C78 Spanish Game: Archangelsk and Möller Defences (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Bc5 6.c3 O-O 7.d4 exd4 8.cxd4 Bb6)

My opponent in this game was probably the highest rated player that I had ever faced in correspondence chess for a very long time. Recently I was challenged by a player who was at the time of the challenge slightly below 2500 and I think that he is currently around 2550. I of course accepted the challenge as I had little to lose in that match up and possibly a lot to gain. There were two games, one with each color and I was completely outplayed and actually missed even the mate in one that concluded the first game. The second game is still in progress but it might very well be a short game as well. I will share those games some time in the future but there is a lot still to share from the Chess.com games. If you have any questions or maybe improvement suggestions about the blog, please leave a comment, I will answer to them the best I can.

[Event "Chessvideos.tv exclusive - Round 2"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2009.10.03"] [Round "?"] [White "Paddee"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C78"] [WhiteElo "2451"] [BlackElo "1682"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (5s), TV"] [PlyCount "37"] [EventDate "2009.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 (3... Bc5 4. c3 a6 {1-0 (20) Vishnjakova,S (2223) -Zolotov,A Armavir 2011}) 4. Ba4 Nf6 (4... Bc5 5. c3 (5. O-O) 5... Nf6 { 1-0 (23) Thanabalasingam,A (1871)-Von Koslowski,U (1691) Osnabrück 2012}) 5. O-O Bc5 {C78 Spanish Game: Morphy Defense. Neo-Archangelsk Variation} 6. c3 O-O 7. d4 exd4 8. cxd4 Bb6 {C78 Spanish Game: Archangelsk and Möller Defences} 9. e5 Nd5 10. Bb3 (10. Bc2 d6 11. Bxh7+ Kxh7 12. Ng5+ Kg8 13. Qd3 Re8 14. Qh7+ Kf8 15. Qh8+ Ke7 16. Qxg7 Rf8 17. exd6+ Qxd6 18. Re1+ Kd7 19. Nxf7 Bxd4 20. Qg4+ { 1-0 (20) Vishnjakova,S (2223)-Zolotov,A Armavir 2011}) (10. Nc3 Nxc3 11. bxc3 d5 12. Bc2 h6 13. Qd3 g6 14. Bxh6 Re8 15. Bg5 Ne7 16. Qe3 Kh7 17. Qf4 Rh8 18. Qxf7# {1-0 (18) Zhou,L (1454)-Fischer,D (1196) Willingen 2017}) 10... Nce7 11. Bg5 {[#] Bxd5 is the strong threat.White is better.} Qe8 12. Nbd2 $146 (12. Nc3 Nxc3 13. bxc3 h6 14. Bf4 Ng6 15. Bg3 Ba5 16. Qd3 Kh8 17. h4 f5 18. exf6 Rxf6 19. Rae1 Qf8 20. h5 Ne7 21. Bh4 d6 22. Bxf6 gxf6 23. Nh4 {1-0 (23) Thanabalasingam,A (1871)-Von Koslowski,U (1691) Osnabrück 2012}) 12... d6 { 1.36/21} (12... h6 $14 {0.61/18}) 13. Nc4 {0.73/25} (13. Re1 $142 $1 {1.36/21 And now exd6 would win.} dxe5 14. Rxe5) 13... dxe5 $16 14. Nxb6 ({Of course not } 14. Ncxe5 f6 $15) 14... Nxb6 15. Re1 Ng6 $2 {2.23/18 [#]} (15... Ned5 $16 { 0.72/22 was worth a try.}) 16. Nxe5 $18 {White is clearly better.} Nxe5 17. Rxe5 ({Don't take} 17. dxe5 $6 Be6 $16) 17... Qc6 18. Rc1 Qg6 19. Bc2 { Accuracy: White = 59%, Black = 43%.} 1-0

E11 Bogo-Indian (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Qe7 5.g3 Nc6 6.Bg2 O-O 7.O-O)

I have not played a single blitz game in maybe over a week, I have only made moves in my correspondence chess games. Today was somewhat easier day to make moves for some reason, I am maybe getting healthy again after some time being sick. I did even some Chess Mentor training again and looked a bit of Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual yesterday. Maybe after ten or so years I could even go through that book. I have started it many times but have not been able to continue past first few pages. Always something more important to do but I really should go through it couple of pages per day or something to not make it look like work. There are other chess books too that I have not been able to finish and what I can gather from some other chess players I know, this problem is not just with me. I do not know if the problem is in my head and how I look at life. Let's say I go through all the chess books that I have but I still end up sucking at the game, would my mind be able to handle with all that wasted time or would I go completely mad. I may need to try that out someday.

[Event "Chessvideos.tv exclusive - Round 2"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2009.12.02"] [Round "?"] [White "erad1288"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E11"] [WhiteElo "2140"] [BlackElo "1684"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (5s), TV"] [PlyCount "39"] [EventDate "2009.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 (2. Nf3 e6 {1/2-1/2 (7) Hernandez Onna,R (2430)-Galego,L (2440) Algarve 1997}) 2... e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Qe7 {E11 Bogo-Indian Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation} 5. g3 Nc6 (5... O-O 6. Bg2 {1/2-1/2 (7) Hernandez Onna, R (2430)-Galego,L (2440) Algarve 1997}) 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O {E11 Bogo-Indian} b6 {1.51/21} ({Black should play} 7... d6 $14 {0.33/22}) (7... Bxd2) 8. Ne5 $146 { 0.42/22} (8. Bg5 $16 {1.51/21} h6 9. Bxf6 Qxf6 10. a3 Be7 11. Ne5 Rd8 12. e3 Bb7 13. Qa4 a6 14. Nxd7 Rxd7 15. Bxc6 Bxc6 16. Qxc6 Rad8 17. Nc3 e5 18. Qxf6 Bxf6 19. d5 e4 20. Nxe4 Bxb2 21. Ra2 Re7 22. Nc5 bxc5 23. Rxb2 {Bobkov,V (1894) -Ismailov,A (1897) Sochi 2017 1/2-1/2 (54)}) (8. Bc1 a5 9. a3 Bd6 10. Nc3 Ba6 11. Qa4 Rab8 12. Nb5 Bxb5 13. cxb5 Nd8 14. Nd2 e5 15. dxe5 Bxe5 16. Nc4 Ne8 17. Rd1 Bf6 18. Qc2 Ne6 19. Ne3 Nd4 20. Qd3 c6 21. Kf1 Nc7 22. Ng4 Ndxb5 {Andreev, S (2255)-Genchev,E (1856) Sunny Beach 2011 1-0 (40)}) 8... Bb7 {1.84/19} (8... Bxd2 $1 $14 {0.42/22} 9. Nxd2 (9. Qxd2 Bb7 $14) (9. Nxc6 dxc6 10. Bxc6 Rb8 $16) 9... Bb7) 9. Bf4 $2 {0.27/23} ({White must play} 9. Bg5 $1 $18 {1.84/19}) 9... Bd6 $11 {White has an edge.} 10. Nc3 {0.25/21} (10. a3 $14 {0.68/20}) 10... Na5 {1.13/19} (10... h6 $11 {0.25/21 keeps the balance.}) 11. e4 {0.22/22} (11. Bg5 $16 {1.13/19}) 11... c5 {1.35/21} (11... Rfd8 $11 {0.22/22}) 12. dxc5 $1 $16 Bxe5 {1.42/23} (12... Bxc5 $142 {0.87/21} 13. Bg5 d6) 13. Bxe5 {[#] aiming for Bd6.} Nxc4 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15. Qd4 {0.10/25} ({White should try} 15. cxb6 $16 { 1.28/19} axb6 16. Qd4) 15... Qxc5 $11 16. Qxf6 Nxb2 17. Rac1 {[#] Hoping for Nd5.} Qh5 18. Bf3 {-0.51/24} (18. Rb1 $11 {0.19/26} Nd3 19. Nb5) 18... Qg6 $15 19. Qd4 Ba6 $2 {1.75/20} (19... Qg7 $1 $15 {-0.43/25 keeps the upper hand.} 20. Qxd7 Ba6) 20. Be2 {Accuracy: White = 15%, Black = 21%.} 1-0