C68 Spanish Game: Exchange Variation, sidelines (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.Nc3 Bd6 6.d4)

This game is from the first round of the Ruy Lopez tournament that is in progress at Chess.com. I have finished now 12 of the 22 games that I need to play on round one and I won them all. The twelve points I have gathered put me in fifth place at the moment. I am currently the only player in the group without any point losses, so things are looking good for me. The 96 players who have taken part in this tournament were divided in 12 player groups. From each group 3 players will advance to the next round. This will be one of my longest tournaments because the thinking times are 14 days per move and also because only half of the games will start with each round. So there will be only one game against a certain opponent at a time. I played quite badly in the earlier part of the game and only got back in the game and in a winning position after my opponent blundered with 21.Rxe6?? and I managed turn the game around. I did not see the best way to win but instead something that was adequate. I have added four mate in twos and one mate in three today.

[Event "Ruy Lopez - Round 1"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2014.10.10"] [Round "?"] [White "bzalasky"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C68"] [WhiteElo "1585"] [BlackElo "1905"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (5s), TV"] [PlyCount "44"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. Nc3 {C68 Spanish Game: Exchange Variation. Keres Variation} Bd6 6. d4 {-0.29/21 C68 Spanish Game: Exchange Variation, sidelines} (6. h3 {0.15/21 should be considered.}) 6... Qe7 $2 { 1.37/21} (6... exd4 $1 $11 {-0.29/21} 7. Qxd4 f6) 7. dxe5 {0.92/22} (7. Nxe5 $142 {1.37/21} Bxe5 8. dxe5) 7... Bxe5 $16 8. O-O $146 {-0.32/24} (8. Nxe5 $16 {1.36/17 Threatens to win with Bf4.} Qxe5 9. Qf3 (9. Be3 Nf6 10. Bd4 (10. f3 Bd7 11. Qd2 O-O-O 12. Bd4 Qe7 13. O-O-O Be6 14. Qf2 b6 15. Qh4 Rhe8 16. g4 c5 17. Bxf6 Qxf6 18. Qxf6 gxf6 19. Rxd8+ Rxd8 20. h4 b5 21. a3 Bc4 22. Rh2 Rg8 23. Nd1 Kd7 24. Ne3 Be6 {Janev,E (2503)-Ibryamov,I (2115) Plovdiv 2012 1-0 (48)}) ( 10. f4 Qd6 11. Qxd6 cxd6 12. O-O-O Ng4 13. Bb6 O-O 14. h3 Nf6 15. Rxd6 Be6 16. f5 Bc4 17. b3 Bb5 18. a4 Be2 19. Nxe2 Nxe4 20. Rd7 Rfe8 21. Nf4 h6 22. Kb2 Rab8 23. g4 Kf8 24. Rhd1 c5 {Jamroz,V (1587)-Postans,H (1405) Llandudno 2017 1-0 (46)}) (10. Qd4 Qe7 11. O-O-O h6 12. Qc5 Qxc5 13. Bxc5 Be6 14. f3 Nd7 15. Bf2 O-O-O 16. Rd2 b5 17. Rhd1 Ne5 18. b3 f6 19. Rxd8+ Rxd8 20. Ne2 Rxd1+ 21. Kxd1 a5 22. Bc5 Nd7 23. Be7 c5 24. Kd2 c6 {Loewy,L-Strobl,O Vienna 1909 1-0 (55)}) 10... Qg5 11. Qf3 Nh5 12. Be3 Qg6 13. h3 Nf6 14. Bd4 Nd7 15. O-O-O O-O 16. g4 f6 17. Qg3 Qg5+ 18. Be3 Qa5 19. Bf4 Ne5 20. g5 Nc4 21. gxf6 Rxf6 22. Rd8+ Kf7 23. Bg5 Qb4 {Spichkin,A (2161)-Basencyan,M (1823) Moscow 2008 1-0})) 8... Bxc3 {0.12/22} (8... Bg4 $1 $15 {-0.32/24}) 9. bxc3 $11 Qc5 $2 {1.83/18} (9... h6 $11 {0.11/23}) 10. Qd3 {0.64/22} ({White should try} 10. Bf4 $18 {1.83/18}) 10... Nf6 {1.25/20} (10... Be6 $14 {0.64/22}) 11. c4 {0.00/19} ({White should play} 11. a4 $16 {1.25/20}) 11... O-O $2 {4.22/21} (11... Be6 $11 {0.00/19 and Black has nothing to worry.}) 12. e5 $18 Nd7 13. Ng5 {[#]} g6 14. e6 Ne5 $2 { 5.48/22} (14... fxe6 {2.71/23 was necessary.} 15. Nxe6 Qf5) 15. exf7+ Nxf7 16. Nxf7 Rxf7 17. Bh6 $2 {0.00/25} (17. Bb2 $18 {4.57/23 Strongly threatening Qc3.} Qf8 18. Rfe1) 17... Bf5 {0.73/22} (17... Be6 $11 {0.00/25}) 18. Qc3 {0.00/24} ( 18. Qb3 $16 {0.73/22}) 18... Rd8 {1.16/18} (18... Be6 $11 {0.00/24 remains equal.}) 19. Rad1 $16 Rd6 $2 {7.74/18} (19... Bd7 $16 {1.11/26}) 20. Rfe1 $2 { 1.18/25} (20. Be3 $18 {7.74/18 and the rest is easy.} Rxd1 21. Bxc5 Rxf1+ 22. Kxf1) 20... Be6 21. Rxe6 $2 {-#3/80 [#]} (21. Qg3 $16 {1.49/23} Bd7 22. Rb1) 21... Rxd1+ 22. Re1 Qxf2+ {Accuracy: White = 22%, Black = 11%.} 0-1