2021.03 2021.03 Uploads: 2021.03.01 2021.03.08 2021.03.16 2021.03.22 2021.03.29 [Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/5CNJzKQM"] [Date "2021.03.29"] [Round "5"] [White "Johnson, Jeremy Scott, JSBach71"] [Black "Newman, Steven, quassialeaf"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C46"] [WhiteElo "1512"] [BlackElo "0000"] [PlyCount "32"] [EventDate "2021.03.01"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Nxe4 {I like Bf7+ Kf7; Ne4 d5; Neg5+ but Crafty says that favors Black slightly. He likes just 0-0 Nd6; Bd5 when Black should recover the pawn. If 0-0 Nc3; dc and White has an edge in development.} 5. Nxe4 d5 6. Bb3 {Crafty says Bd3 de; Be4 when Black’s surprise has cost him a pawn.} dxe4 7. Ng1 Bc5 8. Qe2 Bf5 9. Bxf7+ Kxf7 10. Qc4+ Kg6 11. Qxc5 Qg5 { Crafty says Qd4 is better to trade off White’s only developed piece, but Black still has an advantage here because White can’t develop any piece.} 12. g3 Rad8 13. d3 {gaining a move by attacking the queen, but White can’t capture on e4 or develop anything.} Qg4 14. h3 Qh5 15. g4 {A fork with no teeth, but there are no good moves.} Bxg4 16. dxe4 Rd1# {A triumph for development.} 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/0IY7gCTu"] [Date "2021.03.29"] [Round "5"] [White "Newman, Steve, quassialeaf"] [Black "Johnson, Jeremy Scott, JSBach71"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D06"] [BlackElo "1512"] [PlyCount "46"] [EventDate "2021.03.01"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d5 {Black’s pawn needs pawn support. Now cd Nd5; e4 and White has the entire center. Or cd Qd5; Nc3 also gives White the center.} 3. Nc3 dxc4 4. e4 e6 5. Bxc4 Bb4 6. Qa4+ {This misplaces the queen and does not deal with the problem on e4. Crafty suggests Qd3 or e5.} Nc6 7. Nf3 {White cannot protect both pawns.} Nxe4 8. O-O {Protect c3 with Qb3 or Qc2} Nxc3 9. bxc3 Bxc3 10. Rb1 O-O 11. Bg5 Qd6 12. Be3 Nxd4 13. Nxd4 Bxd4 14. Rfd1 c5 15. Bf1 {Hiding your head in daddy’s armpit is not going to help. The bishop belongs on d3 where it can help attack h7 or b7.} e5 16. Bg5 {This bishop becomes a target.} Bf5 {Black sacrifices a pawn to fork a piece and a square.} 17. Rxb7 Qg6 18. Bh4 Bc2 19. Qd7 Bxd1 20. Bc4 Bf3 {Another fork of rook and important square.} 21. Bxf7+ Rxf7 22. Qxf7+ Qxf7 23. Rxf7 Kxf7 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Casual Classical Game"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2021.03.22"] [Round "4"] [White "Erickson, Darren, LaughingVulcan"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C50"] [Annotator ",JosephOAlford"] [WhiteElo "1920"] [BlackElo "826"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2021.03.01"] [SourceDate "2021.03.01"] [TimeControl "G/60;5"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O d6 5. d3 Bg4 6. h3 h5 {Chess is pattern recognition. After 1. e4 e5; 2. Nf3 Nc6; 3. Bb5 a6; 4. Bc6 dc; 5. 0-0 Bg4; 6. h3 h5; 7. hg hg; 8. Ne5 Qh4; 9. f3 g3 White gets mated on the h-file. However, this is NOT that position. Here and on many later moves White can safely take the bishop. hg hg; Ng5! and the queen cannot get to the h-file. Of course White must still be careful: after Ng5 g3; Nf7 Rh1+; Kh1 Qh4+; Kg1 Qh2 mate!} 7. Re1 Nd4 8. Nbd2 Qf6 9. c3 Nxf3+ 10. Nxf3 Ne7 11. Be3 Bxe3 12. Rxe3 Ng6 13. d4 Nf4 14. dxe5 dxe5 15. Bd5 Rd8 16. Qa4+ c6 17. Rd1 O-O 18. Qxa7 {I believe this is where we learned that chess.com requires you to set “allow takeback” when you start the game. Darren did not do that, so he loses a piece.} Bxf3 19. Rxf3 cxd5 20. exd5 Qe7 21. Qe3 Nxd5 22. Qe4 {And this allows a pretty fork to win material} Nxc3 23. bxc3 Rxd1+ 24. Kh2 Qc7 25. g4 {It is generally not a good idea to attack with the pawns that are supposed to be protecting your king. This time it works out.} hxg4 26. Qxg4 e4+ {played too fast. Now the mate threat lets White win a rook.} 27. Rg3 Qe5 28. Qxd1 Rc8 29. Kg2 {If Black takes the c-pawn then White plays Qd8+ followed by Qh4+ and a perpetual check.} 1-0 [pgn] [pgn navigation_board=floatLeft show_move_arrow=no] [Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/Rr3S9nBH"] [Date "2021.03.16"] [Round "4"] [White "JosephOAlford"] [Black "Newman, Steven, quassialeaf"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "1920"] [BlackElo "0000"] [PlyCount "43"] [EventDate "2021.02.22"] [TimeControl "G/60;5"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 {My favorite move against the Ruy Lopez.} 5. d4 exd4 {Again, my favorite move. Much safer is d5; ed Be6} 6. Re1 Qe7 {Losing the knight.} (6... d5 7. Nxd4 Bd6 8. Nxc6 Bxh2+ 9. Kh1 Qh4 10. Rxe4+ dxe4 11. Qd8+ Qxd8 12. Nxd8+ Kxd8 13. Kxh2 {This is the line I play as Black}) 7. Nxd4 Nxd4 8. Qxd4 f5 9. f3 c5 {Fritz shows Qc5; Qc5 Bc5+; Be3 Be3+; Re3 c6; Be2 d5 and Black will have 2 pawns for the piece.} 10. Qd5 Qd6 11. Qxd6 Bxd6 12. fxe4 O-O 13. Nc3 f4 14. Nd5 Kh8 15. e5 Bb8 16. Bxf4 b6 17. Rad1 a6 {making a bad situation worse. Bb7; Bg3 and White has an extra piece.} 18. Nxb6 axb5 19. Nxa8 Rxf4 20. e6 {The pawn can only be stopped by allowing mate.} dxe6 21. Rd8+ Rf8 22. Rxf8# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/Rr3S9nBH"] [Date "2021.03.16"] [Round "3"] [White "JosephOAlford"] [Black "Newman, Steven, quassialeaf"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "1920"] [BlackElo "0000"] [PlyCount "43"] [EventDate "2021.03.01"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 {My favorite move in the Ruy Lopez.} 5. d4 exd4 {Again, my favorite move. Much safer is d5; ed Be6} 6. Re1 Qe7 {Losing the knight.} (6... d5 7. Nxd4 Bd6 8. Nxc6 Bxh2+ 9. Kh1 Qh4 10. Rxe4+ dxe4 11. Qd8+ Qxd8 12. Nxd8+ Kxd8 13. Kxh2 {This is the line I play as Black}) 7. Nxd4 Nxd4 8. Qxd4 f5 9. f3 c5 {Fritz shows Qc5; Qc5 Bc5+; Be3 Be3+; Re3 c6; Be2 d5 and Black will have 2 pawns for the piece.} 10. Qd5 Qd6 11. Qxd6 Bxd6 12. fxe4 O-O 13. Nc3 f4 14. Nd5 Kh8 15. e5 Bb8 16. Bxf4 b6 17. Rad1 a6 {making a bad situation worse. Bb7; Bg3 and White has an extra piece.} 18. Nxb6 axb5 19. Nxa8 Rxf4 20. e6 {The pawn can only be stopped by allowing mate.} dxe6 21. Rd8+ Rf8 22. Rxf8# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/Ce7uNob1"] [Date "2021.03.16"] [Round "3"] [White "Newman, Steven, quassialeaf"] [Black "JosephOAlford"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D35"] [WhiteElo "0000"] [BlackElo "1920"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "2021.03.01"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Nf3 Bb4 6. Bg5 c6 7. e3 h6 8. Bf4 {BxN. Now White will pile up on c3} Ne4 9. Qc2 {Fritz says Qb3 or Rc1} Qa5 10. O-O-O {Fritz says this makes bad matters worse. His recommendation is Nd2 letting Black win a pawn.} Bxc3 11. bxc3 Nxc3 {Fritz says Black had much better in Qa3+; Qb2 Qb2+; Kb2 Nf2} 12. Re1 Nxa2+ 13. Kb2 Nb4 14. Qb1 Nd7 15. Bd6 Nb6 16. Bxb4 Qxb4+ 17. Ka1 Qa5+ 18. Qa2 Qxa2+ 19. Kxa2 Bg4 20. Ne5 Be6 21. Bd3 Nd7 22. Nf3 Ke7 23. e4 {The game was already lost – Black has 2 extra pawns, connected and passed.} dxe4+ 24. Ka1 exd3 25. d5 cxd5 26. Nd4 Rhc8 27. Nf5+ Kf6 28. Nd6 Rc2 29. Rd1 Nc5 30. Rhf1 d2 {Premature. Nb3+; Kb1 Nd2+ was correct.} 31. Kb1 Rc1+ 32. Rxc1 dxc1=Q+ 33. Kxc1 a6 34. h4 Rd8 {The point of Black’s last move – the knight has no escape square.} 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/4LoR88Pk"] [Date "2021.03.16"] [Round "3"] [White "JosephOAlford"] [Black "Newman, Steven, quassialeaf"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D32"] [WhiteElo "1920"] [BlackElo "0000"] [PlyCount "51"] [EventDate "2021.03.01"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. cxd5 exd5 {I think cd4 is better. Now Black ends up with an isolated pawn.} 5. dxc5 Nf6 6. Bg5 d4 7. Ne4 Bxc5 8. Nxc5 Qa5+ 9. Qd2 Qxc5 10. Bxf6 gxf6 11. Nf3 Nc6 12. Rc1 Qd6 13. e3 O-O 14. Bb5 Bd7 15. Bxc6 Bxc6 16. exd4 {It is dangerous to open the center before castling.} Rae8+ 17. Kf1 Re4 18. d5 Bxd5 19. Rd1 Qa6+ 20. Kg1 Be6 21. Ng5 {I had a parent bugging me for information about the Tuesday night games, so I took a draw.} fxg5 22. Qxg5+ Kh8 23. Qf6+ Kg8 24. Qg5+ Kh8 25. Qf6+ Kg8 26. Qg5+ 1/2-1/2 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "JosephOAlford simul"] [Site "https://lichess.org/fWGshXuf"] [Date "2021.03.08"] [Round "2"] [White "JosephOAlford"] [Black "Johnson, Jeremy Scott, JSBach71"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B01"] [WhiteElo "1920"] [BlackElo "1512"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2021.03.01"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd6 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 c6 6. Bc4 Bg4 7. Be3 e6 8. h3 Bf5 9. Qd2 {Fritz says Nh4 now. The queen move allows Black to trade off pieces after Qb4; Bb3 Ne4} Be7 10. O-O-O Nbd7 11. Nh4 b5 {That allows White to trade bishop for knight and double Black’s pawns. Fritz likes Be4} 12. Nxf5 exf5 13. Bd3 Nb6 14. Bxf5 {Fritz says that’s a blunder and calls for Bf4 Qd7} Nc4 15. Qe2 {Still not seeing the problem. Fritz says Qd3 Qb4; Rdf1 giving the king some running room.} Qb4 {Whoops! Did not see that coming. I have to sacrifice a piece to avoid immediate mate.} 16. Na4 {Fritz says it’s not quite that bad. Rd3 Qb2+; Kd1 Qa1+; Bc1} bxa4 {Logical, opening the file for the rook, but simply Qa4 is a killer.} 17. c3 Qb5 {Qb2+ favors White, but this is even better for White} 18. Bd3 O-O 19. Bxc4 Qb7 20. Bg5 Rab8 21. Rd2 {Safety first. Fritz prefers Bf4 or even Rhe} Rfe8 22. Qf3 {Fritz says that’s an error though Ne4; Bf7+ Kh8; Be8 Nd2; Bd2 Qb2+; Kd1 Qa2; Qe4 still favors White} Ba3 {Again?? Of course ba allows Qb1 mate and when he plays Bb2+ I can’t recapture. It would have comforting to see that Fritz considers this move an error, but that may be because Fritz considers Ne4 better.} 23. Bxf6 Bxb2+ 24. Kd1 Ba3 25. Bd3 gxf6 26. Qh5 Qb1+ {I thought (Fritz agrees) Black could escape by Kf8 or Re6. I was hoping to trade away his attack on my king. Fritz does not like sacrificing the queen.} 27. Bxb1 Rxb1+ 28. Kc2 Rxh1 29. Qg4+ Kf8 30. Qd7 Rc1+ 31. Kd3 c5 {At this point I tried Qa7 several times. The machine kept reverting to this position with a note that it was reconnecting. Discussing the position with Jeremy, I decided Qa4 was a much better move since his bishop was trapped. He pointed out Qa4 cd; Qa3 Rc3+; Qc3 dc; Kc3. There we each have rook and 4 pawns with his pawns split. It appears the best plan is Qa4 cd; Qd4 where I have 5 pawns to his 4 and my queen is attacking two more. The next day there was a memo that Lichess had been upgraded.} 32. Qxa4 cxd4 33. Qxa3+ {While doing these notes, I saw that Fritz points out that Qa3 is check and Black loses both bishop and rook without winning the queen.} 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "JosephOAlford simul"] [Site "https://lichess.org/lSGqzXWk"] [Date "2021.03.08"] [Round "2"] [White "JosephOAlford"] [Black "Newman, Steven, quassialeaf"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B95"] [WhiteElo "1920"] [BlackElo "0000"] [PlyCount "37"] [EventDate "2021.03.01"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 h6 8. Bh4 Be7 {Fritz likes Ne4 trading knight for bishop and winning a pawn.} 9. Bg3 Nbd7 10. O-O-O b5 {bad move. That pawn was protecting c6. Fritz likes Nh5 with a slight edge for Black or Nc5 with equality.} 11. Nc6 Qc7 {And that’s a losing move. Qb6 was needed.} 12. Nxe7 Kxe7 13. Bxd6+ Qxd6 14. Qxd6+ Ke8 15. Qc6 Rb8 16. Qc7 b4 {The point of the queen moves is to allow the knight to get to d6 after a bishop sacrifice on b5. Now that is not needed.} 17. Na4 Nxe4 18. Rxd7 Bxd7 19. Qxb8+ 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "MBafna simul"] [Site "https://lichess.org/353bFpvh"] [Date "2021.03.01"] [Round "0"] [White "JosephOAlford"] [Black "MBafna"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "1920"] [BlackElo "1828"] [PlyCount "45"] [EventDate "2021.03.01"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 d5 {Fritz claims equality for Black after d5 or Nf6.} 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. d4 Bg4 6. Be2 Nf6 7. dxc5 Qxd1+ {I think he has to take the pawn back, but then the queen gets chased around. Fritz says Qc5 and Qd1 are almost equal.} 8. Bxd1 e6 9. b4 O-O-O 10. O-O h6 11. a4 e5 {An attack on the bishop on d1} 12. Be3 Nd5 13. h3 Nxe3 14. fxe3 Bh5 15. Nbd2 f5 16. Nc4 e4 17. Nd4 Bxd1 18. Raxd1 g6 {Now a couple of forced exchanges end the game.} 19. Nxc6 bxc6 20. Rxd8+ Kxd8 21. Ne5 Rg8 22. Nxc6+ Kc7 23. Nxa7 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "MBafna simul"] [Site "https://lichess.org/0UAR4ETF"] [Date "2021.03.01"] [Round "0"] [White "MBafna"] [Black "Smith, Jeff, UKWildcat"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "1828"] [BlackElo "1435"] [PlyCount "119"] [EventDate "2021.03.01"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nxe4 {This loses a pawn. Book is d6; Nf3 Ne4; Qe2 Qe7} 4. Qe2 Qe7 {Not Nf6; Nc6+ winning the queen} 5. Qxe4 d6 6. d4 dxe5 7. Qxe5 Qxe5+ 8. dxe5 Nc6 9. f4 Bf5 10. c3 O-O-O 11. Be3 Be7 12. Bb5 Nb8 {down a pawn, Black gives up another for nothing. Bd7 and a trade on c6 yields gives Black’s bishop a good diagonal and Ba7 just gets White’s bishop trapped by b6.} 13. Bxa7 f6 14. O-O Bd3 15. Bxd3 Rxd3 16. Na3 {An ugly move that should lose at least a pawn after Ba3; ba Rc3} Nc6 17. exf6 {A little too aggressive, says Fritz. He liked just Bf2. Now Ba3; ba Na7; fg Rg8 favors Black.} Bxf6 18. Bf2 Rd2 19. Nc4 Re2 20. Rae1 Rhe8 21. Rxe2 Rxe2 22. Re1 Rc2 23. a4 b6 24. Ne5 {Again, a little too aggressive, says Fritz. He advises Rb1 or g4 or Kf1. But White is still on top after either Ne5 or Ne7} Nxe5 25. fxe5 Bg5 26. e6 Kd8 27. Bd4 Rxb2 28. Bxg7 Ra2 29. Rd1+ Ke7 30. Rd7+ Kxe6 31. Rxc7 Rxa4 {Be3+ first to keep White’s bishop from d4.} 32. Bd4 h6 33. Rc6+ Kd5 34. Rxb6 Ra2 35. h4 Ra1+ 36. Kh2 Bf4+ 37. Kh3 Kc4 {h5 creates a mating net, but then Rb5+ destroys it.} 38. Rc6+ Kd5 39. Rc5+ Ke4 40. Bf2 Bd2 41. Rc4+ Kd3 42. Rc6 Ke2 43. Bd4 Kd3 44. Bg7 Rh1+ 45. Kg4 Rg1 46. g3 h5+ 47. Kxh5 Rxg3 48. Bf6 Ke4 49. c4 Kf5 50. Be7 Rg7 51. Rc5+ Ke6 52. Bg5 Bb4 53. Rb5 Bc3 54. Rb3 Ba1 55. Kg4 Kd6 56. Re3 Kc5 57. Re4 Bd4 58. Kh5 Kxc4 {Allowing a sacrifice that leaves White with a queening pawn.} 59. Rxd4+ Kxd4 60. Bf6+ 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "MBafna simul"] [Site "https://lichess.org/YjEUWaTb"] [Date "2021.03.01"] [Round "0"] [White "MBafna"] [Black "Newman, Steven, quassialeaf"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "1828"] [BlackElo "0000"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2021.03.01"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. Qe2 Nd4 5. Nxd4 exd4 6. d3 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. f4 c6 9. Bc4 b5 10. Bb3 d5 11. e5 Ng4 {This will cost a pawn. Fritz likes Nd7} 12. h3 {Fritz says f5 is much stronger, attacking the knight and also making progress on the king-side attack.} Ne3 {Fritz claims Nh6 is better. Ne3 is shown as equal until the move is actually made, then the response favors White. } 13. Bxe3 dxe3 14. Qxe3 Bf5 15. g4 d4 16. Qe2 Be6 17. f5 Bd5 18. Nd2 Bg5 19. Nf3 Be3+ 20. Kh2 Qc7 21. Bxd5 cxd5 22. Kg2 Rae8 23. Rae1 Rc8 24. c3 Qb6 25. g5 Rfe8 26. f6 gxf6 27. gxf6 Kh8 28. Kh2 {Fritz likes cd. Now White gets a weakness on c3} Rg8 {Or not. Bf4+ followed by dc} 29. Nh4 {Fritz is still concentrating on d4. Nd4 for White} Qe6 {Fritz says this is a blunder. (Rce is better) because of Nf5 Qe5+; Kh1 Qf6; Ne3 Qh4; cd Qh3+; Qh2 Qh2+ which favors White. I can’t imagine any human finding that over the board.} 30. cxd4 Bxd4 31. Nf5 Bxe5+ {Bg1+; Rg1 Qf5 still favors White, but this loses a piece.} 32. Qxe5 Rc2+ 33. Kh1 h5 {Black notices that Qe6; Qe6 Rgg2; Re8+ trades off the attack and White is down a piece.} 34. Qxe6 fxe6 35. f7 Rf8 36. Nd4 Rxb2 37. Nxe6 Rc8 38. Re5 Kh7 39. Rxh5+ Kg6 40. Rg5+ Kh7 41. Rfg1 Rcc2 42. f8=N+ Kh6 43. Rg6+ Kh5 44. Nf4+ Kh4 45. Rh6# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.
