A06 Réti Opening: 1.Nf3 d5 (1.Nf3 d5 2.b3 c5 3.Bb2 Nf6 4.e3 Nc6 5.Bb5 Bg4 6.h3 Bh5)

This was played on the third round of a close chess tournament that was played at Helsinki in January 2006. In the first two rounds of this tournament, I had already lost two games and this game continued on in that grim path. That path did not end here and I actually lost the fourth round game as well. Only on the fifth and final round did I manage to get a win under my belt. Of course that was too late to make the tournament a good one for me and I indeed lost a lot of rating points as a result. The only thing that kept my rating plummeting faster, was the fact that four of my five opponents were higher rated than me. Not only did the year 2006 start very poorly for me, but it also continued in that same downward path the whole year and I think this was the worst chess year of my life, so far anyway... Whenever I have played well in over the board tournaments, I have been able to fully concentrate on the games, but when things happen outside the board that are constantly diverting my thoughts away from the game, it clearly shows in the results of the games.

[Event "KäpSK"] [Site "?"] [Date "2006.01.21"] [Round "3"] [White "Akkanen, Timo"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A06"] [WhiteElo "1806"] [BlackElo "1760"] [Annotator "Tactical Analysis 2.10 (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "2006.01.20"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. b3 {A06 Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Classical Variation} c5 3. Bb2 Nf6 4. e3 Nc6 5. Bb5 Bg4 6. h3 Bh5 {0.73/23 A06 Réti Opening: 1.Nf3 d5} (6... Bd7 $11 {0.00/26 keeps the balance.}) 7. Bxc6+ bxc6 8. g4 Bg6 9. Ne5 {0.21/22} (9. d3 $14 {0.64/24}) 9... Qb6 {1.44/22 [#]} (9... Nd7 $11 {0.21/22}) 10. d3 {0.56/23} (10. h4 $1 $16 {1.44/22}) 10... e6 {1.44/23} (10... Nd7 $1 $14 {0.56/23}) 11. h4 $16 {Black must now prevent h5.} h6 {1.75/25} (11... h5 $16 {0.99/24 is a better defense.}) 12. Nd2 {1.17/25} (12. Qf3 $18 {1.75/25}) 12... Bd6 {1.86/21} (12... c4 $16 {1.17/25}) 13. Nxg6 {1.00/23} (13. Qe2 $18 {1.86/21}) 13... fxg6 14. f4 $146 {0.27/24} (14. Qf3 $18 {1.66/22}) (14. Qe2 Qb4 15. Rg1 c4 16. dxc4 Ne4 17. a3 Qxd2+ 18. Qxd2 Nxd2 19. Kxd2 dxc4 20. Bxg7 Rh7 21. Bc3 cxb3 22. cxb3 Rb8 23. Kc2 Rhb7 24. Rgd1 Be7 25. Be5 Rc8 26. h5 Rb5 27. f4 gxh5 28. gxh5 Bf8 { Saheli,N (2102)-Cruz,K Negombo 2003 1-0 (43)}) (14. c4 Ke7 15. Qe2 Bc7 16. O-O-O a5 17. g5 hxg5 18. hxg5 Nh5 19. Kc2 Rhb8 20. Rxh5 gxh5 21. Qxh5 Rg8 22. Qg6 Qb8 23. Bxg7 Qe8 24. Bf6+ Kd7 25. Qxe8+ Raxe8 26. f4 Bd8 27. Bxd8 Kxd8 28. Nf3 Ke7 {Ganichev,B (2060)-Sharoyko,M Kemerovo 2011 1-0 (70)}) 14... d4 $2 { 1.83/21 [#]} (14... c4 $11 {0.27/24}) 15. Nc4 {1.16/24} ({White should try} 15. Qe2 $1 $18 {1.83/21}) 15... Qc7 16. exd4 $2 {-0.54/23} (16. Qe2 $18 {1.86/21}) 16... cxd4 {0.82/22} (16... Bxf4 $15 {-0.54/23 stays ahead.} 17. Qe2 cxd4) 17. Qe2 {-0.07/26} ({White should play} 17. Bxd4 $16 {0.82/22 Threatens to win with Qe2.} Bxf4 18. Qe2) 17... Bb4+ $11 18. Kd1 Qxf4 {0.36/25} (18... O-O-O $1 $11 {-0.07/27}) 19. a3 $36 {White has good play.} Be7 {1.52/23} (19... Bc3 $1 $14 {0.36/28}) 20. Qxe6 $2 {-0.10/30} (20. Ne5 $16 {1.52/23} Rg8 21. Rf1 (21. Nxc6 Rc8 $14) (21. Nxg6 Qxg4 22. Qxg4 Nxg4 $14)) 20... Qf3+ 21. Kd2 Qf2+ $4 { 5.11/23} (21... Qf4+ $11 {0.00/31 and Black stays safe.} 22. Ke2 Qxg4+ 23. Qxg4 Nxg4) 22. Kc1 $18 {White is clearly winning.} Qf4+ 23. Kb1 c5 24. Re1 Qc7 25. Nd6+ {Accuracy: White = 23%, Black = 14%.} 1-0