Bloomington Normal Chess Club

2020 Club Games Online Viewer

Club member Joseph Alford collects games for the club and then annotates them. (Thanks Joseph!) Below are all the games presented in a PGN viewer format. There’s also a separate page with the PGN files as downloads for 2020.

December, 2020 Games:

[Event "JosephOAlford simul"] [Site "https://lichess.org/i319d33H"] [Date "2020.12.22"] [Round "3"]05 [White "JosephOAlford"] [Black "Dane_Sorensen"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C69"] [WhiteElo "1920"] [BlackElo "000"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2020.12.07"] [TimeControl "G/60;10"] 1. e4 {First, I played a simul taking White in both games} e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O Bd6 6. d4 exd4 7. Nxd4 {Fritz prefers Qd4, which I have played before. But last year I read a book about Lasker which said he prefered this move with Nf5 to come.} Nf6 8. Re1 {Fritz gives several lines beginning e5 Be5; Re1 with White getting the pawn back (Black getting the piece back?). Re1 is second choice and I like it better.} Be5 9. c3 O-O 10. f4 Bg4 11. Qd2 Bxd4+ 12. cxd4 Re8 13. e5 {Nc3 is probably better. This gives the black knight a nice central square. Fritz says Nc3 is equal and e5 favors Black slightly.} Nd5 14. Nc3 b5 15. h3 Bh5 {Noah’s Ark: the bishop will be devoured by pawns. It had to retreat along the other diagonal.} 16. g4 b4 {You attack mine, I’ll attack yours. This only works if mine can’t be traded away.} 17. Nxd5 cxd5 18. gxh5 a5 19. Qg2 Kh8 20. f5 Rg8 21. Kh1 {Avoiding an embarrasing pin and opening g1 for the rook.} Qh4 22. Bg5 {I almost played Qg4 protecting all the pawns – and losing the rook!} Qxd4 23. Rad1 {Completing development, but Fritz says h6 is a killer: h6 Qb6 (to take the checking bishop); e6 (to block off the queen)} Qc5 24. Rxd5 Qc6 25. e6 f6 {Fritz says h6 is again a killer. h6 fg; hg+ Rg7; Rd8+ winning the queen.} 26. Bh4 g6 {ouch! Don’t open the windows in a storm. Fritz says Qc4 attacking the bishop or h6 to block out all attacks based on White playing h6} 27. Bxf6+ Rg7 28. Bxg7+ Kxg7 29. hxg6 {Rd7+ now wins the queen. I was looking for a checkmate using queen and e1 rook.} hxg6 30. Rd7+ Qxd7 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "JosephOAlford simul"] [Site "https://lichess.org/RELWdmXG"] [Date "2020.12.22"] [Round "3"] [White "JosephOAlford"] [Black "Newman, Steve, quassialeaf"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "1920"] [BlackElo "000"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2020.12.07"] [TimeControl "G/60;10"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 exd4 6. Re1 d5 7. Nxd4 Bc5 8. Be3 {I drew a complete blank here. I play the Black side of this all the time with Bd6 as the 7th move. I have often considered Bc5, but I don’t remember ever playing it and I did not remember what to respond. Be3 favors Black after Bd4; Qd4 0-0 with an extra pawn. Both Nc6 and Bc6 still leave White with an edge.} O-O 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. Bxc5 Nxc5 11. Bxc6 Rb8 12. Nc3 {I considered Bd5 Rb2; Bf7+ Kf7; Qh5+ picking off the knight, but I considered the developing move to be more promising. Fritz disagrees.} Rxb2 13. Nxd5 Kh8 {Fritz likes the developing move Be6} 14. Qh5 {And Fritz is not impressed by this attack. Now Qd6; Re8 (which I would not have seen) Re8; Be8 Rc2; Bf7 favors Black.} Ne6 {Of course not g6; Qe5+} 15. Rad1 {Yes, Fritz, Ne3 protects everything. But there is something to be said for threatening the enemy queen.} Rxc2 16. Nb4 Rc5 {You attack mine, I’ll attack yours. Except that mine has buddies more developed. Fritz points out that Black is better after Rd2. The text loses a piece.} 17. Rxd8 Rxh5 18. Rxf8+ Nxf8 19. Re8 Kg8 20. Rxc8 Ra5 {Fritz prefers Rc5 (threatening mate) with a5 to follow which wins back a piece. Except that it doesn’t since White plays Nd5 threatening Ne7+} 21. g3 {The only way I lose this game is if I fall into a back-rank mate. So, let’s make sure that does not happen.} h5 22. Nd5 Rxa2 {g6 saves the piece.} 23. Ne7+ Kh7 24. Rxf8 a5 25. Be4+ Kh6 26. h4 {mating net} Re2 27. Rh8# 1-0 [pgn navigation_board=floatLeft show_move_arrow=no] [Event "JosephOAlford simul"] [Site "https://lichess.org/7eGgpiF6"] [Date "2020.12.22"] [Round "3"] [White "Dane_Sorensen"] [Black "JosephOAlford"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C26"] [WhiteElo "000"] [BlackElo "1920"] [PlyCount "40"] [EventDate "2020.12.07"] [TimeControl "G/60;10"] 1. e4 {Next, I played a simul taking Black in both games} e5 2. Nc3 {Nf3. White has an advantage in the opening because he moves first. He threatens and Black has to defend. Nc3 does not threaten anything, so White has given up his first more advantage.} Nf6 3. Qf3 {Nc3 was weak. This is much weaker. Premature development of the queen will just get it chased with free developing moves for the opponent.} Nc6 4. Bc4 Nd4 5. Qg3 { Qd1 is forced} Nxc2+ 6. Kf1 Nxa1 7. Qd3 {White will now spend a bunch of moves winning the knight. Meanwhile Black will take control of the center of the board.} Bb4 8. Nd5 Nxd5 9. Qxd5 O-O 10. Qd3 c6 11. Qb1 d5 12. Be2 f5 13. exf5 {wrong pawn. This opens the f-file with White’s king at the end of it.} Bxf5 14. Qxa1 Qf6 15. g4 {Clearly not seeing the threat to f2, but it is much too late to do anything.} Bxg4 16. f3 e4 {pile up on the pinned piece} 17. Ke1 exf3 18. Bd3 f2+ 19. Kf1 fxg1=Q+ 20. Kxg1 Qf2# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "JosephOAlford simul"] [Site "https://lichess.org/FOYPfaD8"] [Date "2020.12.22"] [Round "3"] [White "Newman, Steve, quasialeaf"] [Black "JosephOAlford"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C21"] [WhiteElo "000"] [BlackElo "1920"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2020.12.07"] [TimeControl "G/60;10"] 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Bc4 {Qd4 Nc6 lets Black develop with tempo.} Nf6 4. e5 d5 5. exf6 dxc4 6. Qe2+ {The main line runs fg Bg7 and Black’s 0-0 looks bad, but proves to be very solid.} Be6 7. Nf3 Qxf6 8. O-O Nc6 9. Bg5 d3 10. cxd3 cxd3 11. Qd2 Qg6 12. a3 Be7 13. Bxe7 Nxe7 14. Ne5 Qf5 15. f4 O-O 16. g4 Qe4 17. Nc3 Qd4+ 18. Rf2 Rfd8 19. h3 f6 20. Nf3 Qd7 21. f5 Bc4 22. Re1 Re8 23. Nd1 Nd5 24. Nd4 Rxe1+ 25. Qxe1 Re8 26. Ne6 Nb6 27. Qd2 Bxe6 28. fxe6 Rxe6 29. Rf3 Rd6 {Fritz likes Re2 which forces the queen to retreat because Qd3 loses to Re1+ and RxN} 30. b3 c5 31. Ne3 Qc6 32. Kf2 c4 33. Nf5 c3 34. Qa2 Qc5+ {I did see the b4 discovered check and I did see NxR. I thought he was going to get mated before either could happen} 35. Re3 c2 {Black is still winning, says Fritz, but Rd8 was much safer.}36. b4+ Qc4 37. Re8+ {I did not see that the rook was no longer pinned. Black is now lost.} Kf7 38. Nxd6+ Kg6 39. Nxc4 c1=Q 40. Ne5+ Kh6 41. g5+ Kh5 42. Qf7+ g6 43. Qxh7+ Kxg5 44. Qxg6+ Kf4 45. Qg4# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/RB6IRKVV"] [Date "2020.12.22"] [Round "3"] [White "Dane_Sorensen"] [Black "Erickson, Darren, LaughingVulcan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C26"] [WhiteElo "000"] [BlackElo "826"] [PlyCount "35"] [EventDate "2020.12.07"] [TimeControl "G/60;10"] 1. e4 {While I was losing my last game, Dane and Darren contested a game} e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 exf4 4. e5 Ng8 5. Nf3 Bc5 {Fritz says this just lets White develop with tempo. He suggests d5 or d6 fighting for the center.} 6. d4 Bb6 7. Bc4 Qe7 8. Bxf4 {White has won the opening. He has the King’s Gambit open file and extra development without the pawn sacrifice.} d6 9. O-O dxe5 10. Bg5 {Why not just take the pawn with either piece?} f6 11. Bh4 Be6 {Trades benefit the defender.} 12. Bxe6 Qxe6 13. Re1 Nd7 14. Kh1 O-O-O 15. dxe5 Nxe5 16. Nxe5 {Qe2} Rxd1 17. Raxd1 fxe5 {g5 first} 18. Rd8# {I think we both lost this game. Yep.} 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "2020.12.14"] [Site "https://lichess.org/13xjhEsI"] [Date "2020.12.14"] [Round "2"] [White "Smith, Jeff, UKWildcat"] [Black "allies, Sorensen & Newman"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C33"] [WhiteElo "1435"] [PlyCount "91"] [EventDate "2020.12.07"] [TimeControl "G/30; 5"] 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Bc4 g5 {Since White has not played Nf3, Black often responds here with Qh4+} 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. d4 d6 {Fritz has Black with a slight plus (extra pawn) after either Nc6 or Qe7. Now it shows White with a slight plus.} 6. Qh5 Nh6 {Logical, but very bad. Qe7 would allow Black to protect g5 with h6. Fritz likes Qd7; Qh5 Bd4.} 7. Nf3 {h4, says Fritz} Bg4 8. Qxg5 Qxg5 {Trades normally help the defender. Not so, here. 0-0 looks like the best chance.} 9. Nxg5 Bxd4 {Fritz says Black is out of most of the difficulties. Nc6 was better here, but Bd4 is 2nd choice for the machine.} 10. h3 Bd7 {Fritz would rather trade on c3 first, but this is 2nd choice.} 11. Nd5 Kd8 {Fritz says Kd8 is better than my choice of Bb6} 12. Bxf4 f6 {Losing a piece. Black has too many loose pieces. Nc6 was better.} 13. Nf3 Be5 14. Bxh6 Bg3+ 15. Ke2 f5 {Nc6} 16. Bg5+ Ke8 {Kc8; Ne7+ Kd8; Ng6+ just loses the other rook.} 17. Nxc7+ Kf8 18. Nxa8 fxe4 19. Nd4 Kg7 20. Rhf1 Kg6 21. h4 Bg4+ 22. Kd2 Nd7 23. Nc7 Rc8 24. Bf7+ Kg7 25. Nce6+ Kh8 26. Bh6 Be5 27. c3 Bxd4 {That bishop is preventing mate. Probably don’t want to trade it.} 28. Nxd4 {cd threatens Bg7 mate which forces Be6; Be6 Rd8; Bd7 Rd7; Rf8 mate} Ne5 {Black is rook and piece behind. Resignation is in order.} 29. Be6 Bxe6 30. Nxe6 Nc4+ 31. Ke2 Re8 32. Rf8+ Rxf8 33. Nxf8 e3 34. Bxe3 Nxe3 35. Kxe3 Kg7 36. Ne6+ Kg6 37. Rd1 h5 38. Rxd6 a5 39. Nd8+ Kf5 40. Nxb7 Kg4 41. Rd4+ Kg3 42. Rd5 Kxg2 43. Rxh5 Kh3 44. Rxa5 Kxh4 45. c4 Kg4 46. c5 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

November, 2020 Games:

[Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/cfJZqb2U"] [Date "2020.11.30"] [Round "4"] [White "Smith, Jeff"] [Black "Newman, Steve"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B06"] [BlackElo "1435"] [PlyCount "112"] [EventDate "2020.11.30"] [TimeControl "G/30; 5"] 1. e4 g6 2. Nf3 d6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. Bd2 Nc6 7. a3 e6 8. Qc1 Re8 {White will play Bh6. Black wants to be able to play Bh8 since a trade on h6 brings the white Queen to the dance} 9. Bh6 Bh8 10. h3 d5 11. e5 {Black comes out ahead on these trades. Bb5 is better.} dxc4 12. exf6 cxd3 13. cxd3 Qxd3 14. Bg5 e5 15. Qd2 e4 16. Qxd3 {Fritz points out that 000 is better. The queen trade still happens with the knight still capturing, but White is safely off-center.} exd3+ 17. Kd2 Ne5 {This does not work out well for Black. Fritz suggests Bf5 or Rd8 or h6 going for the f-pawn.} 18. Nxe5 Rxe5 19. Rhe1 {Well played! The bishop is saved by the back-rank mate} Rxe1 20. Rxe1 Be6 21. Kxd3 Rd8+ 22. Kc2 c6 {A logical move, restraining the knight, but Fritz says Re6 fe; f7+ wins a piece. He suggests Re8 or Rd6 or h6} 23. g4 {Giving Black time this move or the next few moves to move the rook} b5 24. f3 a5 25. h4 a4 26. Ne4 Bb3+ 27. Kc3 Bc4 28. Bf4 {Re3} Rd3+ 29. Kc2 Rxf3 30. Nd2 Bd3+ {Black must still be wary of the back-rank mate} 31. Kc3 Bxf6+ 32. Be5 Bxe5+ 33. Rxe5 Rh3 34. Kd4 Bc4 {Bc2} 35. Nxc4 bxc4 36. h5 gxh5 37. gxh5 Rh4+ 38. Kc3 Kg7 39. Kb4 Kf6 40. Rc5 c3+ 41. Kxc3 Ke6 42. Rxc6+ Ke7 43. Rc5 {Rh6, says Fritz} Kd6 44. Rf5 Ke6 45. Rc5 f5 46. b4 Rh3+ 47. Kb2 Rxh5 48. b5 Rh2+ {These checks just help White’s king move forward. After Rh2+ f4 is the best chance} 49. Kc3 Rh3+ 50. Kb4 Rh4+ 51. Rc4 {Losing. Ka5 says Fritz} Rxc4+ 52. Kxc4 Kd6 53. Kd4 h5 54. b6 Kc6 55. Ke5 h4 56. Kxf5 h3 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/TpQ22V2R"] [Date "2020.11.30"] [Round "4"] [White "Newman, Steve"] [Black "Smith, Jeff"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D00"] [BlackElo "1435"] [PlyCount "134"] [EventDate "2020.11.30"] [TimeControl "G/30; 5"] 1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 Nf6 3. e3 Bf5 4. c3 {Solid, but a bit passive. c4 transposes into normal Queen’s Gambit lines.} e6 5. Nd2 Be7 6. h4 {Premature. Ngf3 getting ready to 0-0} Nc6 {Surprising. I expected this knight to go to d7, supporting a c5 push.} 7. Be2 {Now there is a threat on the bishop: g4 Bg6; h5. But that’s a temporary threat and the weakness on h4 is permanent.} h6 8. Ngf3 Ne4 9. Ne5 {Ne4 de and the knight must abandon the h-pawn.} Nxd2 {Wrong knight. Now White could take on c6 giving Black doubled pawns. Black could just take the h-pawn with a double attack on f2} 10. Qxd2 Nxe5 {Take the h-pawn. Now Be5 give White some counter-play.} 11. dxe5 {Ugly move, burying the bishop alive.} Bxh4 12. g4 Be4 13. Rh2 Bg5 {Fritz likes g5 so much that it recommends Rh4 as a response!} 14. f3 Bg6 {Fritz points out Bh4+ and White will never castle.} 15. O-O-O Bxf4 16. exf4 Qd7 17. g5 {Qg4, says Fritz. Don’t let the queen get to a4.} h5 {Ignore all that, says Fritz. Qa4 or 000} 18. Bd3 {Willing to let Black protect the advanced pawn in exchange for protecting the white squares around the king} Bxd3 19. Qxd3 g6 20. Rhd2 O-O-O 21. c4 {Error, says Fritz. Qa4 is good, but Qc6 is even better.} Qa4 22. a3 {b3 protects c4. Black gets only a check.} Qxc4+ 23. Rc2 {If White trades all the pieces then that “weak” h-pawn wins.} Qxf4+ {A little greedy, but what can White do?} 24. Kb1 Qxe5 25. Rdc1 c6 26. Qb5 {Oh, that’s what White can do. Black must play carefully because of the threat of a rook sacrifice on c6} Rd7 27. Qa5 b6 {Fritz likes protecting a7 with Qd4 or Qe3} 28. Rxc6+ Kb8 29. Qa6 {looking for mate on c8} Rb7 30. Ka2 {I thought the best chance was Qd3 Qg5; Qc3 hitting c8 and also h8.} Qxg5 31. a4 d4 32. Qc4 Qd5 33. Qxd5 exd5 34. Rd6 Rc7 35. Rd1 h4 36. Rxd5 h3 37. R5xd4 Rc2 38. Rh1 {White can get behind the pawn with Rd8+ Rd8; Rd8+ Kc7; Rh8 h2 says Fritz, but that ending is hopeless.} Rg2 39. Rg4 Rxg4 40. fxg4 h2 41. b4 {Kb3 Now Rh3 locks in the White king, though Fritz prefers g5 or f5; gf g5; f6 g5; f7 g6 which looks pretty convincing} Kc7 {A blunder only because the previous line is much faster.} 42. b5 Kd6 {Rh3 locks the White king out of the game.} 43. Kb3 Ke5 {Kd5 first so that Black makes progress while denying progress to White} 44. Kc4 Kf4 {Rh4 with the same idea of making progress while denying White progress.} 45. Kd5 Kxg4 46. Kc6 g5 {f5 so the rook can play to h7 protecting the a-pawn.} 47. Kb7 Kg3 48. Kxa7 Kg2 {Rh6 slows White down a bit more.} 49. Ra1 h1=Q 50. Rxh1 Rxh1 51. Kxb6 Rh6+ {This helps White get out of the way of his pawns.} 52. Kc5 g4 53. b6 g3 54. b7 Rh8 55. a5 Kf2 {This blocks the check by the soon-to-be queen.} 56. a6 g2 57. a7 g1=Q {If the K had gone to a white square then the game would be over.} 58. b8=Q Qg5+ {Taking the queen leaves Black with an extra pawn, but a very drawish game.} 59. Kc6 Rh6+ 60. Kd7 Qd5+ 61. Kc7 Qc6+ 62. Kd8 Rd6+ {Fritz shows Rh8+; Ke7 Qe6 mate} 63. Ke7 Rd7+ 64. Kf8 Qc5+ 65. Kg8 Qg5+ 66. Kh7 f5+ 67. Kh8 Qg7# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "JosephOAlford simul"] [Site "https://lichess.org/5hhzjtrp"] [Date "2020.11.23"] [Round "4"] [White "Erickson, Darren, LaughingVulcan"] [Black "JosephOAlford"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C00"] [WhiteElo "826"] [BlackElo "1920"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "2020.11.02"] [TimeControl "G/30; 5"] 1. e4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. exd5 {Equality, says Fritz. d4 would transpose into the usual French lines where White still has his first move advantage.} exd5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Bd3 Be7 6. Nge2 O-O 7. O-O Nbd7 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 c6 10. Nb1 {Of no value here, the knight heads for f3} Re8 11. Nd2 Nf8 12. h3 Ng6 13. Bxg6 {Fritz says that’s the attacking bishop. Bg3 or Bf6} fxg6 14. Nf3 Bf5 {Fritz says don’t be in such a hurry to develop. g5 or Qb6. I considered both. I prefer the bishop move.} 15. Ne5 g5 16. Bg3 Bd6 17. f4 {White is trying to combine attack with defense. Fritz wants quiet development with c3 or Re1. I prefer White’s move.} gxf4 18. Rxf4 Be4 19. Qd2 {aiming at the king-side and threatening to double rooks on the f-file. Fritz says Black can answer with Qb6 pinning the d-pawn. Instead, I went for the win of a pawn.} Nh5 20. Rf2 Nxg3 21. Nxg3 Bxe5 22. Nxe4 Bxd4 23. Qxd4 Rxe4 24. Qd2 {Fritz says Qc5 is more active, restraining the pawns and threatening f8.} Qb6 25. Raf1 {b3 first, or c3 adds Fritz.} Rf8 26. Kh1 {Now if b3 then Ref and all the pieces get traded off and Black is a pawn up in an ending.} Rxf2 27. Rxf2 Qxb2 28. Rf5 Qb1+ {White is in time trouble. Getting his queen off the board is more important than taking a third pawn.} 29. Kh2 Re1 30. Qf2 Rh1+ 31. Kg3 Qe1 {White will get no more than a check.} 32. Rf8+ Kh7 33. Qxe1 Rxe1 34. Rb8 Rb1 {And White lost on time.} 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "JosephOAlford simul"] [Site "https://lichess.org/Se6x6kMn"] [Date "2020.11.23"] [Round "4"] [White "Newman, Steven, quassialeaf"] [Black "JosephOAlford"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D30"] [BlackElo "1920"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "2020.11.02"] [TimeControl "G/30; 5"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. e3 {A matter of taste. I prefer Bf4 to have the bishop outside the pawn chain where it has more scope.} Nf6 4. Nf3 Be7 {Bb4+ Bd2; Bd2+ Qd2 just helps White develop.} 5. Nc3 O-O 6. Be2 {Bd3 is a little more aggressive, controlling central squares.} b6 7. cxd5 {Black was going to place a bishop on the long diagonal. White closes that diagonal.} exd5 8. O-O Bb7 9. Bd2 Nbd7 10. h3 Rc8 11. Nb5 {With the bishop on f4 and a rook on c1, this would be a threat. Now, the knight just gets chased back. Rc1 was correct.} a6 12. Nc3 Re8 13. Bd3 c5 14. Ne2 Bd6 15. Rc1 c4 {Locking the queen-side. White wants to form a battery of bishop and queen aimed at h7. Black must be careful about that.} 16. Bb1 Ne4 17. Be1 Nf8 18. Nd2 f5 19. Nc3 Bb8 {Black wants the same bishop and queen battery} 20. Ncxe4 fxe4 21. Rc3 {It took me a while to figure out this move. White is guarding e3 so he can move the f-pawn.} Rc6 {heading for the king-side. Also, I want this rook on the king-side before I play Qd6 or Qc7 which would block it in.} 22. f3 Qc7 {I don’t expect him to miss Qh2+. This is to encourage f4 when White has no attacking chances.} 23. f4 Rg6 24. Bh4 Bc8 25. Kh2 Rh6 26. g3 {weakening h3. Qe1 or Bg5} Ng6 27. Rg1 Nxh4 28. gxh4 Rxh4 29. Rg3 Re6 30. Qg1 Reh6 31. Qg2 {Fritz says the pawn can’t be saved and it’s time to run with Kg2. But White is still in serious trouble. White is also in time trouble. Since I was playing two games, I gave each opponent 30 minutes and I gave myself 45, so I still had plenty of time,} Qd7 32. Nf1 Rxh3+ 33. Rxh3 Rxh3+ 34. Kg1 Qe7 35. Rc2 Rh6 36. Rf2 Rg6 37. Ng3 Qh4 38. Kf1 Bh3 39. Qxh3 Qxh3+ 40. Rg2 Rxg3 41. Bc2 Qxg2+ 42. Ke1 Rxe3+ 43. Kd1 Qf1+ 44. Kd2 Qe1# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "JosephOAlford simul"] [Site "https://lichess.org/2FUBTUso"] [Date "2020.11.17"] [Round "2"] [White "JosephOAlford"] [Black "Blumberg and Smith, Allies"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B18"] [WhiteElo "1920"] [BlackElo "0000"] [PlyCount "121"] [EventDate "2020.11.02"] [TimeControl "G/30; 5"] 1. e4 {The allies are Luke Blumberg (1270) and Josh Smith, a new member. This is one of two simultaneous games.} c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. Nf3 Nd7 7. Nh4 Ngf6 8. Nxg6 hxg6 9. h3 {Overly cautious. Fritz likes c3 or Qe2} Qb6 10. Bc4 {c3 first.} Qb4+ 11. c3 Qxc4 12. Ne2 {allowing 0-0 and also allowing b3} O-O-O 13. O-O e5 14. b3 Qe6 15. Re1 Nh5 16. a4 {looking to weaken Black’s castle.} Be7 17. a5 f5 18. a6 b6 19. dxe5 Nxe5 20. Nd4 Qd5 21. f4 Bh4 {The bishop should move to f6 or d6 to recapture on e5.} 22. Rxe5 Qd6 23. Qf3 Bf6 24. Re1 {Not Re6 because Bd4+ loses the rook. Fritz says Ba3 Qc7; Re6 Rd4; Rc6 Re4; Rc7} Bxd4+ 25. cxd4 Nf6 {Equality, but Fritz says Black is better after Qd4+; Be3 Qd5} 26. Bb2 Ne4 27. Rac1 Qd5 28. Rxc6+ Qxc6 29. Rc1 Qc2 {mouse error. He meant Qc1+. Simul rules do not allow for mouse errors. My next move was made to allow them to trade the rook.} 30. b4 Qxc1+ 31. Bxc1 Rxd4 32. Qb3 Rhd8 33. Qe6+ R8d7 34. Bb2 R4d6 35. Qg8+ Kc7 {The allies are short of time. Rd8 was needed.} 36. Be5 Rd8 37. Qxg7+ Kc6 38. Bxd6 Rxd6 39. Qxa7 Rd8 40. Qb7+ Kb5 41. a7 Nd6 42. Qd5+ Kxb4 43. a8=Q Rxa8 44. Qxa8 b5 45. Qg8 Kc3 46. Qxg6 Nc4 47. Qxf5 b4 48. Qb5 b3 49. f5 b2 50. f6 Nd6 51. Qe5+ Kc2 52. Qxb2+ Kxb2 53. g4 Nf7 54. h4 Kc3 55. g5 Kd4 56. g6 Nh8 57. h5 Ke5 58. f7 Nxg6 59. hxg6 Kf6 60. f8=Q+ Kxg6 61. Kg2 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "JosephOAlford simul"] [Site "https://lichess.org/xyqPqoAm"] [Date "2020.11.16"] [Round "2"] [White "JosephOAlford"] [Black "Laughing Vulcan & quassialeaf, allies"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C66"] [WhiteElo "1920"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2020.11.02"] [TimeControl "G30; 5"] 1. e4 {The allies are Darren Erickson (826) and Steven Newman} e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O d6 5. d4 Bd7 6. dxe5 Nxe5 7. Bxd7+ Nexd7 8. Re1 Qe7 {Intending to 000. The queen-side castle is usually harder to protect than the king-side castle. Fritz prefers Be7 to allow 0-0 or Ne5 to trade pieces.} 9. Nc3 O-O-O 10. Qd4 Nb6 {removing a piece from the center and providing White with a target. Fritz agrees with me that Kb8 or a6 would be better. There is no danger in a queen on a7 as long as the knight can go to b8.} 11. a4 c5 12. Qd3 a6 {Further weakening the castle. Fritz likes h6 to prevent Bg5 or Nbd7} 13. a5 Na8 {Nbd7. The knight looks very sad on a8} 14. b4 {opening lines} cxb4 15. Qc4+ Nc7 16. Qxb4 Nd7 {Very bad. Fritz says d5 would trade off some of the attackers.} 17. Rb1 {Note the mate threat. It explains much of the rest of the game.} Nc5 18. Bf4 {Fritz is not impressed. Be3 or Bg5 f6; Be3} N7e6 19. Nd5 Qe8 20. Nb6+ Kb8 21. Na4 {If NxB then NxN renews the mate threat. And what if QxN, asks Fritz. Oops.} Qc6 22. Nxc5 Nxc5 23. Nd4 Qc8 24. e5 {Nf5 is quite a bit better, says Fritz.} Ka8 25. e6 fxe6 26. Nxe6 Nxe6 27. Rxe6 {the rook is immune because of the mate threat.} d5 28. Qe1 {And here Fritz would prefer to remain on the b-file with Qb2 or Qb3. The rook is still immune.} Bc5 29. Qe2 Rhe8 {And Black achieves equality. Unfortunately, the allies are very short on time.} 30. Rxe8 Rxe8 31. Qd3 Rf8 32. Be3 d4 33. Bd2 {and the allies ran out of time. I gave them an hour and gave myself 90 minutes since I was playing two games.} 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Gonji simul"] [Site "https://lichess.org/jYyvRcbE"] [Date "2020.11.10"] [Round "0"] [White "Bloomberg, Luke, Gonji"] [Black "Alford, Joseph, JosephOAlford"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C80"] [WhiteElo "1270"] [BlackElo "1920"] [PlyCount "107"] [EventDate "2020.11.02"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. Re1 {d4 is often played here to keep the knight from going to c5 and to free the White bishop.} d5 7. Nxe5 Bd6 8. Qh5 {I’ve never seen that before. White has threats on f7 and on c6} Qf6 {But I have a mate threat on f2.} 9. Bxc6+ bxc6 10. Nf3 O-O 11. d3 Nc5 12. Bg5 Qg6 13. Qxg6 fxg6 14. Be7 {I expected Nbd2. White is trading into an ending where Black has two sets of doubled pawns.} Re8 15. Bxd6 Rxe1+ 16. Nxe1 cxd6 17. Nc3 Bf5 18. Nf3 Re8 19. b4 Ne6 20. Re1 Kf8 {Kf7, says Fritz.} 21. Na4 {Fritz does not approve of this wandering away from the battle. h3} Rb8 22. a3 c5 {Playing on the wrong side of the board, says Fritz. Kf7 or g5 to give the bishop an escape square.} 23. h3 h5 24. Nh4 Kf7 {Too late, says Fritz. Now bc Nc5; Nc5 dc; Nf5 gf; Re5 wins a pawn.} 25. Nc3 {But after this move Black takes charge.} cxb4 26. axb4 Rxb4 27. Nxf5 gxf5 28. Nxd5 Rb2 29. Re2 {c3 is much stronger} Nd4 30. Re7+ Kf8 31. Ra7 Rxc2 32. Rxa6 Rd2 33. Rxd6 Rxd3 34. Nf4 {Looking for Rd4 Rd4; Ne6+ but Black strikes first.} Ne2+ 35. Nxe2 Rxd6 36. f4 g6 37. Kf2 Rd2 38. Ke3 Ra2 39. Kf2 Kf7 40. Kf3 Kf6 41. g3 Ra3+ 42. Kf2 h4 43. gxh4 Rxh3 44. Nd4 Rxh4 45. Kg3 Rg4+ 46. Kf3 Rg1 47. Kf2 Ra1 48. Kf3 Ra3+ 49. Kf2 g5 50. fxg5+ Kxg5 51. Kg2 Ra4 52. Nf3+ Kf4 53. Nd2 Ra2 54. Kf2 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Gonji simul"] [Site "https://lichess.org/YC3BolGG"] [Date "2020.11.10"] [Round "?"] [White "Blumberg, Luke, Gonji"] [Black "Smith, Jeff, UKWildcat"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C43"] [WhiteElo "1270"] [BlackElo "1435"] [PlyCount "51"] [EventDate "2020.11.02"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 exd4 4. e5 Bb4+ {Fritz says this is a blunder. After c3 Black has two pieces attacked} 5. Bd2 Bxd2+ 6. Nbxd2 Nd5 7. Nxd4 O-O 8. Qf3 Qe7 {That’s an oops. Nb4 is best} 9. Qxd5 d6 10. O-O-O dxe5 11. Re1 Rd8 {Fritz says Re8 is better.} 12. Qxe5 Qxe5 13. Rxe5 Kf8 {Rd4; Re8 is mate} 14. Nb5 Na6 15. Bc4 c6 16. Nc3 b5 17. Bb3 c5 {The bishop needs to move, but where? If Bb7 then Rae threatens a deadly Re7. If Black trades off rooks then he is just a piece down in an ending.} 18. a4 {Nb5} c4 19. Ba2 Nb4 20. Rhe1 a6 21. axb5 Nxa2+ 22. Nxa2 axb5 23. Nb4 Ra1+ 24. Nb1 Ra4 {Bb7 or Bd6. the White knight must be kept from c6} 25. Nc6 Rd6 26. Re8# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Gonji simul"] [Site "https://lichess.org/lqftuMyK"] [Date "2020.11.10"] [Round "?"] [White "Blumberg, Luke, Gonji"] [Black "Newman, Steve, quassialeaf"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C22"] [WhiteElo "1270"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2020.11.02"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qa4 Bc5 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 g5 8. Bg3 O-O {Fritz is not happy with moving into a castle with a big hole in the wall. He prefers d6 or Qe7} 9. Nbd2 d6 10. O-O-O a5 {And this allows Nb3. Fritz prefers Bd7 or Ng4} 11. h4 {But this is premature, allowing g4 keeping the lines closed. Fritz prefers e5 or Nb3 both working on the pin of the d-pawn.} Nb4 12. hxg5 Bd7 13. Qb3 a4 14. Qc3 {Fritz says Qc4 Be6; Qe2 Na2+ and then hg with Black’s attack better than White’s.} Nxa2+ 15. Kb1 Nxc3+ 16. bxc3 hxg5 17. Nxg5 c6 {Bringing the queen into the attack. Fritz prefers Ng4 attacking f2 or Nh5 when Rh5 meets Bg4} 18. e5 Qb6+ 19. Ka1 a3 {This does not work out – a comment I will have to eat later.} 20. Rb1 {Fritz perfers Nc4} Qa5 21. Rb3 a2 {Fritz likes Nd5 or Ng4 or Bf5} 22. exf6 Rfe8 {Fritz claims equality, but prefers Bf2 when the queen attacks g5} 23. Bd3 Re7 {A finger-fumble? Fritz likes Be6 or even Re6; Ne6 Be6 with a terrific attack.} 24. fxe7 Re8 {Second choice for Fritz who prefers Be3 when the queen is again attacking g5} 25. Nc4 {Fritz likes this, but prefers either Nh7 or Ne4, both threatening Nf6+} Qa7 26. Bxd6 Bxd6 {White threatened Bh7+ Kh8; Be5+} 27. Nxd6 Rxe7 28. Rxb7 Qc5 {The queen needed to go to a3 or a5. Here it is subject to a knight attack.} 29. Rb8+ Be8 30. Bh7+ Kf8 31. Nge4 {Fritz rates White as ahead now.} Qa7 32. Rxe8+ {The trades do not benefit White. Rc8 or Rb2 waiting for Nf6 to gang up on e8} Rxe8 33. Nxe8 Kxe8 34. Nd6+ Kf8 35. Ne4 {White has more than enough for the queen. He needs to consolidate his position. Fritz suggest Bd3 or Be4.} Qb7 36. Rd1 Kg7 37. Bf5 Qb6 38. Rd4 {That’s an oops, but it is hard to suggest a good move for White. Fritz is not impressed. g4 and Black is the one searching for a move.} Qb1# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/uI2btzCz"] [Date "2020.11.03"] [Round "1"] [White "JosephOAlford"] [Black "allies"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C38"] [WhiteElo "1920"] [BlackElo "1435"] [PlyCount "96"] [EventDate "2020.11.03"] 1. e4 e5 2. f4 {The allies are Jeff Smith and Steve Newman. Jeff likes to play the King’s Gambit against me.} exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. Bc4 Bg7 5. d4 g4 6. O-O {The Muzio Gambit. Fritz does not approve. US Champion Frank Marshall used to play this piece sacrifice a lot, but eventually had to give it up. A piece is just too much. On the other hand, all gambits are sound over the board.} gxf3 7. Qxf3 {Fritz likes Rf3 to retain the d-pawn. I thought Black would lose time taking the pawn and then retreating. Fritz also suggested gf closing the f-file, but opening the g-file. I never considered that.} Bxd4+ 8. Kh1 Qf6 9. Nc3 Nc6 {Fritz says Black should trade. The white knight is much too dangerous} 10. Nd5 Qd8 {Not Qd6; Bf4} 11. Bxf4 {Fritz says this is equal, but Qf4 favors White!} d6 12. e5 {I want to play Bg5 (which Fritz says is correct), but I did not like the reply Ne5. In a sacrificial opening when things aren’t going well it is often time to sac some more. This pawn sac is designed to keep the black knight from e5. If Ne5 then Be5 threatens mate. If Be5 or de then Bg5} Be6 13. Nxc7+ {Fritz says this second sacrifice of a knight is no more sound than the first.} Qxc7 14. Bxe6 fxe6 15. Bg5 {Trying to prevent Black from castling and threatening to win a rook with Qf8+} Nge7 16. exd6 Qxd6 17. c3 O-O-O {Two pieces up, Black returns a piece to break the attack.} 18. cxd4 Qd5 19. Qf6 Rhg8 {Note the mate threat on g2. Things go rapidly downhill from here.} 20. h4 Rg6 21. Qf3 Qxf3 22. Rxf3 Rxd4 23. Rf7 Nf5 24. Rxh7 Rg7 25. Rh8+ Kc7 26. Bf6 Rgd7 27. Bxd4 Rxd4 28. Rh7+ Kb6 29. Re1 e5 30. h5 Rh4+ 31. Kg1 Ng3 32. Kf2 Rxh5 33. Rg7 Nf5 34. Rg6 Nfd4 35. Kg3 Kc5 36. Kg4 Rh7 37. Kg5 Re7 38. Rc1+ Kd5 39. a3 e4 40. Re1 Re5+ 41. Kf4 Rf5+ 42. Kg3 Nc2 43. Rd1+ N6d4 44. Rg7 Kc6 45. Re7 e3 46. Rxd4 Nxd4 47. Rxe3 Rb5 48. b4 Nf5+ 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

October, 2020 Games:

[Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/S9LZaAxB"] [Date "2020.10.13"] [Round "2"] [White "Newman, Steve, quassialeaf"] [Black "JosephOAlford"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A52"] [WhiteElo "000"] [BlackElo "1920"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "2020.10.13"] [TimeControl "G/180; 5"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Ng4 4. Bf4 Bc5 {This is not correct. Fritz suggests Nc6 or g5; Bg3 Nc6; Nf3 Bg7} 5. e3 d6 6. h3 {Fritz considers this a blunder. He prefers just Nf3 or ed.} Nxe5 7. Bxe5 dxe5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nc3 c6 10. O-O-O+ Ke7 {It is safe to say that Black has lost the opening battle.} 11. Be2 Be6 12. Nf3 f6 13. a3 a5 14. Na4 Ba7 15. Nd2 Nd7 16. Nb3 b5 17. cxb5 {A game-losing blunder. Nc3 is forced when bc; Na5 Be3+; fe Ra5 leaves Black a comfortable pawn ahead.} Bxb3 18. Nc3 Bxd1 19. Rxd1 Rac8 20. Bg4 Rhd8 21. Kb1 cxb5 22. Nxb5 Bc5 23. Nc3 Rb8 24. Ka2 Nb6 25. Ne4 Rxd1 26. Bxd1 Bd6 27. Bb3 a4 28. Bc2 Nc4 29. Bxa4 Rxb2+ 30. Ka1 Bxa3 31. Nc3 Rxf2 32. Bb3 Bb2+ 33. Kb1 Rf1+ 34. Kc2 Rc1+ 35. Kd3 Rxc3+ 36. Ke4 Rxb3 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/Mo7ZcNsk"] [Date "2020.10.13"] [Round "2"] [White "JosephOAlford"] [Black "Newman, Steve, quassialeaf"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C37"] [WhiteElo "1920"] [BlackElo "000"] [PlyCount "23"] [EventDate "2020.19.13"] [TimeControl "G/180; 5"] 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. Bc4 g4 5. Ne5 Qh4+ 6. Kf1 Bc5 {Fritz says this is definitely bad. He suggests Nh6} 7. d4 Nf6 {Be7} 8. dxc5 Nxe4 9. Qe1 Ng3+ 10. Kg1 Nf5 11. Ng6+ {Often the best way to get out of check is to capture the checking piece. Qe1 is mate for Black! Actually, Fritz says it is mate in 5 since White can interpose with Bf1} Kd8 12. Nxh4 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/scYftak0"] [Date "2020.10.13"] [Round "2"] [White "Newman, Steve, quassialeaf"] [Black "JosephOAlford"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C02"] [WhiteElo "000"] [BlackElo "1920"] [PlyCount "58"] [EventDate "2020.10.13"] [TimeControl "G/180; 5"] 1. e4 {This was the best of the three games played 10/13.} e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Bd3 {The general rule is knights before bishops because knights travel slower and you want both to end up in the same place at the same time. Fritz points out that now cd; ed Nd4 wins a pawn.} Qb6 6. Nf3 {Here Fritz likes dc Bc5; Qe2} cxd4 7. cxd4 Bb4+ {Black often plays Bd7 in such positions to avoid Nd4; Nd4 Qd4; Bb5+ which wins the Black queen.} 8. Nbd2 Nge7 {Nd4 is playable now} 9. O-O O-O 10. Nb3 f6 11. exf6 {This helps Black develop. Fritz suggests a3} Rxf6 12. a3 Bd6 13. Bc2 e5 14. Bg5 Rf7 15. Re1 {de is better. Now Black locks the center and frees his bishop to attack.} e4 16. Bxe7 Nxe7 17. Ne5 {Ng5 would be better with the threat of Qh5 to follow. This opens an attack on f2} Bxe5 18. dxe5 Rxf2 19. Kh1 Be6 {Fritz says Qg6 first. Get the queen into the attack.} 20. Nd4 Raf8 21. Nxe6 Qxe6 22. h3 Qxe5 23. Bb3 Qg5 {That’s a mistake only in the sense that e3 or Kh8 would be stronger.} 24. Rg1 Rxb2 25. Ba2 {Ra2 is better.} Rff2 26. Qg4 Qxg4 27. hxg4 Rxa2 28. Rxa2 Rxa2 29. a4 Rxa4 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "2020.10"] [Site "https://lichess.org/ZdivXyWf"] [Date "2020.10.05"] [Round "1"] [White "Erickson, Darren, LaughingVulcan"] [Black "Newman, Steven, quassialeaf"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A45"] [WhiteElo "826"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "2020.10.05"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 {Nc3 threatens nothing since the d-pawn is already protected. c4 is a better attempt to attack the center.} Nf6 3. e3 c5 4. Bb5+ Nbd7 {Fritz says this is a mistake because White can now take the c-pawn and hold it.} 5. Nf3 a6 6. Bxd7+ Bxd7 7. O-O Bf5 {Black wants his bishop outside the pawn chain, but e6 or Rc8 would develop a new piece.} 8. Re1 e6 9. a3 Bd6 10. g3 {attempting to protect h2, White fatally weakens the king-side. h3 was correct. Fritz has also suggested dc for several moves.} Bg4 11. Na4 {That’s a disaster. Black’s reply is good, but Ne4 (heading for g5) is much better. White could play e4 or Kg2 with h3 to follow.} c4 12. b3 O-O 13. bxc4 b5 14. cxb5 axb5 15. Nc3 b4 16. Nb1 {White’s army has returned to barracks! e4 bc; e5} Ne4 17. Nbd2 {Defending f3 against the threatened Ng5, White loses his queen. Bb2 was needed.} Nc3 18. a4 Nxd1 19. Rxd1 f5 20. Bb2 g5 21. Re1 Bh3 22. Ne5 Bxe5 23. dxe5 g4 24. Nb3 Qc7 25. Nd4 {Protecting c2 and threatening Ne6, But Qe5; protects e6 and threatens Qe4 with Qg2 coming.} Ra5 26. Ra2 Qxe5 27. Nc6 {So White gets to fork the other rook, but that doesn’t stop the mate} Qe4 28. Nxa5 Qg2# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

September, 2020 Games:

[Event "Team Game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/gKFqZqpO"] [Date "2020.09.21"] [Round "3"] [White "JosephOAlford"] [Black "Mihir Bafna"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C44"] [WhiteElo "0000"] [BlackElo "0000"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "2020.09.07"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. e4 {Joseph Alford and Darren Erickson were white against Mihir Bafna, Steven Newman, and Rahul Vudaru} e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Bb4+ {A common response. Alternatives are Bc5 or Nf6; e5 d5; ef dc; fg Bg7; 0-0} 5. c3 {Bd2 Bd2+; Nbd and White recovers the pawn with a better position.} dxc3 6. bxc3 Bd6 {Ba5 leaves the bishop out of the game. Be7 meets Qd5 Nh6; Bh6 and White wins.} 7. O-O Nge7 {Fritz is not impressed with this move, prefering Qf6 or Qe7, but still shows a Black advantage.} 8. Re1 O-O 9. e5 {We don’t want Black’s knight to be able to go to e5.} Bc5 10. Na3 a6 11. Nc2 b5 12. Bd3 {with threats against h7} Ng6 13. Ncd4 Bb7 14. Ng5 Be7 {Fritz counts that as a blunder. A Black defender goes off the board and a White attacker is activated. He likes Qe8} 15. Qh5 Bxg5 16. Bxg5 Qe8 {Fritz says the queen should get out of there with Qb8. Now Nf5 theatens a sacrifice on g7 with a classic queen and bishop mate.} 17. Re3 Nxd4 18. Rh3 {The White allies discussed this for quite a while. Simply cd would leave White with a solid grip on the center and all the attacking chances. We were looking for a quick mate.} h6 19. Bxh6 Qxe5 20. Bg5 Ne2+ {An amazing defense, removing the bishop from the attack. If the king moves then Bg2+; Kg2 Nf4+; Bf4 Nf4+ forks the queen.} 21. Bxe2 f6 22. Qxg6 {Fritz likes Qh7+ Kf7; Bh6 Rg8; Rg3 with advantage to White.} Qxg5 {Note that Black is now threatening mate.} 23. Qh7+ Kf7 24. Bh5+ {White throws away most of the advantage. Rg3 Rh8; Qd3 is still a win.} Ke7 25. Rg3 Rh8 26. Re1+ Kd6 27. Qd3+ {Rd1+ forces Kc6; Qh8 Rh8; Rg5 fg; Bf3+ and after the bishop trade Re7 picks off the equalizing pawn.} Qd5 28. Qe3 {In extreme time trouble, White drops a piece. Bg6 or Bf7 is probably still a draw.} Rxh5 29. Qe7+ Kc6 30. Rxg7 Re5 31. Qxf6+ Re6 32. Rxe6+ dxe6 33. h4 Kb6 34. Rg5 Qd1+ 35. Kh2 Qd6+ 36. f4 Rf8 {And White lost on time.} 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "2020.09"] [Site "https://lichess.org/rav9G5lf"] [Date "2020.09.14"] [Round "2"] [White "Bafna, Mihir, mbafna"] [Black "Allies, quasialeaf"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "1828"] [BlackElo "9999"] [PlyCount "54"] [EventDate "2020.09.14"] [TimeControl "G60; 5"] 1. e4 {Club Champion Mihir Bafna took on 3 allies. Joseph Alford (1920), Jeffrey Smith (1435) and unrated Steven Newman} e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 {At this point we discussed the merits of a6, d6, Bc5, Nd4 and the move we finally decided upon.} 4. O-O Be7 {The point of blocking the e-file is avoid Bc3 dc; Ne5 Ne4; Re1 Nf3??; Nc3 discovered check which wins the queen.} 5. Qe2 O-O {Black need not guard e4 since Bc6 dc; Ne5 Qd4 recovers the pawn.} 6. c3 d6 7. h3 Bd7 {Fritz claims equality for Black at this point.} 8. Rd1 Qc8 {At several points we discussed a sacrifice on h3. The position never quite warrants that.} 9. d4 exd4 {The threat was d5 when Black’s knight has no good square. After this trade, the square e5 is available.} 10. cxd4 Re8 {It is often useful to have the rook on the file occupied by the enemy king or queen.} 11. d5 {We thought this was premature. Developing moves Nc3 or Bg5 or b3 and Bg7 should be made before exchanges. Black is cramped and this allows freeing exchanges. Fritz says d5 is slightly better than Nc3.} Ne5 12. Nxe5 {Nc3 would be a useful developing move.} dxe5 {I suggested we look at Bb5 first. White’s light-squared bishop is often a potent attacking piece. And the move would draw White’s queen to the wrong side of the board. Mihir generously granted us a take-back. It appears the bishop exchange is only marginally better.} 13. Bc4 {Fritz likes Bd3 because now b5; Bb5 Bb5; Qb5 Ne4 favors Black. We never considered b5.} h6 {It seemed important to hinder the deployment of White’s second bishop. We were also discussing Nh7-g5 eyeing a sacrifice on h3.} 14. Nc3 Nh7 15. Qf3 {Now that white bishop comment looks a lot stronger with the threat of d6. Although we liked to have our bishop support Ng5, we could see no future there. Also, d6 would free d5 for White’s knight. We decided it was more important to block White’s attack by putting a bishop on d6.} Bd6 16. Qg3 Kh8 {Steven had been urging putting the king in the corner and advancing the pawns to attack. Now we are kind of forced to do that by the threat of Bh6.} 17. Rd3 {This is clearly premature. I was expecting f5 to bring up his bishop. Fritz prefers the slower Be3 to develop all the pieces before attacking.} f5 {So let’s bring up our bishop first. Note that ef allows e4 attacking queen and rook.} 18. Qg6 f4 {We really liked fe with Bf5 to follow until we realized fe would be met with Rg3. f4 stops Rg3 and keeps White’s second bishop locked down.} 19. Bd2 Rf8 {White’s pieces are getting tangled up and our king-side attack is building.} 20. Nb5 {Fritz really doesn’t like this move, shifting the advantage to Black. He likes Bb5 or Qh5, both concerned with protecting the White queen from the Black bishop.} Rf6 {We likes this move, chasing the queen and protecting d3. Fritz screams no! You let the queen escape. He likes Nf6 with Be1 to follow. The longer you look at that, the better it looks. Still, I think our move fits well into our plan of king-side attack.} 21. Qh5 Ng5 22. Re1 Kh7 {Threatening Rg6 or f3} 23. h4 {White gets knight and rook for the queen, but the open g-file is too much. Fritz, of course, finds two better lines. Either Nf3; Qf3 Bg4 or Ne4 with Bf4 to follow. I follow Fishcher – you only have to win the game once. Our line is a win.} Bg4 24. hxg5 Bxh5 25. gxf6 gxf6 26. Rc1 f3 {The killer move. White can’t take it and he can’t leave it.} 27. gxf3 Qh3 {Rg8+ is coming next} 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

August, 2020 Games:

[Event "2020.08.06"] [Site "https://lichess.org/o3aXexnC"] [Date "2020.08.31"] [Round "0"] [White "Bafna, Mihir, MBafna"] [Black "Alford, Joseph, JosephOAlford"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "1920"] [BlackElo "1828"] [PlyCount "41"] [EventDate "2020.08.06"] [TimeControl "G60; 5"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. O-O d6 {Fritz says this is the bad move. 0-0 is ok or a6.} 6. d4 a6 {That blunders a piece since White can trade his attacked piece while Black cannot. I continued to play to distract Mihir from the other game he was playing simultaneously against Steve Newman.} 7. Bxc6+ bxc6 8. dxc5 Nxe4 9. cxd6 cxd6 10. Nbd2 Nf6 11. Nc4 e4 12. Nd4 {Good enough. Fritz says Nd6+ Ke7; Nc8+ and then Nd4.} d5 13. Nxc6 Qc7 14. N4e5 Bb7 15. Qa4 O-O 16. Bf4 Rac8 17. Nd4 Rfe8 18. Nd3 Qe7 19. Nb4 Nh5 20. Be3 f5 { Clearly, not operating at peak efficiency today. I resigned.} 21. Nxf5 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "2020.08.06"] [Site "https://lichess.org/1jiV9i9Z"] [Date "2020.08.31"] [Round "0"] [White "Bafna, Mihir, MBafna"] [Black "Newman, Steven, quassialeaf"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D06"] [WhiteElo "1828"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "2020.08.06"] [TimeControl "G60; 5"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Bf5 3. Nc3 Nf6 {c6 or e6 now or next move. White threatens Qb3.} 4. Bg5 h6 {c6 or c6 or dc. Fritz would also accept Ne4. Now Black loses the d-pawn.} 5. Bxf6 gxf6 6. cxd5 c6 {Get some development for the pawn.} 7. dxc6 Nxc6 8. e4 Bg6 9. Nf3 e6 10. Bb5 Qb6 11. d5 O-O-O 12. Qb3 Na5 13. Qc2 Bb4 14. O-O Kb8 15. Bd3 Rc8 16. Rab1 exd5 17. Nxd5 Qd6 18. Qa4 Nc6 19. a3 Bc5 20. b4 Bb6 21. Nxb6 axb6 22. Rfd1 Ne5 23. Nxe5 fxe5 24. Qb3 Bh5 25. Be2 Qg6 26. Bxh5 Qxh5 27. Rd7 Rcf8 {And that loses.} 28. Qd5 Rc8 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "2020.08"] [Site "https://lichess.org/iWavX2uy"] [Date "2020.08.27"] [Round "4"] [White "Mihir Bafna, MBafna"] [Black "Jeff Smith, UKWildcat"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C44"] [WhiteElo "1828"] [BlackElo "1435"] [PlyCount "58"] [EventDate "2020.08.06"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c3 Nc6 4. Bb5 d6 5. d3 Bd7 6. Nbd2 Be7 7. Nf1 a6 8. Ba4 b5 9. Bc2 Bg4 10. h3 Be6 11. Ng3 d5 12. Qe2 dxe4 13. Nxe4 Nxe4 14. Qxe4 Bd5 15. Qg4 Bxf3 16. Qxf3 Qd7 17. O-O O-O 18. Re1 Bd6 19. d4 Rae8 {ed allows Be4 but then Ne5. Also interesting is ed; cd Nd4; Bh7+ Kh7; Qd3+ Kg8; Qd4 Bh2+ and White loses the queen. Fritz says that’s not what’s going on at all. ed is met by Bf5 (note the queen must defend c6) Rae; Bg5 Re6; Qg4 Rfe; Be6} 20. Bg5 exd4 21. Be4 Ne5 {Fritz still says Bf5} 22. Qh5 f5 23. Bd5+ Nf7 24. Bxf7+ Qxf7 25. Qxf7+ Kxf7 26. cxd4 Rxe1+ 27. Rxe1 Re8 28. Rxe8 Kxe8 29. Kf1 Kd7 {Black won on time?} 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "2020.08"] [Site "https://lichess.org/ssGOm5Ul"] [Date "2020.08.27"] [Round "4"] [White "Steve Newman, quassialeaf"] [Black "Darren Erickson, LaughingVulcan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C52"] [BlackElo "826"] [PlyCount "41"] [EventDate "2020.08.06"] [TimeControl "G60; 5"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. d4 exd4 7. O-O Nf6 8. Nxd4 Nxd4 9. Qxd4 O-O {Fritz says Bb6 or d6} 10. e5 Ne8 11. Ba3 d6 12. Rd1 Be6 13. Nd2 dxe5 {Black is desperate to break out of the bind, but this loses material. Bb6} 14. Qxe5 Bb6 15. Bxf8 Kxf8 16. Bxe6 fxe6 17. Qxe6 Nd6 {Perhaps Qf6. You should not trade when you are behind, but the White king is in serious danger.} 18. Nf3 a5 {Qe8 White, being ahead, should trade, but that would develop Black’s last piece.} 19. Ne5 g6 20. Rxd6 {A sacrifice to remove the defender of f7. Qe7 was needed.} cxd6 21. Qf7# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "August 2020 Club Games"] [Site "https://lichess.org/DzWtv4S1"] [Date "2020.08.20"] [Round "3"] [White "Bafna, Mihir"] [Black "Blumberg, Luke"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C00"] [WhiteElo "1828"] [BlackElo "1270"] [PlyCount "125"] [EventDate "2020.08.06"] [TimeControl "G/60; inc 5"] 1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 d4 4. g3 e5 5. Bg2 Bb4 6. a3 Ba5 7. b4 Bb6 8. Ngf3 Bg4 9. h3 Bxf3 10. Nxf3 Qd6 11. Bb2 Nc6 12. O-O O-O-O 13. Nh4 Nge7 {Fritz prefers to block Qg4+ by placing the Black queen on either d7 or e6} 14. f4 {Qg4+ Qe6; Qg7 Rdg} exf4 15. gxf4 Qh6 16. Qg4+ Qe6 17. f5 {Again rejecting Qg7} Qf6 18. Nf3 Kb8 {Avoiding e5 followed by f6+} 19. Rae1 Ne5 20. Nxe5 Qxe5 21. Rf3 Ng8 22. Rg3 Nf6 23. Qh4 {The g-pawn is still safe: Qg7 Rdg wins White’s rook} g6 24. Rf1 Nh5 25. Rgf3 Qf6 {losing. Rdg. Fritz likes c6 or f6} 26. Qxf6 Nxf6 27. fxg6 Nh5 28. gxh7 {I thought that was a clever way to come to and ending with two extra passed pawns. Fritz does not like the move, prefering gf or a4} Rxh7 29. Rxf7 Rxf7 30. Rxf7 Rg8 31. Kf2 c6 32. Bf3 Ng7 33. Bg4 Ne8 34. e5 c5 {Allowing the double attack on b7 would be a losing move except that Black is already lost. Bd8 does not stop the e-pawn.} 35. Bf3 {Good, but Fritz prefers just advancing the e-pawn to win another piece.} Nc7 36. h4 Ne6 37. Rxb7+ Kc8 38. Rf7 Rh8 39. Bg4 Re8 40. h5 Kb8 41. h6 Ng5 42. Rf5 Nh7 43. Bh5 Re6 44. Bf7 Rxh6 45. e6 Kc7 {Bd8 or Rf6, neither good enough} 46. e7 Nf6 47. Rxf6 Rxf6+ 48. Kg3 Rxf7 49. e8=Q Rd7 50. Qe5+ Kc6 51. Qe6+ Rd6 52. Qc8+ Kd5 53. Qb7+ Ke6 54. Kf4 Rd7 55. Qe4+ Kd6 56. Qe5+ Kc6 57. Qe8 Kd6 58. Kf5 Kc7 59. Ke5 Rd8 60. Qb5 Rh8 61. bxc5 Rh5+ 62. Kxd4 Rh4+ {If either piece takes on c5 then White just recaptures with the queen.} 63. Kc3 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "August 2020 Club Games"] [Site "https://lichess.org/FQJNe4gQ"] [Date "2020.08.21"] [Round "3"] [White "Newman, Steven"] [Black "Smith, Jeff"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C42"] [BlackElo "1435"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2020.08.06"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 Nf6 6. Bc4 Bg4 7. O-O Be7 8. h3 Bh5 9. Re1 O-O 10. Qe2 Re8 11. Bf4 {Fritz says that’s an error. Black can respond d5; Bd3 Bb4} Nc6 12. c3 d5 13. Bd3 Bd6 14. Be3 Ne4 15. Nbd2 Nxd2 16. Qxd2 Bxf3 17. gxf3 Qd7 18. Kg2 Ne7 19. Rh1 {Fritz likes Bf4 to trade off the dangerous Black bishop.} Nf5 20. f4 Nh4+ 21. Kf1 c6 22. Be2 {Fritz prefers Qd1 or Qe2 heading for g4.} Qf5 23. Bg4 Qg6 {Qe4, says Fritz. Now Black could play Rg1 and f5 with some counter-chances, though still a bad game.} 24. Re1 f5 25. Bd1 Qg2+ 26. Ke2 Qf3+ {The queen checks are not necessary. Fritz says Nf3 or Bf4} 27. Kd3 Qe4+ 28. Ke2 Qf3+ 29. Kd3 Qe4+ 30. Ke2 Bxf4 31. Ref1 Bh6 32. f4 {Cutting off one attacker, White makes room for another.} Ng2 33. Bc2 Qe6 34. Kf2 Nxe3 35. Re1 Bxf4 36. Re2 Qh6 37. Qd3 Qh4+ 38. Kg1 Qg3+ 39. Rg2 Qxg2# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "August 2020 Club Games"] [Site "https://lichess.org/NXY7oMLi"] [Date "2020.08.13"] [Round "2"] [White "Bhamidip, Nishant"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D00"] [WhiteElo "1448"] [BlackElo "1920"] [PlyCount "45"] [EventDate "2020.08.06"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 e6 {Bf5. The development of Black’s QB is one of the problems in this opening. Black does not solve that problem here.} 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Nbd7 {Bd6 White means to occupy e5. Black does not challenge that plan until much too late.} 5. Nbd2 Be7 6. h3 O-O 7. Bd3 c5 8. c3 Qb6 9. Rb1 c4 10. Bc2 Nh5 11. Bh2 Bd6 12. Ne5 Bxe5 {g6 or Nhf6. Now Black loses material.} 13. Bxh7+ Kxh7 14. Qxh5+ Kg8 15. Bxe5 Nxe5 16. dxe5 Qa5 {Qc7 to protect the king-side.} 17. a3 b5 {Way too slow. Black is getting mated.} 18. Nf3 f6 {Desperation.} 19. Nh4 fxe5 {Last chance for Qc7, but now that’s not good enough. The same attack as in the game should win.} 20. Ng6 Rf6 21. Qh8+ Kf7 22. Nxe5+ Ke7 23. Nc6+ {Nice game by Nishant.} 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "August 2020 Club Games"] [Site "https://lichess.org/tNxqsNTQ"] [Date "2020.08.13"] [Round "2"] [White "Newman, Steven"] [Black "Kumar, Prithiv"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B50"] [BlackElo "1387"] [PlyCount "21"] [EventDate "2020.08.13"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nb3 a6 6. Nc3 Nf6 7. Bd3 Be7 8. Be3 Nc6 9. f3 O-O 10. Qd2 Be6 {Apparently, White lost on time. There is a comment about lost connection.} 11. O-O-O {Fritz says this gives Black a slight edge. He likes Nd5 Nd5; ed Bd5; Bh7+ Kh7; Qd5 with a slight advantage to White.} 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "August 2020 Club Games"] [Site "https://lichess.org/4RTr7hV4"] [Date "2020.08.06"] [Round "1"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Bafna, Mihir"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B40"] [WhiteElo "1920"] [BlackElo "1828"] [PlyCount "37"] [EventDate "2020.08.06"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 5. d4 e6 6. c4 Nb6 7. d5 Ne7 8. Nc3 Ng6 9. Bd3 {Fritz prefers d6. Now Black should trade on d5 and then play d6} d6 10. Bg5 f6 11. exf6 gxf6 12. Be3 e5 13. Nh4 Nxh4 14. Qh5+ Ng6 {Kd7 is slightly better, per Fritz} 15. Bxg6+ Ke7 16. Bd3 Bg7 17. O-O-O Qe8 18. Qh4 Kd7 19. Qg4+ 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "August 2020 Club Games"] [Site "https://lichess.org/FydSED5M"] [Date "2020.08.06"] [Round "1"] [White "Newman, Steve"] [Black "Smith, Jeff"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D15"] [BlackElo "1435"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "2020.08.06"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Bf5 5. Bf4 e6 6. Ne5 {e3 is a better way to protect c4. Do not move a piece a second time before you have developed every piece.} Nbd7 7. e3 Bb4 8. f3 Nh5 9. g4 Nxf4 10. exf4 Bg6 11. f5 {White has made too many pawn moves. This one loses a pawn. Also, his king is exposed.} exf5 12. Nxg6 hxg6 13. Qe2+ Qe7 14. Qxe7+ Kxe7 15. O-O-O Bxc3 16. bxc3 fxg4 17. fxg4 dxc4 18. Bxc4 Nb6 19. Rde1+ Kf8 20. Bb3 a5 21. Rhf1 f6 22. Re2 a4 23. Be6 Re8 24. Rfe1 Rh3 {That’s an error. Fritz suggests Rb2 as a response. Black cannot take on c3 because Kd2 attacks two pieces. Instead of Rh3 Fritz likes both Nd5 and N-a8-c7} 25. Kd2 Na8 26. a3 {the a- and c-pawns are ging to be targets for the knight. I like Bc4 heading for d3 or g5 R-moves; gf} Nc7 27. Ba2 {Bc4 to keep the knight back.} Rxe2+ 28. Rxe2 Nb5 29. Bb1 Nxc3 30. Bxg6 {Threatening mate, but it is Black’s move} Nxe2 31. Kxe2 Rxa3 32. h4 Rh3 33. h5 a3 34. Bb1 Rg3 {a2; Ba2 Rh2+ wins the bishop. Or Rb3 forces the pawn in.} 35. Bf5 a2 36. Kf2 Ra3 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

July, 2020 Tournament games:

[Event "July 2020 Online USCF Rated Tournament"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2020.07.23"] [Round "3"] [White "Kopula, Panduragan"] [Black "Bafna, Mihir"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B00"] [WhiteElo "553"] [BlackElo "1828"] [PlyCount "22"] [EventDate "2020.07.09"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 b6 2. Nf3 Bb7 3. Nc3 g6 4. Bc4 e6 5. d4 Ne7 6. d5 Bg7 7. e5 exd5 8. Nxd5 O-O 9. Bg5 Nbc6 10. O-O h6 11. Bh4 g5 {At this point Black resigned. Mihir immedately protested. What just happened? I did not resign. Tournament Director Darren Erickson got involved. After some negotiation, the players agreed to a draw. Very strange.} 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "July 2020 Online Unrated Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/bPwMSnaQ"] [Date "2020.07.24"] [Round "3"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Newman, Steven"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C44"] [WhiteElo "1920"] [PlyCount "91"] [EventDate "2020.07.09"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Bc5 {That’s what I play on the black side, though I have also played Bb4+; c3 dc; bc which just gives White too much development} 5. O-O {Fritz says Ng5 is only equal after Nh6; Nf7 Bb4+ (Nf7; Bf7+ Kf7; Qh5+ snags the bishop); c3 Nf7; Bf7+ Kf7;} (5. Ng5 Nh6 6. Nxf7 Bb4+ 7. c3 Nxf7 8. cxb4 Qe7 9. O-O Qxb4) 5... d6 6. c3 Be6 {Fritz calls that a blunder. he prefers Bg4} 7. Bxe6 fxe6 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. d5 {I had reservations about this plan. White has the better game and might just continue to develop with Nc3 or Bg5. Fritz likes d5.} exd5 10. exd5 Nce7 11. Ng5 Nf6 12. Ne6 Qd7 13. Nxg7+ Kd8 {The other line, rejected during the game, was Bg5 Ned5; Qd5 Qg7; Qb7 Kd7; Bf6 Qf6; Nc3 which seemed to promise Black all the attacking fun} 14. Ne6+ Kc8 15. Nf4 Rg8 {thank you for opening that file for me.} 16. Nc3 Ng4 17. Qe2 {Here and later White would be happy to play Qe6 trading off queens.} Ne5 18. Be3 Nf5 19. Bxb6 axb6 20. Qh5 Kb8 21. Ne6 {Cutting off defense for Black’s knight on f5} Ne7 22. Qxh7 c6 23. Nf4 {Fritz suggests f4 which I never considered.} Ka7 {I thought that was a dangerous move, bringing the last rook into the attack. Fritz says Rg4 is much stronger.} 24. Qh3 Nf5 25. dxc6 {Good enough, says Fritz, but why not a4 bringing White’s rook into an attack?} bxc6 26. Ne4 {Black’s rooks were close to winning White’s queen} Raf8 {No fork, and by the way, that’s the last of Black’s pieces.} 27. Rfd1 {Another defensive plan is Nh5 and Nef6 or Neg3 (probably after Qa3+). That would lock all of White’s pieces into defense.} d5 28. Qa3+ Kb7 29. Ng3 Nh4 30. Rd4 {Protecting f4 and threatening Ra4, but now there are threats on f3 with a fork of king and rook.} Nc4 {During the game I was afraid of Nef3+; gf Rf4; Rf4 Qh3 when I have the saving move Qe7+ and Qh4. Black’s next blocks that queen check} 31. Qd3 {Now the saving check is at h7} Ne5 32. Qd1 {That’s a blunder. Rg4 equalizes. the threats on f3 and h3 and f4 are just too much. Fritz likes Qe3 protectng f3 and attacking e5} Rh8 {Threatening Qh7, but Rg4 or Qg4 are better} 33. b4 Nhf3+ {I expected Nef3+; gf Rf4; Rf4 Qh3; Rh5 when I expected to survive} 34. gxf3 Rxf4 35. Rxf4 Qh3 36. Qd4 Qxh2+ 37. Kf1 Qh3+ 38. Ke2 Qe6 39. Qe3 Re8 40. Rh1 {Rf5 with f4 to follow is more exact} d4 41. Rh7+ {Not a good idea?} Kb8 42. Rxd4 Qxa2+ {Now I see that Kf1 Qb1+ snags the rook.} 43. Rd2 Qc4+ 44. Kd1 Qxb4 45. Qxe5+ Rxe5 46. Rd8# {wow! My blood pressure was still over 200 an hour later.} 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "July 2020 Online Unrated Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/EQZc7m10"] [Date "2020.07.17"] [Round "2"] [White "Newman, Steven"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C54"] [BlackElo "1920"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2020.07.09"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 Bxd2+ 8. Qxd2 {Nbd2 protects the pawn} Nxe4 9. Qd3 d5 10. Bb5 O-O 11. Bxc6 { Eliminating one of the knights that could chase the queen, but generally you should not trade when you are behind.} bxc6 12. O-O a5 13. b3 {Several times in this game, White ignores threats. Re1 avoids the skewer.} Ba6 14. Qe3 Bxf1 15. Kxf1 Re8 16. Ne5 Qc8 {The threat of Qa6+ protects c6. Fritz does not care for this move, suggesting c5 or a4. I considered both, but still like the queen move} 17. f3 Qa6+ 18. Kg1 Nd6 19. Nc3 {The pin should not be ignored.} f6 20. f4 fxe5 21. dxe5 Nf5 22. Qf2 Qb6 {When ahead, trade} 23. Ne2 Qxf2+ 24. Kxf2 g5 25. g3 gxf4 26. gxf4 Kf7 27. Rc1 Re6 28. Ng3 {Hoping the connected pawns will work magic, but every trade makes Black’s job easier.} Nxg3 29. hxg3 Rb8 30. Ke3 a4 31. Rc3 axb3 32. axb3 Rb4 33. Kf3 d4 34. Rd3 c5 35. Ke4 Reb6 36. g4 Rxb3 37. Rxb3 Rxb3 38. f5 Re3+ 39. Kd5 d3 40. e6+ Ke7 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "July 2020 Online USCF Rated Tournament"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2020.07.16"] [Round "2"] [White "Kumar, Prithiv"] [Black "Bafna, Mihir"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E20"] [WhiteElo "1387"] [BlackElo "1828"] [PlyCount "45"] [EventDate "2020.07.09"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bd2 c5 5. a3 Bxc3 6. Bxc3 cxd4 7. Bxd4 Nc6 8. e3 O-O 9. Nf3 Ne4 10. Bd3 Ng5 11. O-O f5 12. Bc3 d6 13. Nxg5 Qxg5 14. f4 Qe7 15. Rf3 e5 16. Rg3 Be6 17. b4 Rf7 18. b5 e4 {If the knight leaves then Black loses a pawn on e5. White could still win a pawn with bc ed; cb Qb7; Qd3, but the c-pawn is so weak that it will probably fall. However, the key factor here is that the move unleashes the bishop on g7.} 19. Be2 Nd8 20. Qd4 {Good enough. Fritz suggests Bh5 now} Kf8 21. Rd1 Rc8 22. Bb4 Ke8 23. Bxd6 {Black resigns because Qd7; Bh5 g6; Qh8+ forces mate. Fritz shows Qf6; Qf6 Rf6; Rg7 Nf7; Rg8+ Kd7; Be5+ killing the rook} 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "July 2020 Online Unrated Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/EtFYYxwl"] [Date "2020.07.17"] [Round "2"] [White "Bhamidip, Nishant"] [Black "Erickson, Darren"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D00"] [WhiteElo "1448"] [BlackElo "826"] [PlyCount "107"] [EventDate "2020.07.09"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 c6 3. Nf3 Nd7 4. e3 Ngf6 5. Bd3 e6 6. c3 Nb6 7. Nbd2 Bd6 8. Ne5 O-O 9. O-O Nbd7 {Fritz suggests Qc7 pointing out that White could now win a pawn wth Nf7} 10. h3 Ne8 11. Qc2 g6 12. Ndf3 Qc7 13. Nxd7 Bxd7 14. Ne5 a6 15. Bh6 Ng7 16. f4 f5 17. g4 Bxe5 18. fxe5 b6 19. Rac1 c5 20. b3 cxd4 21. cxd4 Qxc2 22. Rxc2 Rac8 23. Rfc1 Rxc2 24. Bxc2 {Allowing Black to pin. Rc2 was better} Rc8 25. Kf2 fxg4 26. hxg4 Rf8+ {Bb5; Ke1 Bd3; Kd2 is equal} 27. Kg3 Rc8 28. Kf3 {Bb5; e4 and the bishop on h6 protects the rook.} Rf8+ 29. Ke2 Bb5+ 30. Kd2 { Fritz says Bd3 and after the trade Black cannot defend his pawn because his pieces are all tangled up by the pin.} Rf2+ 31. Kc3 {The alternative was Ke1 Rf1+; Kd2 Rf2+} a5 32. Bf4 Rg2 33. Bd1 {g5 would release black’s knight from its prison, but it would not lose a pawn.} Be2 {Free pawn on a2. Fritz shows big advantage for White after Rc2 and even bigger advantage after Be2.} 34. Bxe2 Rxe2 35. a4 {Kd3 Ra2; Rc8+ Kf7; Rc7+ Kg8; Bh6 Ne8; Re7 says Fritz} h5 36. gxh5 gxh5 37. Rg1 h4 {Fritz actually shows Black slghtly ahead now. But this loses the knight. Pins should not be ignored.} 38. Bh6 h3 39. Rxg7+ Kf8 {The game is lost, but stepping into a discovered check is very bad.} 40. Rg2+ Ke7 41. Rxe2 Kd7 42. Rh2 Kc6 43. Rxh3 b5 44. axb5+ Kxb5 45. Rh1 a4 46. bxa4+ Kxa4 47. Ra1+ Kb5 48. Ra8 Kc6 49. Ra6+ Kd7 50. Kb4 Ke8 51. Ra7 Kd8 52. Kc5 Ke8 53. Kd6 Kd8 54. Ra8# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "July 2020 Online USCF Rated Tournament"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2020.07.16"] [Round "2"] [White "Blumberg, Luke"] [Black "Kopula, Panduragan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C60"] [WhiteElo "1270"] [BlackElo "553"] [PlyCount "19"] [EventDate "2020.07.09"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nge7 {Not a good response because Black now gets a cramped game. Most common is a6. Nf6 and d6 and Bc5 are all good alternatives.} 4. O-O a6 5. Ba4 d6 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 Bg4 {This is not a good move, but White fails to punish it. Now Bf7+ Kf7; Ng5+ and Qg4. White will lose the d-pawn, but Black’s pieces are in turmoil and he cannot castle.} 8. dxe5 Nxe5 {And that loses at least a piece. de was required. Fritz likes Bf3; Qf3 Ne5; Qe2} 9. Nxe5 Bxd1 10. Bxf7# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "July 2020 Online USCF Rated Tournament"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2020.07.09"] [Round "1"] [White "Bafna, Mihir"] [Black "Blumberg, Loke"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C00"] [WhiteElo "1828"] [BlackElo "1270"] [PlyCount "96"] [EventDate "2020.07.09"] [TimeControl "3600+10"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 d4 4. g3 e5 5. Bg2 c5 6. Ngf3 Nc6 7. O-O Be6 8. Re1 Be7 9. Nf1 h5 10. h4 c4 11. a3 f6 12. dxc4 Bxc4 13. N3d2 Bxf1 {Fritz is not impressed with trading the active bishop for the dead horse. Be6} 14. Nxf1 Qb6 15. Kh1 O-O-O 16. f4 {Aren’t those pawns supposed to be guarding the king?} g5 {Yes, they are, says Black. Time to open lines.} 17. Nh2 gxf4 18. gxf4 exf4 19. Bxf4 Ne5 {Here aand later Qb2 opens lines for White to attack.} 20. Qe2 Nh6 21. Bh3+ Kb8 22. Nf3 Nhf7 23. Rg1 Rhg8 {Preventing Rg7 which would stress e5} 24. Qc4 {There is another way to attack f7} Rxg1+ 25. Rxg1 Ka8 26. Bxe5 Nxe5 27. Nxe5 fxe5 28. Qf7 Qf6 29. Qxh5 Qxh4 30. Qxh4 Bxh4 31. Kh2 Bf2 32. Rg5 Be3 { A little trap. The fork protects e5} 33. Rf5 Bf4+ 34. Kg2 b5 35. Rf7 Rg8+ 36. Kf2 Re8 37. Bd7 Rh8 38. Bxb5 {Black is going to win 2 pawns for one. More importantly, the d-pawn is going to become passed and supported by bishop and rook.} Rh2+ 39. Kf3 {Mistake. Here and later the king must stay close enough to stop the d-pawn.} Rxc2 40. b4 Rc3+ 41. Kg4 Rxa3 42. Rd7 Rb3 43. Bc6+ Kb8 44. Rb7+ Kc8 45. b5 Ra3 46. Rd7 d3 47. Kf3 d2+ 48. Ke2 Ra1 {With Re1+ and d1Q to follow. Except that Fritz points out Rd2 Bd2; Kd2 which is still a lost game.} 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "July 2020 Online USCF Rated Tournament"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2020.07.09"] [Round "1"] [White "Kopula , Panduragan"] [Black "Smith, Jeff"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "553"] [BlackElo "1435"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2020.07.09"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bc4 O-O 5. d3 d6 6. h3 Nc6 7. O-O Bd7 8. Bd2 Qc8 {Fritz says that’s an error. White should respond Nd5 Bd2; Nf6+ gf; Qd2} 9. Ng5 {protecting h3 and attacking f7. But the knight can’t stay there, so it actually does neither.} h6 10. Nf3 a6 11. Nd5 Nxd5 {Not good, says Fritz. After ed Black has too many pieces attacked. Correct was Bd2 as n the earlier note.} 12. Bxd5 Bxd2 13. Qxd2 Ne7 14. Bb3 Ng6 15. g3 {To keep the knight from f4. Kh2 and then Ng1 would protect h3.} Bxh3 16. Rfe1 Qg4 17. Nh2 Qd7 18. Re3 Kh8 19. d4 f5 20. dxe5 Nxe5 21. f4 Ng4 22. Nxg4 Bxg4 23. exf5 Bxf5 24. Rae1 c6 {Rae1 Black cannot allow white to own e7 and attack g7. This is the losing move.} 25. Re7 Qc8 26. Qxd6 Rd8 {Fritz says Rf6 also chases the queen and blocks off g7} 27. Qe5 Rg8 28. Bxg8 Qxg8 29. Qxf5 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "July 2020 Online Unrated Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/sC920tpy"] [Date "2020.07.09"] [Round "1"] [White "Erickson, Darren"] [Black "Aydogdu, Selman"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B32"] [WhiteElo "1336"] [BlackElo "826"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2020.07.09"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. Nc3 Bb4 7. Bd2 Nf6 8. Bd3 O-O 9. a3 Bc5 10. O-O d5 11. Re1 {The losing move. This weakens f2. Fritz suggests Bg5 with pressure on the center.} Ng4 12. h3 Nxf2 13. Qf3 {good enough. I like Nd3+ and Ne1} dxe4 14. Rxe4 Nxe4+ 15. Be3 Ng5 16. Qg3 Bxe3+ 17. Qxe3 Ne6 {Fritz suggest Qb6. When ahead, trade.} 18. Qe4 f5 19. Qxe5 Qb6+ 20. Kh2 Qxb2 21. Rb1 Qxa3 22. Bc4 Rf6 23. Rd1 {Fritz likes Nd5 cd; Bd5 with threats on e6 and a8} Qe7 24. Rd6 Kf7 {Fritz says just get out of the pin with Kh8} 25. Ne2 Ke8 26. Rxc6 Bd7 {Working too hard, says Fritz. Black is a rook head. Nd8 forces a queen trade.} 27. Rd6 Rc8 28. Bd5 Rxc2 {Good enough. Fritz still likes moving the knght to force a queen trade.} 29. Bxe6 {White is a rook down. Trading loses. Fritz says Be6 is the best move available.} Rxe6 30. Rxe6 Qxe6 31. Qb8+ {Fritz says Qe6+ Be6; Nd4 wins the bishop, but that still a lost game.} Kf7 32. Qxa7 Rxe2 33. Qd4 Re4 {Fritz says chase the king, not the queen. Qc6} 34. Qf2 Qe5+ 35. Qg3 f4 36. Qf2 f3+ 37. Kg1 Re1+ 38. Qf1 f2+ 39. Kh1 Rxf1# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

June, 2020 Games:

Round 4

[Event "June 2020 Virtual Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/MO5HSbcr"] [Date "2020.06.26"] [Round "4"] [White "Newman, Steven"] [Black "Kopula, Panduragan"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B50"] [BlackElo "553"] [PlyCount "120"] [EventDate "2020.06.05"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 {Too passive, says Fritz. cd or Nbd7} b6 5. Be3 Nbd7 6. Bc4 {Also too passive, says Fritz. dc bc; e5} e6 7. O-O Bb7 8. Re1 {That just loses a pawn. Fritz suggests d5 or e5} Be7 9. d5 exd5 10. exd5 O-O 11. Ng5 {And where are you off to, my good man? Fritz prefers a4 to prevent a6 and b5 undermining the bishop and thus the pawn.} h6 12. Nge4 Ne5 {Fritz likes the move, but suggests Ne4; Ne4 f5; Nc3 and then Ne5} 13. Nxf6+ Bxf6 14. Bb3 { Be2 Now c4 Ba4; a6 will be awkward} a6 15. a4 c4 16. Ba2 Rc8 17. f4 {White’s pawns are gettng weak. Bd4 or Ne4} Ng6 18. Qd2 Bxc3 19. bxc3 Ne7 20. Bd4 Nxd5 21. Qf2 Ne7 {b5 Why just give up the pawn?} 22. Bxb6 {Interestingly, Fritz suggests putting either rook on b1 rather than taking the pawn immediately} Qd7 23. Bd4 Nf5 24. g4 {a4 was attacked, but this gives Black an even better target } Nxd4 {Both players (and I) missed the much stronger Qc6} 25. cxd4 Qxg4+ 26. Qg3 {The Bishop forces this queen trade.} Qxg3+ 27. hxg3 Rfe8 {That should lose a pawn to Re8+ Re8; Bc4} 28. c3 d5 29. a5 Re6 30. Kf2 Rce8 31. Re5 f6 32. Rxe6 Rxe6 33. Re1 {When ahead, trade. White is not ahead. Rb1} Kf7 34. Bb1 Rxe1 35. Kxe1 Ke6 36. g4 {both sides dither on the king-side for a few moves. The a5 pawn is the key. White must soon play Bc2 or Bg6 to cover the entry point b5. Black must use his own bishop to prevent this.} Ke7 37. Bg6 Bc6 38. Kf2 Be8 39. Bf5 {This is the losing move. Now Black can force the bishops off and White cannot protect a5. White had to play Bc2 or Bb1} Bd7 40. Bxd7 Kxd7 41. f5 {locking Black’s pawns so that White can get to g7.} Kc6 42. Kg3 Kb5 43. Kh4 Kxa5 {assuring a queen. Fritz says this is a blunder! Ka4 and queen the c-pawn. } 44. Kh5 Ka4 45. Kg6 Kb3 46. Kxg7 Kxc3 47. Kxf6 Kxd4 48. Ke6 c3 49. f6 c2 50. f7 c1=Q 51. f8=Q Qe1+ 52. Kd7 Qe4 53. Qg7+ Kd3 54. Qxh6 Qxg4+ 55. Kc6 Qc4+ 56. Kd6 d4 57. Qg6+ Kc3 58. Qb1 {Allowing the queen trade and losing the game.} Qb4+ 59. Qxb4+ Kxb4 60. Kd5 Kc3 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "June 2020 Virtual Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/36KD46eU"] [Date "2020.06.26"] [Round "4"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Smith, Jeff"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "1920"] [BlackElo "1435"] [PlyCount "51"] [EventDate "2020.06.05"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Bc4 Bc5 5. d3 d6 6. h3 O-O {h6} 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 Be6 9. Nd5 Bxd5 10. Bxd5 Rb8 11. Qd2 Nd4 12. c3 Nxf3+ {I really did not think he would open the g-file for me.} 13. gxf3 c6 14. Bb3 {Fritz says we both missed Ne4} b5 15. Rg1 Kh7 {Now Ne4 would fail to Qh6, so Black protects the h-pawn.} 16. Bc2 Qd7 {Fritz does not like that at all. d4 Bb6 de} 17. O-O-O Nh5 18. d4 {Fritz doesn’t like that either. If Black plays b4 I will play c4 and hope that my attack is faster.} exd4 {Now we see why it was important to move the knight. If it was still on f6 then I would now win it with e5+. Fritz says it’s time to sacrifice with Rg7+ Ng7; e5+ f5; ef+ Nf5; Qf4 Rf6; Bf6 Kg6. I wanted to double rooks first.} 19. cxd4 Bb6 20. Rg4 {I liked that move. Fritz does not. Again, he says Rg7+} Kh8 {Fritz says f5 or f6} 21. Rdg1 {Fritz gives this as second best. He still insists Rg7 is best. Note that Qe6 is then needed to protect h6 and then d5} Rg8 22. e5 {Fritz and I are not on the same wavelength. He still wants Rg7 Qe6; Rg4 with massive advantage to white.} dxe5 {Now it is time for Rg7 Rg7; Qh6 Kg8; Qh7+ Kf8; Qh8+ and I stopped looking because after Ke7 both my rook and my queen are attacked. Of course, Black can’t play Ke7 because of the bishop on h4.} 23. Bf6 {I was really proud of that move which removes the knight from defending g7 and prevents the queen from coming to e6 to protect h6. Unfortunately, the move loses a piece.} Nxf6 24. Rxg7 Rxg7 {Black’s salvation is Qh3 and both mates are blocked.} 25. Qxh6+ Rh7 26. Qxf6+ 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "June 2020 Virtual Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/qj9sYS1p"] [Date "2020.06.26"] [Round "4"] [White "Malladi, Ram"] [Black "Kumar, Prithiv"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B23"] [WhiteElo "1085"] [BlackElo "1387"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "2020.06.05"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 4. Bxc6+ bxc6 5. Nf3 e6 6. O-O Bb7 7. d3 Be7 8. e5 dxe5 9. Nxe5 Nf6 {That’s a little suspect because of the doubled, isolated c-pawns and the bishop stuck behind them. Fritz likes d5} 10. Qe1 O-O 11. f4 Nd5 12. Ne4 {trading would solve many of Black’s problems.} f6 13. Nc4 Qc7 14. Bd2 {I liked this move until I saw the Fritz suggestion of Ned6 using the weakness on e6 to protect the knight.} Rad8 {Fritz wants the rook on e8 or the bishop on c8 to protect e6} 15. Ba5 Nb6 16. Qf2 Rd5 17. Rae1 Bc8 18. b3 {Fritz prefers this over Nc3 when Na4 is so strong that he sacrifices the rook.} Bd7 19. Ng3 {Ne3 the rook escapes to h5 with some attacking chances according to Fritz} Qb8 20. f5 e5 21. Ne4 Be8 22. Qh4 Bf7 23. Re3 h6 24. Bd2 Kh7 25. Na5 Qc7 26. Rh3 h5 {White threatened Bh6} 27. g4 c4 28. bxc4 Rd4 29. gxh5 Nd7 {Forcing white’s knight to retreat. Unfortunately, it has a good retreat square.} 30. Nb3 Rxe4 31. Qxe4 Nc5 32. Nxc5 Bxc5+ 33. Be3 Bxe3+ 34. Qxe3 Rg8 35. Rf2 c5 36. Rg3 Qb6 37. h6 gxh6 38. Rxg8 Bxg8 39. Qf3 Qb1+ 40. Rf1 Qb8 {QxP; Qb7+ Kh8; Qe7} 41. Qh5 Qf8 42. Qg6+ Kh8 43. Rb1 Qf7 44. Qxh6+ 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "June 2020 Virtual Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/GVAi7fYt"] [Date "2020.06.26"] [Round "4"] [White "Bafna, Mihir"] [Black "Bhamidipati, Nishant"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A00"] [WhiteElo "1828"] [BlackElo "1448"] [PlyCount "31"] [EventDate "2020.06.05"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. h3 c5 2. g4 d5 3. f4 e5 4. Bg2 Qh4+ 5. Kf1 exf4 6. Nf3 Qd8 7. d4 Nf6 8. Bxf4 cxd4 9. Nxd4 Qb6 10. Nc3 Nc6 {The losing move? Fritz says Bd6 or Bb4} 11. Ndb5 Ne4 {Don’t miss the mate threat} 12. Nc7+ Kd7 13. Qxd5+ Nd6 14. N3b5 g5 15. Bxd6 Bxd6 16. Qxd6# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "June 2020 Virtual Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/6vyaxa9t"] [Date "2020.06.26"] [Round "4"] [White "Bafna, Aarushi"] [Black "Blumberg, Luke"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C00"] [WhiteElo "909"] [BlackElo "1270"] [PlyCount "50"] [EventDate "2020.06.05"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. d4 Bd6 5. Nc3 c6 6. Bd3 Nf6 7. O-O O-O 8. h3 h6 9. Re1 Be6 10. Ne2 Qc7 11. Be3 Nbd7 12. Qd2 {Fritz suggests Qc1 to avoid the problems arising from Black’s next.} Ne4 13. Bxe4 {Qc1 f5 would be unpleasant. White’s main problem is that now the knight has no squares.} dxe4 14. d5 {Fritz says Ne5 losing a pawn, but keeping some control over the center. } exf3 {cd would give Black a powerful center and an extra pawn. Fritz llkes Bh3 or Bd5.} 15. dxe6 fxe6 16. Nd4 Bh2+ 17. Kf1 fxg2+ 18. Ke2 {Kg2 Rf6 looks very unpleasant, but returning the king to the center also looks bad. Fritz gives Black 1+ after Kg2 and 3+ after Ke2} Qe5 19. Nf3 {such a nice looking move. fork and also protect g1 and also attack d7 . Black’s reply ends the game quickly.} Qh5 20. Qxd7 Qxf3+ 21. Kd2 Rad8 22. Bxa7 Rxd7+ 23. Kc1 Bf4+ 24. Kb1 Rd1+ 25. Rxd1 Qxd1# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

Round 3

[Event "June 2020 Virtual Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/JrQpi8p9"] [Date "2020.06.19"] [Round "3"] [White "Bloomberg, Luke"] [Black "Selman"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B33"] [WhiteElo "1270"] [BlackElo "1588"] [PlyCount "152"] [EventDate "2020.06.04"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nb3 {If the knight isn’t going to b5 to attack d6, then it belongs on f3} Nf6 6. Nc3 Bb4 7. f3 {This move is almost always suspect. Bd3} O-O 8. Bd2 d5 9. Nxd5 Nxd5 10. exd5 Qxd5 11. Bxb4 Nxb4 12. Qxd5 Nxd5 13. O-O-O Be6 14. Bd3 Ne3 15. Rd2 f5 16. Re1 f4 17. Be4 Nc4 18. Rde2 Rac8 {Is the pawn less valuable than the open file?} 19. Bxb7 Rc7 20. Be4 a5 21. Kb1 Rb8 22. c3 a4 23. Nc1 a3 24. Nd3 {after b3 Ne3 and the c-pawn falls, but so does the e-pawn after Nd3 says Fritz.} axb2 25. Nxb2 Rd7 {Fritz says the a-pawn falls after Ra7} 26. Ka1 Na3 {Fritz points out Rb2; Rb2 Nb2; Kb2 Rd2+} 27. Rd1 {A game-losing oversight? by which side?} Rxb2 28. Kxb2 Nc4+ {Fritz says Black has miscalculated and this makes it worse. Rd1 was better.} 29. Kc1 Ra7 30. Bd5 Bxd5 31. Rxd5 Ra3 32. Rd3 Kf8 33. Kb1 Ke7 {Ne3 to protect the e-pawn, says Fritz} 34. Re4 Ra4 35. Rxc4 {Perhaps a bit over-optimistic. Rd5 looks better. Fritz likes Rdd4} Rxc4 36. Kb2 Rc6 37. a4 Rh6 38. h3 Rb6+ 39. Ka3 h5 40. a5 Rb1 41. Ka4 {Rd2 says hindsight} Rb2 42. a6 Rxg2 43. Kb5 Rb2+ 44. Kc6 Ra2 45. Rd7+ Kf6 {Ke6 Fritz says Black should be happy to trade the g-pawn for the a-pawn.} 46. a7 g5 47. Kb7 Rb2+ 48. Kc8 Ra2 49. Rb7 {Kb8 also loses} (49. Kb8 g4 50. fxg4 hxg4 51. hxg4 f3 52. a8=Q Rxa8+ 53. Kxa8 f2 54. Rd1 e4 55. Rf1 e3 56. c4 Ke7) 49... g4 50. hxg4 hxg4 51. fxg4 f3 52. Kb8 e4 53. a8=Q Rxa8+ 54. Kxa8 e3 {two pawns on the 6th beat a rook} 55. Rb8 e2 56. Rf8+ Kg5 57. Rxf3 e1=Q 58. Rf8 Qa1+ 59. Kb7 Qb2+ 60. Kc6 Qxc3+ 61. Kd5 Qb3+ 62. Kc6 Qa4+ 63. Kd5 Qb5+ 64. Ke6 Kxg4 65. Rg8+ Kf4 66. Rf8+ Ke4 67. Rc8 Qd5+ 68. Ke7 Ke5 69. Re8 Kf5 70. Rf8+ Kg6 71. Rf6+ Kg5 72. Rf8 Qc5+ 73. Ke8 Kg6 74. Rg8+ Kf6 75. Rf8+ Ke6 76. Rf7 Qc8# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "June 2020 Virtual Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/f45g91Lh"] [Date "2020.06.19"] [Round "3"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Erickson, Darren"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C69"] [WhiteElo "1920"] [BlackElo "826"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2020.06.04"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] {Note: This game was played as a substitute for an absent player. Although it’s included here it was not used for pairing purposes in the final round.}1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O Bd6 6. d4 {Fritz likes Bg4 or Qe7} exd4 7. Qxd4 {Much better than Nd4} f6 {This ugly move is first choice for Fritz. The alternative is Bf8} 8. Re1 Be7 9. Qc4 Bg4 10. Nc3 {What’s your hurry, says Fritz. He likes Nbd2 or Qb3 and says the game is now equal after a trade on f3.} Qd7 11. Bf4 O-O-O 12. Rad1 Qe8 13. Rxd8+ Qxd8 14. Nd4 Bd6 {I looked for a way to pick off that bishop on g4. I looked at e5 and at a knight sac on c6. fritz says Nc6 is best and e5 is second best, and both are better than what I chose.} 15. Bxd6 cxd6 16. h3 Bd7 17. Nf5 Bxf5 18. exf5 Ne7 {Dropping a piece. I expected Nh6; g5} 19. Qe6+ Qd7 20. Qxe7 Rd8 21. Qxd7+ Rxd7 22. g4 Kd8 23. Kg2 g5 24. fxg6 hxg6 25. Re6 d5 26. Rxf6 d4 27. Ne4 b6 28. Rxc6 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "June 2020 Virtual Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/wBQhbYrt"] [Date "2020.06.19"] [Round "3"] [White "Bafna, Mihir"] [Black "Malladi, Sriram"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B10"] [WhiteElo "1828"] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "2020.06.04"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 c6 2. Ne2 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. d3 c5 5. Ng3 Bd7 6. Be2 Nc6 7. f4 e6 8. O-O Nge7 9. Nd2 Nd4 10. Nb3 Nef5 11. Bg4 {Fritz prefers Nf5 or Nd4.} Nxg3 12. hxg3 h5 {trading a pawn for an open file} 13. Bxh5 Nf5 14. Kf2 {g4 Fritz says the king dies in the center.} c4 15. dxc4 dxc4 16. Nd4 {overloading the queen which cannot defend d4 and h5, but Nd2 unleashes the entire black army on the king. Or g4 Qb6+} Nxd4 {Fritz likes Rh5 to avoid the sacrfice that follows.} 17. Bxf7+ Kxf7 18. Qxd4 Rc8 {Protecting c4, but also threatening Bc5} 19. Be3 Bc5 20. Qc3 Qb6 21. Rad1 Bc6 22. f5 {looking for counterplay, but Bc5 is better.} Bxe3+ 23. Qxe3 Rh2 24. Rd4 {White is down a piece and really can’t afford to trade queens, but he is getting mated. The immediate threat is Rg2+ and the king cannot protect the queen. fritz says fe+ Ke6; Rd6+ and then trade queens is the best try.} Rxg2+ 25. Ke1 Qxb2 26. fxe6+ Kg8 {Not Ke6; Rd6+ Ke7; Qg5+ and it is black who is getting mated} 27. e7 Qb4+ 28. c3 Qxe7 29. e6 Re8 30. Rdf4 Bd5 {There was still time to lose with Qe6; Rf8+ and Re8} 31. Kd1 Qxe6 32. Qd2 Rxd2+ 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "June 2020 Virtual Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/rYIV7pHI"] [Date "2020.06.19"] [Round "3"] [White "Kopula, Pandurangan"] [Black "Bafna, Aarushi"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C50"] [BlackElo "909"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "2020.06.04"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 h6 5. O-O d6 6. h3 {preventing Bg4 with an eventual Nd5} Nf6 7. Nc3 O-O 8. a3 Re8 9. Re1 Be6 10. Bb5 Rb8 11. Na4 Nd7 12. Nxc5 Nxc5 13. b4 Nd7 14. Bb2 Qf6 15. Nh2 {Fritz is not impressed by that. He wants d4.} a6 16. Bxc6 bxc6 17. Ng4 Qg6 18. Rf1 {Now Fritz likes Qf3 with equality.} Nf6 {Fritz likes h5 winning the h-pawn.} 19. Nxf6+ Qxf6 20. Qf3 {How about f4, says Fritz. The e-pawn is pinned. He would have captured on f6 with the pawn, opening the g-file for rooks.} Qh4 {Black could win a pawn with Qf3 gf; Bh3} 21. Qg3 Qf6 22. f4 {Suddenly, Black is losing a pawn? No, says Fritz. Black can just play ef.} Qd8 23. fxe5 a5 {Fritz likes d5 to keep the diagonal closed.} 24. exd6 cxd6 25. Qxg7# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "June 2020 Virtual Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/sfgOhMHr"] [Date "2020.06.19"] [Round "3"] [White "Bhamidipati,Nishant"] [Black "Smith, Jeff"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D00"] [WhiteElo "1448"] [BlackElo "1435"] [PlyCount "109"] [EventDate "2020.06.04"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 Nf6 3. e3 Nc6 4. Bd3 e6 5. Nd2 Be7 6. Ngf3 O-O 7. h3 Bd6 8. Ne5 Bd7 9. Ndf3 Nh5 {A knight on the rim looks grim.} 10. Bh2 {White retreats to this square very effectively several times. Fritz points out Bh7+ Kh7; Ng5+ and Qh5.} f5 11. Nxd7 Qxd7 12. Ne5 {Note that the knight on h5 is also attacked.} Nxe5 {Be5; de g6; g4 will open attacking lines for white. Perhaps Qe8} 13. dxe5 Bxe5 14. Bxe5 Nf6 15. c3 Qc6 16. Qc2 Nd7 17. Bh2 d4 {Re8. This idea of trading the d-pawn for the g-pawn is suspect. White will make good use of the open g-file. Fritz says sit on the position with Rad.} 18. exd4 Qxg2 19. O-O-O Qg5+ 20. f4 Qe7 21. Rde1 Qh4 22. Qg2 c6 23. Rhg1 g6 24. Rxe6 Qd8 25. Qg3 {Fritz wants Rg6 now. This gives Black time to move Kh8. White wants to play h4 to let the pawn open lines.} Nb6 26. h4 Qd7 27. Rxg6+ {that must have come as a bit of a shock. White is up a piece, but that’s a whole rook he is sacrificing.} hxg6 28. Qxg6+ Kh8 29. h5 {Rg5 says Fritz.} Rg8 {Rae The text loses. Fritz is now showing a forced mate. There are too many weak squares aroung the black king.} 30. Qh6+ {Good enough. Fritz says Qf6+ is even better. Kh7 meets Bf5+ and Rg7 meets h6} Qh7 31. Rxg8+ {I like Qf6+ Rg7; Bf5 Qg8; h6} Rxg8 32. Qxh7+ Kxh7 33. Bxf5+ Kh6 34. Bg6 {White has 3 pawns, two of them passed and supported by two bishops to match against the knight.} Nd5 35. f5 Nf6 {not good enough. Time for a rook sac. Rg6; hg Kg5; g7 Ne7. Fritz likes Kg5 now} 36. Bf4+ Kg7 37. h6+ Kh8 {Kf8 Bd6 is mate, says Fritz.} 38. Be5 Rf8 39. Bd6 Rg8 40. Be5 Rf8 41. Kd2 Kg8 42. Bxf6 Rxf6 43. h7+ Kg7 44. Ke3 Rd6 45. c4 b6 46. Ke4 Rd8 47. Ke5 a6 48. d5 cxd5 49. cxd5 b5 50. Ke6 Rc8 51. d6 Rc2 52. f6+ Kxg6 53. h8=Q Re2+ 54. Kd7 Rxb2 55. f7 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "June 2020 Virtual Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/EOvEGDu0"] [Date "2020.06.19"] [Round "3"] [White "Kumar, Prithiv"] [Black "Newman, Steven"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D38"] [WhiteElo "1387"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2020.06.04"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bd2 dxc4 6. e3 O-O 7. Bxc4 Be7 {Retreat when forced to. Black needs to develop the queen-side pieces. Fritz likes Nc6. Be7 is his second choice.} 8. O-O Nbd7 9. e4 h6 10. e5 Nh7 11. Bf4 Nb6 12. Bd3 Nd5 13. Nxd5 Qxd5 {Fritz likes ed to let out the bishop. Qd5 is his second choice.} 14. Qc2 f5 15. exf6 Nxf6 16. Bxc7 Bd7 17. Bc4 Qc6 {Qh5 avoids the unpleasantness next move} 18. Ne5 Qxc7 {Hard to suggest a good move. This is first choice for Fritz. Qe4 also loses a piece.} 19. Bxe6+ Bxe6 20. Qxc7 Nd5 21. Qxb7 Bf6 22. Nd7 Rfd8 23. Nxf6+ Nxf6 24. Qb4 Nd5 25. Qd2 Rd7 26. Rac1 Rad8 27. Rfe1 Bf7 28. a3 Nf6 29. Qa5 Rxd4 30. Qxa7 Rd2 31. b4 R2d7 32. Rc7 Rd1 33. Kf1 Bc4+ 34. Rxc4 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

Round 2

[Event "June 2020 Virtual Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/q2yc9FaL"] [Date "2020.06.12"] [Round "2"] [White "Heil, Sam"] [Black "Kumar, Prithiv"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A34"] [WhiteElo "1700"] [BlackElo "1387"] [PlyCount "128"] [EventDate "2020.06.11"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. g3 {Fritz suggests e4 Nb4; Bc4 Nd3+; Bd3 Qd3. Compare my first round game.} Nc6 6. Bg2 Nxc3 7. bxc3 e5 8. O-O Bd6 9. d4 exd4 10. cxd4 O-O 11. Bb2 Bf5 12. Rc1 Qb6 13. dxc5 Bxc5 14. Qd2 Rad8 15. Qc3 Bd4 16. Nxd4 Nxd4 17. Rfe1 Rfe8 18. e3 Ne6 19. Qe5 Bd3 20. Red1 {Bd5 is met with f6} (20. Bd5) 20... f6 21. Qc3 Bg6 22. Bd5 Kh8 23. Qb3 Qxb3 24. axb3 b6 25. b4 {To give more oomph to Be6 Rd1+; Rd1 Re6; Rd8+ Re8; Rd7} Bh5 26. f3 Ng5 27. Kf2 Nh3+ 28. Kg2 Ng5 29. g4 Bf7 30. Bc6 {Second choice for Fritz who prefers Bf7 setting up a classic bishop vrs knight with pawns on both sides of the board.} Rxd1 31. Rxd1 Rc8 32. b5 Be8 {Not bad. Fritz prefers h5. Avoid a back-rank mate and bring the king to the center.} 33. Bxe8 Rxe8 34. Rd7 h6 35. h4 Ne6 36. Rxa7 Nc5 37. Bd4 Nb3 38. Bxb6 Re5 39. Bd4 Rxb5 40. f4 Nxd4 41. exd4 Rb2+ 42. Kf3 Kg8 43. Ke4 Re2+ 44. Kf5 h5 45. Kg6 Kf8 46. Kxh5 Re4 47. f5 Rxd4 48. g5 fxg5 49. hxg5 Rd6 50. g6 Rd5 51. Kg5 Re5 52. Ra8+ Re8 53. Ra7 Re7 54. Ra6 Re5 55. Re6 {Fritz marks this as a draw immediately. To having winning chances, White might try Ra1 heading for h1 and h8} Rxe6 56. fxe6 Ke7 57. Kf5 Ke8 58. Ke5 Ke7 59. Kd5 Ke8 60. Kd6 Kd8 61. e7+ Ke8 62. Ke5 Kxe7 63. Kf5 Kf8 64. Ke6 Ke8 1/2-1/2 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "June 2020 Virtual Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/scQtOgf5"] [Date "2020.06.12"] [Round "2"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Blumberg, Luke"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C11"] [WhiteElo "1920"] [BlackElo "1270"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2020.06.11"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 {Bg5 Be7; e5 is normal} Nfd7 5. Nf3 a6 6. Bd3 c5 7. Ne2 {dc} c4 {Well, that’s rather pitiful. He offered a take back, but I don’t think that’s appropriate in a tournament game.} 8. O-O cxd3 9. Qxd3 Be7 10. Be3 O-O 11. h3 Nc6 12. c3 f6 {A logical move to free up Black’s pieces, but my eyes lit up when I looked at the weak e6 pawn.} 13. exf6 Nxf6 14. Ng3 Bd7 15. Rfe1 Be8 16. Ng5 Bg6 17. Qe2 Qd6 {It turns out Qd7 is stronger} 18. Bd2 Ne4 {Fritz likes this move. I don’t. It gives me back a second pawn and still leaves the weakness at e6. Bf7; Nf7 Rf7; Qe6+ Qe6; Re6 gets many pieces off the board and leaves Black with a piece for only 2 pawns.} (18... Bf7) 19. N5xe4 Bxe4 20. Nxe4 dxe4 21. Qxe4 Rf6 22. Bg5 Rg6 23. Bxe7 {I had intended Bf4, but the Qd5 and I have to trade queens because of the mate on g2} Qxe7 24. d5 Nd8 25. Rad1 {looking for de Re6; Rd8+ and then Qe6+} Rc8 {The machine suggests Nf7; de Ng5 with attacks on the pawn and the queen and h3.} (25... Nf7 26. dxe6 Ng5 27. Rd7 Qxd7 28. Qxg6 Qd2 29. Qb1 Rf8 30. e7 Qxf2+ 31. Kh1 Re8 32. Qd1) 26. dxe6 Nxe6 27. Rd5 {Preventing Qc5 and also Qg5} Rf6 28. Re5 Re8 {Rc6. White is slightly better after Kf7, but much better after Re8} 29. f4 {queen and rook are both behind the pinned knight!} Qd7 {g6 is countered by g4} 30. f5 Nc7 31. Rxe8+ Nxe8 32. Qxe8+ Qxe8 33. Rxe8+ Kf7 34. Rb8 Rb6 35. b3 g6 36. fxg6+ hxg6 37. Rd8 Ke7 38. Rd3 Rc6 39. Kf2 Rc7 40. c4 Kf6 41. Kf3 Ke6 42. Kg4 Kf6 43. Rd6+ Kf7 44. Kg5 Re7 45. Rf6+ 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "June 2020 Virtual Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/vgttZRHp"] [Date "2020.06.12"] [Round "2"] [White "Bhamidipati, Nishant"] [Black "Malladi, Sriram"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "1500"] [BlackElo "2038"] [PlyCount "51"] [EventDate "2020.06.11"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 d5 3. Nf3 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nbd2 Qb6 6. Qb3 c4 7. Qxb6 axb6 8. e3 Bf5 9. Be2 e6 10. O-O h6 11. h3 b5 12. Ne5 b4 13. g4 Bh7 14. Nxc6 bxc6 15. cxb4 Bxb4 16. Nf3 O-O 17. Ne5 c5 18. a3 {This attempt to remove the defender of c5 meets a surprising reply.} c3 19. axb4 {White has to play bc. He forgets that the distant bishop controls b1} Rxa1 20. Rxa1 cxb2 21. Rf1 c4 {To prevent Bc3. White’s attempt to block the bishop from b1 allow the rook to come to a1.} 22. f3 Ra8 23. e4 Ra1 24. exd5 Rxf1+ 25. Bxf1 Nxd5 26. Nd7 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "June 2020 Virtual Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/qC6e1gx5"] [Date "2020.06.12"] [Round "2"] [White "Newman, Steven"] [Black "Bafna, Aarushi"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C53"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2020.06.11"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 d6 5. O-O Bg4 6. d3 h6 7. b4 Bb6 8. Nbd2 Qf6 9. Re1 Nge7 10. h3 h5 11. Nf1 {An open rook file would be worth the bishop. Fritz likes a4 or Qb3} (11. hxg4 hxg4) 11... Rd8 {Bf3 favors Black slightly.} 12. N1h2 Be6 13. Bg5 Qg6 14. Bxe6 Qxe6 15. d4 {Black says this attempt to fork on d5 loses a pawn. White has seen further.} exd4 16. cxd4 Nxb4 {Overlooking one fork, Black falls into another. Fritz says avoid the d5 fork with Qc4 or Qg6} 17. d5 {Qa4+. Now Black could play Qd7 and not lose a piece} Qg6 18. Qa4+ c6 19. Qxb4 c5 20. Qa4+ Rd7 {Do not pin yourself. Now e5 opens deadly lines.} 21. Bxe7 Kxe7 22. Nh4 Qf6 23. Nf5+ Kd8 24. Nf3 Re8 25. Rab1 g6 26. Rxb6 {The brave knight will last long enough to keep the king from defending e8.} axb6 27. Qa8+ Kc7 28. Qxe8 gxf5 29. exf5 Qxf5 {Fritz says now Nd4 is deadly. He suggests Qd8} 30. Re7 {A blunder only because Nd4 is so much better.} Rxe7 31. Qxe7+ Kb8 32. Qxd6+ Ka7 33. a4 c4 34. Kh2 Qc2 35. Kg3 Qxa4 36. Qc7 c3 {White is going to queen. Black cannot stop that. Fritz suggests h4+ I was wondering if he was going to suggest that. The game is still totally lost.} ( 36... h4+ 37. Kxh4 (37. Nxh4 Qa3+ 38. Nf3 c3 39. d6 c2 40. d7 c1=Q 41. d8=Q) ( 37. Kh2 c3 38. Qxc3 Qf4+) 37... c3+ 38. g4 c2 39. Ne1 Qd4 40. Qxc2 Qxd5) 37. Qxc3 b5 38. Qe3+ b6 39. d6 Kb7 40. Qe7+ Kc8 41. d7+ Kc7 42. d8=Q+ Kc6 43. Qdd6# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "June 2020 Virtual Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/fQaBLZyL"] [Date "2020.06.12"] [Round "2"] [White "Selman"] [Black "Kopula, Pandurangan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C55"] [WhiteElo "1588"] [BlackElo "1718"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2020.06.11"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 h6 {To prevent Ng5, but this is a waste of time. After Bc5, the queen prevents Ng5 and if d3 to protect g5 then Nf6; Ng5 0-0 and Black is fine.} 4. d4 d6 {This loses a pawn. ed was correct} 5. dxe5 { Fritz says Qe7} dxe5 6. Qxd8+ Kxd8 7. Bxf7 Nf6 8. Nc3 Bb4 9. Bd2 Rf8 10. Bd5 Nxd5 11. Nxd5 Bd6 12. Nh4 {Fritz says it is a bad idea to put a knight on the edge of the board. He suggests Be3 or c3} Be6 13. f4 {You need to be castled before you start things like that. Fritz likes Be3 or Ng6} exf4 14. Ng6 Rf7 { Passive, says Fritz. Re8 with threats against that still un-castled king.} 15. Ngxf4 Nd4 16. O-O-O Bxd5 17. Nxd5 c6 18. Ba5+ {This works because the knight is hanging. Maybe Black’s last move should have been to retreat the knight. Fritz suggested Ne6 or Ne2+ last move} b6 19. Nxb6 axb6 20. Bxb6+ Kd7 {Avoid the pin with either Ke7 or Ke8 says Fritz} 21. Rxd4 Ke6 22. Rhd1 Bxh2 23. Rc4 Rxa2 {Black must protect c6} 24. Rxc6+ Ke5 25. Kb1 Ra4 26. Bc7+ Rxc7 {Else the bishop falls.} 27. Rxc7 g5 28. Re1 Ra6 29. Rc5+ Kf6 30. e5+ Kf7 31. e6+ Ke7 32. Rh1 Bd6 33. Rb5 Kxe6 34. Rxh6+ Kd7 35. Rxg5 Kc6 36. b4 {good enough. Rd6+ and then Rg6+ works too} Rb6 37. b5+ 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "June 2020 Virtual Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/0a29xMwO"] [Date "2020.06.12"] [Round "2"] [White "Smith, Jeff"] [Black "Bafna, Mihir"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B28"] [WhiteElo "1435"] [BlackElo "1828"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2020.06.11"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 a6 3. Nf3 b5 4. d3 Bb7 5. Bf4 e6 6. a3 Nf6 7. Be2 Be7 8. O-O d5 9. exd5 exd5 10. Qe1 {Re1. Fritz also likes d4 because it locks the bishop on b7 out of the game.} O-O 11. Ne5 {d4 is still best with a4 the second choice.} Re8 12. Qc1 {Too many queen moves. White’s pieces are not working together.} Bd6 13. Ng4 d4 {Black’s control of the center is deadly. Fritz likes d4, but says b4 is even stronger} 14. Nxf6+ Qxf6 15. Bxd6 {Bg5 is not quite as bad.} dxc3 {Now both bishops are attacked and cb is threatened} 16. bxc3 Qxd6 17. Re1 Nd7 18. Bg4 Qg6 19. Bh3 Ne5 20. Kf1 h5 21. d4 Ng4 22. Bxg4 hxg4 23. Qd2 g3 24. fxg3 Rac8 25. Rab1 cxd4 26. Rxe8+ Rxe8 27. cxd4 Qe4 28. Rb2 {Re1 loses to Qg2+ ; Qg2 Bg2+; Kf2 Re1} Bd5 29. c3 Re6 30. Qc1 Rf6+ 31. Kg1 Qd3 32. Rd2 Qe3+ 33. Kh1 Qxd2 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

Round 1

[Event "June 2020 Virtual Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/ldrxsDlY"] [Date "2020.06.05"] [Round "1"] [White "Kumar, Prithiv"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D91"] [WhiteElo "1387"] [BlackElo "1920"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2020.06.07"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bg5 c6 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. e4 Nxc3 8. bxc3 O-O 9. Bd3 c5 10. O-O Bg4 11. Rb1 cxd4 12. cxd4 Nc6 {sacrificing the b and e pawns for a mating attack.} 13. d5 Nd4 14. Rxb7 Bxf3 15. gxf3 Qc8 16. Rxe7 Qh3 17. Be2 {OK, not quite as simple a mate as I thought.} Qh5 {Fritz says Rfb8 or Rfc8} 18. Be3 Be5 {Now f4 allows Ne2+, but how else to stop the mate?} 19. h3 Bf6 {White was threatening BxN, but not RxB Ne2+ and then QxR} 20. Rb7 Nxe2+ 21. Qxe2 Qxh3 22. f4 {White cannot take on h7 because of Be5} g5 {I’m only a pawn down, but those passed pawns are deadly, so I’m hoping for e5 gf; ef f3. Fritz does not like this pawn move. He wants to put a rook on b8 or e8} 23. fxg5 Be5 {Now f4 would give me drawing chances after Qg3+ when refusing the draw would cost White a piece.} 24. f3 Rab8 {Can I get a rook to b2?} 25. Rfb1 Qg3+ 26. Kf1 {Not Qg2 Rb7!} Rxb7 27. Rxb7 Qh3+ 28. Qg2 Qc8 29. Rxa7 Qc3 30. Qd2 Qc4+ 31. Qe2 Qc3 32. Qd2 Qc4+ 33. Qe2 Qc3 {That’s a draw by 3 time repetition, but I’m still looking for a win! Fritz says when the position is drawn, take the draw.} 34. Ra4 Rb8 35. Rc4 Rb1+ 36. Kf2 Qa3 37. f4 Bd6 {Now the long diagonal is deadly.} 38. Rc8+ Bf8 {Kg7 Bd4+} 39. Bc5 Qh3 40. Rxf8+ Kg7 41. Ra8 Qh2+ 42. Ke3 Qg1+ 43. Qf2 Qc1+ 44. Kf3 Qh1+ 45. Kg3 {Qe4 Qd4+ is pretty convincing. At this point Black lost on time. A very nice defense by Prithiv.} 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "June 2020 Virtual Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/ydFOMe2Q"] [Date "2020.06.05"] [Round "1"] [White "Blumberg, Luke"] [Black "Heil, Sam"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B40"] [WhiteElo "1270"] [BlackElo "1700"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "2020.06.07"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Bg5 Qa5+ 6. Qd2 Bb4 7. c3 Nxe4 8. cxb4 Qxg5 9. Qxg5 Nxg5 10. Nb5 Na6 11. h4 Ne4 12. Bd3 Nf6 13. a3 d5 14. N1c3 Ke7 15. Rc1 Bd7 16. O-O Rhc8 17. Rfe1 Nb8 18. f4 {this weakening of the king-side pawns causes White’s resignation in just 10 more moves.} Nc6 19. Na4 h6 20. Nc5 b6 21. Na6 {The knight will never get out of that hole. Nd7 was better. The bishop was bad, but the knight is now worse.} Ne8 {White threatened Nbc7 winning an exchange. Fritz says just Rg8 and laugh at the silly knights.} 22. Nc3 Kd8 23. Nb5 {b5 and Nb4. White’s pieces are not making any progress.} Ne7 24. Rc3 Bxb5 25. Bxb5 Rxc3 26. bxc3 Nd6 27. Bd3 Rc8 28. Rc1 Nef5 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "June 2020 Virtual Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/ekV6cIzG"] [Date "2020.06.05"] [Round "1"] [White "Bafna, Arushi"] [Black "Bhamidipati, Nishant"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B40"] [WhiteElo "909"] [BlackElo "1448"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2020.06.07"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d3 Nc6 4. Bd2 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. e5 Ne8 9. Na4 {Ne4 Else, why move the e-pawn? White’s knight has no place to go from here.} Qc7 10. Bc3 {Saving the pawn. Losing the knight. Bf4} b5 11. Nxc5 Bxc5 12. d4 Bb4 {When ahead, trade.} 13. Bxb4 Nxb4 14. c3 Nd5 15. Nh4 {Another wandering knight. Perhaps Nd2 heading eventually to e4. Fritz prefers a4 or Bd3} Bb7 16. Bf3 d6 {g5 does not win the knight after Bd5 Bd5; Nf3 with some attacking chances.} 17. Re1 dxe5 18. dxe5 Qd8 19. Qc2 {g3} Qxh4 20. Rad1 Nec7 21. Rd4 Qe7 22. b3 Rac8 23. c4 bxc4 24. bxc4 Nb5 25. Rg4 Nb4 26. Qd2 Bxf3 27. gxf3 f6 {There is a knight still under attack on b5} 28. exf6 Rxf6 29. cxb5 Rc2 {Interesting that both players lose both knights to unforced errors.} 30. Qxb4 Qxb4 31. Rxb4 Rxf3 {ab The b-pawn could become dangerous} 32. Kg2 {This gives Black stuff to attack. b6 and Black can’t go pawn grabbing because he must stop the passed pawn. The best defense is a good offense. Fritz says either ba or b6 with Rff2 the proper response. Black should take the draw by perpetual check.} Rfxf2+ 33. Kg3 axb5 34. Rxe6 Rxa2 35. Rxb5 Rg2+ 36. Kh3 Rxh2+ 37. Kg4 Ra4+ 38. Kf5 Rh5# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "June 2020 Virtual Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/uX711X0S"] [Date "2020.06.05"] [Round "1"] [White "Malladi, Srirama"] [Black "Newman, Steve"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C45"] [WhiteElo "1500"] [BlackElo "1500"] [PlyCount "47"] [EventDate "2020.06.07"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 d5 5. Nc3 Bb4 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Qd4 Bxc3+ 8. Qxc3 Qf6 9. e5 Qe6 10. Be3 Ne7 11. O-O-O O-O 12. Kb1 Re8 13. f4 Nf5 14. Bf2 Bd7 15. g4 d4 {A serious mistake. Ne7} 16. gxf5 Qxa2+ {This loses a second piece. dc; fe Be6 was better.} 17. Kxa2 dxc3 18. Rxd7 cxb2 19. Kxb2 Reb8+ 20. Kc3 Rb1 21. Bg2 Rbb8 {There is no good move. Rab; Rb1 Rb1; Rd8 mate} 22. Bxc6 Rd8 23. Rhd1 Rab8 24. Rxd8+ 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "June 2020 Virtual Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/EFj7si8P"] [Date "2020.06.05"] [Round "1"] [White "Smith, Jeff"] [Black "Erickson, Darren"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C30"] [WhiteElo "1435"] [BlackElo "826"] [PlyCount "29"] [EventDate "2020.06.07"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Nf3 d6 6. O-O O-O 7. d3 Nd7 { Protecting e5, but the King’s Gambit is an attack on f7. Na5 would remove the bishop from the attack. White could not win a pawn by fe ed; Ne5 when Qd4+ drops the knight.} 8. Nd5 b6 9. Nxe7+ Qxe7 10. fxe5 dxe5 {Nce5 Trades help the defender} 11. Ng5 {There are now 3 attackers on f7. If only there was a knight on e5 to trade off the White bishop. Fritz says, don’t panic. Nf6 holds.} h6 {OK, now you can panic. White has the dream King’s Gambit attack.} 12. Nxf7 Nf6 13. Nxh6+ Kh8 14. Nf5 Be6 15. Nxe7 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "June 2020 Virtual Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/qJWd39KQ"] [Date "2020.06.05"] [Round "1"] [White "Bafna, Mihir"] [Black "Selman"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B24"] [WhiteElo "1828"] [BlackElo "1300"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2020.06.07"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 e5 5. d3 b6 6. Nge2 Ba6 7. O-O Rc8 8. f4 exf4 9. gxf4 d6 10. Ng3 Be7 11. Nf5 g6 12. Nxe7 Qxe7 13. Nd5 Nxd5 {Qd8 is the only playable move. White is mounting a strong attack. Black is going to lose the queen or the knight on c6.} 14. exd5 O-O 15. dxc6 Qh4 {Why? Bb5 to attack the passed pawn.} 16. Qf3 Rfe8 17. Bd2 Re7 18. f5 Qd4+ {Really bad time to go pawn hunting. Bb5 still looks good.} 19. Kh1 Qxb2 20. f6 Re5 21. Bh3 Rce8 22. Rae1 {Fritz calls this a blunder because his line is so much better. Bf4 followed by Bd7} Qxc2 23. Rxe5 {Good enough. Qf4-h6-g7 cannot be stopped. Actually, by taking with the pawn, Fritz says the mate can be stopped for a moment with Kh8 and Rg8.} Rxe5 24. c7 Re8 25. Qc6 Rf8 26. Bh6 Bxd3 27. Re1 Qc3 28. Qe8 Be4+ 29. Rxe4 Qf3+ 30. Bg2 Rxe8 31. Rxe8# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

May, 2020 Games:

[Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/pFJccoxj"] [Date "2020.05.22"] [Round "-"] [White "Bafna, Mihir"] [Black "Newman, Steven"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1721"] [BlackElo "1500"] [ECO "C65"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [UTCDate "2020.05.22"] [UTCTime "02:09:07"] [Opening "Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense"] [Annotator "Darren Erickson"] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.Qe2 Be7 5.c3 O-O 6.O-O d6 7.d3 Nb8 8.Nbd2 c6 9.Ba4 a5 10.Rd1 Be6 11.Nf1 Nbd7 12.Ng3 Re8 13.d4 Nb6 14.dxe5 Nxa4 15.exf6 Bxf6 16.e5 Be7 17.Qc2 b5 18.exd6 Bxd6 19.Ng5 g6 20.N5e4 Bd5 21.Bg5 Be7 22. Bh6 Qc7 23.c4 Bxe4 24.Nxe4 Qe5 25.b3 Nb6 26.f4 Qc7?? ( 26...Qxe4 27.Qxe4 Bc5+ =+ ) 27.Qc3 Bf8 28.Nf6+ Kh8 29.Nxe8+ Kg8 30.Nxc7 {1-0 Black resigns.} 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/4OXpzvUG"] [Date "2020.05.22"] [Round "-"] [White "Kessinger, Joseph"] [Black "Smith, Jeff"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2147"] [BlackElo "1500"] [ECO "D06"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [UTCDate "2020.05.22"] [UTCTime "02:09:33"] [Opening "Queen's Gambit Refused: Marshall Defense"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nf6 ( 2...e6 ) ( 2...c6 ) 3.cxd5 Qxd5 ( 3...Nxd5 4.e4 Nf6 {(see commentary next move…)} ) 4.Nc3 {Now white gets the entire center. If black’s knight had recaptured, then e4 would give white the entire center.} 4...Qd8 5.e4 e6 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Nf3 O-O 8.Bd3 Nc6 9.e5 Nd5 10.Bxe7 Ncxe7 11.h4 {Fritz suggests that’s a wee bit over-aggressive. He likes 0-0 or Qc2} ( 11.O-O ) ( 11.Qc2 ) 11...b6 12.Ng5 g6 {Too many weaknesses, says Fritz. He suggests h6 or f5.} ( 12...h6 ) ( 12...f5 ) 13.h5 Nf4 14.Be4 Rb8 {Fritz says this is much too passive. Ned5.} ( 14...Ned5 ) 15.hxg6 Nexg6 16.Nxh7 Bb7 17.Nf6+ {1-0 Black resigns. Black must give up the queen because 17. …Kg7 18. Rh7 is mate} ( 17.Nf6+ Kg7 18.Rh7# ) 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/6zmSfnoG"] [Date "2020.05.22"] [Round "-"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Senshan"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1500"] [BlackElo "1500"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [UTCDate "2020.05.22"] [UTCTime "02:09:58"] [ECO "C41"] [Opening "Philidor Defense"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bg4 (3... exd4 { The bishop move has not been playable since Morphy played his famous Paris opera game. }) 4. dxe5 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 dxe5 6. Bc4 Nf6 7. Qb3 Qe7 8. Nc3 b6 { In the Morphy game, the two opponents played c6 } 9. Bg5 a6 10. Nd5 { Here or next move Morphy’s 0-0-0 would be good. } (10. O-O-O) 10... Qd7 11. Nxf6+ (11. Bxf6 { Wins a piece } 11... gxf6 (11... c6 12. Nxb6 Qb7 13. Bxe5) 12. Nxf6+) 11... gxf6 12. Bxf6 Rg8 13. Rd1 Bd6 14. O-O (14. Bxe5 { and trade on d6 is probably good enough. }) 14... Nc6 15. Bd5 Nd4 16. Rxd4 c6 (16... exd4 { Not this because… } 17. Bxa8 { and white is piece up. }) 17. Rfd1 exd4 18. e5 { It would be nice to say I saw the power of this move. Truth is, I blundered a rook and got lucky in the results. Black threatened 18. …cxd5 19. Qxd5 Bh2+ } 18... cxd5 19. Qxd5 Rc8 { An unfortunate choice, but the weakness of black’s king decides the game. } 20. exd6 Qg4 21. d7+ Qxd7 22. Re1+ Qe6 23. Rxe6+ { 1-0 Black resigns. } 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/dkfAR8Bx"] [Date "2020.05.22"] [Round "-"] [White "Erickson, Darren"] [Black "Kumar, Prithiv"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1336"] [BlackElo "1500"] [ECO "B42"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [UTCDate "2020.05.22"] [UTCTime "02:14:48"] [Opening "Sicilian Defense: Kan Variation, Modern Variation"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford, Darren Erickson"] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 {I’m really pleased to see that I’m still well within book here. -Darren} 5...Qc7 6.Nc3 ( 6.O-O {Castle was my second choice here. I foresaw 6. …Bd6 next, and I didn’t like an early Q-B battery on a long diagonal. I also was starting to shift the knights defensively, too early. – Darren} ) 6...Nf6 7.a3 {And it’s not a novelty but I go out of the standard book here. Not fatal, I think, but castling would have been better. Wanted to prevent a …Bb4 if I castled right now. – Darren} 7...d6 8.O-O {The Opening explorer likes castling. It’s only a smallish advantage to black to do so. But on 40 ply Stockfish wants me to go on the offensive with any number of other ideas, to retain equality. [%clk 0:51:16]} ( 8.g4 {It takes a LONG plycount for Stockfish to recommend this as best.} 8...h6 9.Be3 Nbd7 10.Qe2 Ne5 11.h3 b5 12.f4 Nc4 13.O-O-O Nxe3 14.Qxe3 Bb7 15.Rhf1 Nd7 16.h4 O-O-O 17.Kb1 Kb8 18.Be2 Nc5 19.Bf3 e5 20.Nde2 Be7 21.Qf2 Rc8 22.Bg2 Nd7 23.Bh3 Nc5 24.g5 Rcf8 25.Bg2 hxg5 26.hxg5 exf4 27.Nxf4 Bxg5 28.Nfd5 Qd8 29.Qe2 f6 30.Nb4 Ne6 31.Ncd5 Rh2 {=} ) ( 8.f4 {Stockfish will recommend f4 many, many times over the next several moves as a way to gain equality… until it is too late to do so.} ) ( 8.Be3 ) ( 8.Qe2 ) 8...Be7 9.Nde2 {Joe: Fritz want to know why you are retreating. Qf3 or Be3. Don’t retreat unless you are forced to retreat. (Darren: Wasn’t thinking of it as retreating but trying to shift forces Kingside. But it does retreat, yes.)} 9...O-O 10.Ng3 b5 11.Bd2 Bb7 12.b4 {Joe: This leaves the c-file very weak.} ( 12.Qe2 {Stockfish’s choice after 40 ply to make it equal, this move only. Don’t understand the why.} ) 12...Nc6 13.Nce2 Ne5 14.h3 Rfd8 15.f4 {But f4 is finally no longer viable. Too late!} ( 15.Nc3 ) 15...Nc4 16.Bc3 {Joe: Missing a fork, but Bc4 would leave a weakness at c2. Fritz likes Qe1 or Re1.} ( 16.Bc1 {I gave a lot of thought to considering Bc1 (the immediate choice of Stockfish), but not in terms of freeing up d2 as an escape for the Queen. The oncoming Knight fork wasn’t something I saw at all. } ) ( 16.Rc1 Nxa3 {Still better than text move.} ) ( 16.Kh2 ) ( 16.Qe1 ) ( 16.Re1 ) 16...Ne3 17.Qe1 Nxf1 18.Kxf1 ( 18.Qxf1 ) 18...d5 {Joe: Black plays to open attacking lines. White plays to keep them closed.} 19.e5 {Finally make a move Stockfish likes! (Although I’m hurting already).} 19...Ne4 20.Bxe4 {The last large mistake before it spirals. I didn’t like his Knight there and saw …Nxg3+ as unfavorable. -Darren} ( 20.Bd4 {Joe: The white-squared bishop is doing valuable service protecting c2 and attacking h7. The other bishop is just a target.} 20...f6 ) 20...dxe4 21.Rd1 {Still thinking I can do Bd3 and c3 and either Q or R to d2 as a wall. Nh5 was the only saving move here, though that loses also. [%clk 0:30:00]} ( 21.Nh5 e3 22.Qg3 g6 23.Nf6+ Bxf6 24.exf6 Qc6 25.Bd4 a5 26.bxa5 Rxa5 27.Qf3 Qa6 28.Qxe3 b4 29.Kf2 Rc8 30.Qd3 Qc6 31.Qf3 Qxf3+ 32.gxf3 Rxc2 33.Rb1 Ba6 34.Rxb4 Rxe2+ {And it’s Rook down and then some…. (This came from Stockfish 11 64 bit on a 40 ply search).} ) 21...Bh4 22.Rc1 {I didn’t see that e3 would open the long diagonal. Rd6 could have stemmed it, but I’m still dead. -Darren Joe: The c-file is no longer the problem.} 22...e3 23.Bd4 {Blind to the opening of the diagonal still.} ( 23.Kg1 Qc6 24.Qf1 Bxg3 25.Nxg3 Qxc3 26.Ne2 Qc4 ) 23...Qc6 {0-1 White resigns. Collapsed. It’s Mate in 9, and I didn’t think it was even that far away.} ( 23...Qc6 24.Qf2 exf2 25.Bxf2 Qxg2+ 26.Ke1 Bf3 27.Rd1 Bxg3 28.Rd6 Qxf2+ 29.Kd2 Qe1+ 30.Kd3 Bxe2+ 31.Ke4 Rxd6 32.exd6 Qd2 33.c3 Qxf4# ) 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/JSgrHWTX"] [Date "2020.05.22"] [Round "-"] [White "Bloomberg, Luke"] [Black "Heil, Sam"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1776"] [BlackElo "2154"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [UTCDate "2020.05.22"] [UTCTime "02:15:30"] [ECO "B45"] [Opening "Sicilian Defense: Four Knights Variation, Exchange Variation"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford, Darren Erickson"] 1. e4 { Comments are Joe’s unless otherwise indicated. } 1... c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Nxc6 { This is a common position in the Sicilian Defense. Black does not want to capture on d4 because that would bring white’s queen to the center. White does not want to capture on c6 because that gives black a very powerful center. Note that Fritz thinks 5. …Nc6 is just fine. } 6... bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 8. e5 { The pawn becomes a target. Better to trade it. } 8... Nd7 9. Bf4 Rb8 10. Rb1 Bb4 11. O-O Qa5 12. Ne2 Ba6 13. Bxa6 Qxa6 14. Nd4 (14. a3 { Joe’s selection. (Stockfish at 24 ply believes it’s marginally better at -0.8 over the text -0.9. Kicking the Bishop while advancing the a file seems good to my inexperience. -Darren). }) 14... c5 15. Nf3 Qxa2 16. c3 Qc4 17. cxb4 Qxf4 18. bxc5 Nxc5 19. Qc2 Qb4 20. Rfc1 Rb5 21. Qc3 { When ahead, trade. White is not ahead and should not be trading. On the other hand, white’s pieces are as well-placed as they will ever be. } 21... Qxc3 22. Rxc3 Nb7 23. Rc8+ Nd8 24. Ra8 Rb7 25. Nd4 Kd7 26. Kf1 Re8 27. Ke2 { Fritz does not like this move. He prefers Rc1. (Stockfish likes b4 -Darren). } (27. Rc1) (27. b4) 27... Nc6 { When ahead, trade. } 28. Rxe8 Nxd4+ 29. Kd3 Kxe8 30. Kxd4 Kd7 31. Kc3 a5 32. b3 { Fritz calls this an error (as does Stockfish -DRE). Now 32. …a4 33. b4 will give black two passed pawns. } 32... Kc6 33. Ra1 Kb5 34. Ra4 Rc7+ 35. Kd3 f6 36. f4 { Trading is better. When white’s pawns get separated, they die. } (36. exf6 gxf6) 36... Rc1 37. Ra2 Rf1 { Black’s turn to blunder, says Fritz. Now 38. exf6 gxf6 39. Re2 gives white counter-chances. Black should have traded leaving white too many weakness to cover. } (37... fxe5 38. fxe5) 38. g3 (38. exf6 gxf6 39. Re2) 38... Rf3+ 39. Kc2 fxe5 40. fxe5 Rf2+ 41. Kb1 Rxa2 42. Kxa2 d4 43. Kb2 Kc5 44. Kc2 Kd5 45. Kd3 Kxe5 46. h3 Kd5 47. g4 e5 48. h4 e4+ { 0-1 White resigns. } 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "May 2020 Exhibition Games"] [Site "https://lichess.org/pMKuRH6R"] [Date "2020.05.15"] [Round "2"] [White "Heil, Sam"] [Black "JosephOAlford"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2154"] [BlackElo "1500"] [ECO "A35"] [UTCDate "2020.05.15"] [UTCTime "00:46:00"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Opening "English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Four Knights Variation"] [Termination "Normal"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 e5 {d6 transposes to a Sicilian.} 6.Ndb5 a6 {Again, d6 is better.} 7.Nd6+ Bxd6 8.Qxd6 Qe7 9.Qxe7+ Nxe7 {This is the position I was seeking with my 5th move. It is not a good position. Probably, Ke7 is better. There is no need to 0–0 here.} 10.e4 d6 11.Be2 Be6 12.f3 Rc8 13.Nd5 Nfxd5 14.cxd5 Bd7 15.O-O O-O {I was feeling pretty good about this position. My backward d-pawn is now perfectly safe. Right about now I realized that the black bishop is going to eat my entire center.} 16.b3 f5 {This attack is always just a move too slow.} 17.Ba3 Rc2? +- {Added to the other weaknesses, this seals the deal. fe; Bd6 ef; Be7 Rf7 (var) looks better.} ( 17...fxe4 18.Bxd6 exf3 19.Bxe7 Rf7 +/- ) 18.Bd1 Rd2 19.Bb4 Rd3 20.Bxd6 Re8 21.Rc1 fxe4 22.fxe4 Ng6 23.Rc7 Nf8 24. Rxb7 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "May 2020 Exhibition Games"] [Site "https://lichess.org/QOuWKSWI"] [Date "2020.05.15"] [Round "2"] [White "Bloommberg, Luke"] [Black "Erickson, Darren"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1776"] [BlackElo "1336"] [ECO "C84"] [UTCDate "2020.05.15"] [UTCTime "00:44:44"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Opening "Ruy Lopez: Closed Variations"] [Termination "Normal"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.c3 h6 {Too passive. Fritz likes Ne4 or b5} 7.Re1 O-O 8.d4 d6 9.h3 {White’s turn to be too passive. Fritz says Bc6 wins a pawn on e5.} 9...Bd7 10.Nbd2 Nb8 {White’s bishop chooses to re-deploy to a better diagonal. White could also win a pawn with de. 11.Bc2 Nc6 protecting e5, but he just gets chased back again.} 11.Bc2 Nc6 12.d5 Na7 {The knight becomes a target here. It should have gone back to b8 with aspirations of Nd7 and Nc5.} ( 12...Nb8 {[%draw arrow,b8,d7,blue][%draw arrow,d7,c5,blue]} ) 13.Nf1 Rb8 14.Be3 b6 {Nc8 is better. Fritz gives c5 as an alternative. It is seldom a good idea to pin oneself.} ( 14...Nc8 ) ( 14...c5 ) 15.Ng3 c6 16.c4 cxd5 {Opening White’s mating diagonal.} 17.exd5 Qc8 18.Qd3 g6?? {Preventing Nh5 which threatens mate on h7.} 19.Bxh6 Re8 20.Nh4 b5 {Too slow, but everything is too slow now.} 21.Nxg6 bxc4 22.Nxe7+ Rxe7 23.Qd2 +- {This allows Black to survive a bit longer with Nh7. Fritz likes Qe3 (hitting a7).} 23...Rxb2 ( 23...Nh7 24.Bxh7+ Kxh7 +- ) 24.Qg5+ 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "May 2020 Exhibition Games"] [Site "https://lichess.org/hZ63QnJh"] [Date "2020.05.15"] [Round "2"] [White "Smith, Jeff"] [Black "Bafna, Mihir"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1500"] [BlackElo "1721"] [ECO "B06"] [UTCDate "2020.05.15"] [UTCTime "00:45:55"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Opening "Robatsch (Modern) Defense"] [Termination "Normal"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 d6 4.Bc4 e6 5.O-O Ne7 6.Nc3 b6 7.Bd2 Bb7 8.Re1 Nd7 9.d5 e5 10.Bg5 f6 11.Be3 h6 12.Bb5 a6 13.Ba4 O-O 14.Qc1 {Qd2 would help protect d5.} 14...Kh7 15.a3 f5 16.exf5 gxf5 17.Bb3 f4 18.Bd2 Nf6 19.Qd1 Nfxd5 20.Nxd5 Nxd5 21.Bxd5 Bxd5 22.Bc3 Bb7 23.Qd3+ Kh8 {“What about just e4?” I asked. Fritz provided an answer.} ( 23...e4 24.Rxe4 Bxe4 25.Qxe4+ Kg8 26.Qd5+ Kh8 27.Bxg7+ Kxg7 28.Nd4 Qf6 += ) 24.Rad1 -+ Bxf3 {I don’t like this bishop for knight trade. Fritz agrees, suggesting Qf6.} 25.Qxf3 Qg5 26.Rd5 {Hoping to tempt pawn weaknesses.} 26...Rae8 27.Re4 Re6 28.Rc4 Rf7 29.Ra4 a5 30.Rc4 Qg6 31.Re4 c6 32.Rd3 {Setting the rook up for a pawn fork. It must retreat to d2 or d1.} 32...d5 33.Re1 e4 34.Bxg7+ {Fritz says Qh3 is much stronger, since it does not set up a mate for Black.} 34...Rxg7 35.Qh3 {To answer ed with Re6 but that is not good enough. Black just continues dc threatening to queen with mate. (Although Stockfish 11 64 bit suggests Qh3 is best move despite being Mate in 14 if Black doesn’t take the c pawn with 36. …d2!!. -Darren)} ( 35.Qh3 exd3 36.Rxe6 dxc2! ( {[Stockfish 11 64 POPCNT] 52:M12} 36...d2!! 37.Kf1 d1=Q+ 38.Re1 Qdxc2 39.g3 Qd2 40.Qe6 Qgd3+ 41.Kg1 fxg3 42.Qe8+ Kh7 43.Qg8+ Rxg8 44.Re7+ Kh8 45.Rh7+ Kxh7 46.hxg3 Qe1+ 47.Kh2 Qxf2+ 48.Kh3 Qdxg3# ) ) 35...Re5 36.Rdd1 Rh5 37.Qc8+ Rg8 38.Qxg8+ Qxg8 39.g3 Qg4 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "May 2020 Exhibition Games"] [Site "https://lichess.org/YojzRFjn"] [Date "2020.05.08"] [Round "1"] [White "Senthilkumar Shanmugam"] [Black "Mihir Bafna"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1325"] [BlackElo "1828"] [ECO "B43"] [Opening "Sicilian Defense: Kan Variation, Knight Variation"] [UTCTime "00:40:27"] [UTCDate "2020.05.08"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Termination "Normal"] [Annotator "Mihir Bafna"] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Nf3 {Black is playing a Kan Sicilian. This versatile opening typically results in a hedgehog position for black, and white had to try to break through to win. However, white here goes off the main line and moves his knight away from the strongest square it could be on.} ( 6.Bd3 Nf6 7.O-O b5 8.f4 d6 {This is a traditional Kan Sicilian} ) 6...Bb4 7.Bd2 Nf6 8.Bd3 Nc6 {Blocks the queen from the c file, but also puts pressure on the e5 square that white vacated.} 9.O-O b5 10.a3 ( 10.a4 bxa4 11.Rxa4 Be7 12.Rc4 {Taking advantage of the knight on c6} ) 10...Be7 11.Re1 d6 12.h3 Bb7 13.Bf4 e5 {Mistake from black. The pawn on d6 is now backwards, and the knight on c3 is ready to exploit the opening on d5.} 14.Bg5 {White has good attack while black has an exposed king and weak pawns at d6 and f5.} ( 14.Nd5 Nxd5 15.exd5 exf4 16.dxc6 Qxc6 17.Qe2 Qd7 ) 14...Rd8 15.Bxf6 Bxf6 16.Nd5 Qc8 17.Nxf6+ gxf6 18.Nh4 Rg8 19.Nf5 Nd4 {Right idea, bad execution. By putting the knight on d5, white had the opportunity to compund his advantage.} ( 19...Ne7 20.Ng3 {White still has the advntage, but black can launch a counter attack focusing on e4 and f2.} ) 20.Qh5 {Blunder. Black now can take the g2 square with a massive attack.} ( 20.Nxd4 exd4 21.Bf1 Qxh3 22.a4 {While it seems like white’s king is in trouble, the bishop protects the kingside. Meanwhile, black’s pawns are a mess and an endgame from this position would be advantageous for white.} ) 20...Nxf5 21.exf5 Rxg2+ 22.Kf1 Ke7 23.Ke2 Qc5 24.Rf1 e4 25.Rae1 Rf8 26.Kd1 d5 27.Qf3 Rfg8 28.Qf4 Kd7 29.b4 ( 29.Be2 Rc8 30.Qd2 {White has a stronger defense here.} ) 29...Qc3 30.Qe3 exd3 31.Qe7+ Kc8 32.Qc5+ Qxc5 33.bxc5 dxc2+ 34.Kxc2 Kd7 35.Rb1 Rc8 36.a4 Rxc5+ 37.Kd3 Rg5 38.Kd4 Rc4+ 39.Ke3 Rxa4 40.f4 Rg3+ 41. Ke2 Ra2+ 42.Ke1 d4 43.Rd1 Re3# {White had the opportunity to take advantage of the backwards pawn on d6, but the execution fell short because of the blunder. Black responded with an attack, and while White defended valiantly, the pressure on the king and bishop was too much.} 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "May 2020 Exhibition Games"] [Site "https://lichess.org/I1bM2GgV"] [Date "2020.05.08"] [Round "1"] [White "Prithiv Kumar"] [Black "Jeff Smith"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D20/02"] [WhiteElo "1387"] [BlackElo "1435"] [Opening "QGA: 3.e3"] [UTCTime "00:40:39"] [UTCDate "2020.05.08"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Termination "Normal"] [Annotator "Mihir Bafna"] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 {Uncommon response to the Queen’s Gambit. Instead of black declining the gambit, he accepted it. While white should win the pawn back in the next few moves, black will use the opportunity to attack white’s centre.} 3.e3 e5 4.Bxc4 exd4 5.exd4 {White has got the pawn back in return for black giving white an isolated pawn. Now the game will be based around whether black can win the pawn or whether white can use it to gain space and attack.} 5...Nf6 6.Qb3 Qe7+ 7.Ne2 Nc6 {While Nc6 is a good developing move, Qb4+ could be a better variation for black.} (7...Qb4+ 8.Nbc3 Qxb3 9.axb3 {The computer rates this endgame as even. White has superior piece development, but his pawn structure is ruined.}) 8.O-O Na5 9.Qa4+ Nc6 10.Nbc3 (10.d5 Qb4 11.Qxb4 Nxb4 12.Nbc3 Nc2 13.Rb1 Bf5 14.Bf4 {Similar variation, a little more forceful and advantageous to white.}) 10...Qb4 11.Qxb4 Nxb4 12.Nb5 Bd6 (12...Kd8 13.Bxf7 c6 14.Nbc3 Ke7 15.Bc4 Be6 16.Bxe6 Kxe6 17.a3 Nbd5 {White is a pawn up, but there is a lack of a strong attack and black now has better piece activity than white.}) 13.Bf4 {At this point, white has a strong advantage over black. He is taking full advantage of the initiative while black has been unable to properly develop his pieces and attack the weak d4 pawn.} 13...Bxf4 14.Nxf4 O-O 15.Nxc7 Rb8 16.d5 a6 (16...Rd8 17.Rfd1 g5 18.Ne2 Bf5 19.Ng3 Bg6 20.d6 b5 {A sharp, highly aggresive, and computer-driven line by black to attempt to get the d6 pawn while increasing piece activity.}) 17.a3 Nc2 18.Rad1 {The d5 pawn, while isolated, is now a strong, supported pawn for white to use. Meanwhile, black’s c2 knight is not supported, and the undeveloped bishop restricts black from pushing a counterattack.} 18...Bf5 19.d6 Nd7 20.Rd2 Nc5 21.Rd5 b5 22.Rxf5 Nd7 23.Ba2 Nd4 24.Rd5 Ne6 25.Ncxe6 fxe6 26.Nxe6 Rf6 27.Rd3 Kh8 28.Rc1 Re8 29.Rc7 Ne5 30.d7 Nxd7 31.Rdxd7 {The use of the isolated d-pawn and the initiative white took advantage of lead to white winning the game. While seemingly insignificant, 5…Nf6 led to black losing initiative and putting him in a significant hole that got bigger throughout the game.} 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.