A34 Symmetrical English: 2.Nc3, lines with ...d5 (1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 g6 3.e4 Bg7 4.f4 Nc6 5.Nf3 d6 6.d3 Nf6)

Still continuing with my blitz games, this is the 24th game in the series of 106 games and after this game the score was in my favor 16 - 8. One notable feature in these games is that the same opening variation is not easily repeated. I am not actually sure if all the 24 games have featured a different opening, but I would not be surprised if they did. In situations where I know that I will be playing multiple games against the same opponent, I am knowingly changing my approach to the games. I have played a few 100 game matches against a couple of my friends and I have had good success with my approach. Also it would be really boring to play the same opening all the time, though it would help the player to understand the positions that come out of it. That being said, even if I try to go for the same opening all the time, I am rarely successful in my attempt to do so. This may be due to the fact that I rarely play against the same opponent multiple times, unless I am playing a match against that player. Well, it is true with my online games, but not with over the board games, at least when it comes to the games I have played at my local chess club where I have played several hundred blitz games against the people who usually go there.

[Event "Live Chess"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.07.19"] [Round "?"] [White "Kojjootti"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A34"] [WhiteElo "1700"] [BlackElo "1817"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 g6 3. e4 Bg7 4. f4 Nc6 5. Nf3 d6 6. d3 Nf6 {A34 Symmetrical English: 2.Nc3, lines with ...d5. LiveBook: 13 Games} 7. Rb1 $146 (7. Be2 O-O ( 7... Bg4 8. O-O Bxf3 9. Bxf3 Nd4 10. Be3 Nd7 11. Rb1 Rb8 12. Qd2 f5 13. Ne2 Nxf3+ 14. Rxf3 fxe4 15. dxe4 Nf6 16. Qc2 b5 17. cxb5 Rxb5 18. f5 Ng4 19. fxg6 Nxe3 20. Rxe3 Qb6 21. Qc4 Rxb2 22. Rf1 {Kiss,A (2150)-Mike,J (1957) Hungary 2012 1-0 (31)}) 8. O-O Ne8 (8... a6 9. a4 Rb8 10. Nd5 Nxd5 11. exd5 Nd4 12. Nxd4 Bxd4+ 13. Kh1 Bd7 14. Rb1 b5 15. axb5 axb5 16. b3 bxc4 17. dxc4 Bf5 18. Bd3 Bxd3 19. Qxd3 Ra8 20. Bb2 Bxb2 21. Rxb2 Kg7 22. f5 Qd7 23. Rbf2 {Lysenko,G (2059)-Baturin,V (2046) Perm 2009 1-0 (38)}) 9. Be3 Bg4 10. Qd2 Nc7 11. Bd1 Rb8 12. Ne1 Bxd1 13. Rxd1 f5 14. Nf3 Ne6 15. Ne2 b5 16. b3 Qb6 17. Rc1 a6 18. g3 Qb7 19. exf5 gxf5 20. d4 cxd4 21. Nexd4 Ncxd4 {Jandourek,L (2192)-Postupa,P (2226) Czech Republic 2016 1/2-1/2}) 7... Bg4 8. Be2 a6 9. a3 {The position is equal.} Rb8 10. Bd2 b5 11. Nd5 {-1.06/23} (11. O-O $11 {-0.04/25}) 11... O-O { -0.54/27} (11... bxc4 $1 $17 {-1.06/23} 12. Qa4 Bd7 13. Nxf6+ Bxf6 14. Qxc4 Qb6 ) 12. O-O {-1.14/21} (12. Nc3 $15 {-0.54/27}) 12... Bxf3 {-0.28/26} (12... bxc4 $17 {-1.14/21 Strongly threatening ...Nxd5.} 13. Ne3 cxd3 14. Bxd3 Be6) 13. Bxf3 $11 Nd4 14. Be3 {-1.45/21} (14. b4 $11 {-0.26/25 keeps the balance.}) 14... Nxf3+ $17 15. Qxf3 e6 {-0.23/26} (15... bxc4 $17 {-1.48/23 Hoping for ... Nxd5.} 16. dxc4 Nxd5 17. exd5 Rb3) 16. Nc3 b4 17. axb4 Rxb4 18. h3 Qb6 $36 { Black has good play.} 19. Qf2 {-0.51/26} (19. f5 $11 {-0.08/27}) 19... Rb8 { 0.00/28} (19... Nd7 $15 {-0.51/26} 20. e5 dxe5 21. fxe5 Bxe5) 20. Nd1 {-0.58/23 } ({White should try} 20. e5 $11 {0.00/28}) 20... Nd7 21. e5 {-1.23/25} ({ White should play} 21. f5 $15 {-0.35/27} Ne5 22. Qh4) 21... a5 22. g4 {-1.94/23 } (22. Bd2 $17 {-0.89/27}) 22... Rc8 $2 {-0.31/25 [#]} (22... Rb3 $19 {-1.94/23 } 23. Nc3 Rxb2) 23. h4 $2 {-2.47/22} ({Better is} 23. Nc3 $1 $15 {-0.31/25}) 23... dxe5 $19 24. fxe5 Nxe5 25. Qe2 Rb3 26. Nc3 Rd8 27. Rfd1 $2 {-5.60/22 [#]} (27. Na4 {-2.57/27 was the crucial defense.} Qc7 28. Nxc5 Nxc4 29. Nxb3 Qg3+ 30. Kh1 Nxe3 31. Rf3 Qxh4+ 32. Qh2 Qxh2+ 33. Kxh2 Rxd3 34. Re1 Rxb3 35. Rexe3 Rxb2+ 36. Kh1) 27... Qc6 28. Kf2 {-5.18/23} (28. Bf4 $142 {-3.41/28} Nf3+ 29. Kf2 Nxh4 30. Qe4 Qxe4 31. Nxe4 Rdxd3 32. Rxd3 Rxd3 33. Bg5 Bd4+ 34. Ke2) 28... a4 29. d4 {-9.25/23} (29. Bf4 $142 {-4.03/29} Qd6 30. Bxe5 Bxe5 31. Nb5 Bg3+ 32. Kg2) 29... cxd4 30. Rxd4 Rxd4 31. Bxd4 Nxc4 32. Bxg7 Kxg7 33. h5 Qc5+ 34. Kg2 Ne5 35. Re1 Nc6 36. hxg6 hxg6 37. Qf1 Rxb2+ 38. Ne2 Qe3 {-9.45/30} (38... Qe5 $142 {-#30/26} 39. Kh3 Qe3+ 40. Ng3 Qh6+ 41. Nh5+ gxh5 42. g5 Rb3+ 43. Kh2 Qxg5 44. Qg1 Kh6 45. Qxg5+ Kxg5 46. Re4 a3 47. Ra4 Nb4 48. Ra7 a2 49. Ra5+ Kg4 50. Kg1 Kf3 51. Kh2 Rb1 52. Ra3+ Kf2 53. Ra7 a1=Q 54. Rxf7+ Ke3 55. Kg3 Rg1+ 56. Kh4 Rg8 57. Rg7 Qxg7 58. Kxh5 Rh8#) 39. Qf3 Qxf3+ 40. Kxf3 Ne5+ 41. Kf4 Nd3+ {Precision: White = 11%, Black = 32%.} 0-1

Only one reference game found in my database where both players were rated over 2500 and it was played at the 39th Rilton Cup at Stockholm.

[Event "Rilton Cup 39th"] [Site "Stockholm"] [Date "2009.12.30"] [Round "4"] [White "Miezis, Normunds"] [Black "Ulibin, Mikhail"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A34"] [WhiteElo "2530"] [BlackElo "2548"] [PlyCount "103"] [EventDate "2009.12.27"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "SWE"] [SourceTitle "CBM 134 Extra"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2010.03.03"] 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. e4 Nc6 4. f4 d6 5. Nf3 g6 6. d3 Bg7 7. Be2 O-O 8. O-O Bg4 9. Kh1 Rb8 10. Qe1 Bxf3 11. Bxf3 Nd4 12. Bd1 Nd7 13. Rb1 a6 14. a3 b5 15. cxb5 axb5 16. b4 e6 17. Bb2 Qb6 18. Qg3 cxb4 19. axb4 Rbc8 20. f5 Be5 21. Qh3 Nf6 22. g4 gxf5 23. gxf5 Kh8 24. Ne2 Nxe2 25. Bxe5 dxe5 26. Bxe2 Qd6 27. Rf2 exf5 28. Rxf5 Ng8 29. Rh5 h6 30. Rg1 Rc6 31. Qg3 Qg6 32. Qxe5+ Qf6 33. Qg3 Qb2 34. Qe3 Rg6 35. Rxb5 Rxg1+ 36. Kxg1 Rc8 37. Kf2 Rc2 38. Rc5 Rd2 39. Rf5 Kg7 40. Qg3+ Kf8 41. Qd6+ Kg7 42. Qe5+ Nf6 43. Qxb2 Rxb2 44. Rb5 Ne8 45. Rb6 h5 46. h3 h4 47. Ke3 Nf6 48. Rb7 Nh7 49. Bg4 Rg2 50. d4 Rg3+ 51. Kf4 Nf6 52. Be6 1-0