During this whole COVID-19 mess I made the decision to change up some openings and while it’s going pretty well I’m not sure that I’d be ready to venture them in an OTB game. The ChessDojo Round Robin Tournament felt like a good place to try out my new 1.d4 repertoire at OTB time controls though. Round 2 was the first round I had white and the opening didn’t go as well as it should have, but I managed to get a good position and find a way to decide the game in an entertaining way.
[Event "ChessDojo Round Robin"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/6aupMw36"]
[Date "2020.05.08"]
[Round "2"]
[White "show_me_patzer"]
[Black "drewtuck"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2235"]
[BlackElo "2054"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]
[Termination "Normal"]
[UTCDate "2020.05.08"]
[UTCTime "03:05:11"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[ECO "D94"]
[Opening "Grünfeld Defense: Opocensky Variation"]
[Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/show_me_patzer"]
1. d4 { Over the last year or maybe even year and a half now I have played 1.c4 almost automatically. Most of my games with 1.c4 have led to closed positions and while I have done fairly well for the most part some of my other opening choices have led me to think that a more open game might give me better results. So I decided to change some things up. About this time Chessable released their Short and Sweet: 1.d4 course based on NM Daniel Barrish’s Queen’s Gambit repertoire and it gave me some inspiration to try out some main line 1.d4 stuff. } { [%clk 1:30:00] } 1... Nf6 { [%clk 1:30:00] } 2. c4 { [%clk 1:30:26] } g6 { [%clk 1:30:27] } 3. Nc3 { Here I thought we were heading for a King’s Indian Defense (KID), but… } { [%clk 1:30:47] } (3. f3 { After the game I checked Chessable for what to play as White } 3... d5 (3... Bg7 4. Nc3 O-O 5. e4 d6 { Transposes into the KID. }) 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nb6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. Be3 O-O 8. Qd2 { 8…Nc6 and 8…e5 are Black’s most common moves here, but White seems to have a good game. }) 3... d5 { Nope! The Grunfeld it is. The problem with trying out a new repertoire (especially when you haven’t spent much time with it) is that you’re going to quickly end up in positions where you don’t know what to do. } { [%clk 1:30:54] } 4. Bd2 { I knew that I didn’t want to mix it up with my opponent in a main line Grunfeld after 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 as I wasn’t familiar with it and my opponent almost certainly would be. I decided that this would be something that would likely take Black out of book and not cause White any trouble right off the bat. Of course playing this way means White is giving up an attempt for an opening advantage. } { [%clk 1:28:13] } (4. cxd5 { After our game, I saw in my Twitter feed that Anand had won a fantastic miniature against Nepo earlier in the day during the Online Nations Cup. It really is an awesome game so I can’t help but include it here. } 4... Nxd5 5. Bd2 Bg7 6. e4 Nxc3 7. Bxc3 c5 8. d5 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 Qd6 10. Qd2 O-O 11. f4 e6 12. Nf3 exd5 13. Bc4 Be6 14. O-O d4 15. f5 Bxc4 16. e5 Qd7 17. f6 { Anand, Viswanathan – Nepomniachtchi, Ian, 1-0, Online Nations Cup Prelim 2020 }) 4... Bg7 { [%clk 1:28:47] } 5. e3 { [%clk 1:27:36] } (5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. Bxc3 { Would transpose to the Anand – Nepomniachtchi game cited back on move 4. }) 5... O-O { [%clk 1:28:19] } 6. Nf3 { [%clk 1:27:14] } (6. Rc1 c5 7. dxc5 Na6 8. cxd5 Nxc5 { Is similar to what was played in the game. White is up a pawn, but Black has some pressure against the d pawn. White also needs to develop the king side before being able to castle. } 9. Bc4 Bf5 10. Nge2 Bd3 11. Bb3 Ba6 12. O-O Rc8 13. Rb1 { This move doesn’t make much sense to me. White moved the rook to c1 earlier, but now takes it off the c file. I guess trying to avoid Nd3? } 13... Qd6 { White should get the rook off the f1-a6 diagonal thereby removing the pin on the e2 knight. Failure to do so costs him the exchange in the next few moves. } 14. a3 Ng4 15. g3 Nxb3 16. Qxb3 Bxc3 17. Nxc3 Bxf1 18. Rxf1 Ne5 19. Kg2 Qf6 20. f4 Nc4 21. Bc1 Qb6 22. Qxb6 axb6 23. a4 f5 24. Rd1 Nd6 25. Rd4 Rc4 26. Rd3 Ne4 27. Bd2 Rfc8 28. Bc1 Nc5 29. Rd1 Rb4 30. Rd2 Nxa4 31. Nxa4 Rxa4 32. d6 Rd8 33. dxe7 Rxd2+ 34. Bxd2 Kf7 35. Bc3 Kxe7 36. Kf3 Ke6 37. g4 Kd5 38. gxf5 gxf5 39. h4 h5 40. Bf6 Ra1 41. Bd8 Rf1+ 42. Ke2 Rb1 43. Bf6 Ke4 { Cusi, Ronald – Yermolinsky, Alex, 0-1, Chicago op 12th, 2003, https://lichess.org/RifXLFb5 }) 6... c5 { [%clk 1:23:04] } (6... dxc4 7. Bxc4 Nbd7 8. e4 c5 9. d5 Ne8 10. Qe2 a6 11. a4 Nd6 12. Bd3 Ne5 13. Nxe5 Bxe5 14. O-O e6 15. Be3 exd5 16. Nxd5 Be6 17. Bxc5 Bxd5 18. exd5 Re8 19. Qd2 Rc8 20. Be3 Qf6 21. Bg5 Qg7 22. Bh6 Qf6 23. Bg5 Qg7 24. Bh6 Qf6 25. Bg5 { Mamedyarov, S. – Vachier Lagrave, M., 1/2-1/2, 6th Norway Chess 2018, https://lichess.org/tB7i5MNe }) 7. dxc5 { [%clk 1:25:18] } (7. cxd5 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Nxd5 9. Nxd5 Qxd5 { Seems just fine for Black. }) 7... Na6 { [%clk 1:23:21] } 8. cxd5 { [%clk 1:23:14] } Nxc5 { [%clk 1:23:39] } 9. Bc4 { [%clk 1:23:34] } a6 { This move is played slightly more frequently than 9…Bf5, but has better results for Black } { [%clk 1:24:02] } (9... Bf5 10. O-O Rc8 11. Be1 Nce4 12. Qe2 Bg4 13. Nxe4 Nxe4 14. h3 Bxf3 15. gxf3 Ng5 16. f4 Nf3+ 17. Kg2 Nxe1+ 18. Raxe1 Qd6 19. Bb3 Rc5 20. Rc1 Rfc8 21. Rxc5 Rxc5 22. Rd1 b5 23. Qd2 a5 24. Qxa5 Bxb2 25. Qd2 Bc3 26. Qe2 Bf6 27. Qg4 Rc3 28. f5 Kg7 29. fxg6 hxg6 30. h4 Kh6 31. Rh1 Qe5 32. Rd1 Qd6 33. Kh3 Rc5 34. Rg1 Qe5 35. Rd1 Qd6 36. Qg3 Rc8 37. Rg1 Be5 38. Qg4 Rh8 39. Rc1 Kg7 40. Kg2 f5 41. Qh3 Bf6 { Dreev, A. – Artemiev, V., 1/2-1/2, 15th ch-EUR Indiv 2014, https://lichess.org/7DiU3nNe }) 10. a4 { [%clk 1:20:33] } b6 { [%clk 1:22:42] } 11. O-O { [%clk 1:18:33] } Bb7 { [%clk 1:22:57] } 12. b4 { [%clk 1:15:34] } Nce4 { [%clk 1:20:08] } 13. Rc1 { [%clk 1:14:35] } Nxd2 { The knight was situated nicely on e4, I’m not sure that giving it up for the rather lame bishop on d2 was a good idea. } { [%clk 1:14:16] } (13... Qd7 14. Qc2 { Now Black is forced to trade the knight. } 14... Nxd2 15. Qxd2 Rfc8 16. Qd3 Qc7 17. Ba2 Qd6 18. Rb1 e6 19. Rfd1 Qc7 20. Rbc1 Nxd5 21. Nxd5 Qxc1 22. Nxb6 Qc3 23. Qxc3 Rxc3 24. Nxa8 Bxa8 25. b5 Ra3 26. Rd8+ Bf8 27. Rxa8 Rxa2 28. g3 axb5 29. a5 { Sgarito, Carmelo – Sutkalenko, Dmitry Nikolaevich, 1/2-1/2, ITA-EUR 2015, https://lichess.org/YEBZG7Jh }) 14. Qxd2 { [%clk 1:14:46] } Qd6 { [%clk 1:14:32] } 15. b5 { [%clk 1:12:47] } Rfd8 { [%clk 1:08:05] } (15... axb5 { Gives White a nice outpost on b5 for the knight. } 16. Nxb5 Qb8 17. Qa2 { Covering both a4 and d5 (which was attacked twice). } 17... Ne4 18. Nfd4 { Reinforcing the knight on b5 and (more importantly) threatening to hop to c6. The threat is strong enough that Black is obliged to give up his dark squared bishop. } 18... Bxd4 19. Nxd4 Nc5 20. Nc6 Qd6 21. Bb5 { White is very close to consolidating, but Black has some pressure White must play carefully. }) 16. Rfd1 { [%clk 1:10:01] } Qb4 { [%clk 0:57:44] } 17. bxa6 { [%clk 1:03:11] } Bxa6 { [%clk 0:55:21] } 18. Bxa6 { [%clk 1:03:27] } Rxa6 { [%clk 0:55:48] } 19. Qd3 { [%clk 1:03:49] } (19. Nd4 { Aiming to get the knight to the c6 outpost would be stronger. } 19... Rda8 20. Nc6 Qd6 { White’s position is very good, but there doesn’t seem to be a forceful way to continue. The best way seems to be a quiet move like } 21. h3 { which restricts Black’s knight and waiting for him to go wrong while trying to make progress. }) 19... Ra5 { [%clk 0:53:11] } 20. Nd4 { [%clk 0:59:31] } Rc5 { [%clk 0:44:12] } 21. Nc6 { A devious move. White is sacrificing the queen, but the White pawn on c6 proves difficult to stop. } { [%clk 0:53:32] } 21... Rxc6 { Black doesn’t have much of a choice as the knight was forking queen and rook. } { [%clk 0:43:56] } 22. dxc6 { [%clk 0:53:59] } Rxd3 { [%clk 0:44:25] } 23. Rxd3 { [%clk 0:54:08] } Qc4 { [%clk 0:44:02] } (23... Ne8 { Puts up a more stubborn defense. } 24. Rd8 Be5 25. Rxe8+ Kg7 26. Nb5 { Now things are not so clear. }) 24. Rd8+ { [%clk 0:54:15] } Bf8 { [%clk 0:44:30] } 25. Ne2 { [%clk 0:54:30] } Qxe2 { [%clk 0:39:36] } 26. c7 { 1-0 Black resigns. } { The pawn is unstoppable. } { [%clk 0:54:56] } 1-0
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Some takeaways from this game: