E21 Nimzo-Indian: 4.Nf3 (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 b6 5.g3 Bb7 6.Bg2 O-O 7.O-O c5)

The game below was played in a team match called Open Challenge Thunderstorm. This match was originally played between Thunderstorm and The Indian Warriors on seven boards. I played on board 1 for Thunderstorm but the team I represented changed its name to the band of cats. We were leading this match 7 - 6 before this game ended, so this game finally decided the outcome of the match. Because I played some bad moves in this game, we had to accept the draw from this match.

[Event "Open Challenge Thunderstorm - Board 1"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2015.07.15"] [Round "?"] [White "aayala"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E21"] [WhiteElo "1790"] [BlackElo "1908"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s)"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 b6 5. g3 Bb7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O c5 { E21 Nimzo-Indian: 4.Nf3} 8. dxc5 Bxc5 {LiveBook: 8 Games} (8... bxc5 9. Na4 Na6 10. Bf4 d5 11. Ne5 Qe7 12. Qb3 dxc4 13. Nxc4 Bxg2 14. Kxg2 e5 15. Bxe5 Ng4 16. Bd6 Qe4+ 17. Kg1 Rfd8 18. Rad1 Qe6 19. f3 Nf6 20. e4 Rd7 21. e5 Nd5 22. a3 Rb7 23. Qc2 {Dziuba,M (2536)-Sygulski,P (2189) Chotowa 2007 1-0}) 9. b3 Na6 $146 ( 9... d5 10. Ne5 (10. cxd5 Nxd5 11. Bb2 Nd7 12. Nxd5 Bxd5 13. Ne1 Bxg2 14. Nxg2 Qe7 15. e4 Rfd8 16. Qe2 a5 17. Rad1 a4 18. Ne3 axb3 19. axb3 Ra2 20. Rd2 Bb4 21. Rc2 Nc5 22. Nc4 b5 23. Ne5 Qb7 24. f3 f6 {Harika,D (2329)-Shabalov,A (2623) playchess.com INT 2004 1/2-1/2 (43)}) 10... Nbd7 11. Nxd7 Qxd7 12. cxd5 exd5 13. Bb2 Rad8 14. Na4 Be7 15. Bd4 Ne4 16. Nb2 Rfe8 17. Nd3 Bf6 18. Bxf6 Nxf6 19. Rc1 d4 20. Bxb7 Qxb7 21. Nb4 Ne4 22. Nc6 Rd6 23. Nxd4 Red8 24. e3 {Soponyai, T-McDonald,J Bratislava 1993 0-1}) 10. Bb2 {White has an edge.} Nc7 11. Na4 Be7 12. Rc1 d5 13. Ne5 Qd6 {1.09/24} (13... Rc8 $14 {0.46/25}) 14. c5 $16 bxc5 15. Nxc5 Bc8 16. e4 $36 {White is on the roll.} Rd8 $2 {4.80/24} (16... Nxe4 $16 { 1.19/28 is tougher.} 17. Nxe4 dxe4) 17. f4 $2 {0.00/31} ({White must play} 17. Nxf7 $1 $18 {4.80/24} Kxf7 18. e5) 17... Qb6 $11 18. Bd4 {[#] Hoping for Na4.} Nb5 {1.04/25} (18... dxe4 $11 {0.00/31} 19. Ncd7 Qb7 20. Nxf6+ Bxf6) 19. Bf2 $1 $16 Qa5 $2 {4.36/24} (19... Bb7 $16 {1.02/29 is more resistant.}) 20. Nc6 $18 Qc7 21. Nxd8 Qxd8 22. e5 Nd7 23. Nxd7 {2.66/26} (23. Nxe6 $142 $1 {4.49/24} fxe6 24. Bxd5 $1) 23... Bxd7 24. a4 Nc7 25. Qd2 a5 $2 {5.59/25 [#]} (25... Qb8 {2.15/27 is a better chance.} 26. Qa5 Ne8) 26. Bb6 {White is clearly winning.} Bb4 27. Qc2 Rc8 28. Bxc7 {Accuracy: White = 71%, Black = 12%.} 1-0

Based on these reference games, among very strong players this line is not playable for Black. However, I do not think that the position should be lost to Black after 7...c5. I think because White has more space and it is likely that Black loses the bishop pair at some point, White should be favored in the position, but Black should still be in the game.

[Event "HUN-chT 0607"] [Site "Hungary"] [Date "2006.12.17"] [Round "4"] [White "Pinter, Jozsef"] [Black "Polgar, Judit"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E21"] [WhiteElo "2513"] [BlackElo "2710"] [PlyCount "113"] [EventDate "2006.11.12"] [EventType "team"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "HUN"] [SourceTitle "EXT 2008"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2007.11.25"] [WhiteTeam "Postas/MTK"] [BlackTeam "Nagykanizsa"] [WhiteTeamCountry "HUN"] [BlackTeamCountry "HUN"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 c5 5. g3 b6 6. Bg2 Bb7 7. O-O O-O 8. Bf4 d5 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Ne5 Nbd7 11. Rc1 Qe7 12. Nxd7 Qxd7 13. dxc5 Bxc5 14. Be5 Rad8 15. Bd4 Be7 16. Qb3 Ne4 17. Rfd1 Qf5 18. Qc2 Qe6 19. e3 h5 20. Qa4 a6 21. Qb3 Rd6 22. Nxe4 dxe4 23. Qxe6 Rxe6 24. Rc7 Ba8 25. Ra7 b5 26. Bh3 f5 27. Bxf5 Rxf5 28. Rxa8+ Kf7 29. Ra7 g5 30. Rc1 Kg6 31. Rac7 a5 32. b3 g4 33. Ra7 Bd8 34. Rc8 Rd6 35. Rg7+ Kh6 36. Rg8 Bf6 37. Bxf6 Rdxf6 38. Rh8+ Kg7 39. Rcg8+ Kf7 40. Rf8+ Ke6 41. Rxf6+ Kxf6 42. Rf8+ Ke6 43. Re8+ Kd5 44. Ra8 Kc5 45. Rxa5 Kb4 46. Ra6 Re5 47. a4 Kc3 48. Rc6+ Kxb3 49. axb5 Rxb5 50. Re6 Kc3 51. Rxe4 Kd3 52. Rf4 Ke2 53. Kg2 Re5 54. h3 Rg5 55. e4 Rg8 56. hxg4 hxg4 57. e5 1-0 [Event "Thessaloniki Kalamaria op"] [Site "Thessaloniki"] [Date "2007.09.01"] [Round "9"] [White "Gelashvili, Tamaz"] [Black "Graf, Alexander"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E21"] [WhiteElo "2604"] [BlackElo "2595"] [PlyCount "91"] [EventDate "2007.08.25"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "GRE"] [SourceTitle "CBM 120 ext"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2007.11.01"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 c5 5. g3 b6 6. Bg2 Bb7 7. O-O O-O 8. d5 Bxc3 9. bxc3 Ne4 10. Qd3 f5 11. Nd2 Nd6 12. e4 Na6 13. e5 Nf7 14. f4 Rb8 15. a4 Nc7 16. d6 Na6 17. Bxb7 Rxb7 18. Nb3 Nb8 19. Be3 Nc6 20. Qe2 Kh8 21. h3 Rb8 22. Nd2 Na5 23. Kh2 Qc8 24. Rg1 Qc6 25. g4 Rg8 26. Rg2 Rbf8 27. Qd3 Qc8 28. Rag1 Nc6 29. Nf3 Qd8 30. gxf5 exf5 31. Ng5 Nxg5 32. Rxg5 g6 33. Bf2 Qe8 34. R5g2 h6 35. Qd5 Kh7 36. Bh4 g5 37. fxg5 Qxe5+ 38. Kh1 Qxc3 39. Be1 Qd4 40. g6+ Kg7 41. Re2 Qf6 42. Re7+ Nxe7 43. dxe7 Qxe7 44. Bc3+ Rf6 45. Re1 Qd8 46. Qf7+ 1-0 [Event "Wch Blitz 5th"] [Site "Moscow"] [Date "2009.11.18"] [Round "37"] [White "Karpov, Anatoly"] [Black "Polgar, Judit"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E21"] [WhiteElo "2619"] [BlackElo "2680"] [PlyCount "117"] [EventDate "2009.11.16"] [EventType "tourn (blitz)"] [EventRounds "42"] [EventCountry "RUS"] [EventCategory "19"] [SourceTitle "EXT 2010"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2009.11.30"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 c5 5. g3 b6 6. Bg2 Bb7 7. O-O O-O 8. d5 Bxc3 9. bxc3 Re8 10. Nh4 e5 11. e4 d6 12. Qd3 Nbd7 13. Bh3 Nf8 14. a4 Ng6 15. Ng2 a5 16. Ne3 Ne7 17. Kg2 Bc8 18. Bxc8 Qxc8 19. Rb1 Rb8 20. f3 Qd7 21. Qc2 Rf8 22. Bd2 Ne8 23. f4 f5 24. fxe5 dxe5 25. exf5 Nd6 26. g4 Nxc4 27. Nxc4 Qxd5+ 28. Kg3 Qxc4 29. Qb3 Qxb3 30. Rxb3 Rfd8 31. Bg5 Rd3+ 32. Rf3 Rxf3+ 33. Kxf3 Nd5 34. Ke4 c4 35. Ra3 Nf6+ 36. Bxf6 gxf6 37. Kd5 Re8 38. Ra2 e4 39. Re2 e3 40. Kd4 h5 41. h3 hxg4 42. hxg4 b5 43. axb5 a4 44. Kxc4 a3 45. Kb3 Ra8 46. Ka2 Ra5 47. Rxe3 Rxb5 48. Kxa3 Kg7 49. c4 Rb1 50. c5 Kh6 51. Ka4 Kg5 52. Re4 Rc1 53. Kb5 Rb1+ 54. Kc6 Rc1 55. Kb6 Rb1+ 56. Kc7 Rc1 57. c6 Kh4 58. Rb4 Kg3 59. Kb7 1-0 [Event "Asia-chT Tata Steel"] [Site "Kolkata"] [Date "2009.12.26"] [Round "5"] [White "Harikrishna, Penteala"] [Black "Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E21"] [WhiteElo "2672"] [BlackElo "2603"] [PlyCount "135"] [EventDate "2009.12.22"] [EventType "team"] [EventRounds "7"] [EventCountry "IND"] [SourceTitle "CBM 133 Extra"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2010.01.05"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. g3 c5 5. Nf3 b6 6. Bg2 Bb7 7. O-O O-O 8. Nb5 cxd4 9. Bf4 Nc6 10. Nd6 Bxd6 11. Bxd6 Re8 12. Nxd4 Na5 13. b3 Bxg2 14. Kxg2 Ne4 15. Nb5 Nb7 16. Bf4 e5 17. Be3 a6 18. Qd5 axb5 19. Qxe4 Na5 20. Rfd1 bxc4 21. b4 Nc6 22. Qxc4 b5 23. Qe4 Ra6 24. Rd2 Qa8 25. Bc5 Nd4 26. Qxa8 Raxa8 27. Bxd4 exd4 28. Kf1 Ra7 29. Rxd4 Kf8 30. Rd5 Rb8 31. Rc1 Rbb7 32. Rc2 Ra4 33. Rb2 Ke7 34. Rc5 g6 35. Ke1 Rba7 36. Rcc2 R7a6 37. h4 h5 38. Kd1 Re6 39. Rc5 Rea6 40. Rxb5 Rxa2 41. Kc2 R2a3 42. Re5+ Kd6 43. Re4 Kc7 44. e3 Rd6 45. Rf4 f5 46. b5 Kb6 47. Rc4 Ra8 48. Rc3 Rd5 49. Rd3 Rc5+ 50. Kd2 d5 51. Ke2 Ra5 52. Kf3 Raxb5 53. Rbd2 Kc6 54. Kf4 Kd6 55. Ra3 Rc4+ 56. Kg5 Ke5 57. f3 Rb6 58. Ra8 Rc3 59. Re8+ Re6 60. f4+ Kd6 61. Rd8+ Kc7 62. R8xd5 Rcxe3 63. R5d3 Rxd3 64. Rxd3 Rc6 65. Kh6 Ra6 66. Kg7 Rb6 67. Kf7 Rc6 68. Re3 1-0 [Event "Bundesliga 1213"] [Site "Germany"] [Date "2013.04.06"] [Round "14.7"] [White "Naumann, Alexander"] [Black "Feygin, Michael"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E20"] [WhiteElo "2535"] [BlackElo "2538"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "2012.10.20"] [EventType "team-tourn"] [EventRounds "15"] [EventCountry "GER"] [SourceTitle "CBM 154"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2013.05.15"] [WhiteTeam "Solingen"] [BlackTeam "Muelheim"] [WhiteTeamCountry "GER"] [BlackTeamCountry "GER"] 1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 c5 5. g3 b6 6. Bg2 Bb7 7. O-O O-O 8. d5 Bxc3 9. bxc3 d6 10. Nh4 e5 11. e4 Bc8 12. Qd3 a6 13. a4 Ra7 14. h3 Ne8 15. Nf5 Rb7 16. Ne3 g6 17. Kh2 Re7 18. Bd2 Ng7 19. Ng4 Bxg4 20. hxg4 f6 21. f4 Nd7 22. Rae1 Ref7 23. f5 g5 24. Bf3 Ne8 25. Ra1 1/2-1/2