B01 Scandinavian Defence (1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd6 4.d4 c6 5.Nf3)

This is now the second day in a row when my main post features a game that has a bit unfinished feel to it. That is because in both games my opponent, joesheppe, lost the game on time in a position where he was clearly better. This game was played on the first round of a tournament called 2015 December Quartets I 1800+. It is being played at Red Hot Pawn and I play in group 3. I have only one game left and I am on third place in this four player group. Because my opponent decided not to continue moving in these two games against me, he ended up being 4th in the final standings of this group. It is very likely that if these two games had ended normally, I would have lost both of them and I would have been the one on last place with 0 points. In case I somehow manage to win my last game against Pattrick06 (2283), I will tie on points for the second place in the group. It does not matter all that much as far as the tournament is concerned because neither of us will be able to advance to the second round no matter what happens in that game. That game is also the last one in progress in the group I am in.

The game below featured some inaccuracies from me that over time decreased my small advantage first to a drawish position and then to a position where I was worse. After the move 11.Ne4 I started to lose control of the position and my opponent was on the better side of things. That move could have been the initial point for my downfall in the game, but it was not because the timeouts saved me from the losses.

[Event "Quartets"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2015.12.21"] [Round "1"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "joesheppe"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B01"] [WhiteElo "1964"] [BlackElo "2035"] [Annotator "Stockfish 7 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "41"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd6 4. d4 c6 {Scandinavian Defense: Schiller-Pytel Variation} 5. Nf3 {B01 Scandinavian Defence} (5. Bc4 Nf6 6. Nge2 Bf5 7. Bf4 Qb4 {Scandinavian Defense: Schiller-Pytel Variation, Modern Variation}) 5... Bg4 6. Be2 Nf6 7. O-O e6 8. Bg5 Nbd7 9. Qd3 (9. Re1 Be7 10. h3 Bh5 11. Nh4 Bg6 12. Bf3 Nb6 13. Nxg6 hxg6 14. Qd3 O-O 15. Rad1 Rad8 16. Ne2 Qb4 17. Qb3 Qxb3 18. axb3 Nfd5 19. Bd2 Bf6 20. Ra1 Nc8 21. Bg4 Nde7 22. c3 Nf5 23. Bf4 Rd7 {Leon Hoyos,M (2543)-Lampl,G (2155) Bratto 2008 1-0}) (9. Qd2 Qc7 10. Rfe1 Bd6 11. h3 Bf5 12. Bd3 Bxd3 13. Qxd3 O-O-O 14. Ne4 Bf4 15. g3 Bxg5 16. Nfxg5 Nxe4 17. Nxe4 Ne5 18. Qc3 Rxd4 19. f4 Qb6 20. Kh1 Ng6 21. Ng5 Rd7 22. Re2 Rhd8 23. Rae1 h6 {Drozdov, V (1973)-Gergel,V (2202) Pardubice 2015 0-1 (73)}) 9... Be7 10. Rad1 O-O 11. Ne4 {N} (11. Qe3 Nd5 12. Nxd5 cxd5 13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14. c4 Nf6 15. c5 Qc7 16. h3 Bxf3 17. Bxf3 Rfe8 18. Rfe1 h6 19. b4 b5 20. Qd3 Qc6 21. Re2 a5 22. a3 axb4 23. axb4 Ra4 24. Rb2 Rb8 25. Be2 Ne4 {Toth,A (1657) -Salem,B Budapest 2010 0-1 (54)}) (11. h3 $5 {looks like a viable alternative} Bf5 12. Qd2 {=}) 11... Nxe4 {=/+} 12. Bxe7 Qxe7 13. Qxe4 Bf5 14. Qf4 Bxc2 15. Rc1 Bg6 16. Qc7 Rab8 17. Ne5 Rfd8 18. Qa5 Nxe5 19. dxe5 Ra8 20. f4 (20. Bf3 $5 {+/-}) 20... Bd3 21. Bxd3 (21. Bxd3 Rxd3 22. Rcd1 {+/-}) 1-0