C17 French: 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 sidelines (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.dxc5)

With this game there are now 150 different opening variations covered in this blog!! It is mind-boggling to notice how many different openings I have played, I guess if I had studied my games more before starting this blog, I would have realized this maybe years earlier... The game below is taken from round one of the French 2014 tournament. It is a thematic tournament where the starting position is after the moves 1.e4 e6 have been played. Round one is still ongoing in my group but I have finished all my games for this round. The round one was nice for me as I got to play against two titled players, FM Juergen Kaufeld and IM Kacper Drozdowski. I managed to only get a draw against FM Kaufeld from our two games but I am happy to get even that. Surprisingly I had a better result against IM Drozdowski getting a win and losing the other one. I also notice now when I look at the tournament results table that I am actually advancing to the next round which I was not expecting at all to do. I finished third in my group, half a point ahead of the player who finished fourth. As the opponent below lost this game on time, my advancement to the next round is not the most glorious one of all time. I do not think there is any luck in a game of chess but I got maybe lucky win on time on this one as this enabled my advancement and the draw I got against the FM. Today I have added more mate in one and mate in two puzzles. Mate in one has now 100 different puzzles to solve!

[Event "French 2014 - Round 1"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2014.08.07"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "Majareta24"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C17"] [WhiteElo "1848"] [BlackElo "1592"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (5s), TV"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 {C17 French Defense: Winawer Variation. Advance Variation} 5. dxc5 {C17 French: 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 sidelines} Bxc3+ { 0.17/20} (5... Nc6 $15 {-0.56/20}) 6. bxc3 $11 Qc7 {0.74/18} (6... Ne7 $11 { -0.01/22 keeps the balance.}) 7. Qd4 {-0.35/22} (7. Nf3 $16 {0.74/18} Nd7 (7... Qxc5 8. Bd2 Ne7 9. Bd3 Qc7 10. O-O Nbc6 11. Re1 Ng6 12. Qe2 b6 13. h4 Bb7 14. h5 Nge7 15. Nd4 a6 16. Rab1 O-O 17. h6 Nxd4 18. cxd4 f5 19. exf6 Rxf6 20. Bg5 Raf8 21. hxg7 R8f7 22. Bxf6 {Richter,L (2257)-Diller,P (1966) Leipzig 2018 1-0} ) 8. Be3 Nxc5 9. Qd4 Nd7 10. Bb5 a6 11. Bd3 Ne7 12. O-O Ng6 13. Rfe1 O-O 14. Qg4 Ngxe5 15. Nxe5 Nxe5 16. Qf4 Qxc3 17. Bd4 Nxd3 18. cxd3 Qxd3 19. Re3 Qf5 20. Qd6 e5 21. Rxe5 Qd7 22. Qa3 {Sarapu,O (2290)-Aturupane,H (2300) Dubai 1986 1-0} ) 7... Nd7 $146 {0.24/21} (7... Nc6 $15 {-0.35/22} 8. Bb5 Nge7) (7... Ne7 8. Nf3 Bd7 9. Bd3 Nbc6 10. Qf4 Rc8 11. O-O Ng6 12. Bxg6 hxg6 13. Re1 Ne7 14. Be3 Nf5 15. Bd4 Ba4 16. Re2 Bb5 17. Rd2 Bc4 18. a4 Qe7 19. g3 Rc6 20. Rb1 Ra6 21. c6 b6 22. Rb4 {Wohl,A (2419)-Abuin Boullon,M (2087) Ferrol 2002 1/2-1/2 (50)}) 8. Bb5 {-0.29/20} (8. Nf3 $142 {0.24/21}) 8... Ne7 9. Nf3 O-O {0.08/21} (9... Nf5 $15 {-0.41/19 deserves consideration.} 10. Qf4 O-O) 10. Ba3 $1 Nf5 11. Qb4 $2 {-1.72/19 [#]} (11. Qf4 $1 $11 {0.09/21 and White has nothing to worry.}) 11... Nxe5 $19 12. Nd2 {-1.92/20} (12. Nd4 $17 {-0.93/22}) 12... Nc6 $36 { Keeping White busy.} 13. Qb2 {-2.23/18} (13. Qb3 {-1.77/22 was called for.}) 13... a6 {-1.10/22} (13... Qe5+ $19 {-2.23/18} 14. Kf1 Qf6) 14. Be2 $17 d4 $2 { 0.00/21} (14... Qf4 $17 {-1.56/19} 15. Rd1 Rb8) 15. cxd4 {-0.92/20} (15. Bd3 $11 {0.00/21 remains equal.}) 15... Nfxd4 {[#] White must now prevent ...Qe5.} 16. Bd3 Qe5+ 17. Kf1 Qf4 18. Ne4 e5 19. Qc1 Qg4 {-0.27/21} ({Black should play } 19... Qh4 $17 {-0.93/18}) 20. c3 {-1.34/18} (20. h4 $11 {-0.27/21}) 20... Bf5 {0.00/25} (20... Nb5 $1 $17 {-1.34/18} 21. f3 Qh4) 21. Qe3 {-1.16/22} (21. f3 $1 $11 {0.00/25} Nxf3 22. h3) 21... Nb5 22. Bb2 Rfd8 {-0.80/21} (22... Rad8 $142 {-1.35/18 And now ...Rxd3! would win.} 23. f3 Qf4) 23. f3 {-1.25/20} (23. Re1 $142 {-0.80/21}) 23... Qf4 {-0.67/25} (23... Qg6 $17 {-1.25/20} 24. Kf2 Nc7 ) 24. Ke2 Bxe4 {-0.16/22} ({Better is} 24... Qh4 $17 {-1.06/17}) 25. Qxe4 $11 Qh6 {0.09/25} (25... Qg5 $15 {-0.58/20} 26. Qxh7+ Kf8) 26. a4 {-0.44/21} (26. Rad1 $11 {0.09/25}) 26... Nc7 $1 $15 {...Nd5 is the strong threat.} 27. Bc1 $1 Qh5 {0.00/26} (27... Qg6 $15 {-0.41/22} 28. Qxg6 hxg6) 28. Be3 $2 {-1.85/23 Accuracy: White = 33%, Black = 28%. . Loss on time!?} (28. Bc4 $11 {0.00/26 and White is okay.}) 1-0