B16 Caro-Kann: Bronstein-Larsen Variation (1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ gxf6 6.Nf3 Bg4)

This was played in the atadros's mini-tournament V, which was held at GameKnot. I was on 9th place in the final standings and I won only two out of the twenty games that played in the tournament, drew 7 games and lost all other games. Danyfox was on 10th place in the final standings of this tournament that consists of 11 players. This tournament was played with high-stakes, the entry cost was higher than normal, but also the winnings were increased.

The balance shifted a bit during the first 7 moves of the game, but maybe the first critical position arose after danyfox played 8...Qc7. The queen move was a rather passive one and only prepared castling to the queenside. After that move danyfox still had worse pawn structure and he or she was behind in development. Both of these things should mean that my opponent was in serious trouble. In fact the engine thinks at depth 33 that the position should be winning for me, but only had I gone with the move 9.dxe5. In the very brief line shown in the notation of the game, the engine had suggested that 9...Nd7 would be better than just simply taking back the pawn. Maybe the idea there is that hasty development is more important than keeping the material even. What does happen if the pawn is taken with the f-pawn? Well, then there are two moves that continue to be winning according to Stockfish 9 64 POPCNT at depth 33, 10.O-O and 10.Ng5. In the case that 10.O-O would be played, the game might continue 10...Nd7 11.Ng5 Bxe2 12.Qxe2 h6 and even though the pawn structure still favors White and Black is behind in development, I would not be that confident about my winning chances because the material is even and there does not seem to be an easy way to take advantage of the lead in development.

The move 10.Ng5 might lead to similar lines as 10.O-O, only the move order is a bit different. However, I might show one possible line regardless 10.Ng5 Bxe2 11.Qxe2 Qe7 12.O-O-O Nd7. Somehow this line seems a bit more promising to me than the one that started with 10.O-O and I would be more confidently playing towards a win. I played 9.Qd2 in the game and merely prepared to castle to the queenside. I probably did not want to take on e5 because it would help my opponent to fix his or hers pawn structure. Both players continued to play some sloppy moves, but not until my opponent played 13...Bc8, did the final downhill start for danyfox.

The losing move was 16...Bxb2+, but it has a clear idea behind it, the bishop can't be taken. If I had taken the bishop, my opponent would have played Nc4+ after which I would have resigned because I would have lost my queen. I did experience some technical difficulties during the remainder of the game, but nothing serious enough that would have jeopardized my win.

[Event "atadros's mini-tournament V"] [Site "http://gameknot.com/chess.pl?"] [Date "2016.01.30"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "danyfox"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B16"] [WhiteElo "1759"] [BlackElo "1826"] [Annotator "Stockfish 9 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ gxf6 6. Nf3 Bg4 {B16 Caro-Kann: Bronstein-Larsen Variation} 7. Be3 e5 $146 (7... Qb6 8. Be2 (8. b3 Bxf3 9. Qxf3 Qb4+ 10. Bd2 Qxd4 11. Rd1 Nd7 12. Bc3 Qc5 13. Bc4 Nb6 14. Bd4 Qa5+ 15. Bc3 Qc5 16. Bd4 Qa5+ 17. Bc3 {1/2-1/2 (17) Luberanski,J (1444)-Jiruse,J (2043) Marianske Lazne 2017}) 8... Nd7 9. O-O Qxb2 10. Rb1 Qxa2 11. Rxb7 Nb6 12. Qa1 Qxa1 13. Rxa1 Nc8 14. d5 Bd7 15. dxc6 Bxc6 16. Rc7 Bd7 17. Nd4 Kd8 18. Rb7 Nd6 19. Raxa7 Rxa7 20. Rxa7 e5 21. Nb3 Nc8 22. Ra6 {Yates,F-Scott,R Hastings 1920 1-0}) (7... Na6 8. Bc4 e6 9. h3 Bh5 10. Qd2 Bxf3 11. gxf3 Nc7 12. O-O-O Nd5 13. Bh6 Qd6 14. Bxf8 Kxf8 15. Kb1 Ke7 16. Rhg1 Rhg8 17. Rg4 Qb4 18. Qd3 f5 19. Rh4 Rg7 20. Bb3 Rd8 21. c4 Nf6 22. a3 {Moen,O (2245)-Vranesic,Z (2375) La Valetta 1980 0-1 (45)}) (7... Nd7 8. Bc4 e6 9. Qd2 Nb6 10. Bb3 Nd5 11. O-O-O a5 12. a3 a4 13. Ba2 h5 14. c4 Nxe3 15. fxe3 Qa5 16. Qd3 O-O-O 17. Kb1 h4 18. h3 Bh5 19. Ka1 Be7 20. Rd2 f5 21. Rc1 Rhg8 22. c5 {Dubinin,P-Flohr, S Moscow 1944 0-1 (33)}) (7... e6 8. h3 Bh5 9. Bd3 Qd5 10. a3 Bxf3 11. Qxf3 Qxf3 12. gxf3 Nd7 13. Rd1 Bd6 14. Rg1 h5 15. c4 Ke7 16. Ke2 Rag8 17. f4 f5 18. c5 Bc7 19. b4 a6 20. a4 Nf6 21. Kf3 Rxg1 22. Rxg1 {Ramirez,P-Vasconcellos,A La Paz 1962 1/2-1/2}) (7... Nd7 8. a3 $14) 8. Be2 $14 Qc7 $2 (8... Nd7 9. c3 $16) 9. Qd2 (9. dxe5 $5 Nd7 10. exf6 $16) 9... Nd7 $16 10. O-O-O O-O-O 11. Qc3 { White has an active position} (11. h3 Bh5 $14) 11... Nb6 (11... e4 12. Ng1 Be6 13. f3 exf3 14. Bxf3 Bxa2 15. Ne2 $11) 12. Qa5 $4 {hands over the advantage to the opponent} (12. dxe5 Nd5 13. Qd4 Nxe3 14. Qxe3 Bxf3 15. Bxf3 Qxe5 16. Bg4+ Kc7 17. Rxd8 Qxe3+ 18. fxe3 Kxd8 19. Rd1+ Kc7 20. Rd7+ Kb6 21. Rxf7 Bc5 $14) 12... Kb8 $4 {Black has let it slip away} (12... e4 $5 {is worth looking at} 13. Ng1 Be6 $15) 13. h3 {White threatens to win material: h3xg4} (13. dxe5 Rxd1+ 14. Rxd1 fxe5 $16) 13... Bc8 (13... Rd5 $142 $5 {should be investigated more closely} 14. Qe1 Bf5 $11) 14. dxe5 $16 Bg7 (14... Re8 15. exf6 Bd6 16. Rhe1 $16) 15. exf6 Bxf6 16. g3 Bxb2+ $4 {but even a better move would not have saved the game} (16... Ka8 $142 17. b3 Rhe8 $16) 17. Kb1 $18 Bf6 (17... Ka8 { otherwise it's curtains at once} 18. Bxb6 Qxb6 19. Qxb6 axb6 20. Kxb2 Kb8 $18) 18. Bf4 Qxf4 19. gxf4 Rde8 20. Bd3 (20. Ne5 {seems even better} Bxe5 21. fxe5 Re7 $18) 20... Nd5 21. Rdf1 (21. Rde1 {might be the shorter path} Bc3 22. Rxe8 Rxe8 $18 (22... Bxa5 $4 {a tasty morsel with a slight problem...} 23. Rxh8 Kc7 24. Rxh7 $18)) 21... Nxf4 (21... Be7 {cannot undo what has already been done} 22. Qd2 $18) 22. Bc4 (22. Qd2 $142 {and White can already relax} Nxd3 23. Qxd3 Ka8 $18) 22... Ne2 (22... Re4 {does not improve anything} 23. Nd2 Rd4 24. Bxf7 $18) 23. Bxe2 Rxe2 24. h4 (24. Qb4 $142 {keeps an even firmer grip} Bd8 25. Nd4 $18) 24... Bg4 (24... Re4 {does not solve anything} 25. Qa3 c5 26. Qxc5 $18) 25. Qa3 (25. Qb4 $142 {and White has prevailed} Rhe8 26. Qf4+ Be5 27. Qxg4 Bc3 28. Qf4+ Ka8 $18) 25... Rd8 (25... Ka8 {cannot change destiny} 26. Qd6 Re6 27. Qf4 Bxf3 28. Qxf3 $18) 26. Rd1 Re6 (26... Kc8 {is still a small chance} 27. Rxd8+ Bxd8 $18) 27. Rxd8+ Bxd8 28. Qd3 (28. Ng5 $142 {makes it even easier for White} c5 29. Qg3+ Bc7 30. Qxg4 Rb6+ 31. Kc1 a5 $18) 28... Bf6 29. Ng5 Re5 30. Qg3 (30. Qd6+ Kc8 31. Qxf6 Rd5 32. Nxf7 h5 33. f3 Bf5 34. Nd6+ Kd7 35. Nxf5 Kc7 36. Ka1 a6 37. Qe7+ Rd7 38. Qe5+ Kb6 39. Ne7 Rd1+ 40. Rxd1 c5 41. Qd6+ Ka5 42. Qxc5+ b5 43. Nc6+ Ka4 44. Qb4#) 30... Bh5 31. Re1 (31. Re1 Bg6 32. Rxe5 Bxe5 33. Qxe5+ Kc8 34. h5 Bxh5 35. Nxh7 b6 36. Qxh5 Kc7 37. Qe5+ Kb7 38. Nf6 b5 39. Qd6 b4 40. Nd7 b3 41. Qb8+ Ka6 42. cxb3 c5 43. Nxc5+ Ka5 44. b4#) (31. Nxh7 Bh8 32. Re1 f6 33. Nxf6 Bxf6 34. Rxe5 Bxe5 35. Qxe5+ Kc8 36. Qxh5 Kc7 37. Qf7+ Kb6 38. h5 a6 39. h6 a5 40. h7 a4 41. h8=Q a3 42. Qb8 Kc5 43. Qe5+ Kb6 44. Qfc7+ Ka7 45. Qca5#) 1-0

Here are some of the games I found in my reference database that reached the position after 6...Bg4. By the way, my 7th move 7.Be3 is the 3rd most common move in that position, according to my database, it had been played 103 times, while the most common move 7.Be2 had been played 887 times and the second most common move 7.c3 had been played in 160 games. At the moment my reference database contains 6786973 games, but I am planning on creating what I call a gigantic database that would contain all the games that I can download from lichess.org, FICS etc. It would contain close to 300 million games...

[Event "Moscow Veterans"] [Site "Moscow"] [Date "1991.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Geller, Efim P"] [Black "Vasiukov, Evgeni"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B16"] [WhiteElo "2525"] [BlackElo "2500"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "1991.06.??"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "RUS"] [EventCategory "10"] [SourceTitle "CBM 025"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "1991.12.01"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ gxf6 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. Bf4 Qa5+ 8. c3 Qf5 9. Bg3 Bxf3 10. gxf3 Bh6 11. Bd3 Qe6+ 12. Kf1 Qh3+ 13. Kg1 Nd7 14. Qb3 Nb6 15. Re1 e6 16. a4 O-O 17. Re4 Bg5 18. Qd1 f5 19. Rh4 Qxh4 20. Bxh4 Bxh4 21. Kf1 Kh8 22. Rg1 Bf6 23. f4 Nd5 24. Qf3 Rad8 25. Bc4 Ne7 26. Qh5 Bg7 27. Qg5 Ng6 28. h4 Rg8 29. Bxe6 fxe6 30. h5 Nxf4 31. Qxf4 e5 32. Qxf5 Rgf8 33. Qe6 Rde8 34. Qd7 Bh6 35. Rg3 Rd8 36. Qe6 Bf4 37. Rg8+ 1-0 [Event "GBR-ch 98th playoff"] [Site "Sheffield"] [Date "2011.08.06"] [Round "2"] [White "Adams, Michael"] [Black "Short, Nigel D"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B16"] [WhiteElo "2715"] [BlackElo "2687"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2011.08.06"] [EventType "match (rapid)"] [EventRounds "2"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [SourceTitle "CBM 143 Extra"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2011.08.29"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ gxf6 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. Be2 e6 8. O-O Nd7 9. c4 Qc7 10. Nh4 h5 11. h3 Bxe2 12. Qxe2 O-O-O 13. Rd1 Bd6 14. d5 Rde8 15. Be3 Bc5 16. Bxc5 Nxc5 17. b4 Nd7 18. dxc6 Qxc6 19. c5 f5 20. Rd4 Qc7 21. Rc1 Kb8 22. Nf3 Rd8 23. c6 Nf6 24. b5 Rxd4 25. Nxd4 b6 26. Qb2 Rh6 27. Nf3 Rg6 28. Ne5 Rg8 29. Rd1 Nd5 30. Nd7+ Ka8 31. Nf6 Nxf6 32. Qxf6 a6 33. Rd7 Qf4 34. Rd8+ 1-0 [Event "Keres Memorial rap 23rd"] [Site "Tallinn"] [Date "2014.01.11"] [Round "3"] [White "Kulaots, Kaido"] [Black "Kovalenko, Igor"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B16"] [WhiteElo "2560"] [BlackElo "2634"] [PlyCount "74"] [EventDate "2014.01.11"] [EventType "tourn (rapid)"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "EST"] [EventCategory "10"] [SourceTitle "Mega2014 Update 03"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2014.01.17"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ gxf6 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. Be2 Nd7 8. h3 Bh5 9. O-O Qc7 10. c4 O-O-O 11. Be3 e5 12. d5 Bc5 13. Nh4 Bg6 14. Bg4 Kb8 15. Bxd7 Bxe3 16. fxe3 Rxd7 17. Nxg6 fxg6 18. Rxf6 cxd5 19. cxd5 Qc5 20. Qf3 Qxd5 21. Qxd5 Rxd5 22. Raf1 Rhd8 23. Rf8 a5 24. Kh2 a4 25. Rxd8+ Rxd8 26. Kg3 Ka7 27. Rf2 Kb6 28. Rc2 Rf8 29. Rc4 Kb5 30. Re4 Rf5 31. a3 b6 32. Rb4+ Ka5 33. Kh2 b5 34. Kg1 Rf7 35. Kh2 Rf1 36. Kg3 Kb6 37. b3 Rb1 0-1 [Event "Zalakaros op 33rd"] [Site "Zalakaros"] [Date "2014.05.30"] [Round "8"] [White "Jones, Gawain C"] [Black "Kovalenko, Igor"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B16"] [WhiteElo "2645"] [BlackElo "2611"] [PlyCount "112"] [EventDate "2014.05.23"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "HUN"] [SourceTitle "Mega2014 Update 23"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2014.06.06"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ gxf6 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. Be2 Nd7 8. h3 Bh5 9. O-O Qc7 10. Nh4 Bg6 11. c4 Bg7 12. Be3 Rd8 13. Qc1 O-O 14. Rd1 Rfe8 15. Bh6 e6 16. Bxg7 Kxg7 17. Qe3 Qa5 18. f4 c5 19. dxc5 Qxc5 20. Kf2 a5 21. b3 Qc7 22. Bf3 Nc5 23. Kg1 b6 24. g3 Bc2 25. Rdc1 Bd3 26. Re1 Rd7 27. Rad1 Red8 28. Rd2 Rd6 29. Red1 R8d7 30. Ng2 Qd8 31. Ne1 Bf5 32. Rxd6 Rxd6 33. Rxd6 Qxd6 34. h4 Bb1 35. a3 Nd7 36. Qc1 Qd4+ 37. Kg2 Be4 38. Bxe4 Qxe4+ 39. Kf2 Nc5 40. b4 axb4 41. axb4 Qd4+ 42. Kg2 Ne4 43. Qc2 Qe3 44. Nf3 h5 45. c5 bxc5 46. b5 c4 47. b6 Nd6 48. Qf2 Qe4 49. Qb2 Qc6 50. Qb1 c3 51. Qc2 Nf5 52. b7 Ne3+ 53. Kf2 Nxc2 54. b8=Q Qc5+ 55. Ke2 Qe3+ 56. Kd1 Nd4 0-1 [Event "World op 42nd"] [Site "Arlington"] [Date "2014.07.06"] [Round "8"] [White "Bruzon Batista, Lazaro"] [Black "Shabalov, Alexander"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B16"] [WhiteElo "2696"] [BlackElo "2501"] [PlyCount "198"] [EventDate "2014.07.02"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "Mega2014 Update 28"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2014.07.11"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ gxf6 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. Be2 Nd7 8. Be3 Qc7 9. Nh4 Bxe2 10. Qxe2 e6 11. O-O-O O-O-O 12. Kb1 Nb6 13. Nf3 c5 14. c4 Be7 15. g3 Qc6 16. Ka1 Rd7 17. Rc1 Rhd8 18. Rhd1 Kb8 19. a3 Ka8 20. Ka2 cxd4 21. Rxd4 Bc5 22. Rxd7 Rxd7 23. Bxc5 Qxc5 24. Rc2 Qf5 25. c5 Nc8 26. c6 bxc6 27. Rxc6 Nb6 28. Rc3 Qd5+ 29. Kb1 Kb7 30. Rc2 Qf5 31. Nd2 Rd4 32. f3 Qd5 33. Ne4 f5 34. Nc5+ Ka8 35. Qb5 Nd7 36. Qxd7 Rd1+ 37. Rc1 Rxc1+ 38. Kxc1 Qxc5+ 39. Kb1 Qc4 40. Qe8+ Kb7 41. Qxf7+ Kb6 42. Qd7 Qf1+ 43. Kc2 Qg2+ 44. Kc1 Qg1+ 45. Qd1 Qxh2 46. Qd6+ Kb7 47. Qd7+ Kb8 48. Qd8+ Kb7 49. Qe7+ Kb8 50. Qf8+ Kb7 51. Qg7+ Kb6 52. Qd4+ Kb7 53. Qb4+ Ka8 54. Qe1 e5 55. Qxe5 Qh1+ 56. Kd2 Qxf3 57. Qh8+ Kb7 58. Qxh7+ Kb6 59. Qh6+ Kb7 60. Qg7+ Kb8 61. Qe5+ Kb7 62. Qe7+ Kb8 63. Qe3 Qg2+ 64. Kc1 Qd5 65. Kc2 Qc4+ 66. Qc3 Qe2+ 67. Kb1 Qe6 68. b4 Kb7 69. Kc1 Qd5 70. a4 a6 71. Kb2 Qg2+ 72. Ka3 Qd5 73. Qe3 Ka8 74. a5 Qd7 75. Qf3+ Kb8 76. Qe3 Ka8 77. Kb2 Qd5 78. Kc3 Qc6+ 79. Kb2 Qd5 80. Qb3 Qd7 81. Qf3+ Kb8 82. Qf4+ Ka8 83. Qc4 Kb7 84. Qc3 Qd5 85. Qg7+ Ka8 86. Qf8+ Kb7 87. Qe7+ Ka8 88. Qe3 Qd7 89. Kc2 Qc6+ 90. Kd2 Qd6+ 91. Kc3 Qc6+ 92. Kd4 Qd6+ 93. Kc4 Qc6+ 94. Kb3 Qd5+ 95. Kb2 Qd7 96. Qf3+ Kb8 97. Qf4+ Ka8 98. Kc3 Qd5 99. Qe3 Qc6+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Wch Rapid"] [Site "Berlin"] [Date "2015.10.11"] [Round "9"] [White "Piorun, Kacper"] [Black "Seirawan, Yasser"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B16"] [WhiteElo "2609"] [BlackElo "2620"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2015.10.10"] [EventType "swiss (rapid)"] [EventRounds "15"] [EventCountry "GER"] [SourceTitle "Mega2015 Update 47"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2015.10.16"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ gxf6 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. c3 Nd7 8. g3 Ne5 9. Bg2 Bxf3 10. Bxf3 Nxf3+ 11. Qxf3 Qd5 12. Qxd5 cxd5 13. Bf4 Kd7 14. Ke2 e6 15. g4 h5 16. h3 Be7 17. a4 Rag8 18. Kf3 Rg7 19. Rag1 Bd6 20. Bxd6 Kxd6 21. gxh5 Rgh7 22. Rg3 Rxh5 23. Kg2 e5 24. dxe5+ fxe5 25. Rd1 Ke6 26. a5 Rh4 27. b3 R8h5 28. Rgd3 e4 29. Rg3 f5 30. Rg8 f4 31. Rg4 f3+ 32. Kg3 Rxh3+ 33. Kf4 R3h4 34. Rxh4 Rxh4+ 35. Ke3 Rh5 36. Kd4 Rh2 37. Ke3 Rh5 38. Kd4 Kf5 39. Ke3 Ke6 1/2-1/2