C50 Hungarian Defence and Giuoco Pianissimo (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O h6)

The game I am sharing today was played in a team match called Match Name: TMCL 2016 Sub-Div. C3,R5. It was played between Wallyjack's United Nations For Chess and Kopaonik on 52 boards. I played on board 47 for Kopaonik and I managed to win both my games. The final score of the match was very one-sided, we won the match with a score 19.5 - 84.5! When I look at the board results now, there is something interesting that I have not seen before, on boards where one of the players have had their account closed due to cheating, the board results are 0-0. This is true even in cases where only one of the players had cheated. I have no idea when this change has been made because this is the first time I noticed it, it used to be that the score was not changed for any reason.

This game was decided very early on, the losing move was seen when my opponent played 9...Qe7. The queen landed on an awkward square where it was attacked easily with the move 10.Nd5. The queen moved back to d8, which meant that bsankar had basically given me a free move. It is something that you can't do against me and expect not to be punished from it, especially in this position. It was much better to move the queen to d7, because in that case I would not have won a pawn, like I did in the game continuation.

When I see a way to win material, I usually go for it, unless I see a severe punishment from it. I did not see one now, so the game continued 11.Nxb6 axb6 12.Bxf7+. After that I was up a pawn and since the king needed to move as well, bsankar lost the right to castle and the remainder of the game was smooth sailing for me.

[Event "Match Name: TMCL 2016 Sub-Div. C3,R5 - B"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.05.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "bsankar"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "1821"] [BlackElo "1409"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O h6 {C50 Hungarian Defence and Giuoco Pianissimo} 5. c3 d6 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4 Bb6 8. Nc3 (8. Be3 Nge7 (8... Nf6 9. Nc3 O-O 10. h3 Qe7 11. Bd3 Bd7 12. a3 Rfe8 13. Re1 Qe6 14. d5 Qe7 15. dxc6 Bxc6 16. Bxb6 axb6 17. Nd4 Qd7 18. Nxc6 Qxc6 19. Bb5 Qc5 20. Bxe8 Rxe8 21. Rc1 Qc4 22. Qf3 Qc5 23. Nd5 {Kasumovic,M (1989)-Osmic,E Lukavac 2016 1-0 (59)}) 9. Nc3 a6 10. a3 Ba7 11. b4 Ng6 12. Qd3 Nce7 13. Rfe1 Be6 14. d5 Bxe3 15. dxe6 Bf4 16. exf7+ Kf8 17. Nd4 Ne5 18. Ne6+ {1-0 (18) Rodriguez Vila,A (2505)-Martins,S (2060) Cuiaba 2011}) 8... Bg4 9. Qb3 $146 {White has a very active position} ( 9. Be3 Bxf3 10. Qxf3 Qf6 11. Qe2 Bxd4 12. Nd5 Qd8 13. Rfd1 Bxe3 14. Qxe3 Qd7 15. Bb5 a6 16. Ba4 b5 17. Bb3 f6 18. f4 O-O-O 19. Rac1 Nge7 20. Nxe7+ Nxe7 21. Qa7 c5 22. Qxa6+ Qb7 23. Be6+ Kb8 {Engfer,K (1599)-Mustafa,R (1191) Germany 2002 1-0 (42)}) (9. h3 Bh5 10. g4 Bg6 11. a3 a6 12. Bf4 f6 13. Rc1 Qd7 14. e5 O-O-O 15. exd6 cxd6 16. Re1 Bf7 17. Nd5 Bxd5 18. Bxd5 Re8 19. Rxe8+ Qxe8 20. Qb3 Bc7 21. Be6+ Kb8 22. Re1 Nge7 23. Bd5 Ka8 {Klein,T (1457)-Roth,M (1390) Mainz 1997 0-1 (38)}) (9. Bb5 $142 Bd7 10. h3 $16) 9... Qe7 $4 {gives the opponent counterplay} (9... Qd7 $142 {would allow Black to play on} 10. Bb5 Bxf3 11. gxf3 Bxd4 $11) 10. Nd5 $18 Qd8 $2 (10... Na5 $142 11. Qc3 Qd8 $18) 11. Nxb6 axb6 12. Bxf7+ Kf8 13. Bxg8 Rxg8 14. d5 Na5 (14... Na7 {does not solve anything} 15. e5 Rh8 16. Bf4 $18) 15. Qe3 Bxf3 16. Qxf3+ (16. gxf3 $6 Qf6 17. Qd3 b5 $18) 16... Qf6 17. Qxf6+ gxf6 18. Bxh6+ Kf7 19. Rfc1 Rg6 (19... c5 { a last effort to resist the inevitable} 20. b4 $1 {Decoy: b4} Kg6 $18) 20. Rxc7+ Kg8 21. Bf4 Re8 (21... Nb3 {the last chance for counterplay} 22. Rd1 Nc5 23. Bxd6 Nxe4 $18) 22. f3 Rg7 23. Rac1 Rd8 (23... b5 {doesn't change the outcome of the game} 24. b3 Ree7 25. Bxd6 $18) 24. b4 Rxc7 25. Rxc7 (25. bxa5 { is impossible} Rxc1+ 26. Bxc1 bxa5 $17) 25... Ra8 26. bxa5 Rxa5 27. Rxb7 b5 ( 27... Rxa2 {does not save the day} 28. Bxd6 Rb2 29. Be7 Rb1+ 30. Kf2 f5 31. exf5 Rd1 32. d6 Kf7 33. Bg5+ Kg8 34. d7 b5 35. d8=Q+ Rxd8 36. Bxd8 b4 37. h4 Kf8 38. h5 Ke8 39. h6 Kxd8 40. Rg7 b3 41. h7 b2 42. h8=Q#) 28. Bxd6 Rxa2 29. Rxb5 (29. Bb4 Ra4 30. Rxb5 Ra7 31. Kf2 Kg7 32. h4 Kg6 33. g4 Kf7 34. Rb8 Rd7 35. h5 Kg7 36. Kg3 Kf7 37. Kf4 Kg7 38. Kf5 Ra7 39. h6+ Kxh6 40. Bc3 Kh7 41. Bxf6 Rg7 42. d6 Rg5+ 43. Bxg5 Kg7 44. d7 Kh7 45. d8=Q Kg7 46. Qg8#) 29... Kf7 ( 29... Ra1+ {doesn't get the bull off the ice} 30. Kf2 Ra2+ 31. Kg3 Ra7 32. Rc5 Rg7+ 33. Kf2 Rd7 34. Rc8+ Kf7 35. Rc7 Ke8 36. Rxd7 Kxd7 37. Ba3 Kd8 38. h4 f5 39. exf5 Kd7 40. f6 Ke8 41. d6 Kd8 42. f7 Kd7 43. f8=Q Kc6 44. Qa8+ Kb5 45. Qb7+ Kc4 46. Ke2 Kd4 47. Qe4+ Kc3 48. Qd3#) 30. Rb7+ Kg6 31. Bf4 Ra6 (31... f5 {does not improve anything} 32. e5 Ra1+ 33. Kf2 Ra2+ 34. Kg3 Ra8 35. h4 Rg8 36. d6 Kh5+ 37. Bg5 f4+ 38. Kxf4 Rf8+ 39. Bf6 Kg6 40. d7 Ra8 41. d8=Q Rxd8 42. Bxd8 Kh5 43. g4+ Kh6 44. Bg5+ Kg6 45. h5#) 32. d6 (32. h4 Ra1+ 33. Kh2 Rb1 34. h5+ Kxh5 35. Rg7 Rb2 36. Kh3 Rxg2 37. Kxg2 f5 38. exf5 Kh4 39. Rh7#) 32... Ra8 ( 32... Ra1+ {is not the saving move} 33. Kf2 Ra8 34. g4 f5 35. gxf5+ Kf6 36. Re7 Ra2+ 37. Kg3 Rg2+ 38. Kh3 Rg1 39. Be5+ Kg5 40. Rg7+ Kh6 41. Rxg1 Kh7 42. d7 Kh6 43. d8=Q Kh7 44. Qh8#) 33. d7 (33. g4 f5 34. gxf5+ Kf6 35. Re7 Ra1+ 36. Kg2 Ra5 37. Kh3 Rb5 38. Bg3 Kg5 39. f4+ Kh6 40. Bh4 Rb3+ 41. Kg4 Rg3+ 42. Kxg3 Kh5 43. Rh7#) 33... Rd8 34. Be3 Kf7 35. Bb6 Rxd7 36. Rxd7+ Ke6 37. Rd5 (37. Rd5 f5 38. Rxf5 Ke7 39. g4 Kd6 40. Rf6+ Ke7 41. g5 Ke8 42. g6 Kd7 43. e5 Ke8 44. g7 Kd7 45. g8=Q Ke7 46. Qe6#) 1-0

I was actually surprised to find any games between 2200+ players where 4...h6 had been played, because it is a very questionable move. These two were the only ones that I was able to find and in both cases the player controlling the white pieces won the game.

[Event "Havana op"] [Site "Havana"] [Date "1994.??.??"] [Round "3"] [White "De la Paz Perdomo, Frank"] [Black "Velez, Nestor"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2250"] [BlackElo "2265"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "1994.04.??"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "CUB"] [SourceTitle "EXT 1997"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "1996.11.15"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O h6 5. c3 Qf6 6. d4 Bb6 7. dxe5 Nxe5 8. Nxe5 Qxe5 9. Kh1 Ne7 10. Nd2 d6 11. f4 Qf6 12. Qe2 O-O 13. Bd3 Nc6 14. Nc4 Re8 15. a4 Be6 16. Ne3 Bxe3 17. Bxe3 Re7 18. Qh5 Rae8 19. Rf3 Bd7 20. Rg3 Rxe4 21. Bxe4 Rxe4 22. Qd5 Re8 23. Qd2 Qf5 24. b4 Re4 25. h3 Ne7 26. Rf3 Qe6 27. g4 Bc6 28. Kh2 f5 29. b5 Bd5 30. Rg3 Bb3 31. a5 fxg4 32. hxg4 Nd5 33. f5 Qe5 34. Re1 Rxg4 35. Bf2 Rh4+ 36. Kg1 Qxf5 37. Bd4 Rg4 38. Rxg4 Qxg4+ 39. Qg2 Qxg2+ 40. Kxg2 1-0 [Event "Nova Gorica op 01st"] [Site "Nova Gorica"] [Date "1996.??.??"] [Round "1"] [White "Zelcic, Robert"] [Black "Zeleznik, Alojz"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2495"] [BlackElo "2280"] [PlyCount "41"] [EventDate "1996.01.??"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "SLO"] [SourceTitle "CBM 051 ext"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "1996.05.01"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 h6 4. O-O Bc5 5. c3 Nf6 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4 Bb6 8. e5 Nh7 9. d5 Ne7 10. d6 Ng6 11. Qc2 Ngf8 12. Nc3 Ne6 13. Nd5 cxd6 14. exd6 O-O 15. Ne7+ Kh8 16. Qf5 Nd4 17. Nxd4 Bxd4 18. Bxf7 Rxf7 19. Qxf7 Nf6 20. Bxh6 Ng4 21. Be3 1-0