2021.11 2021.11 Uploads: 2021.11.02 2021.11.07 2021.11.08 2021.11.22 [Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/Eap8SmnM"] [Date "2021.11.23"] [Round "4"] [White "JosephOAlford"] [Black "Bafna, Mihir, MBafna"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "1920"] [BlackElo "1862"] [PlyCount "45"] [EventDate "2021.11,01"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 5. d4 cxd4 6. cxd4 d6 7. exd6 Qxd6 8. Nc3 {White would be happy with a knight trade that would reinforce d4.} Bg4 9. Bc4 Nb6 {I thought e6 was much better. Fritz agrees} 10. Bxf7+ Kxf7 11. Ng5+ Ke8 12. Qxg4 Nxd4 13. O-O {White has better pawns and a safer king.} h5 {That does not improve Black’s position. Fritz is OK with h6 or Qd7} 14. Qf4 Qf6 { Black woould be happy with this queen trade which unsplits his pawns and drives away the enemy knight. Fritz says just trade on f4} 15. Rd1 e5 16. Qe4 Be7 17. Be3 Rd8 18. Qxb7 {Why not? White has good development, better pawns and (now) an extra pawn.} Nc4 {An attack on the g5 knight. Fritz says White can answer with Nd5} 19. Nge4 {I did not consider Nd5, first choice for Fritz. I did consider Bd4, the second choice. This move allows Black to get out of most of the trouble with Qb6} Qe6 20. Bxd4 exd4 21. Qb5+ Kf8 22. Nc5 Qe5 { pinning the knight is the right idea, but the queen needs to be on f5 to cover d7} 23. Nd7+ {I was surprised when he resigned. He gets both knights for his rook. I missed the fact that then I check on c8 and pick off his other rook.} 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/931quChP"] [Date "2021.11.23"] [Round "4"] [White "Bafna, Mihir, MBafna"] [Black "JosephOAlford"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C77"] [WhiteElo "1862"] [BlackElo "1920"] [PlyCount "86"] [EventDate "2021.11,01"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Qe2 {I’m always surprised to see that Fritz does not like this move. I find it hard to play against, partly because I like Black’s positions after 0-0 Nxe4} Bc5 {Fritz doesn’t like this move either, prefering b5 or be7.} 6. c3 {Black does recover the pawn after Bc6 dc; Ne5 Qe7; f4 Bd6} b5 7. Bc2 d6 8. a4 Rb8 {Fritz suggests b4 or Bd7. I’ve played both, but I prefer this.} 9. d3 {The Spanish torture is not a quick fight for the center. This allows White to bring up the second knight through d2 and f1 to either g3 or e3} h6 10. Nbd2 O-O 11. Nf1 Ng4 12. Ne3 Nxe3 13. fxe3 Bg4 14. O-O d5 15. exd5 Qxd5 16. Kh1 e4 {I was proud of this move. White was threatening to drive me out of the center. By sacrificing a pawn I destroyed his center and blocked off this king-side attack} 17. dxe4 Qh5 18. h3 {There is no threat here since the pawn is pinned. The more Fritz thought about this move, the worse it looked, but Fritz suggested ab or Rd1, either helping much.} Ne5 19. Rf2 Nxf3 {Fritz says Bf3 is much stronger.} 20. gxf3 Qxh3+ 21. Kg1 Qg3+ 22. Kh1 Qh3+ 23. Kg1 Bh5 24. Bd2 {Way too slow. Fritz likes Qf1 or ab} Rb6 {Bringing the rook to the king-side looks really good, but Fritz prefers ba with the rook threatening b2} 25. Raf1 {e5 would activate the White bishop, says Fritz} bxa4 26. Rh2 Qg3+ 27. Rg2 Qd6 {Not worried about b4 since I can capture in passing.} 28. Bc1 a3 {Blunder. a5 would prepare this move. Fritz liked Qc6 or Qe6} 29. b4 a2 30. Ba3 a1=Q {Premature. Qe5 or Qf6 holding the threat of queening} 31. Rxa1 Qf6 32. bxc5 Bxf3 {Black has a lot of threats. White has more. Rbb8 is better.} 33. cxb6 {Why give up the queen? e5} Bxe2 34. Bxf8 {Ouch. Missed that one.} Qxc3 35. Bxg7 {And that guards the rook. } Qxe3+ 36. Kh2 Qf4+ 37. Kh3 Qf3+ 38. Rg3 Bf1+ {Fritz is now showing this as equal, obviously expecting a draw by perpetual check.} 39. Rxf1 Qxf1+ 40. Rg2 Qf3+ 41. Kh2 Qf4+ 42. Kh1 Qf1+ 43. Rg1 {played a bit too fast.} Qh3# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/EyOXXdvV"] [Date "2021.11.09"] [Round "2"] [White "Newman, Steven, bitterroot88"] [Black "JosephOAlford"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C77"] [WhiteElo "1837"] [BlackElo "1500"] [PlyCount "40"] [EventDate "2021.11.08"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 Bc5 6. O-O d6 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bxf6 Qxf6 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Nd5 Qd8 11. c3 Bg4 12. Ne3 f5 {Fritz is not impressed. Black trades a bishop for a knight, doubles his pawns, and leaves b2 vulnerable. Black sees the coming attack on f2.} 13. Nxg4 fxg4 14. Ne1 Qh4 15. g3 {3 attacks on f2 must be met. Fritz suggests Qe2 or d4.} Qh3 16. Ng2 {White must break the attack on f2. d4 An attack on the flank can often be derailed by vigorous action in the center.} Rf6 17. Qb3+ {White wins a piece, but the cost on the home front is severe. White could try to trade off the attack with Ne3 threatening Qg4} Kh7 18. Qxb7 Raf8 19. Qxc6 Rxf2 20. Rxf2 Rxf2 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Casual Correspondence game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/rDXb4TpW"] [Date "2021.11.09"] [Round "3"] [White "JosephOAlford"] [Black "Newman, Steven, bitterroot88"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C00"] [WhiteElo "1500"] [BlackElo "1125"] [PlyCount "129"] [EventDate "2021.11.08"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 b6 3. c4 Bb7 4. Nc3 d5 {Ne7 first} 5. cxd5 exd5 6. exd5 Bd6 {To maintain material equality, Black must trade a bishop for the knight. Bb4 loses a bishop to Qa4+} 7. Qg4 {Premature, though it is the second choice for Fritz. Bc4 keeps Black tied up while White castles. Fritz likes Bb5+ making headway towards castling.} g6 8. Bd3 Nf6 9. Qe2+ Qe7 10. Bc4 O-O 11. Bg5 Nbd7 12. Qxe7 Bxe7 13. Nge2 Rfe8 14. O-O a6 15. f4 {Why are you trying to do something, asks Fritz. You have a pawn and the center. Just bring up more pieces. White has visions of rooks on the open file and the bishop aimed at f7} Ng4 16. Bxe7 Rxe7 17. Bb3 Ne3 18. Rf3 Nf6 19. Ng3 {The extra pawn cannot be saved and Black is already threatening action with bishop and knight against g2. White procedes with his attack along the f-file} Nexd5 20. f5 Nb4 21. Rf2 {Fritz suggests fg Bf3; gf+ Kf8; gf. I did not care for that line.} g5 {That was a shock. White has no attack. Now all the pawns look bad.} 22. a3 Nd3 23. Rd2 Nf4 24. Rc1 Rd8 25. Na4 {Fishing. White is losing a pawn without compensation.} N6d5 {Fritz calls this a blunder because Black had much better moves. h5 or c5 or Ng2} 26. Nc3 Ne3 27. d5 {Desperation. The attack on g2 gets really painful.} Nexd5 {Fritz says winning the pawn is not the right move. He likes Rde8 or Kg7 (to avoid the check next move). White makes good use of pins for the rest of this game.} 28. Rcd1 c6 29. Nge4 Kf8 {Avoiding a check which puts a fifth attacker on d5, but white plays Nf6 anyway. Fritz would have played Re5} 30. Nf6 {Fritz says take the pawn. If White captures on d5 then Black captures with the second knight and then plays Rd7 to pin whatever piece recaptures.} Re5 {Kg7 to try to force the line in the previous note.} 31. Ncxd5 cxd5 32. Nxh7+ Ke8 33. Nxg5 Rxf5 34. Rf2 Rd6 35. g3 Rxg5 36. Rxf4 Re5 37. Rfd4 Ke7 38. Rf4 Re2 39. Rf2 Re3 40. Ba2 f6 41. Rc2 Kd7 42. Rdc1 Bc6 43. Rc3 Rxc3 44. Rxc3 {Fritz prefers bc which stops Black’s pawn cold and leaves White with an outside passed pawn.} d4 45. Rd3 Bb5 46. Rd2 {Fritz suggests f5 which gives the Black king access to the king-side.} d3 {Premature. The pawn can be supported twice. It can be attacked 3 times.} 47. Bb1 {Kf2 is better since White cannot take the pawn until his rook is protected.} Ke6 48. Kf2 Ke5 49. Ke3 Kf5 50. Bxd3+ Bxd3 51. Rxd3 Re6+ 52. Kf3 Kg5 53. h4+ Kf5 54. g4+ Kg6 55. Kf4 a5 56. h5+ Kf7 57. Rd7+ Ke8 58. Rb7 a4 59. Kf5 Rd6 60. h6 Kf8 61. h7 Rd5+ 62. Ke6 Re5+ 63. Kxf6 Rf5+ 64. Kxf5 Ke8 65. h8=Q# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/5zi8fkfE"] [Date "2021.11.07"] [Round "1"] [White "Berardi, Orion, keyspleaseojo"] [Black "Newman, Steven, bitterroot88"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C57"] [WhiteElo "1602"] [BlackElo "1837"] [PlyCount "86"] [EventDate "2021.11.01"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Nd4 6. c3 b5 7. cxd4 bxc4 8. Nc3 {Black shows the problems with this move. de would be better.} exd4 9. Nb5 d3 {A mean-looking little move, but Fritz claims Black is even better after either Qe7+ or Nd5} 10. Qf3 {Time to 0-0, says Fritz} Bg4 11. Qe3+ Be7 {Not Qe7; Nc7+} 12. b3 O-O 13. h3 {White does not have time for threats. Now Nd5; Qe4 Bg5; Qg4 Qe8+ picks off a piece} Re8 14. O-O Nxd5 {Be2 was also good} 15. Qe4 {Note the threat on h7} Bxg5 16. Qxg4 c3 {Bf6 first} 17. Nxc3 Nf4 18. g3 Ne2+ 19. Nxe2 dxe2 20. Re1 Bxd2 {Fritz says Bf6. Now White can play Bb2 (mate threat)} 21. Rxe2 Rxe2 {Black could chase the rook on a1. Fritz gives Qf6; Rb1 Re2; Qe2 Qf5; Ra1 Bc3} 22. Qxe2 Bc3 {Again, Qf6 is better} 23. Bb2 Bxb2 24. Qxb2 a5 25. a4 c5 26. Kg2 Qd5+ 27. Kh2 Rb8 28. Re1 f6 29. Re3 Kf7 30. Qc3 Rb4 31. Rd3 Rd4 32. Rxd4 cxd4 33. Qc7+ {Qd3 combines attack and defense} Kg6 34. h4 d3 35. Qf4 d2 {h5 and White cannot stop the pawn and also protect b3. h5 prevents Qg4+ followed by Qd1} 36. Qg4+ Kf7 37. Qd1 h5 38. Kg1 g6 39. Kf1 Ke6 40. Ke2 f5 41. Qxd2 Qxb3 42. Qxa5 Qc4+ 43. Kf3 {White, with the extra pawn, gets careless.} Qe4# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/w6PW8TnV"] [Date "2021.11.07"] [Round "1"] [White "Newman, Steven, bitterroot88"] [Black "Berardi, Orion, keyspleaseojo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B12"] [WhiteElo "1837"] [BlackElo "1602"] [PlyCount "91"] [EventDate "2021.11.01"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 e6 {The problem with the Caro-Kann is that Black’s knight is blocked in. The problem with the French Defense is that Black’s bishop is blocked in. This move order blocks in both. Black frequently plays Bf5 here.} 4. Nf3 Bd7 5. c4 c5 {This should lose a pawn to dc Bc5; cd ed; Qd5. Fritz suggests dc when White is left with a backward pawn on an open file.} 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O {Fritz is unhappy with both players for ignoring the center.} Nxd4 8. Nxd4 cxd4 9. cxd5 Qa5 10. dxe6 fxe6 {Be6 Why bust up the pawns?} 11. Bf4 {Defending instead of attacking. Qh5+ followed by Bg5+} g5 12. Qh5+ {Black’s move was bad. The proof is Bg5 Qe5; Qh5+. Fritz disagrees: Qh5+ Kd8; Qf7 Ne7; Bg5 is killing} Kd8 13. Bxg5+ Be7 14. Bxe7+ {Often trades help the defender. Fritz says Nd2} Nxe7 15. f4 Qb6 16. Rf2 Nd5 17. Na3 Rf8 18. Nc4 Qb4 19. Qg5+ Kc7 20. Rc1 Rac8 {Clearly not seeing White’s reply. Fritz suggests Bc6} 21. Nd6+ Kb8 22. Rxc8+ {Nc8} Bxc8 23. Rc2 Qe1+ {Black says, hey, I’m still in the game.} 24. Bf1 Ne3 25. Rf2 Bd7 {d3 leaves White gasping for breath.} 26. Qe7 {Fritz says Qg7 keeps the Black rook out.} Rg8 27. g3 Bc6 {Nf1; Rf1 Rg3+; hg Qg3+; Kh1 Bc6} 28. Qxe6 Nxf1 {First Bd5} 29. Qxg8+ Kc7 30. Qxh7+ Kb6 31. Nc4+ Kc5 32. Rxf1 Qe2 33. Rf2 {Now Black can draw by Qe1+; Rf1 Qe2. White could still win with b4+ throwing away the knight for a rook check.} Qxc4 {Played too fast.} 34. Rc2 d3 35. Qxd3 Bd5 36. Rxc4+ Bxc4 37. Qc3 b5 38. b3 a5 39. bxc4 b4 40. Qd3 b3 41. axb3 a4 42. bxa4 Kb4 43. e6 Ka5 44. e7 Kb4 45. e8=Q Kc5 46. Qb5# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/dtyJsEju"] [Date "2021.11.07"] [Round "1"] [White "Berardi, Orion, keyspleaseojo"] [Black "Newman, Steven, bitterroot88"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B06"] [WhiteElo "1602"] [BlackElo "1837"] [PlyCount "26"] [EventDate "2021.11.01"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. e4 g6 2. f4 Bg7 3. Nf3 d6 4. Be2 Nf6 5. Nc3 O-O 6. d3 Nbd7 {c5 would transpose into a Sicilian with a reasonable grip on the center.} 7. Be3 {This results in trading the bishop (useful for attacking) for a knight that can be easily replaced. The logical move is 0-0 with king-side attack.} Ng4 8. Qd2 Nxe3 9. Qxe3 Nf6 10. f5 {And this just drops a pawn. Again, 0-0 is the best move} gxf5 11. exf5 Bxf5 12. Ng5 {Where’s he going all by himself? 0-0} d5 13. O-O-O {Both Black bishops are aimed at the queen-side. White wants to castle on the king-side. Of course, he should deal with the fork first.} d4 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/l8X5B7tw"] [Date "2021.11.02"] [Round "1"] [White "Newman, Steven, bitterroot88"] [Black "JosephOAlford"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C77"] [WhiteElo "1837"] [BlackElo "1500"] [PlyCount "62"] [EventDate "2021.11.02"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Qe2 {Fritz insists this is a bad move, but I find it hard to play against. Fritz likes 0-0 or d4} Bc5 {A general rule is that when White guards e4 then Black must guard e5. Thus b5 so that the knight guards e5 or d6} 6. c3 O-O 7. Bxc6 dxc6 8. Nxe5 Bd6 9. d4 Re8 10. Bf4 Ng4 {I expected NxN BxB. White finds a better move. Fritz suggests chipping away at White’s center with c5.} 11. Nd3 Bxf4 12. Nxf4 Qg5 13. Nd3 {It turns out g3 is better.} Nf6 14. f3 Nxe4 {I get at least two pawns and lots of development for this valiant knight.} 15. Nd2 {if fe then Bg4; Qd2 Re4+ with a winning (?) attack.} Nd6 16. Ne4 Nxe4 17. fxe4 Bg4 18. Qxg4 {Now Qd2 loses the queen after Re4+. Fritz shows Qc2 Re4+; Kf1 Re2} Qxg4 19. O-O Rxe4 {Well, that’s rather pitiful. Of course, Qe4.} 20. Nf2 Qe2 {he might play Rae allowing Qe1} 21. Nxe4 Qxe4 22. Rae1 Qd5 23. b3 {Orion, watching, said two targets are better than one. Yes, a3 was better with a rook on the second rank protecting b2} Qa5 24. Rf3 Qxa2 25. Rfe3 g6 26. b4 a5 27. Re7 axb4 28. cxb4 Qc4 29. Rxc7 Qxd4+ 30. Kh1 Qxb4 31. Rce7 Qxe7 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/8TSK3zWb"] [Date "2021.11.02"] [Round "1"] [White "Newman, Steven, bitterroot88"] [Black "Berardi, Orion, keyspleaseojo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B12"] [WhiteElo "1837"] [BlackElo "1602"] [PlyCount "91"] [EventDate "2021.11.02"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 {there was a great deal of discussion at this point about the best move for White. 3 e5 is an attempt to maintain a powerful center and take away the best square from Black’s knight. 3 ed cd is also common and perfectly good. I usually follow up with c4, the Panov Botvinnik attack, a queen-side opening. By far the most common is 3 Nc3 de; Ne4 Bf5; Ng3 Bg6 with active play for both parties.} Bf5 4. Nf3 c5 {Chess is mostly pattern recognition. I have been in this position before. I tried this and it did not work. This move loses a pawn. White replies dc Qa5+; Nc3 Qc5 and with Qd5 White is up a pawn.} 5. Bb5+ Nc6 6. dxc5 a6 7. Bxc6+ bxc6 8. Nd4 Qa5+ {Black realized immediately that White could now win a piece with Bd2. White did not notice} 9. Nc3 Bd7 10. Nb3 Qc7 11. Bf4 e6 12. O-O g6 13. Re1 Bg7 14. Qd2 Ne7 15. Nd4 Qa5 16. Ne4 {Black’s queen is attacked. White is a pawn up with a solid center and is happy to trade queens.} Qxd2 17. Nd6+ {a nice little touch, sticking a pin in Black’s king.} Kf8 18. Bxd2 f6 {This should lose the e-pawn, but Black has no good moves} 19. exf6 Bxf6 20. Bh6+ Bg7 21. Bxg7+ Kxg7 22. b4 {Ne6+ was another free pawn} Nf5 23. N4xf5+ exf5 {If gf5 then Nf5+ followed by Re7+} 24. Re7+ Kf6 25. Rxd7 Rhe8 {Perhaps he meant d8?} 26. Nxe8+ Rxe8 27. Rxh7 Re2 28. c3 Rc2 29. Rh3 Ke5 30. Re3+ Kf4 31. a4 g5 32. g3+ Kg4 33. Kg2 f4 34. Rf3 Re2 35. gxf4 gxf4 36. h3+ Kf5 37. a5 Ke4 38. h4 Rd2 39. Rh1 Kf5 40. h5 Kg5 41. h6 Kg6 42. h7 Kg7 43. h8=Q+ Kg6 44. Qg8+ Kf5 45. Rh5+ Ke4 46. Qe6# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.
