I have included the time given by followchess.com. The players were at the board maybe half an hour, if that… Wondering what may have happened if either player had a backbone, I put the opening moves into the analysis program at Lichess.com and this was the result:
is about to participate in the Candidates tournament, which is held to determine a challenger for the title of World Chess Champion, and he is NOT a part of the Olympic team. Am I missing something here? Makes on wonder, does it not?
e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. g3 (The Glek variation, named for GM Igor Glek. The programs prefer 4 d4. The programs do not approve of first moving a pawn before moving the bishop, but we humans ask, “Where’s the fun in that?”) 4…d5 (Both Stockfish 14.1 and 15 play 4…Bc5) 5. exd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Nxc3 7. bxc3 Bd6 (SF 311221 @depth 56 prefers 7…Bc5; SF 14 @depth 50 will play 7…h6. The ChessBaseDataBase contains 362 games with 7…Bc5 and white has been held to scoring only 52%. In 251 games 7…Bd6 has allowed 56%. 7…h6 has yet to be played) 8. O-O O-O 9. d4 Bf5 (SF 12 plays 9…Re8)1.
1 d4 f5 2 g3 Nf6 3 Bg2 d6 4 Nf3 g6 5 O-O Bg7 6 b3 (Although Houdini plays this move Komodo and SF play 6 c4) 6…O-O (The most often played move but would play the little played 6…a5, expecting 7 c4 a4) 7 Bb2 c6 (7…Qe8 has been played a few more times than 7…c6, but SF 250819 at depth 49 plays 7…Ne4, expecting 8 Nbd2 c6. SF 10 @ depth 48 prefers the seldom played 7…e6, expecting 8 c4 Nc6) 8 c4 (SF 9 @ depth 42 plays 8 Nbd2) 8…a5 (SF 120119 @ depth 37 plays the most often played move, 8…Na6, but SF 10 @ depth 37 would play 8…Re8, a move not shown at the ChessBaseDataBase) 9 a3 (Both SF & Komodo play 9 Nc3) 9…Ne4 (This is a TN. Komodo plays Na6, the most often played move in the position. Houdini would play the new move played in the game, 9…Ne4, expecting 10 Nbd2 d5) 10. Nbd2 Nxd2 11. Qxd2 Nd7 12. Rfd1 Nf6 13. Qc2 Ne4 14. Ne1 Qe8 15. d5 Bxb2 16. Qxb2 g5 17. Qd4 Qg6 18. Rac1 c5 19. Qe3 Rf7 20. Nd3 Bd7 21. f3 Nf6 22. f4 h6 23. b4 axb4 24. axb4 b6 25. Ra1 Rxa1 26. Rxa1 Ng4 27. Qc1 Qf6 28. e3 gxf4
Reaching a critical position. What would you play as white?
29. gxf4? (According to the ChessBomb this is a dreaded BRIGHT RED MOVE. If this was your move you need to contemplate longer) Qh4 30. h3 Nf6 31. Qe1 Qh5 32. Ra8+ Kh7 33. bxc5 bxc5 34. Kh2 Rg7 35. Ra7 Bc8 36. Nc1 Ne4 37. Ne2 Qg6 38. Bf3 Qf6 39. Ra8 Bb7 40. Ra7 Bc8 41. Ra8 Bd7 42. Ra7 e6 43. dxe6 Qxe6 44. Qc1 Qf6 45. Bxe4 fxe4 46. Qf1 Qb2 47. f5 Qe5+ 48. Qf4 Qxf5 49. Qxf5+ Bxf5 50. Ra6 Be6 51. Rxd6 Bxc4 52. Ng3 Bd3 53. Rc6 Rg5 54. h4 Re5
55. h5? (ChessBomb shows this as a RED MOVE, but not as RED as the earlier RED MOVE, so we will call this one a BLOOD RED MOVE, because the Gator, as Gata is known in the Southern part of the USA, just caused a SELF INFLICTED WOUND)
c4 56. Kh3 Rg5 57. Kh4 Kg7 58. Rc7+ Kh8 59. Rc6 Kh7 60. Rc7+ Rg7? (Yet another BLEEDING MOVE. 60 Kg8 keeps the advantage. Now the game is even, according to the ChessBomb) 61. Rc6 (61 Rc5. Again black has an advantage) 61…Rf7 (61…Rg5 retains the advantage) 62. Kg4 Rf2 63. Rc7+ Kg8 64. Rc6 Kf7 65. Rxh6 c3 66. Rc6 c2 67. Rc7+ Kg8 68. h6 Rg2 69. Kf4 Rg1 70. Nh5 (Rc8+ is equal) 70…c1=Q (70…Rf1+ is strong) 71. Nf6+ Kf8 72. Nh7+ Ke8 73. Nf6+ Kd8 74. Rxc1 Rxc1 75. h7 Rh1 76. Kg5 Be2 77. Kg6 Ke7 78. Ng8+ Kf8 79. Nh6 Rg1+ 80. Kf6 Rf1+ 81. Kg6 Bh5+ 82. Kxh5 Kg7 83. h8=Q+ Kxh8 84. Kg6 Rg1+ 85. Kf5 Kg7 86. Ng4 Rg2 87. Ne5 Rg3 88. Kxe4 Rxe3+ ½-½
Adolfo Diaz Nunez (2145) vs Francisco Vallejo Pons (2415)
1 Nf3 f5 2 g3 Nf6 (SF & Komodo both prefer 2…g6) 3 Bg2 g6 4 c4 Bg7 5 Nc3 (SF plays 5 d4; Komodo 5 0-0) 5…d6 (Komodo plays this move but SF would castle) 6 d4 O-O 7 O-O c6 (7…Qe8 was the move of choice by GM Vladimir Malaniuk and is analyzed extensively in his book. At one time or another I attempted the Malaniuk move, and the game move, but settled on 7…Nc6. All of the top programs show 7…c6 as best) 8 d5 (SF 10 @ depth 53 would play 8 Rb1; SF 110719 @ depth 48 prefers 8 b3) 8…e5 9 dxe6 Bxe6 10 b3 Na6 11 Ng5 Bc8 (SF 9 @ depth 28 plays 11…Qe7 expecting 12 Nxe6 Qxe6; Komodo 12 @ depth 26 would play 11…Nc5 showing 12 Bb2 Qe7 to follow) 12 Bb2 (SF says 12 Rb1) 12…h6 13 Nf3 Be6 14 Nd4 (SF 010719 @ depth considers 14 Qc2 superior. The CBDB does not show the game move, but one game with the move was found at 365Chess.com:
Armin Kranz (2145) vs Christoph Renner (2425)
Schwarzach op-A 1999
After losses to GM Yury Shulman (2568) and IM Lev Milman (2437), with a win vs unrated Siddharth Barot, who upset Justin Burgess (2160) the previous round, sandwiched in between, Kazim Gulamali sat down to begin the fourth round of the 42nd World Open, being held at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, located at 2799 Jefferson Davis Highway in Arlington, Virginia, behind the Black pieces vs IM Justin Sarkar (2414). In reply to his the opening move of 1 d4 Kazim played 1…f5! It turned into one of the main Leningrad Dutch variations.
Kazim was known as the “Little Grandmaster” at the House of Pain. He cut his chess teeth at the House. It was thrilling to watch the game today because I LOVE the Leningrad Dutch! I was also elated to learn the Master of the Leningrad Dutch, none other than GM Vladimir Malaniuk, has written a book entitled, “The Leningrad Dutch: An Active Repertoire Against 1.d4, 1.c4, 1.Nf3” published by Chess Stars, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it. Unfortunately, although it was supposedly published June 9, I cannot find it for sale. I checked with the Gorilla only to find, “Out of Print-Limited Availability.” If anyone knows how to locate a copy, please let me know!
Justin Sarkar (2414)vs Kazim Gulamali (2300)
1.d4 f5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.Nf3 d6 7.O-O Nc6 8.d5 Ne5 9.Nxe5 dxe5 10.Qb3 Kh8 11.c5 e4 12.Rd1 b6 13.Bf4 bxc5 14.Qa3 c4 15.Qc5 Ne8 16.Qxc4 a5 17.Rac1 Nd6 18.Qc5 Bd7 19.Rc2 Qb8 20.Be3 Rc8 21.Bd4 Qb4 22.Bxg7 Kxg7 23.Qd4 Qxd4 24.Rxd4 c5 25.dxc6 Bxc6 26.Bf1 Rab8 27.e3 Nf7 28.Ba6 Rd8 29.Ne2 Bd5 30.Ra4 Ng5 31.Kf1 Nf3 32.Nd4 Nxh2 33.Ke2 e5 34.Nb5 Nf3 35.Nc7 Bf7 36.Rxa5 Rb6 37.g4 Rbd6 38.gxf5 Rd1 39.Ne6 Kh6 0-1
Here are some other games with this variation I found on the Chessbase database and at 365chess.com:
Armchair Warrior 