D00 1.d4 d5: Unusual lines (1.d4 Nf6 2.e3 d5 3.f4 c5 4.c3 e6 5.Nf3 Nc6)

This somewhat disappointing draw, as far as the ratings are concerned that is, was played at Red Hot Pawn in a tournament called 2014 September Grand Seven Fourteen III. This was a hard fought game and draw is the right outcome of the game. At some points I even thought that I was on the worse side, so I can't maybe feel that bad that the game ended like it did. I was fourth in the final standings of the tournament and gathered 99 points in 40 games. The winner, a player called kopsov (1877), gathered 114 points. The second place went to Reverb (1782), who gathered 104 points. A player called Luft (2006) finished the tournament on third place with 102 points. Below is some of the move statistics from LiveBook.

Game number two. This was played on the first round of the 2014 October Long Haul Split I tournament that was held at Red Hot Pawn. My game against veca was the last game I had in progress and the result of this game determined the winner of group 2. By winning, I secured my place on the second and what could have been the last round, where I faced caissad4 and because we both won with the black pieces, the winner of the tournament was determined on round 3. Both caissad4 and me won our groups with 59 points that we were able to gather in 22 games. Caissad4 won group 1 with a 8 point difference, while I was only barely able to win my group, because beatlemania (1715), the player who finished second in the group gathered 58 points. On the third round I drew with caissad4 when I was playing with the white pieces and lost with Black, so caissad4 ended up winning the tournament. As you may see in the statistics, the move order used in the first game is better for Black than the move order used in this game.

[Event "Grand Seven Fourteen"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2014.09.11"] [Round "1"] [White "veca"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D00"] [WhiteElo "1406"] [BlackElo "1851"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "151"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. e3 d5 3. f4 c5 4. c3 e6 5. Nf3 Nc6 {D00 1.d4 d5: Unusual lines. LiveBook: 3 Games} 6. Be2 Bd6 (6... Bd7 7. O-O cxd4 8. exd4 Rc8 9. Ne5 Be7 10. Nd2 O-O 11. Ndf3 Ne4 12. Bd3 f5 13. Nxd7 Qxd7 14. Ne5 Nxe5 15. fxe5 Qe8 16. Rf3 g5 17. Qb3 g4 18. Rf1 g3 19. h3 Nf2 20. Be2 Rc7 21. Bh6 {Farias,P (1991) -Pinheiro,L (2125) Brazil 1990 0-1 (36)}) 7. O-O O-O (7... Bd7 8. Bd2 Qb6 9. Qc2 Rc8 10. Ne5 cxd4 11. Nxd7 Nxd7 12. cxd4 O-O 13. Nc3 a6 14. a3 Nf6 15. Rac1 Ne4 16. f5 Nxd4 17. Qd3 Nxd2 18. exd4 Nxf1 19. Bxf1 Qxb2 20. Rc2 Qxa3 21. f6 gxf6 22. Qf3 {Mmata,B (1804)-Tulienge,A Nairobi 2017 0-1 (31)}) 8. h3 $146 { Black is slightly better.} (8. a3 b6 9. Bd2 c4 10. a4 Na5 11. Na3 Nb3 12. Ra2 Bd7 13. Nc2 Qe8 14. Ne5 Bxe5 15. fxe5 Ne4 16. Be1 Bxa4 17. Bf3 Ng5 18. Bh4 Nxf3+ 19. Rxf3 Na5 20. Qc1 Bxc2 21. Qxc2 Nc6 22. Rg3 Ne7 {Cohnfeld,A-Delmar,E New York 1880 0-1 (40)}) (8. Ne5 Ne4 9. Nd2 f5 10. Nxe4 fxe4 11. Bd2 Bd7 12. Bg4 Ne7 13. Qb3 Rb8 14. Rac1 b5 15. a3 a5 16. g3 c4 17. Qc2 Nf5 18. Kg2 Qe7 19. Ra1 Rb7 20. h3 Ra8 21. b4 axb4 22. axb4 Rba7 {Ozdover,M (1601)-Hatipoglu,M (1876) Antalya 2008 0-1 (36)}) (8. Bd2 Ne4 9. Be1 c4 10. Nbd2 Nxd2 11. Qxd2 f6 12. h3 b5 13. Bh4 Qc7 14. Bd1 Bb7 15. Bc2 Ne7 16. Rad1 a5 17. Nh2 g5 18. Bg3 h5 19. Rf3 f5 20. Nf1 h4 21. Qe2 hxg3 22. Rxg3 Rf7 {Kukushkin,A-Platonychev,A (1886) Nizhnij Novgorod 2014 0-1 (52)}) 8... b6 9. Nbd2 Bb7 10. Ne5 Nd7 { -0.26/28} (10... Ne7 $17 {-0.73/22}) 11. Ndf3 f6 12. Nxd7 Qxd7 13. Nh2 Qc7 14. Bf3 {-1.02/22} (14. Bd3 $15 {-0.34/23}) 14... Rad8 15. dxc5 Bxc5 16. b4 Bd6 17. Bd2 Ne7 18. a4 Kh8 19. Bg4 e5 20. Be6 {-1.37/23} (20. fxe5 $142 {-0.71/26} fxe5 21. Nf3) 20... Qc6 21. b5 Qc7 {-0.77/28} (21... Qc5 $142 {-1.31/24} 22. fxe5 Bxe5) 22. fxe5 Bxe5 23. Nf3 Bg3 24. Nd4 Qd6 25. Bg4 Bc8 (25... Ra8 {looks sharper.} 26. Be1 Be5 27. Bf2 a6 28. Qc2 axb5 29. axb5 Ra3) 26. Bxc8 Rxc8 27. Qf3 Be5 28. g4 {-0.73/25} (28. a5 $11 {-0.08/26 keeps the balance.}) 28... Ng6 $17 29. Rac1 Rc4 30. Nf5 Qc5 31. h4 {-2.18/23} (31. Ra1 $17 {-1.32/27 was worth a try.}) 31... Bxc3 $2 {0.00/29 [#]} ({But not} 31... Rxa4 32. h5) ({ Black should play} 31... Re4 $19 {-2.18/23 aiming for ... Bb8.} 32. Rf2 Bd6) 32. Bxc3 $11 Rxc3 33. Rxc3 Qxc3 34. Qxd5 Qb4 35. Qd4 Qb3 $1 36. h5 Ne5 37. Ne7 {-1.26/28} (37. g5 $11 {0.00/33 remains equal.}) 37... Qe6 {-0.54/29} (37... Nxg4 $1 $17 {-1.26/28} 38. Nf5 (38. Qxg4 Qxe3+) 38... Ne5) 38. Nf5 $15 Rc8 { 0.00/29} (38... g6 $1 $15 {-0.67/26} 39. hxg6 hxg6) 39. Rd1 $2 {-11.67/24 [#]} (39. g5 $1 $11 {0.00/29}) 39... h6 $2 {0.00/31} (39... Nf3+ $19 {-11.67/24} 40. Kf2 Nxd4 41. Nxd4 Qxg4) 40. Kg2 {-0.51/29} (40. Qe4 $11 {0.00/31}) 40... Kh7 { 0.00/39} ({Black should try} 40... Rc4 $1 $15 {-0.51/29} 41. Qd8+ Kh7) 41. Qd5 {The position is equal.} Qxd5+ 42. Rxd5 $11 {Endgame KRN-KRN} Rc7 ({Don't play } 42... Nxg4 $6 43. Rd7 $16) 43. Kg3 Rd7 44. e4 Kg8 45. Kf4 Kf7 46. Ne3 Ke6 47. Rxd7 Nxd7 {KN-KN} 48. Nf5 Kf7 49. Nd6+ Kf8 50. Nc8 Nc5 51. Nxa7 Nxa4 52. e5 fxe5+ 53. Kxe5 Ke7 54. Kd5 Kd7 55. Kc4 Nc5 56. Nc6 Ne4 57. Kd5 Nf6+ 58. Ke5 Nxg4+ 59. Kf5 Nf6 60. Kg6 Kd6 61. Kxg7 Nxh5+ 62. Kxh6 Nf4 63. Kg5 Nd5 64. Kf5 Kc5 65. Nb8 Kd6 66. Nc6 Nc3 67. Nb4 Nxb5 68. Ke4 Nc7 69. Kd4 b5 70. Nd3 Ne6+ 71. Kc3 Kd5 72. Kb3 Kd4 73. Kb4 Nc7 74. Nc5 Kd5 75. Nd3 Kc6 76. Ne5+ { Precision: White = 50%, Black = 52%.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Long Haul Split"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2014.10.24"] [Round "1"] [White "veca"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D00"] [WhiteElo "1291"] [BlackElo "1888"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "108"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. e3 d5 3. f4 e6 4. Nf3 c5 5. c3 Nc6 {D00 1.d4 d5: Unusual lines. LiveBook: 3 Games} 6. Be2 Bd6 (6... Bd7 7. O-O cxd4 8. exd4 Rc8 9. Ne5 Be7 10. Nd2 O-O 11. Ndf3 Ne4 12. Bd3 f5 13. Nxd7 Qxd7 14. Ne5 Nxe5 15. fxe5 Qe8 16. Rf3 g5 17. Qb3 g4 18. Rf1 g3 19. h3 Nf2 20. Be2 Rc7 21. Bh6 {Farias,P (1991) -Pinheiro,L (2125) Brazil 1990 0-1 (36)}) 7. O-O O-O (7... Bd7 8. Bd2 Qb6 9. Qc2 Rc8 10. Ne5 cxd4 11. Nxd7 Nxd7 12. cxd4 O-O 13. Nc3 a6 14. a3 Nf6 15. Rac1 Ne4 16. f5 Nxd4 17. Qd3 Nxd2 18. exd4 Nxf1 19. Bxf1 Qxb2 20. Rc2 Qxa3 21. f6 gxf6 22. Qf3 {Mmata,B (1804)-Tulienge,A Nairobi 2017 0-1 (31)}) 8. Ne5 { Black is slightly better.} cxd4 $146 {0.07/26} (8... Ne7 $15 {-0.45/22}) (8... Ne4 9. Nd2 f5 10. Nxe4 fxe4 11. Bd2 Bd7 12. Bg4 Ne7 13. Qb3 Rb8 14. Rac1 b5 15. a3 a5 16. g3 c4 17. Qc2 Nf5 18. Kg2 Qe7 19. Ra1 Rb7 20. h3 Ra8 21. b4 axb4 22. axb4 Rba7 23. Qb2 {Ozdover,M (1601)-Hatipoglu,M (1876) Antalya 2008 0-1 (36)}) 9. cxd4 Ne4 10. Nc3 Nxc3 11. bxc3 f6 12. Nf3 {-0.35/25} (12. Nxc6 $11 {0.12/27 might be stronger.} bxc6 13. c4) 12... Bc7 {0.37/23} (12... Na5 $15 {-0.35/25}) 13. a3 e5 14. fxe5 {-0.58/24} (14. dxe5 $14 {0.31/26} fxe5 15. c4) 14... fxe5 $15 15. dxe5 Nxe5 ({But not} 15... Bxe5 $6 16. Nxe5 Rxf1+ 17. Bxf1 $14) 16. Nd4 {-0.91/22} (16. a4 $15 {-0.43/26 is superior.}) 16... Bd7 {0.00/25} ({Black should play} 16... Rxf1+ $1 $17 {-0.91/22} 17. Qxf1 Bg4) 17. Qb3 {-1.49/23} ( 17. Rxf8+ $1 $11 {0.00/25 keeps the balance.} Qxf8 18. Nb5 Bxb5 19. Qxd5+ Qf7 20. Qxf7+ Kxf7 21. Bxb5) 17... Bc6 {-0.17/24} (17... Rxf1+ $17 {-1.49/23} 18. Bxf1 Qf6) 18. Nxc6 {-1.60/25} (18. Rxf8+ $11 {-0.17/24} Qxf8 19. e4) 18... bxc6 {-0.93/26} (18... Rxf1+ $142 {-1.60/25} 19. Bxf1 bxc6) 19. e4 $2 {-12.79/27 [#] } (19. Rxf8+ $17 {-0.93/26} Qxf8 20. c4) 19... Rxf1+ $19 20. Bxf1 Rb8 $2 { -2.07/29} (20... Qh4 {-9.12/27 ( -> ...Nf3+!)} 21. Qa2 Bb6+ 22. Be3 Bxe3+ 23. Kh1 Rf8 24. exd5 Ng4) 21. Qa2 $2 {-4.87/26} (21. Qd1 {-2.07/29} Qh4 22. Qe2) 21... Qd6 {-2.03/27} (21... Ng4 $142 {-4.87/26} 22. g3 Bb6+ 23. Kg2 Qe7) 22. exd5 $2 {-8.01/25} (22. Bf4 {-2.03/27} Qc5+ 23. Qf2 Qxc3 24. Qe1 Qd4+ 25. Be3) 22... cxd5 $2 {-1.55/29 [#]} (22... Rf8 $19 {-8.01/25 has better winning chances.} 23. Be3 Nc4 $1) 23. Bf4 $17 Nf3+ $1 $40 {-0.85/32 Black attacks with force.} 24. gxf3 Qxf4 25. Qe2 Qf6 {-0.49/28} (25... d4 $17 {-1.17/25 And now .. .d3! would win.} 26. Re1 dxc3 27. Qe6+ Qf7) 26. Rc1 $2 {-52.39/25} (26. Rd1 $15 {-0.49/28}) 26... Qg5+ $19 27. Kh1 {Black mates.} Qxc1 28. Qd3 Qf4 29. Qxd5+ Kh8 30. Qh5 Rf8 31. Kg2 Qd2+ 32. Kh1 Qf2 33. Qh3 Qxf3+ 34. Qxf3 Rxf3 35. Kg2 Rxc3 36. a4 g6 37. Bb5 h5 38. h4 Kg7 39. Bd7 Kf6 40. Bb5 Kf5 41. Be8 Bd8 42. Kf2 Bxh4+ 43. Ke2 Bf6 44. Kd2 h4 45. Bd7+ Kf4 46. Be6 g5 47. Bd7 g4 48. a5 h3 49. Bb5 h2 50. Bd7 h1=Q 51. Bxg4 Kxg4 52. Ke2 Qg2+ 53. Kd1 Bg5 54. a6 Rc1# { Precision: White = 6%, Black = 21%.} 0-1

I could only find this reference game from my database where both players were rated above 2300 and did not end in a quick draw.

[Event "Bucharest Winter Cup"] [Site "Bucharest"] [Date "2001.12.19"] [Round "9"] [White "Tikhomirov, Sergei"] [Black "Bochkarev, Alexander2"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D00"] [WhiteElo "2357"] [BlackElo "2361"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2001.12.11"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "ROU"] [EventCategory "2"] [SourceTitle "CBM 085 ext"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2002.01.21"] 1. d4 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. f4 c5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. c3 e6 6. Nbd2 Ng4 7. Qe2 h5 8. Ne5 g5 9. h3 Ngxe5 10. fxe5 f5 11. exf6 Qxf6 12. e4 Be7 13. dxc5 Bd7 14. Nb3 a5 15. a4 O-O-O 16. Be3 dxe4 17. Nd2 Ne5 18. Nxe4 Qf5 19. Bd4 Ng6 20. Bxh8 Rxh8 21. Nd6+ Bxd6 22. cxd6 Ne5 23. Qe3 Bc6 24. Be2 Bxg2 25. Rg1 g4 26. Rxg2 gxh3 27. Rg5 h2 28. O-O-O 1-0