Bloomington Normal Chess Club

2024.01 Games

January, 2024 Games

The club has been a little quiet lately over the winter, but Mihir Bafna and Darren Erickson got together on Discord to catch up with each other and play a few games of blitz. Results between the 1878 rated Mihir and 851 rated Darren (regular USCF) were predictable (Mihir sweeps the floor with Darren), but so was the conversation (awesome!) Link to the games in downloadable PGN format by clicking this sentence.

[Event "Casual Blitz game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/EmafmDuu"] [Date "2024.01.22"] [Round "1.1"] [White "MBafna"] [Black "LaughingVulcan"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1895"] [BlackElo "1500"] [ECO "C55"] [EventDate "2024.01.22"] [UTCDate "2024.01.22"] [UTCTime "23:41:33"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "300+3"] [Opening "Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Modern Bishop's Opening"] [Termination "Normal"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 d5 5. exd5 Nxd5 6. O-O Bc5 7. c3 {Re1 would have been just a little better, but c3 is well known here too. No faults in the opening yet.} 7. O-O $4 8. b4 Re8 {Hey Darren! In your haste you kinda ignored that there’s an unanswered threat on your Bishop!} ( 8. Be7 $10 {This would have kept things completely equal.} ) 9. bxc5 Bf5 10. Bg5 f6 11. Bh4 e4 $6 {This is a mistake, but Black feels he must keep pressing on.} ( {This is Stockfish’s preferred variation – pretty hard to fight a pure minor piece down… [Stockfish 15] 23:+4.61} 11. Na5 12. Bxd5+ Qxd5 13. d4 Bg4 14. dxe5 Bxf3 15. gxf3 Qxe5 16. Bg3 Qxc5 17. Nd2 Rad8 18. Qa4 Qxc3 19. Ne4 Qxf3 20. Nxf6+ Qxf6 21. Qxa5 c6 {And Black is now down one minor piece but has two pawns. Black is still losing but at least got some compensation.} ) 12. dxe4 Bxe4 13. Nbd2 Bxf3 {Bg6 would have been better – conserve resources when you’re down and don’t lose a Bishop for a Knight.} 14. Nxf3 Kh8 {…Ne7 was Stockfish 15’s choice to staunch the bleeding, but the patient is still dying either way (just more quickly now).} 15. Qxd5 Qxd5 16. Bxd5 Rad8 17. Bxc6 bxc6 18. Rfe1 Rxe1+ 19. Rxe1 g5 20. Bg3 Rd7 21. Nd4 Rd5 22. h4 gxh4 23. Bxh4 f5 {Many moves were possible, either …Rd7 or moving the King as chief possibles although White still has the game won, Stockfish 15 finds a Mate in 9 for White from here (see variation).} 24. Re7 ( {[Stockfish 15] 7:M9} 24. Re8+ Kg7 25. Ne6+ Kh6 26. Bg5+ Kh5 27. Rg8 ) 24. f4 25. Bf6+ Kg8 ( {[Stockfish 15] 245:M3} 25. Kg8 26. Rg7+ Kf8 27. Ne6+ Ke8 28. Re7# ) 26. Ne6 {Here comes the last piece sealing off g7 as an escape. Stockfish says Mate in 9.} 26. Rd6 {Shortens it up. …Rf5 was needed to keep it alive the longest.} 27. Rg7+ Kh8 28. Rg5# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Casual Blitz game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/3ZBjjMCI"] [Date "2024.01.22"] [Round "1.2"] [White "LaughingVulcan"] [Black "MBafna"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1500"] [BlackElo "1895"] [ECO "B31"] [EventDate "2024.01.23"] [UTCDate "2024.01.22"] [UTCTime "23:38:10"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "300+3"] [Opening "Sicilian Defense: Nyezhmetdinov-Rossolimo Attack, Fianchetto Variation"] [Termination "Normal"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. d4 {…d3 was a lot better. The standard cxd Nxd doesn’t work here anymore because Black has already fianchettoed. The Knight will drop.} 6. cxd4 7. Nxd4 Qxd4 8. Qxd4 Bxd4 9. O-O Nf6 10. Rd1 Bxc3 11. bxc3 Nxe4 12. Bh6 Nxc3 13. Bg7 Rg8 {Black drops the pressure here a little. (Not enough to matter, but Stockfish suggests the variation is stronger.)} ( {[Stockfish 15] 24:-8.63} 13. Ne2+ 14. Kf1 Rg8 15. Be5 f6 16. Bxf6 exf6 17. Kxe2 Bf5 18. c4 Rd8 19. f3 Rg7 20. c5 Re7+ 21. Kf2 Re5 22. g4 Be6 23. Rxd8+ Kxd8 24. Re1 Rxe1 25. Kxe1 Bxa2 26. Kd2 b6 27. cxb6 axb6 28. Kc1 Bd5 ) 14. Bxc3 Bf5 15. Rd2 Rd8 16. Rad1 Rxd2 17. Rxd2 f6 18. Ba5 Kf7 19. Bc7 Rc8 20. Rd7 Bxd7 {Yeah, White’s fate was sealed but the handwriting just went from “on the wall” to “on the wall in fifty foot letters.”} 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Casual Blitz game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/8aj40hE0"] [Date "2024.01.22"] [Round "1.3"] [White "MBafna"] [Black "LaughingVulcan"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1895"] [BlackElo "1500"] [ECO "C55"] [EventDate "2024.01.22"] [UTCDate "2024.01.22"] [UTCTime "23:35:38"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "300+3"] [Opening "Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Modern Bishop's Opening"] [Termination "Normal"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bb4+ 5. c3 Ba5 6. b4 Bb6 7. O-O O-O 8. a4 a6 9. Qb3 Qe7 10. Ba3 $10 d5 $4 {Premature launch, things were even to here. …d6 would have been much better.} 11. exd5 Nxd5 $4 {In for a penny, in for another blunder. 😉} ( {[Stockfish 15] 19:+2.58} 11. e4 {This is still better than the text.} 12. dxe4 Ne5 13. Nbd2 Nxf3+ 14. Nxf3 Bg4 15. Nd2 Nh5 16. a5 Ba7 17. b5 Qg5 18. b6 cxb6 19. axb6 Nf4 20. h4 Qxh4 21. bxa7 Nxg2 22. Bxf8 Nf4 23. Bd6 Nh3+ 24. Kg2 Ng5 ) 12. Bxd5 Nd8 13. b5 axb5 {Not even really paying attention anymore, the game is already lost. Getting into that “just pushing pieces” mode.} 14. Bxe7 Re8 15. Bxd8 Rxd8 16. Bxf7+ Kf8 17. Bh5 Rd7 18. Nxe5 c5 19. Nxd7+ Bxd7 20. Qf7# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.