2023.01 2023.01 Uploads 2023.01.02 2023.01.09 2023.01.23 [Event "Lesson"] [Site "Barnes & Noble"] [Date "2023.01.23"] [Round "4"] [White "Shah, Tej"] [Black "Alford, Coach"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C37"] [PlyCount "54"] [EventDate "2023.01.02"] [SourceDate "2023.01.23"] 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. d4 {Tej wanted to play h3 here. I told him he needed swift development for his attack with Bc4 or Nc3 or d4. Fritz likes h3 to prevent g4.} g4 5. Ne5 Qh4+ 6. Ke2 f3+ {premature, says Fritz. d6 would drive away White’s only developed piece.} 7. gxf3 gxf3+ 8. Nxf3 {Kd3 to protect e4. The pawn on f3 will fall soon.} Qxe4+ 9. Be3 d5 10. Nc3 Qe6 11. Qd2 Bh6 12. Ne5 {Fritz says develop the rooks at either e1 or g1.} c5 {Overly aggressive, says Fritz. Continue hitting the center with f6 and then f5. Now White could play Bh6 and then Re1} 13. Bg2 cxd4 {Good, but even better is Be3; Qe3 cd; Qd4 Nc6} 14. Qxd4 Bg7 15. Bf4 {Now the game is lost. White has too many weaknesses on the e-file.} Nc6 16. Bxd5 {To trade queens, but Black captures with check, Qd5 was better.} Nxd4+ 17. Kd2 Nf3+ {This does not work. Fritz likes Qf5 or Be5; Be6 Bf4+ and Ne6} 18. Bxf3 Bxe5 19. Bxe5 Qh6+ {Only now realizing tht Qe5 is met by Re1.} 20. Kd3 {Ouch! This lets Black bring up two more attacking pieces. Ke2 is best.} Bf5+ 21. Be4 Rd8+ 22. Bd4 Qh3+ 23. Kd2 Rxd4+ 24. Ke2 Bxe4 25. Nxe4 Rxe4+ 26. Kd2 Qe3+ 27. Kd1 Rd4# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Lesson"] [Site "Barnes & Noble"] [Date "2023.01.23"] [Round "4"] [White "Alford, Coach"] [Black "Shah, Tej"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C30"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2023.01.02"] [SourceDate "2023.01.23"] 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Nc6 3. Nf3 d6 {Very slight advantage to White. Fritz likes ef or d5.} 4. Bc4 Bg4 5. h3 Bxf3 6. Qxf3 Nf6 7. O-O Be7 8. Nc3 Nd4 9. Qd1 O-O 10. d3 c6 11. Be3 d5 12. fxe5 dxc4 13. exf6 Bxf6 14. dxc4 Re8 {Fritz does not like letting White trade the rook for two pieces. Be5 or Ne6} 15. Rxf6 Qxf6 16. Bxd4 Qd6 17. Be3 Qxd1+ {When ahead, trade. Black could play Qb4 but White gets a ferocious attack after c5 Qb2; Bd4 Qa3; Qg4} 18. Rxd1 Rad8 {Here f5; Rd7 favors White.} 19. Rd4 c5 {Giving White’s pieces many squares. b6 was better.} 20. Rxd8 Rxd8 21. Bxc5 b6 22. Be3 Rc8 23. b3 g6 24. Kf2 f5 {Here and later advancing pawns just makes them easier to attack.} 25. Nd5 Rd8 26. exf5 gxf5 27. Ne7+ Kf8 28. Nxf5 h5 29. Kf3 Kf7 30. Kf4 Rd1 31. Kg5 Ra1 32. a4 Rd1 33. Kxh5 Kf6 34. g4 Rh1 35. h4 Re1 36. Bd4+ Ke6 37. Bc3 Re4 38. Nd4+ Kf7 39. g5 Re8 40. g6+ Kg8 41. Kh6 Re7 42. Nf5 Rd7 43. h5 a5 44. Kg5 Rd1 45. h6 Rg1+ 46. Kf6 Rd1 47. h7+ Kh8 48. Kf7+ Rd4 49. Bxd4# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Lesson"] [Site "Barnes & Noble"] [Date "2023.01.09"] [Round "2"] [White "Alford, Coach"] [Black "Shah, Tej"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C29"] [PlyCount "30"] [EventDate "2023.01.02"] [SourceDate "2023.01.09"] 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 {Now White’s pawns will chase Black’s knights off the board. d5 is correct to meet fxe5 with Nxe4} 4. fxe5 Nxe5 5. d4 Neg4 { That drops a piece. Nc6 is correct.} 6. e5 Ne4 7. Qxg4 Nxc3 8. bxc3 d5 9. Qg5 { When ahead, trade} f6 10. exf6 gxf6 11. Qh5+ Kd7 12. Qxd5+ Ke7 {Bd6 Look for chances to develop your pieces.} 13. Ba3+ Ke8 14. Qxd8+ Kxd8 15. Bxf8 Rxf8 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Lesson"] [Site "Barnes & Noble"] [Date "2023.01.09"] [Round "2"] [White "Alford, Coach"] [Black "Shah, Tej"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C30"] [PlyCount "37"] [SourceDate "2023.01.09"] 1. e4 e5 2. f4 f5 {That’s a terrible response. White can now rip into Black’s position. Better moves are Nf6 or exf4 or d5} 3. exf5 exf4 4. Qh5+ Ke7 5. Qg5+ Nf6 6. Qxf4 Nc6 7. Nf3 Nd5 8. Qe4+ Kd6 9. c4 Ncb4 {The other knight should move either to f6 or to b6} 10. Na3 c6 11. cxd5 Nxd5 12. Qe5+ Kc5 13. b4+ Kxb4 14. Qd4+ Ka5 15. Nc4+ Ka6 16. Nb6+ Ka5 17. Nxa8 Qe7+ 18. Kd1 Qb4 19. Qxa7# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Lesson"] [Site "Barnes & Noble"] [Date "2023.01.09"] [Round "2"] [White "Shah, Tej"] [Black "Alford, Coach"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C54"] [PlyCount "50"] [SourceDate "2023.01.09"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 Bxd2+ 8. Nbxd2 d5 9. Bd3 {Too passive. The d-pawn now becomes weak. ed Nd5 is better} dxe4 10. Bxe4 Nxe4 11. Nxe4 O-O 12. O-O Bg4 13. h3 Bxf3 14. Qxf3 Qxd4 15. Rab1 Rae8 16. Rfe1 Ne5 17. Qf4 Nd3 18. Qf3 Nxe1 19. Rxe1 f5 20. Ng5 Rxe1+ 21. Kh2 h6 22. Qxb7 Qf4+ 23. g3 Qxf2+ 24. Qg2 Qxg2+ 25. Kxg2 hxg5 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Lesson"] [Site "Barnes & Noble"] [Date "2023.01.02"] [Round "1"] [White "Shah, Tej"] [Black "Alford, Coach"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "709"] [BlackElo "1900"] [PlyCount "50"] [SourceDate "2022.12.31"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 { Playing the White side of this, I prefer Bd2 Bd2+; Nd2 protecting the e-pawn} Nxe4 8. O-O Bxc3 9. bxc3 d5 10. Re1 {Bd3 or Qc2} O-O 11. Bb3 Bg4 12. c4 {Ba3 Complete your development before you attack.} dxc4 13. Bxc4 Nd6 14. Qc2 {Be2 Now White’s castle is destroyed and his center falls.} Bxf3 15. gxf3 Nxd4 16. Qc3 Nxc4 17. Qxc4 Nxf3+ 18. Kf1 Nxe1 19. Kxe1 Re8+ 20. Kf1 {Be3} Qd1+ 21. Kg2 Re6 22. Bb2 Rg6+ 23. Kh3 Qh5+ 24. Qh4 Qf5+ 25. Qg4 Qxg4# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Lesson"] [Site "Barnes & Noble"] [Date "2023.01.02"] [Round "1"] [White "Alford, Coach"] [Black "Shah, Tej"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D07"] [WhiteElo "1900"] [BlackElo "709"] [Annotator ",JosephOAlford"] [PlyCount "74"] [SourceDate "2022.12.31"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6 {Playable, but not good. Better moves are e6 or c6 or dxc4} 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 e6 7. Nf3 Be7 8. Bd3 O-O 9. h4 { White’s entire attack is premature. Black is very cramped. White should just concentrate on development with Be3 and Qc2 and 0-0} f5 10. Ng5 g6 {To keep the queen out, but h6 would encourage the knight to leave} 11. h5 Qe8 {Bg5 would ask White if he has an attack worth a piece. Fritz says he does, but finding it is not easy.} 12. hxg6 Qxg6 13. Nxh7 Rf7 14. exf5 {The knight can’t escape. White is fishing.} exf5 {Rh7 fg; Rh1+ Ke2; Rd1 leaves White a piece down} 15. Bc4 Be6 16. Qe2 {I had been looking at Rh6 and forgot it in the heat of the moment.} Bxc4 17. Qxc4 Qxg2 {Now Fritz is showing Black as slightly plus.} 18. Rh6 b5 {Deflecting the queen from its pin, but now White can win the c-knight to replace the doomed h-knight. Fritz says Black retains the advantage with Kg7 or with Re8} 19. Qe6 Qe4+ {When ahead, trade. Black is about to be a pawn down. Qg1+ would try to drive the king to a worse square.} 20. Qxe4 fxe4 21. Rxc6 Rxh7 22. Rxc7 a6 {Passive. Rh1+; Ke2 Bg4 or b4 hoping for cxb4 Bb4+ picking off White’s rook. Fritz suggests e3 when both fe and Be3 are bad.} 23. Bb2 Rh1+ {Both sides miss Ba3!} 24. Ke2 Rxa1 {again, when ahead, trade. Every trade makes the job easier for the side with more pieces.} 25. Bxa1 Re8 {losing all the queen-side pawns. Kf8} 26. Ra7 Bg5 27. Rxa6 e3 28. Rg6+ Kf7 29. Rxg5 Rc8 30. Rxb5 Ra8 31. Rb2 Kf6 32. fxe3 Re8 33. a4 Ra8 34. Ra2 Ke6 35. c4 Rc8 36. c5 Kd5 37. a5 Rb8 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Lesson"] [Site "Barnes & Noble"] [Date "2022.12.26"] [Round "1"] [White "Tej"] [Black "Alford, Coach"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C50"] [BlackElo "1900"] [Annotator ",JosephOAlford"] [PlyCount "24"] [EventDate "2022.12.26"] [SourceDate "2022.12.26"] 1. e4 {This is a textbook example of the “Pin It and Win It” attack. White has 3 chances to blunt this attack.} e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O {0-0 is a reasonable move, but c3 (to be followed by d4) is more aggressive.} d6 5. Nc3 { White misses all 3 chances to blunt the attack. Here h3 would prevent the pin. Or c3 would prevent the knight from coming to d4 to attack the pinned piece. Or d3 Bg4; Be3 would let White’s bishop trade away the Black knight when it gangs up on the pinned White knight. The game is probably lost at this point. This is an attack you should be playing against your opponents.} Bg4 6. h3 h5 7. Re1 {White cannot take this bishop: hg hg; Nh2 Qh4 with a quick mate. Note that White could have played d3 here so that his knight could move to g5 cutting the queen off from the h-file. Try to determine why White is still lost despite being a piece ahead.} Nd4 8. d3 Nxf3+ 9. gxf3 Bxh3 10. f4 Qh4 11. Nd5 Qxf2+ 12. Kh1 Qg2# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Lesson"] [Site "Barnes & Noble"] [Date "2022.12.26"] [Round "1"] [White "Tej"] [Black "Alford"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C54"] [BlackElo "1900"] [Annotator ",JosephOAlford"] [PlyCount "51"] [SourceDate "2022.12.26"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 Bd6 {ed; cd Bb4+; Bd2 Bd2+; Nd2 d5} 6. dxe5 Bxe5 7. Ng5 O-O 8. f4 Bd6 9. e5 Bxe5 10. fxe5 Nxe5 11. Bb3 b6 12. O-O d5 13. Bf4 Bg4 14. Qd4 Ng6 15. Nd2 h6 16. Ngf3 Nxf4 17. Qxf4 Qd7 18. Ne5 Qe6 19. Rae1 Rae8 20. Ng6 Qd7 21. Nxf8 Rxf8 22. Nf3 Nh5 23. Ne5 Nxf4 24. Nxd7 Ne2+ 25. Kh1 Rd8 26. Ne5 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Lesson"] [Site "Barnes & Noble"] [Date "2022.12.26"] [Round "1"] [White "Tej"] [Black "Alford, Coach"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C30"] [BlackElo "1900"] [Annotator ",JosephOAlford"] [PlyCount "58"] [SourceDate "2022.12.26"] 1. e4 e5 2. f4 {This is an excellent opening for you since most of your opponents won’t have a clue how to meet it.} Nf6 3. Nf3 d5 4. fxe5 Nxe4 5. d3 Nc5 6. h3 {passive. You are playing a gambit opening. You should be striving to open lines and attack. d4 with Bd3 and 0-0 to follow. Pile up on f7} Be7 7. g3 {Again, much too passive. Perhaps Be3 meeting Bh4+ with Bf2} O-O 8. Nc3 { The King’s Gambit is an attack on the f-file. Move the bishop, castle, and launch an attack.} f6 9. Be3 Ne6 10. d4 Nc6 11. Qd2 fxe5 12. Nxe5 Nxe5 13. dxe5 d4 14. Ne4 dxe3 15. Qxe3 Qd4 16. Qxd4 Nxd4 17. O-O-O Nc6 18. Bc4+ Kh8 19. Rhf1 Bxh3 20. Rxf8+ Rxf8 21. e6 Bf5 22. Re1 Nd4 23. c3 Nxe6 24. Bxe6 Bxe6 25. Nc5 Bxc5 26. Rxe6 Kg8 27. b4 Bd6 28. g4 Rf4 29. a3 Rxg4 {The game continued with Black queening a pawn. You should have resigned some time ago. Don’t spend energy on lost causes. Tej, in all 3 of these games you suffered because of a lack of book knowledge. For the people you are playing now, you don’t need book knowledge, but for the people you are going to play soon you will need it. Otherwise you are going to get crushed in the opening.} 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.