Bloomington Normal Chess Club

2022.11

2022.11 Uploads:
2022.11.01
2022.11.03
2022.11.10

2022.11.17 – 2022.11.24 – We’re taking a couple of weeks break for Thanksgiving and the season. Games return in December!

[Event ""] [Site "Barnes & Noble"] [Date "2022.11.09"] [Round "2"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Erickson, Darren"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C50"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2022.11.09"] [SourceDate "2022.11.09"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Nc3 {I prefer c3 preparing d4 and also preventing Nd4} d6 5. O-O {h3 is needed to prevent the “pin it and win it” attack that follows. Fritz shows a Black advantage at this point.} Bg4 6. h3 h5 {Not correct in this position. hg hg; Ng5 and the Black queen cannot get to h4. } 7. d3 Nd4 8. Be3 {hg wins a piece. Now White is in trouble.} Nxf3+ 9. gxf3 Bxh3 10. Ne2 {Re1 Be3 with Qg5+ leading to mate.} Bxe3 11. fxe3 Qg5+ 12. Kf2 Qh4+ {I did not want the king to escape, but Fritz says Qg2+; Ke1 Qf1+ is convincing.} 13. Ng3 Bxf1 14. Qxf1 Qh2+ 15. Qg2 Qxg2+ 16. Kxg2 h4 17. Nh1 { Fritz says Rh1 is more to the point.} Nh6 18. Nf2 g5 19. Rg1 Ke7 20. Kh3 f6 21. d4 c6 22. d5 b5 23. Be2 Rac8 24. c3 a6 25. Ng4 {White does not want to trade when down an exchange and pawn. Nd3. Fritz says White can be more active than that, suggesting a4.} Nxg4 26. Rxg4 cxd5 27. exd5 Rc5 {Black wants to play b4, so he forces White to cut the rook off from defense of b4.} 28. e4 b4 29. Bxa6 {cb Rc2; Ba6 Rb2; b5 or Bc4; Rb5 Bb3} bxc3 30. bxc3 Rxc3 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event ""] [Site "Barnes & Noble"] [Date "2022.11.09"] [Round "2"] [White "Gomez, Erick"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E60"] [Annotator ",JosephOAlford"] [PlyCount "54"] [EventDate "2022.11.09"] [SourceDate "2022.11.09"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 c5 4. d5 Bg7 {Fritz actually shows a slight advantage to Black at this point.} 5. Nc3 O-O 6. Bf4 d6 7. Qd2 Nbd7 {Re1 so that Bh6 can be answered with Bh8. Fritz is happy with the knight move.} 8. Bh6 Re8 {Fritz likes Ne8 to place a knight on g7.} 9. Bxg7 Kxg7 10. e4 a6 11. a4 {Defending? Fritz says g4 or h4. Attack!} Qa5 12. Bd3 Ne5 13. Nge2 Nxd3+ 14. Qxd3 Bd7 15. O-O Qb4 16. Rfb1 Rab8 17. a5 b6 18. Na2 Qxa5 19. b4 cxb4 20. Nxb4 Qc5+ 21. Kh1 Rbc8 22. Rxa6 {Na6 unleashes the 2nd rook on b6. Note that White must watch for a back rank mate.} b5 23. Nc6 {too soon, says Fritz. Nd4 so White can put a knight on c6 and keep it there. White will blockade Black’s pawn with advantage.} bxc4 24. Qd4 Qxd4 25. Nexd4 e5 {Intent on c6, Black misses the threat to d6. Fritz notes that e6 still favors Black. On Nb4 Black responds ed with two powerful connected passed pawns. Another possibility is this variation.} (25... e6 26. Nb5 exd5 27. exd5 Nxd5 28. Nxd6 Rxc6 29. Rxc6 Bxc6 30. Nxe8+ Bxe8) 26. Nb5 Bxc6 27. Nxd6 Rb8 {White resigned as he had to leave. I offered a draw, saying the game was pretty equal, but he said he didn’t get his piece back because after the rook trade the mate threat meant he would not get his piece back. As he walked away, he suddenly said, no, I’m winning. NxR is check! The correct move for Black is 27 Bd7 giving back the exchange but remaining with two pieces against a rook with a dangerous passed pawn.} 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/sSmhAxpw"] [Date "2022.11.03"] [Round "1"] [White "JosephOAlford"] [Black "bitterroot88"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B01"] [WhiteElo "1863"] [BlackElo "1731"] [Annotator ",JosephOAlford"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2022.11.03"] [TimeControl "4500+20"] 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bc4 c6 {There are two plans here for Black. b5; Bb3 which denies White another bishop check. Or Bg4; f3 Bc8 which denies White easy development.} 5. dxc6 Nxc6 6. Nf3 e6 7. O-O Bd6 8. Nc3 O-O 9. d3 a6 10. Bg5 b5 11. Bb3 h6 12. Bxf6 Qxf6 13. Ne4 Qe7 14. Nxd6 Qxd6 15. a4 {Seeking to quickly activate the rook. Fritz prefers to stay in the center with d4 or c3 or Qe2} Nd4 {Na5 gives White more trouble.} 16. Nxd4 Qxd4 17. c3 Qh4 18. d4 bxa4 {That helps White. Fritz likes Bc6 or Rfb8} 19. Bxa4 Bb5 20. Bxb5 axb5 21. Qe2 Rab8 22. Ra5 b4 23. Rb5 bxc3 24. bxc3 Rbc8 25. g3 Qe7 {Of course not Qh3 when Rh5 traps the queen.} 26. Qf3 {Overlooking Black’s reply. c4 was good to get the extra pawn moving.} Qa3 {Fritz actually shows Black as marginally better now. White will lose the c-pawn and the d-pawn is isolated and easily attacked.} 27. Rfb1 Rxc3 28. Qf4 Rcc8 29. d5 {eliminating the only weakness and assuring a draw.} exd5 30. Rxd5 Qa2 31. Rdb5 {Fritz prefers, by a very small amount, doubling on the d-file. I liked the control of b8 and a possible Rb7 attacking f7} Rc2 32. Rb8 Rxb8 {losing. Either rook to c8 would be better. Frit also likes Qe6} 33. Rxb8+ Kh7 34. Qf5+ g6 35. Qe5 Rc1+ {Fritz shows the amazing Rc8; Rc8 Qb1+; Kg2 Qb7+ and the game is still drawn!} 36. Kg2 Qa1 37. Rh8# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event ""] [Site "Barnes & Noble"] [Date "2022.11.01"] [Round "1"] [White "Erickson, Darren"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C44"] [BlackElo "1900"] [Annotator ",JosephOAlford"] [PlyCount "48"] [EventDate "2022.11.01"] [SourceDate "2022.11.01"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c4 {White is tired of Bb5 and Bc4, but those are the most common moves for a reason. Nc3 and d4 are also playable.} Bc5 4. d3 d6 5. g3 {Too slow. The bishop belongs on e2. Nc3 is best, hoping for Na4.} Nf6 { Fritz says the immediate f5 is more to the point, opening an attack along the f-file.} 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O Bg4 {The immediate threat is Nd4, but this also tempts White to weaken his king-side with h3 and g4.} 8. Bg5 h6 9. h3 Bh5 10. Be3 Nd4 11. Bxd4 {Nbd2} Bxd4 12. Nc3 Nh7 {Consistent. Threatening Ng5 and also f5} 13. Qd2 Bxf3 14. Bxf3 f5 {Premature. Fritz prefers either Ng5 or Qg5} 15. exf5 Ng5 16. Bd5+ {Bb7 and then the bishop can decide on Bd5 or Be4 or Bg2} Kh8 17. Kh2 {Passive. Fritz prefers h4. Bb7 is still a possibility favoring White.} Rxf5 {But this is overly aggressive. Fritz says c6 favors Black slightly.} 18. f4 exf4 19. Rxf4 Qf6 {Hoping for an exchange which will leave queen and knight attacking h3. Fritz says Qd7 is a better implementation of that idea.} 20. Rxf5 {Very bad. Bb7 is still possible, but best is Raf} Qxf5 21. g4 {The difference between active pieces and inactive pieces. It is probably no longer possible to save White’s game. Fritz suggests Bg2 Nf3+; Bf3 Qf3; Qf4 which also looks very bad for White. It is worth noting that Black here missed Qd5 which wins a piece.} Nf3+ 22. Bxf3 Qxf3 23. b3 Be5+ 24. Kg1 Qxh3 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event ""] [Site "The Proving Ground"] [Date "2022.11.01"] [Round "1"] [White "Frank, Cole"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C78"] [Annotator ",JosephOAlford"] [PlyCount "45"] [EventDate "2022.11.01"] [SourceDate "2022.11.01"] {This was a 10-minute game. I don’t usually annotate short games, but we don’t often get a chance to see our champion in action.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 Bc5 6. O-O d6 7. h3 {Too passive for Fritz who likes d4 or Bc6+} h6 {Also too passive for Fritz. He likes b5 or 0-0} 8. c3 O-O 9. Re1 Bd7 10. Nbd2 {Following a well-trod path through f1 to either e3 or g3. Fritz is still pushing for d4} Qc8 {Fritz shows a small Black advantage after Re8 or Ba7. This telegraphs a sacrifice on h3. White is happy to allow this.} 11. Nf1 b5 12. Bb3 {Fritz prefers Bc2, but this is an important pin that keeps the f-file closed.} Bxh3 {Fritz does not approve of this sacrifice, but it’s a 10-minute game.} 13. gxh3 Qxh3 14. d4 exd4 15. cxd4 Bb4 16. Bd2 Qg4+ 17. Ng3 Nh5 {Completely missing White’s next move. Correct was Bd2; Nd2 Qd1; Rad Nd4 with 3 pawns for the piece. Interestingly, Fritz says Bd2; Qd2 Qf3; Rc1 Nd4 I do not understand these moves at all.} 18. Nh2 Qxd1 19. Raxd1 Bxd2 20. Rxd2 Nxg3 21. fxg3 Rae8 22. Bd5 Nb4 23. Bb3 {And Black lost on time.} 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.