Sakhabeev, Rais Salmanovich (2356) - Oreopoulos, Kostas (2255)

Result: 1/2-1/2

Site: ICCF

Date: 2010.01.25

This game is a perfect example of how extremely difficult is chess!!

[...] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.♘f3 ♘f6 4.♘c3 dxc4 5.a4 ♗f5 6.e3 e6 7.♗xc4 ♗b4 8.O-O O-O 9.♕e2 ♘bd7 10.e4 ♗g6 11.♗d3 ♗h5

11...c5 12.e5 cxd4 13.exf6 dxc3 14.fxg7 ♔xg7 15.♖d1 ♕c7 16.♗xg6 hxg6 17.♖d4 ♗c5 18.♖c4 ♘b6 19.♖xc3 ♕d6 20.b3 ♖ad8 21.♗b2⩲

12.♗f4 (12.e5 ♘d5 13.♘xd5 cxd5 14.♕e3⩲) 12...♖e8 my intention here was to play e5 ofcourse if white did not play. I also did not decide at this point if i would take on d5 with the e or c pawn 13.e5 (13.♗c4 ♗xc3 14.bxc3 e5 is ofcourse better for black) 13...♘d5 14.♘xd5 cxd5

Perfectly playable ofcourse was 14...exd5 15.h3

15.♗f5 ♘f8 16.♗e3 preparing Ne1 and f2-f4 16...♗g6 17.♗xg6 ♘xg6 18.♘e1 ♗xe1 19.♖axe1 ♘e7

15...f6!? Making use of the R at the e-file. This needs more analysis and is propably easier for black to play OTB (15...♘f8 16.♗f5 ♘e6 17.♗e3 a5 18.♔h2 ♕e7 19.♖fd1) 16.g4 ♗g6 (16...♗f7 17.♗f5 fxe5) 17.♗xg6 hxg6 18.♕c2 g5=

15.h3

15.♕e3 this is the other 'main move' 15...a6 16.♖fc1 ♕b6 17.♘d2 ♗g6 18.♗xg6 hxg6 19.♘f3 ♖ac8=

15...a6 stopping Bb5 16.g4 ♗g6 17.♗xg6 fxg6 18.♔g2 preparing for h4-h5, creating space for the rook on the first rank 18...♘b8 19.h4 ♖f8 20.♗e3 h6!? An important move. This secures that i can play for more than a draw

20...♘c6?!21.h5 gxh5 22.♖h1! the point of the king lift 22...♕e8 forced 23.♕d3 ♗e7 24.♖xh5 g6 25.♖h3⩲ and white has the better game

20...♗e7 21.♖h1 ♕e8 22.h5 gxh5 23.♖xh5 ♕g6 24.♔g3 ♘c6 25.♖ah1 this might be about equal, but it seems white has easier play 25...h6 26.♗xh6 gxh6 27.♖xh6 ♕e4 28.♕xe4 dxe4 29.♖h8 ♔g7 30.♖1h7 ♔g6 31.♖h6 ♔g7 32.♖8h7 ♔g8 33.♘d2 ♖ad8 34.♘xe4 ♖xd4 35.♘f6 is a possible variation leading to a draw

Oreopoulos, Kostas (2375) - Quattrocchi, Gaetano (2379)

Result: 1-0

Site: ICCF

Date: 2011.03.10

[...] 1.♘f3 d5 2.c4 e6 3.d4 ♘f6 4.g3 dxc4 5.♗g2 a6 6.O-O ♘c6 7.e3 ♗d7 8.♕e2 b5 9.b3 cxb3 10.axb3 ♗d6 till here i was repeating my game against Nierovisz 11.♗b2 O-O 12.♖c1 All very normal till here 12...♘d5 Black wants to transfer his Knight to d5 and then to b4. That way the e4 move would be less powerful (12...♘b4 at once is very interesting and needs analysis.) 13.♘c3 ♕e7 14.♘e4 moving to c5 and opening th b2 Bishop. Once again the c5 square is very important. 14...f5?!

14...♖fd8?!15.♘e5!15...♘xe5 16.dxe5 ♗b4 17.♖d1!! aiming at the d4 square, trying to lift to d4 and attack... 17...a5?!

17...♔h8 need to analyse that one) 18.♘f6 gxf6 19.exf6 ♕f8 20.♖d4 again. 20...♗c3 21.♗xc3 ♘xc3 22.♕h5 ♘d5 23.♕h4±

18.♘f6

18.♕h5 ♕f8 19.♘f6 ♘xf6 20.exf6 g6 21.♕g5 ♖a6 22.h4 h6 23.♕g4 ♗c6 24.h5 g5 25.f4 ♖xd1 26.♖xd1 ♗xg2 27.fxg5 ♗h3 28.♕xh3 hxg5 29.♕g4 ♕c5=

18...gxf6 19.exf6 ♘xf6 (19...♕f8 20.♖d4 one of the points of Rd1) 20.♗xa8±

15.♘c5 ♗c8 My opponent is playing computer best moves again and again so its very easy to predict what he will play. Not a very wise way to play. 16.♘e1 ♘cb4 17.♗a3 ♖a7 18.f4 This one was a tough decision. The other option was

18.♘f3 ♘c6 19.e4 fxe4 20.♕xe4 ♘db4 (20...a5 21.♘e5 ♗xe5 22.dxe5 b4 23.♗b2±) 21.♘e5 ♘xe5 22.♗xb4 ♘d7 23.♕e2 ♘f6 24.♖e1 ♕f7 25.f4 (25.♘d3 ♘d5 26.♗c5 ♗xc5 27.dxc5 c6 28.♕d2 ♖a8 29.f4±) 25...♘d5 26.♗a5 c6 27.♖ac1 ♕f6 28.♕d1 ♗xc5 29.♖xc5 ♗d7 30.♖e5± And although this is overhelming for white in OTB games, i just had a feeling that it would be hard to win this one, since after taking the pawn back i would definately make exchanges.

Oreopoulos, Kostas (2355) - Nierobisz, Jim (2353)

Result: 1-0

Site: ICCF

Date: 2010.10.20

[...] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.♘f3 ♘f6 4.g3 dxc4 5.♗g2 a6 6.O-O ♘c6 7.e3 ♗d7 8.♕e2 b5 9.b3 I really like this pawn sacrifice. It creates very fast counterplay for white and pressure over the c-file and attacking chances 9...cxb3 10.axb3 ♗e7 (10...♗d6 is the other principal alternative) 11.♘c3 now Ne5 is the threat

11.♘e5 at once is not very promising since 11...♘d5 12.♗b2 ♘xe5 13.dxe5 O-O 14.♖d1 b4 15.♖xa6 ♖xa6 16.♕xa6 ♕b8 and black is fine

11...b4
11...O-O 12.♖d1

12.♗b2 ♘b4 13.♘e5 ♘fd5 14.♘xd5 ♘xd5 15.♕d2 ♗b4 16.♕c2 a5 17.♘d3 ♗e7 18.♘c5⩲

12.♘e5 ♘xe5 13.dxe5 ♘d5 14.♘xd5 exd5 15.♗xd5

15.f4!?15...c6 16.♗b2

16.f5 ♗c5 17.♔h1 a5 18.e4 d4 19.♕h5 f6 20.exf6 ♕xf6 21.♗g5 ♕f7 22.♕h4 a4 23.e5 axb3 24.♖ab1∞

16...a5 17.f5 ♗c5 (17...a4 18.f6 gxf6) 18.♗d4 (18.f6 g6 19.♕f2 ♗b6 20.♕f4 ♔h8 21.e6) 18...♗b6 19.♕d2 a4 20.b4

15...♗e6 16.♗xa8 (16.♗xe6 fxe6 17.♖d1 ♕c8 18.♗d2 c5 19.♗a5 ♕c6=) 16...♕xa8 17.♖d1 c5 18.f4 ♖c8 19.♕c2 g6 20.♕a2 ♗f8 21.♕xa6 ♕f3 22.♖f1 ♕e4 23.♖d1 c4 24.♕xb5 Silin, Viktor A. - Morokova, Larisa V. 0-1, ICCF RUS/C11/qf2

12...♘d5 13.♗d2 ♕b8 14.♘e1 ♘db4 15.♘e4 ♖d8 16.♖dc1⩲ white is doing a party on the c5 square

12.♘a4 ♘b8 opening the diagonal to develop the ligh squared bishop

12...O-O 13.♕c2 ♖b8

13...a5 14.♗b2 ♘d5 15.e4 ♘b6 16.d5 exd5 17.exd5 ♘xd5 18.♘g5 ♗xg5 19.♗xd5±

14.♗b2 h6 15.♖fd1± black can hardly move

13.♖d1 ♗c6 14.♗b2 ♕c8 15.♘c5 O-O although nothing special happened in the last few moves and black simply tried to develop, white has a very easy game and squeezes black. The key is not to exchange pieces in general, but the white squared bishop controls a lot of squares and removing it weakens black's

Oreopoulos, Kostas (2445) - Rufenacht, Matthias (2459)

Result: 1-0

Site: ICCF

Date: 2012.10.15

[...] 1.♘f3 d5 2.c4 d4 3.b4 f6 Not a very frequently played position in corr-chess 4.e3

4.♕a4 ♗d7

4...♔f7?!5.c5 e5 6.e3 is not a position i would ever enter with black

5.♕b3 e5 6.e3 is interesting, but i think not very promising for white

(4.a3 e5 5.e3 a5 transposes below) 4...e5 5.c5

5.a3 this is interesting too 5...a5

5...c5 6.d3 dxe3 7.♗xe3 cxb4 8.d4 bxa3 9.c5 white has the better chances for sure

6.b5 d3!? (6...c5 7.d3 ♗d6 8.g3 ♘e7 9.♗g2 O-O is a normal but complex position) 7.♗b2 ♘h6 stopping all Nxe5 ideas and simply developing (7...e4 8.♘d4)

7...a4?!8.♘xe5 fxe5 9.♕h5 ♔e7 10.♕xe5 ♔f7 11.♘c3 ♘f6 12.♘e4

8.♕b3 e4 9.♘d4 a4 10.♕d1 (is interesting to explore 10.♕c3!?) 10...c5 11.bxc6 ♘xc6 12.♕h5 ♘f7 13.♕d5 f5 14.f3 ♖a5 15.♕xd8 ♔xd8 16.fxe4 fxe4 17.g3 ♘ce5 18.♗c3 ♖c5 19.♗g2 ♘g5 20.O-O ♗e7 seems white doesn't have something here

5.♕b3 ♘h6

5...c5 6.bxc5 ♗xc5 7.exd4 exd4 8.♗e2 ♘e7 has been played a couple of times but it doesnt give white any ground to fight for an advantage

6.♗e2 ♘f5 (6...♘c6 7.c5 a5 8.b5 ♘b4 9.a3 ♘d5 10.♗c4 a4 11.♕a2 is interesting too) 7.O-O a5 8.b5 ♘d7 9.♕c2 (9.exd4 e4 10.♖e1 ♗e7) 9...♘c5 10.exd4 ♘xd4 11.♘xd4 ♕xd4 12.♘c3= black has easy play

(5.b5 ♘h6 6.exd4 exd4 7.♗d3 ♕e7 8.♕e2 ♗f5 9.♗xf5 ♘xf5 10.d3=) 5...a5 (5...dxe3 6.fxe3 a5 7.d4 File)

5...d3 6.♕a4!? (6.♕b3 e4 7.♘d4 f5 8.g4 ♘h6∞)

6.♘c3 ♗e6 (6...a5 7.♕a4 ♗d7 8.b5⩲) 7.♕a4∞

6...♗d7 7.♕b3 e4 8.♘d4 ♘c6 9.♘xc6 ♗xc6 10.♘c3 white is doing fine here