2022.03 2022.03 Uploads: 2022.03.01 2022.03.14 [Event "Casual Correspondence game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/pyUb6jiO"] [Date "2022.03.14"] [Round "2"] [White "Newman, Steven, bitterroot88"] [Black "JosephOAlford"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C53"] [WhiteElo "1125"] [BlackElo "1500"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2022.03.07"] {The last game for Monday nights. Beginning 3/17 we will be meeting on Thursday nights.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 {solid, but passive. The main line is d4 ed; cd Bb4+; Bd2 Bd2+; Nd2} h6 {Too passive for Fritz who likes 0-0 or d6} 6. O-O d6 7. h3 {And this is too passive for Fritz who prefers d4 or a4 (threatening to play b4)} O-O 8. Nbd2 a6 {Fritz prefers a5 to prevent White’s b4} 9. Re1 {White wants to bring the second knight to the king side. Fritz prefers queen-side play with Nb3 or a4} b5 10. Bb3 Be6 {opening the f-file for Black’s rooks, but Fritz says this is premature. Black should play Bb7 and Qd7 and develop the second rook} 11. Bxe6 fxe6 12. Nf1 Nh7 {Looking to make f2 a problem for White} 13. d4 Bb6 14. d5 Na5 {Trading pawns loses the knight to a fork} 15. Ne3 {Be3 develops a piece and the knight probably ends up on the same square} Ng5 {Fritz calls that a blunder. Now Ng5 Qg5; Nf5 Qf6; de6} 16. Ng4 {White counters with a blunder of his own} Rxf3 {Right idea, wrong piece. Nf3+ is correct. Now Fritz shows Bg5 Qg5; Qf3 and White’s attack fizzles} 17. gxf3 Nxh3+ 18. Kg2 h5 {Only now realizing that both Bf2 and Qh4 lose} 19. Kxh3 hxg4+ 20. Kxg4 Bxf2 {Threatening mate with Qh4, but White can block that. Fritz says Qf6 gives equal chances} 21. Rh1 Qf6 22. Bg5 Qg6 23. Qe2 Rf8 24. Qxf2 Rf4+ 25. Kh3 Qh5+ {Just Qg5 is better, but this gives White a chance to blunder} 26. Bh4 {Kg2 Qxg5+ and White escapes with Kf1 or Qg3 with an exchange plus} Rxf3+ 27. Qg3 Rxg3+ 28. Kxg3 Nc4 29. Bd8 Qg6+ 30. Kf2 Qxe4 31. dxe6 Qf4+ 32. Ke1 Qe3+ 33. Kf1 Nd2+ 34. Kg2 Qf3+ 35. Kg1 Qg3# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Casual Correspondence game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/zfPoHyTf"] [Date "2022.03.01"] [Round "1"] [White "Newman, Steven, bitterroot88"] [Black "JosephOAlford"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C44"] [WhiteElo "1125"] [BlackElo "1500"] [PlyCount "90"] [EventDate "2022.03.01"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O d6 5. c3 Bg4 6. d4 {No. White is counting 3 White pieces protecting d4, but one of those is the queen and another is pinned. White could play h3 to drive the bishop away or d3 to develop the queen-side pieces.} exd4 7. cxd4 Nxd4 8. Bxf7+ {Bitterroot is overly fond of this sacrifice which is seldom correct. Now, it’s just a matter of trading down. Trapping the King in the center is only valuable if the king can be attacked. White has no pieces developed for that attack. Note that KxB; Ng5+ (to pick off Black’s bishop) fails here because Black’s queen takes the knight and both players have queens under attack. Note also that there would be a very different evaluation if White could play Qb3+ leaving only Black’s queen under attack} Kxf7 9. Be3 Nxf3+ 10. gxf3 Bh3 11. Qd5+ Kf8 12. Rd1 c6 13. Qh5 Bxe3 14. fxe3 Be6 15. e5 d5 {Fritz points out g6. The queen has no escape square} 16. Rd4 g6 17. Rf4+ Kg7 18. Qh4 Qxh4 19. Rxh4 Ne7 20. Nc3 a5 21. Na4 Nf5 22. Rf4 Nxe3 23. Rf6 Bf5 24. Nc5 d4 25. Nxb7 d3 26. Kf2 Nc4 {Fritz prefers either Re8, giving up the knight to queen the pawn.} 27. Rxc6 Nxe5 28. Rc7+ Kh6 29. Nd6 Rhf8 30. Nxf5+ Rxf5 31. Rc3 Nxf3 32. Rxd3 Ne5+ {Tricky devils, those knights.} 33. Ke2 Nxd3 34. Kxd3 Rd8+ 35. Ke4 Rd2 36. b3 Rxh2 37. a4 Rh4+ 38. Ke3 Rh3+ 39. Ke4 Rxb3 40. Rh1+ Rh5 41. Ra1 Rh4+ 42. Ke5 Rbb4 43. Kf6 Rbe4 44. Kf7 Rhf4+ 45. Kg8 Re8# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Casual Correspondence game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/UbvDmWmF"] [Date "2022.03.01"] [Round "1"] [White "JosephOAlford"] [Black "Newman, Steve, bitterroot88"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "1500"] [BlackElo "1125"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2022.03.01"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 Bxd2+ 8. Nbxd2 d5 {Black can also play Ne4; Ne4 d5} 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. O-O O-O 11. Rc1 Nf4 12. Ne4 Kh8 {The king is needed to protect f7. Fritz suggests Be6 or Bf5} 13. Neg5 h6 {Does not deal with the problem on f7. Fritz suggests Qf6} 14. Nxf7+ Rxf7 15. Bxf7 Bg4 16. Bc4 Bxf3 17. Qxf3 Qxd4 18. Rfd1 Qf6 19. Bb5 Ne5 20. Qxb7 Rf8 21. Bf1 {Every one of Black’s pieces is aimed at the White king. But he is a piece down. Fritz is sometimes frustrating. After saying last move that Bf1 is the best move, now if prefers Qe4 to deal with the threat of Nfd3} Qh4 22. g3 Qg5 {I was expecting Nf3+; Qf3 Nh3+; Bh3 Rf3} 23. Rxc7 Nh5 24. Bg2 Ng4 25. Rc8 Rxc8 26. Qxc8+ Kh7 27. Qc4 {That was supposed to be a devastaing check, but the king isn’t on g8 anymore. Qc2+ is deadly} Nhf6 28. Be4+ Nxe4 29. Qxe4+ Kh8 30. Qe8+ Kh7 31. Rd8 Nf6 32. Qe3 Qf5 33. Qd3 Ne4 34. Qc2 Kg6 35. Rd4 Ng5 36. Qxf5+ {Fritz points out Rd6+, but this is good enough.} Kxf5 37. Ra4 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.