38. Rxe2+ dxe2 39. Qg7+ Kd6 40. Qe5+ Kd7 41. Rf7+ Kd8 42. Qe7+ Kc8 43. Rf8+ Qe8 44. Rxe8#) 33... Kxh8 (33... Qe6 {the only chance to get some counterplay} 34. Bxd4 Qe4 $18) 34. Qh3+ Kg8 35. Qh6 (35. Rf7 Kxf7 36. Qd7+ Re7 37. Rf1+ Kg8 38. Qxe7 Qb8 39. Qe6+ Kg7 40. Rf7+ Kh8 41. Qf6+ Kg8 42. Qg7#) 35... d2 (35... Qe6 36. Rae1 Qxe1 37. Qxg6+ Kh8 38. Qh6+ Kg8 39. Qg6+ Kh8 40. Qh5+ Kg7 41. Qf7+ Kh8 42. Rxe1 Rxe1+ 43. Kg2 d2 44. Qf6+ Kh7 45. g6+ Kh6 46. g7+ Kh7 47. Qh4+ Kxg7 48. Qxd4+ Kf7 49. Qxd2 Re6 50. Qxa5 Rg6+ 51. Kf3 Rf6+ 52. Kg4 Rg6+ 53. Kh5 Re6 $18) 36. Rad1 (36. Rf6 Qxf6 37. gxf6 Kf7 38. Qg7+ Ke6 39. f7 Rd8 40. Qg8 Rxg8 41. fxg8=Q+ Ke5 42. Qe8+ Kd5 43. Qd8+ Kc4 44. Qxa5 b4 45. Qxb4+ Kd5 46. Qxd2 d3 47. Re1 a5 48. Qxd3+ Kc6 49. Rc1+ Kb7 50. Qd6 a4 51. Rc7+ Kb8 52. Qd8#) 36... d3+ $19 37. Kg2 Re2+ 38. Kg3 Qc7+ (38... Qd6+ 39. Rf4 Re3+ 40. Kg2 Qd5+ 41. Kf1 Qh1+ 42. Kf2 Re2+ 43. Kg3 Qg2+ 44. Kh4 Qxh2+ 45. Kg4 Rg2+ 46. Kf3 Rf2+ 47. Ke4 Qxf4+ 48. Kd5 Qc4+ 49. Kd6 Nb7+ 50. Kd7 Rf7+ 51. Ke8 Qe4#) 39. Rf4 Re4 (39... Re3+ 40. Kg2 Qc6+ 41. Kg1 Re1+ 42. Rf1 Qc5+ 43. Kg2 Re2+ 44. Kg3 Qe5+ 45. Rf4 Re3+ 46. Kg2 Qd5+ 47. Kf1 Qh1+ 48. Kf2 Re2+ 49. Kg3 Qg2+ 50. Kh4 Qxh2+ 51. Kg4 Rg2+ 52. Kf3 Rf2+ 53. Ke4 Qxf4+ 54. Kd5 Qc4+ 55. Kd6 Nb7+ 56. Kd7 Rf7+ 57. Ke8 Qe6#) 40. Qxg6+ Kh8 41. Qxe4 Qc2 (41... Nc6 {doesn't get the cat off the tree} 42. Qe8+ Kg7 43. Rxd2 Ne7 44. Qf7+ Kh8 45. Rxd3 Nf5+ 46. Qxf5 Kg7 47. Rd7+ Qxd7 48. Qxd7+ Kg8 49. Qf7+ Kh8 50. Rh4#) 42. Qe5+ (42. Qe8+ Kg7 43. Qf7+ Kh8 44. Rh4#) 42... Kh7 (42... Kg8 {doesn't improve anything} 43. Qe8+ Kh7 44. Qf7+ Kh8 45. Rh4#) 43. Rf7+ Kg6 44. Qf6+ Kh5 45. Rh7# 1-0

Here are three of the latest and highest rated games that were found in my reference database.

[Event "Tata Steel-B 80th"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee"] [Date "2018.01.16"] [Round "4"] [White "Gordievsky, Dmitry"] [Black "Krasenkow, Michal"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A36"] [WhiteElo "2622"] [BlackElo "2671"] [PlyCount "142"] [EventDate "2018.01.13"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "13"] [EventCountry "NED"] [EventCategory "15"] [SourceTitle "Mega2018 Update 15"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2018.02.02"] 1. c4 c5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. Nc3 Nc6 5. d3 e6 6. e4 Nge7 7. Nge2 O-O 8. O-O d6 9. Rb1 b6 10. a3 Bb7 11. b4 Nd4 12. Be3 Qd7 13. Qd2 Nxe2+ 14. Nxe2 cxb4 15. axb4 d5 16. Qa2 Rfd8 17. Rfc1 Nc6 18. Bg5 Re8 19. cxd5 exd5 20. exd5 Ne7 21. Nf4 Qd6 22. Re1 Nf5 23. Rxe8+ Rxe8 24. Qxa7 Ba8 25. Qa4 Kf8 26. Nh3 Bxd5 27. Bf4 Qd8 28. Bc7 Qxc7 29. Bxd5 Nd4 30. Kg2 Rd8 31. Qa2 Qd7 32. Be4 Nb5 33. Rc1 Nd4 34. Qc4 Bh6 35. Ra1 f5 36. Ba8 Kg7 37. b5 Rc8 38. Ra7 Qxa7 39. Qxd4+ Kf7 40. Bd5+ Ke8 41. Bc6+ Kf7 42. Nf4 Qe7 43. Bd5+ Ke8 44. Bc6+ Kf7 45. Nd5 Qd8 46. Qc4 Kg7 47. Qd4+ Kf7 48. Qc4 Kg7 49. h4 Kh8 50. Qd4+ Bg7 51. Qxb6 Qxb6 52. Nxb6 Rd8 53. Nd5 Bd4 54. Nf4 Rd6 55. Kf3 Kg7 56. Ke2 h6 57. Nd5 g5 58. h5 Kf7 59. f3 Re6+ 60. Kd2 Bf2 61. g4 fxg4 62. fxg4 Bd4 63. Kc2 Re2+ 64. Kb3 Ke6 65. Kc4 Ke5 66. Nb4 Re1 67. Be4 Rc1+ 68. Kb3 Rc3+ 69. Ka4 Bc5 70. b6 Bxb6 71. Nd5 Rxd3 1/2-1/2 [Event "PRO League Stage"] [Site "chess.com INT"] [Date "2018.01.18"] [Round "1"] [White "Shimanov, Aleksandr"] [Black "Lenderman, Aleksandr"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A37"] [WhiteElo "2641"] [BlackElo "2611"] [PlyCount "140"] [EventDate "2018.01.18"] [EventType "team-swiss (rapid)"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "Mega2018 Update 14"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2018.01.26"] [WhiteTeam "Webster Windmills"] [BlackTeam "Montclair Sopranos"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nf3 d6 6. a3 Nf6 7. Rb1 O-O 8. b4 b6 9. O-O Bb7 10. d3 Qd7 11. e3 Rfd8 12. Qe2 Rac8 13. b5 Ne5 14. Nxe5 dxe5 15. Bxb7 Qxb7 16. e4 e6 17. Bg5 h6 18. Be3 Rd7 19. a4 Rcd8 20. Rfd1 Ne8 21. a5 f5 22. f3 Rd6 23. Na4 Qd7 24. axb6 axb6 25. Nxc5 bxc5 26. Bxc5 Bf8 27. Bf2 Rd4 28. b6 Bc5 29. Rb5 Qc6 30. b7 Rb8 31. exf5 Nd6 32. Qxe5 Qxf3 33. Rf1 Qxf5 34. Rxc5 Qxe5 35. Rxe5 Rxd3 36. c5 Nxb7 37. Rb1 Rdd8 38. Rxe6 Nxc5 39. Rxg6+ Kh7 40. Rxb8 Rxb8 41. Rc6 Ne4 42. Be3 Rb1+ 43. Bc1 Ng5 44. h4 Nf7 45. Kg2 h5 46. Bf4 Rb5 47. Kf3 Ne5+ 48. Bxe5 Rxe5 49. Kf4 Ra5 50. Re6 Kg7 51. Re5 Ra4+ 52. Re4 Ra5 53. Re6 Rb5 54. Re5 Rb4+ 55. Kf5 Rb3 56. Kg5 Rxg3+ 57. Kxh5 Ra3 58. Re7+ Kg8 59. Re6 Kg7 60. Rg6+ Kh7 61. Rg5 Ra4 62. Re5 Ra6 63. Re7+ Kg8 64. Kg5 Rb6 65. h5 Ra6 66. Re5 Rb6 67. Rf5 Ra6 68. Rf6 Rxf6 69. Kxf6 Kh7 70. h6 Kxh6 1/2-1/2 [Event "PRO League Stage"] [Site "chess.com INT"] [Date "2018.01.18"] [Round "1"] [White "Iturrizaga Bonelli, Eduardo"] [Black "Saric, Ivan"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A36"] [WhiteElo "2650"] [BlackElo "2664"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2018.01.18"] [EventType "team-swiss (rapid)"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "Mega2018 Update 14"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2018.01.26"] [WhiteTeam "Miami Champions"] [BlackTeam "Montreal Chessbrahs"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "CAN"] 1. c4 g6 2. Nc3 Bg7 3. g3 c5 4. Bg2 Nc6 5. Nh3 d6 6. Nf4 Nf6 7. a3 h5 8. h4 O-O 9. e3 Bg4 10. Qa4 Bd7 11. Qc2 Rb8 12. Rb1 Ne5 13. d3 Bc6 14. e4 a6 15. b4 b5 16. cxb5 axb5 17. O-O e6 18. Rd1 Qe7 19. Bb2 Nfg4 20. Qe2 Qa7 21. Rbc1 Rfc8 22. Nb1 Ba8 23. Nc3 Nxf2 24. Nxb5 Rxb5 25. Kxf2 cxb4+ 26. d4 Rxc1 27. Rxc1 Ng4+ 28. Kf1 Rb8 29. axb4 Bxd4 30. Ra1 Qb6 0-1