A03 Bird's Opening with 1...d5 (1.f4 d5 2.Nf3 c5 3.d3 Nc6 4.g3 Nf6 5.Bg2 g6 6.O-O Bg7)

The game I am sharing today is the 28th blitz game that I played in 2016 at Chess.com in a series of 106 games that I played against Kojjootti. After this game the score was 18.5 - 9.5 in my favor. The move 7.Re1 was the first one that had not been played in the games that appear in the LiveBook. The moves that had seen some play are 7.Nc3 (103 games, result 52%, Elo-average 2392), 7.c3 (91 games, result 46%, Elo-average 2375), 7.Qe1 (67 games, result 54%, Elo-average 2413), 7.e3 (4 games, result 50%, Elo-average 2396), 7.h3 (3 games, result 33%, Elo-average 2386), 7.Kh1 (1 game, result 100%, Elo-average 2300), 7.d4 (1 game, result 50%, Elo-average 2495), 7.a3 (1 game, result 0%, Elo-average 2104), 7.Nbd2 (1 game, result 0%, Elo-average 2302) and 7.Na3 (1 game, result 0%, Elo-average 2351). According to my reference database, the move 7.Re1 had been played two times before this game. The next move 7...O-O was also played in both games. The 8th move e4 is a novelty. Previously the moves 8.Nbd2, 8.c3 and 8.a4 had been played.

[Event "Live Chess"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.07.21"] [Round "?"] [White "Kojjootti"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A03"] [WhiteElo "1703"] [BlackElo "1813"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "102"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] {[%evp 11,102,7,0,-26,-19,-66,-75,-64,-73,-64,-80,-66,-11,-149,-146,-143,-125, -241,-225,-222,-234,-232,-164,-173,-27,-97,-96,-97,-96,-99,-45,-111,-118,-115, -111,-111,-96,-114,-86,-114,-114,-134,-114,-114,-114,-111,-50,-115,-111,-123, -97,-134,-132,-956,-956,-956,-963,-963,-929,-1007,-1002,-871,-814,-1240,-1034, -1995,-1870,-1668,-1391,-2902,-2040,-29962,-29966,-29976,-29977,-29976,-5431, -10805,0,-29976,-29973,-29969,-29957,-12805,-10287,-9080,-10287,-6642,-942, -5226,-129,-129,-129]} 1. f4 d5 {A03 Bird Opening: Dutch Variation} 2. Nf3 c5 3. d3 Nc6 4. g3 Nf6 5. Bg2 g6 6. O-O Bg7 {A03 Bird's Opening with 1...d5. LiveBook: 258 Games} 7. Re1 (7. c3 h5 8. Qe1 b6 9. Na3 Ba6 10. Rb1 Bb7 11. b4 Qc7 12. e4 dxe4 13. dxe4 O-O-O 14. bxc5 bxc5 15. Qe3 Qa5 16. Ne5 Nxe5 17. Rb5 Neg4 18. Rxc5+ Kb8 19. Rxa5 Nxe3 20. Bxe3 Nxe4 21. Bxa7+ Kc8 {Bialas,W (2370) -Hartmann,G (2275) Germany 1989 1/2-1/2 (46)}) 7... O-O 8. e4 $146 {-0.66/27} ( 8. e3 $11 {-0.19/27 should be considered.}) (8. Nbd2 Qb6 9. c4 (9. c3 c4+ 10. d4 Bf5 11. Ne5 Nxe5 12. fxe5 Ne4 13. Nxe4 Bxe4 14. Bxe4 dxe4 15. Qc2 Qc6 16. Be3 f5 17. Rad1 e6 18. Rf1 b5 19. a3 a5 20. Bd2 Qb6 21. e3 Rfc8 22. Rde1 Bf8 23. Rb1 Rab8 {Horvath,A (1817) -Farkas,R (2111) Miskolc 2011 0-1 (52)}) 9... Rd8 10. a3 e6 11. Rb1 Qc7 12. Qc2 b6 13. b4 cxb4 14. axb4 Nxb4 15. Qb3 Nc6 16. Bb2 Na5 17. Qa2 Bb7 18. Rec1 dxc4 19. Nxc4 Bd5 20. Nfe5 Nxc4 21. Bxd5 Qc5+ 22. d4 Qxd5 {Tsalicoglou,J-Borwell,A (2039) Kamena Vourla 2012 1/2-1/2 (106)}) 8... dxe4 $15 9. dxe4 Qxd1 10. Rxd1 Nxe4 11. Ne5 {[#] And now Nxc6 would win.} Nxe5 {-0.11/29} (11... f5 $15 {-0.66/24} 12. Nxc6 bxc6) 12. Bxe4 {-1.49/27} (12. fxe5 $11 {-0.11/29} f5 13. exf6 Nxf6 14. c3) 12... Nc4 13. c3 Rb8 14. b3 { -2.41/25} (14. Bd5 $17 {-1.25/29 might work better.} Nd6 15. Be3) 14... Nd6 15. Bf3 Bf5 16. Bb2 Nb5 17. a4 Bxb1 {-0.27/29} ({Black should try} 17... Nd6 $19 { -1.73/25 White must now prevent ...Bc2.} 18. Re1 Rfd8 19. Rxe7 Be6) 18. Raxb1 { -0.97/24} (18. axb5 $11 {-0.27/29 keeps the balance.} Bc2 19. Rd2 Bxb3 20. Rxa7 ) 18... Nxc3 $17 19. Bxc3 Bxc3 20. Rd7 e5 {-0.45/30} (20... e6 $17 {-0.99/27} 21. Rxb7 Rxb7 22. Bxb7 Rd8) 21. Rxb7 {-1.11/26} (21. fxe5 $15 {-0.45/30} Rfd8 22. Rxd8+ Rxd8 23. Bxb7) 21... Rxb7 22. Bxb7 exf4 23. gxf4 $15 {[%mdl 4096] Endgame KRB-KRB} Rb8 24. Bd5 Kf8 25. Bc4 Rd8 26. Rc1 Bd4+ 27. Kg2 Be3 28. Rf1 { [%tqu "En","","","", "f7f5","",10]} Rd4 {-0.50/33} (28... f5 $1 $17 {-1.11/27} 29. Kf3 Bd2) 29. Kg3 {-1.15/31} (29. f5 $15 {-0.50/33}) 29... f5 $17 30. Rf3 Bd2 31. h4 Kg7 32. Rd3 $2 {-9.56/31 [%mdl 8192]} (32. Bb5 $17 {-1.32/33}) 32... Bxf4+ $19 33. Kf3 Rxd3+ 34. Bxd3 {KB-KB} Be5 35. Be2 h6 36. Ke3 g5 37. hxg5 hxg5 38. Kf3 Bd4 39. Bd3 Kf6 40. a5 Ke5 41. a6 g4+ 42. Kg2 Kf4 43. Bb5 Ke3 { -54.31/36} (43... Kg5 $142 {-#24/39} 44. Bc6 f4 45. Be4 f3+ 46. Bxf3 gxf3+ 47. Kxf3 Kf5 48. Ke2 Ke4 49. Kf1 Ke3 50. Kg2 Kd2 51. Kg3 Kc3 52. Kh4 Kxb3 53. Kh5 c4 54. Kh4 c3 55. Kg5 c2 56. Kh5 c1=Q 57. Kg4 Qf1 58. Kg5 Qf3 59. Kg6 Qf6+ 60. Kh5 Qf5+ 61. Kh6 Qg4 62. Kh7 Qg7#) 44. Bd7 Kf4 $2 {0.00/57} (44... Ke4 $19 { -108.05/28} 45. Kg3 Be5+ 46. Kf2 Kf4) 45. Be6 $2 {-#24/57 [%mdl 8192] [#]} (45. Bb5 $11 {0.00/57} Kg5 46. Bf1) 45... Ke5 46. Bc8 Be3 47. Bd7 Bf4 48. Bc8 Kf6 49. Bd7 Kg5 {-9.42/29} (49... Be3 $142 {-66.42/40} 50. Kf1 Kg5) 50. Bc6 g3 $2 { -1.29/83} (50... Be3 $19 {-52.26/33 has better winning chances.} 51. Kf1 f4) 51. Bf3 Be5 {Precision: White = 16%, Black = 41%.} 1/2-1/2

Here are some of the latest and highest rated games that reached the position after 6...Bg7 that I was able to find in my reference database.

[Event "Berlin Mephisto 1st"] [Site "Berlin East"] [Date "1990.05.24"] [Round "8"] [White "Balashov, Yuri S"] [Black "Vogt, Lothar"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A03"] [WhiteElo "2535"] [BlackElo "2500"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "1990.05.16"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "DDR"] [EventCategory "11"] [SourceTitle "EXT 1997"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "1996.11.15"] 1. f4 d5 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 c5 5. O-O Nc6 6. d3 Nf6 7. Qe1 d4 8. Na3 Nd5 9. Bd2 O-O 10. c3 e5 11. fxe5 Nxe5 12. Nxe5 Bxe5 13. Nc4 Bg7 14. e4 dxe3 15. Nxe3 Be6 16. Rd1 Qd7 17. Qf2 b6 18. Nc4 Rad8 19. Bg5 f6 20. Bc1 Bg4 21. Bf3 Rfe8 22. Rfe1 Rxe1+ 23. Rxe1 Bxf3 24. Qxf3 Ne7 25. Kg2 Nf5 26. Rd1 Re8 27. Bd2 h5 28. b3 b5 29. Na3 Re6 30. Nc2 Kh7 31. Be1 Qe7 32. Bf2 Bh6 33. Re1 Rxe1 34. Bxe1 Ne3+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "PCA/Intel-GP"] [Site "New York"] [Date "1994.??.??"] [Round "1"] [White "Ivanchuk, Vassily"] [Black "Tiviakov, Sergei"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A03"] [WhiteElo "2695"] [BlackElo "2640"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "1994.06.??"] [EventType "k.o. (rapid)"] [EventRounds "4"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "CBM 041 ext"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "1994.09.01"] 1. g3 Nf6 2. Bg2 d5 3. d3 c5 4. f4 Nc6 5. Nf3 g6 6. O-O Bg7 7. Nc3 O-O 8. e4 dxe4 9. dxe4 Qxd1 10. Rxd1 e5 11. Nd5 Bg4 12. Nxf6+ Bxf6 13. c3 Rad8 14. Be3 b6 15. h3 Be6 16. Kf2 Rxd1 17. Rxd1 Rd8 18. Rxd8+ Bxd8 19. a3 exf4 20. gxf4 Na5 21. Nd2 Bh4+ 22. Ke2 Nc4 23. Nxc4 Bxc4+ 24. Kd2 Kf8 25. b4 cxb4 26. cxb4 Ke7 27. Bd4 Kd7 28. Kc3 Bb5 29. Kd2 Bd8 30. Ke3 a5 31. bxa5 bxa5 32. Bc5 Bc7 33. e5 Bc6 34. Bf1 Bd5 35. Kd4 Be6 36. Ba7 Kc6 37. Bg2+ Kb5 38. Bc5 Bd8 39. Bf1+ Kc6 40. Bg2+ Kd7 41. Bd6 Bb6+ 42. Bc5 Bc7 43. Bf8 Bb6+ 44. Bc5 Bd8 1/2-1/2 [Event "About.com/ICC GM m"] [Site "ICC INT"] [Date "1999.11.06"] [Round "1"] [White "Morozevich, Alexander"] [Black "Svidler, Peter"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A03"] [WhiteElo "2758"] [BlackElo "2684"] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "1999.11.06"] [EventType "match"] [EventRounds "2"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "CBM 074"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2000.02.01"] 1. f4 d5 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 Nf6 5. O-O c5 6. d3 Nc6 7. Nc3 d4 8. Na4 Nd7 9. c4 O-O 10. e4 dxe3 11. Bxe3 Nd4 12. Rb1 Rb8 13. b4 Nxf3+ 14. Bxf3 cxb4 15. Rxb4 b6 16. d4 Nf6 17. Nc3 h5 18. d5 Ng4 19. Bd4 e5 20. fxe5 Nxe5 21. Bg2 Bg4 22. Qd2 Rc8 23. Nb5 a5 24. Rb3 Rxc4 25. Rf4 Qc8 26. Nd6 Rc1+ 27. Rf1 Rxf1+ 28. Bxf1 Qd8 29. Bxe5 Bxe5 30. Nc4 Bg7 31. Rxb6 Re8 32. Rc6 Re4 0-1 [Event "WMSG Blitz 1st"] [Site "Beijing"] [Date "2008.10.04"] [Round "5"] [White "Bartel, Mateusz"] [Black "Ni, Hua"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A03"] [WhiteElo "2602"] [BlackElo "2710"] [PlyCount "91"] [EventDate "2008.10.04"] [EventType "swiss (blitz)"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "CHN"] [SourceTitle "CBM 126 Extra"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2008.11.05"] 1. g3 Nf6 2. Bg2 d5 3. f4 c5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. O-O g6 6. d3 Bg7 7. Nc3 O-O 8. e3 Bg4 9. h3 Bxf3 10. Qxf3 e6 11. e4 Nd4 12. Qf2 b5 13. g4 b4 14. Nd1 Rc8 15. c3 Nb5 16. g5 Nh5 17. e5 Bh8 18. a4 bxc3 19. bxc3 Qa5 20. Bd2 Qxa4 21. Ne3 d4 22. Ng4 Bg7 23. c4 Nc3 24. Rfc1 Qb3 25. Bf3 Rb8 26. Nf6+ Bxf6 27. exf6 Na2 28. Rd1 Qc2 29. Bxh5 gxh5 30. Be1 Qxf2+ 31. Kxf2 Nc3 32. Bxc3 dxc3 33. Rdc1 Rb3 34. Ke3 h6 35. h4 Kh7 36. Ra2 hxg5 37. fxg5 Rd8 38. Rac2 Ra3 39. Rxc3 Ra2 40. R1c2 Ra1 41. Rg2 Kg6 42. Rb3 Rh1 43. Rb5 Rh3+ 44. Ke4 Rdxd3 45. Re2 Rd4+ 46. Ke5 0-1 [Event "WMSG Blitz Pair 1st"] [Site "Beijing"] [Date "2008.10.08"] [Round "5"] [White "Reinderman, Dimitri"] [Black "Ni, Hua"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A03"] [WhiteElo "2543"] [BlackElo "2710"] [PlyCount "42"] [EventDate "2008.10.08"] [EventType "swiss (blitz)"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "CHN"] [SourceTitle "CBM 126 Extra"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2008.11.05"] 1. f4 d5 2. Nf3 c5 3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2 Nf6 5. O-O g6 6. d3 Bg7 7. Qe1 d4 8. Na3 O-O 9. Nc4 Be6 10. h3 Bd5 11. e4 dxe3 12. Nxe3 e6 13. Nxd5 Nxd5 14. c3 Re8 15. g4 Qc7 16. Ng5 Rad8 17. Kh1 h6 18. Ne4 b6 19. f5 exf5 20. gxf5 Qe5 21. Qf2 Qxf5 0-1 [Event "Wch Rapid"] [Site "Dubai"] [Date "2014.06.18"] [Round "15"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Fedoseev, Vladimir2"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A03"] [WhiteElo "2775"] [BlackElo "2662"] [PlyCount "161"] [EventDate "2014.06.16"] [EventType "swiss (rapid)"] [EventRounds "15"] [EventCountry "UAE"] [SourceTitle "Mega2014 Update 25"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2014.06.19"] 1. f4 d5 2. Nf3 c5 3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2 g6 5. d3 Bg7 6. O-O Nf6 7. Qe1 Qb6 8. Kh1 Nd4 9. Na3 Nxf3 10. Rxf3 h5 11. h3 Bf5 12. c4 d4 13. Rf1 O-O 14. Rb1 a5 15. Qf2 Rfe8 16. Nb5 Bd7 17. e4 Bxb5 18. cxb5 Qxb5 19. Qf3 e5 20. fxe5 Rxe5 21. Bf4 Nd7 22. b3 Qa6 23. a4 Re7 24. Qe2 Ne5 25. Rfd1 b6 26. Qc2 Rae8 27. Rd2 Qb7 28. Rf1 Re6 29. Rdd1 Qe7 30. Qd2 Nc6 31. Qf2 Be5 32. h4 f6 33. Bh3 Rd6 34. Rg1 g5 35. Bf5 Kg7 36. Qe2 Rh8 37. Bd2 g4 38. Kg2 Rdd8 39. Rgf1 Qf7 40. Rb1 Rb8 41. Qd1 Qc7 42. Be1 Qd6 43. Qc2 Ne7 44. Qc4 Qc6 45. Qb5 Qxb5 46. axb5 Kf7 47. Bd2 Ra8 48. Ra1 Ra7 49. Ra4 Rd8 50. Bc1 Rd6 51. Bd2 Rd8 52. Bc1 Nxf5 53. Rxf5 Kg6 54. Bf4 Re7 55. Ra2 Bxf4 56. gxf4 Ra7 57. Ra4 Rdd7 58. Kg3 Rd8 59. Ra2 Re7 60. Ra4 Ree8 61. Ra2 Rh8 62. Ra4 Rhe8 63. Ra2 Ra8 64. Rd5 Red8 65. Rf5 Rd7 66. Ra4 Rd6 67. Kg2 Re8 68. Kg3 Re7 69. Kg2 Rdd7 70. Kg3 Rh7 71. Ra2 Kf7 72. Ra4 Ke6 73. Ra2 Rd8 74. Ra4 Rdd7 75. Ra2 Rd6 76. Ra4 Rd8 77. Ra2 Rdd7 78. Kg2 Rd8 79. Ra4 g3 80. Ra1 Rg8 81. Rd5 1/2-1/2 [Event "Beijing Sportaccord rap"] [Site "Beijing"] [Date "2014.12.11"] [Round "2"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Wojtaszek, Radoslaw"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A02"] [WhiteElo "2714"] [BlackElo "2744"] [PlyCount "105"] [EventDate "2014.12.11"] [EventType "swiss (rapid)"] [EventRounds "7"] [EventCountry "CHN"] [SourceTitle "Mega2014 Update 51"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2014.12.18"] 1. f4 c5 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. O-O Nc6 6. d3 Nf6 7. Nc3 O-O 8. e4 dxe4 9. dxe4 Qxd1 10. Rxd1 e5 11. Nxe5 Nxe5 12. fxe5 Ng4 13. Nd5 Nxe5 14. Bg5 Bg4 15. Rf1 Be6 16. Nc7 Rac8 17. Nxe6 fxe6 18. Bh3 Rc6 19. Rxf8+ Kxf8 20. Rf1+ Nf7 21. c3 Ke8 22. Be3 Ke7 23. a4 a5 24. Rf2 b6 25. Bf1 Rd6 26. Kg2 Bf6 27. h4 Ne5 28. Rd2 Ng4 29. Bf4 Rxd2+ 30. Bxd2 Be5 31. Be2 Nf6 32. Bd3 Nd7 33. Kf3 Bf6 34. Bb5 Ne5+ 35. Ke2 Kd6 36. Bf4 Be7 37. Kd1 Bd8 38. Kc2 Bf6 39. b4 Bd8 40. Be2 Bf6 41. Kb3 Bd8 42. Bf1 Be7 43. Be2 Bd8 44. Be3 Be7 45. Bf2 Bd8 46. g4 h6 47. Bg3 g5 48. bxc5+ bxc5 49. hxg5 hxg5 50. Kc2 Be7 51. Kb3 Bd8 52. Kc2 Be7 53. Kb3 1/2-1/2 [Event "Corsica Masters KO 21st"] [Site "Bastia"] [Date "2017.10.27"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Kamsky, Gata"] [Black "Antipov, Mikhail Al"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A03"] [WhiteElo "2676"] [BlackElo "2582"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2017.10.26"] [EventType "k.o. (rapid)"] [EventRounds "4"] [EventCountry "FRA"] [SourceTitle "Mega2017 Update 54"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2017.11.03"] 1. g3 Nf6 2. Bg2 c5 3. f4 Nc6 4. Nf3 g6 5. d3 d5 6. O-O Bg7 7. c3 O-O 8. Na3 Bg4 9. Qc2 d4 10. e4 Rc8 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Bxf3 dxc3 13. bxc3 Nd4 14. cxd4 Qxd4+ 15. Kg2 Qxa1 16. Be3 Nd5 17. exd5 Qf6 18. Rb1 b6 19. Nc4 Qf5 20. a4 Rfd8 21. g4 Qd7 22. a5 b5 23. Ne5 Bxe5 24. fxe5 c4 25. Qc3 Qc7 26. dxc4 bxc4 27. d6 Qd7 28. Rb7 Qa4 29. Rxe7 Qb3 30. Bd4 Rb8 31. Qd2 c3 32. Bxc3 Rdc8 33. d7 1-0