Alford-Bafna Match [Event "Alford-Bafna Match"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.09.01"] [Round "1"] [White "Bafna, Mihir"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C77"] [WhiteElo "1792"] [BlackElo "1900"] [Annotator ",JosephOAlford"] [PlyCount "118"] [EventDate "2017.09.01"] [SourceDate "2017.09.01"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Qe2 b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 O-O 8. d3 h6 9. O-O d6 10. Nbd2 Bg4 11. Re1 Qd7 12. Nf1 Ne7 {To the King-side – charge!} 13. h3 Bxh3 {Fritz does not like this. Fritz is right. White has too many defenders. Retreat the bishop to h5 or to e6.} 14. gxh3 Qxh3 15.Be3 Ng6 {Now Bc5 Nf4 and mate on g2.} 16. d4 Nh5 {Fritz doesn’t like this sacrifice of the bishop. Yes, PxB Nf4; Bf4 Nf4 with mate, but what if he doesn’t take the bishop?} 17. N3h2 exd4 18. cxd4 Bb4 {Nh4 is not good enough. White plays f3 as in the game. But White cannot respond to Nh4 with Qg4 because of Nf3+ when Black trades queens and then takes the rook.} (18... Nh4 19. Qg4 Qxg4+ 20. Nxg4 Bxd4 21. Bxd4 Nf3+ 22. Kh1 Nxd4 {Is what Fritz prefers with 3 pawns for the piece and no weaknesses in the Black camp.}) 19. Bd2 {Fritz says move the rook. } Nh4 20. f3 Nf4 {White’s attack is now over. Fritz says trade the bishop and then bring the knight to f4, but White still has an advantage} 21. Bxf4 Bxe1 22. Rxe1 Kh8 {Un-pinning the f-pawn to bring a rook into the game. White does not let this happen.} 23. Bg3 {I thought Qf2 and Qg3. Fritz agrees.} Ng6 {So the queen can run away} 24. Qg2 Qd7 25. Ne3 c5 {Fritz says a5 and try to do something with the extra pawns. I’m trying to do something with the extra pawns, but this weakens d6.} 26. d5 c4 27. Bc2 Ne7 {preventing Nf5 with a second attack on d6} 28. Nhg4 Qa7 {forgetting about d6} 29. Bxd6 Nxd5 {And blundering a second piece. White’s knight is pinned, but his pawn is not.} 30. Bxf8 Nxe3 {Planning to give him a pretty mate with Bg7+ Kg8; Nf6++. He could also play Bg7+ Kg7; Ne3+ with a two-piece advantage when I could reasonably resign. I did not see that until we were going over the game.} 31. Nxe3 Rxf8 32. Kf2 {I thought the king should go to f1 so the knight could go to f5.} Rd8 33. Rd1 Re8 34. Ke2 Qc5 35. Nf5 {I was expecting Rd5} Qxf5 36. Rd8 Qe5 37. Rxe8+ Qxe8 38. Qg4 Qe5 39. Qc8+ Kh7 40. Qf5+ Qxf5 41. exf5 h5 42. Kf2 {The bishop should stop the king-side pawns. The king should go after the queen-side pawns.} (42. Be4 a5 43. Bc6 b4 44. Bd5 c3 45. bxc3 bxc3 46. Bxf7 h4 47. f4 h3 48. Kd3 Kh6 49. Kxc3 h2 50. Bd5 Kh5 51. Bf3+ Kh4 52. Kd2 Kg3 53. Ke3 a4 54. a3 {is a sample variation supplied by Fritz}) 42... Kh6 43. Kg3 Kg5 44. f4+ Kf6 45. Kh4 g6 46. fxg6 fxg6 47. b4 cxb3 48. Bxb3 Kf5 49. Bc2+ Kxf4 50. Bxg6 Ke3 51. Kxh5 a5 52. Kg4 Kd4 53. Kf4 b4 54. Be8 Kc3 {White offered a draw. Fritz says this is completely even. The rest is analysis by Fritz.} 55. Ba4 Kb2 56. Bb3 a4 57. Bd5 b3 58. axb3 axb3 59. Bxb3 Kxb3 1/2-1/2 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Alford-Bafna Match"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.09.08"] [Round "2"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Bafna, Mihir"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C02"] [WhiteElo "1900"] [BlackElo "1792"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2017.09.09"] [SourceDate "2017.09.09"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Bd3 Bd7 7. Bc2 Nge7 {Fritz suggests cd cd; Nb4 which indicates why a3 would have been a nice move.} 8. dxc5 {While the bishop cannot develop} Qxc5 9. O-O {Get the king out of the center before either Be3 or b4.} Ng6 10. b4 {Fritz prefers Qe2 or Re1 but still shows a slight advantage for White.} Qb6 11. Re1 {Qe2 is better. Now a5 would force ba Ra5 with advantage to Black because of weaknesses at a2 and e5.} Qc7 12. Qe2 Be7 {Fritz agrees with me that Rc8 is better. The threat is Nb4 when the bishop at c2 is in trouble. Again, that a3 move would have been useful.} 13. Na3 {Fritz prefers a4 (to meet a5 with b5) or the ever-popular a3. The knight move protects the bishop on c2.} Nxb4 {I did not think this sacrifice was sound even though Black gets 3 pawns for the piece. Fritz agrees, prefering a5 or a6 both with equality.} 14. cxb4 Bxb4 15. Nb5 Qb6 16. Nd6+ Bxd6 17. exd6 Qxd6 18. Bb2 O-O 19. Rad1 {With advantage. Fritz saw an attack I never considered. Ng5 with Qh5 to follow. There is no mate, but Black would be forced to weaken his castle.} Qc7 20. Rc1 Qa5 {Fritz considers this a blunder, saying the queen should go to d6 or f4.} 21. Bb1 (21. Ng5 d4 { to prevent Qh5} 22. Qg4 Qd2 23. Bxd4 Rfc8 24. Be3) 21... Bb5 22. Qe3 Rac8 { Again Fritz sees a blunder. It is important to protect e6 with Bd7 or Qb6} 23. Nd4 {Still with a sizable advantage, but Rc8 Rc8; Bg6 hg; Qe5 is a kill} Rxc1 24. Rxc1 Bc4 {Still time for Bd7.} 25. Nxe6 {BxN first is much stronger. I totally missed the pin.} Re8 (25... fxe6 26. Qxe6+ {(Bg6 first is much stronger)} Kh8 27. Qd7 Rg8 28. Bxg6 {and after Qd2 or Qb6 White is a piece up. On PxB; Qh3 is mate. This is where I thought we were going. There is also a draw with 29 Bg7+ Rg7; 30 Qe8+ Rg8; 31 Qe5+ with perpetual check.}) 26. Qd4 { threatening mate} f6 27. Bc3 {If the knight moves then Re1+ forces mate} Qa3 { The rook is hanging. I did not see Re1 suggested by Fritz.} 28. Bb2 (28. Re1 Bxa2 29. Bf5 Bc4 30. Rb1 a5 31. Nc7 Re5 32. Be6+ Kh8 33. Qa7 Re2 34. Bxd5 Bxd5 35. Nxd5 Nf8 36. Qxb7 Qc5 37. Rf1) 28... Qa5 29. Bc3 {And Fritz considers taking the draw a blunder. Time was not a factor. White had 20 minutes, Black 40.} 1/2-1/2 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Alford-Bafna Match"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.09.22"] [Round "3"] [White "Bafna, Mihir"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C77"] [PlyCount "86"] [EventDate "2017.09.23"] [SourceDate "2017.09.23"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Qe2 {Fritz prefers 0-0 or d3. I have found Qe2 to be quite effective against me. On 0-0 Ne4; d4 tries to open the e-file to win the knight. That’s the line I play from either side.} b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 O-O 8. a4 {Bringing White’s rook into the game.} Rb8 {Fritz prefers b4. I have played that with some success, but Black still has a miniscule advantage with this move. White’s rook attacks air. Black’s is more useful.} 9. O-O d6 10. axb5 axb5 11. d3 Be6 {Time for b4, says Fritz who gives White an advantage after Be6 or even after Nbd2} 12. Bc2 {Fritz says trade. Yes, the bishop aims at the king-side, but it’s going to take a long time to move those two pawns out of the way.} h6 13. Be3 {Fritz wants to activate the queen-side with b4 Bb6; Na3 Qd7; Nb5 Nb4} Bxe3 14. fxe3 Nh7 {I want to play Ng5 and/or f5. Fritz likes Ne7 or Qd7.} 15. Qf2 b4 16. Qg3 bxc3 17. bxc3 Rb2 {One Black rook is going to tie down the entire White Queen-side. So glad I decided to play Rb8 on the 8th move!} 18. Na3 Bb3 {Fritz likes Ng5 now. My thought was that if White is protecting his queen-side then he is not attacking my king-side.} 19. Bxb3 Rxb3 20. Nb1 {Better than Rfc when Black can play Qd7 and Rfa. I considered moving play to the queen-side anyway, but I really want to play f5 which never happens.} Ng5 21. Nh4 {Trading twice on g5 leaves a very drawish position. This is actually not a fair match. In theory each draw gives Mihir 4 points, but in practice I’m at my rating floor so I can’t lose points in the match.} g6 {Fritz gives equality after Rb2 or Ne7, but I did not like the position after Nf5 followed by h4.} 22. Ra3 {Fritz is suggesting moves like Nf3 or Qf2 or Rc1. He does not like this move which “frees” White’s knight to wander the western plaines looking for something to attack.} Rxa3 23. Nxa3 d5 {Yes! The central break that will determine if White’s pawn mass is an asset or a liability.} 24. exd5 Qxd5 25. d4 {After a great deal of thought, Frtz decided that this move (it’s best suggestion) was actually an error. White can’t play e4 when Qc5+ forks the knight.} Qa5 { Fritz actually considers this move a blunder. It likes Ne4 which I considered (Ne4; Qf3 threatens Ng6 but Nc3 is advantage to Black) or Ra8 or Rb8. I did not consider those moves. I like Qa5} 26. Nc4 Qxc3 27. Nxe5 Nxe5 28. Qxe5 Qc6 29. Rf6 Qc1+ 30. Rf1 Qc6 31. h3 {Trying to avoid yet another draw. Too passive, says Fritz. But d5 Re8; Qd4 Qd6 with the threat of Re4 favors Black. Rf6 is the best chance with the theat of a knight sacrifice on g6.} Qd6 { Equality again, but Re8 is advantage to Black.} 32. Qa5 {That can’t be right. Fritz maintains equality with Qf4.} Qe7 {With hits on e3 and h4.} 33. Qe1 Re8 34. Kf2 {White has to give up the pawn.} Nxh3+ 35. gxh3 Qxh4+ 36. Kg2 Qg5+ 37. Kf2 Re6 38. Qe2 Rf6+ 39. Ke1 Qg3+ {I could not decide between Qg3+ and Qa5+. The latter is so much better that Fritz calls this a blunder.} 40. Kd2 Rb6 41. Kc1 Qxh3 42. Qf2 Qe6 43. Qf4 Qc4+ 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Alford-Bafna Match"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.10.06"] [Round "4"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Bafna, Mihir"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B27"] [WhiteElo "1792"] [BlackElo "1900"] [Annotator ",JosephOAlford"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2017.10.06"] [SourceDate "2017.10.06"] 1. e4 c5 2. c3 g6 3. Bc4 Bg7 4. Nf3 d6 5. O-O Nf6 6. d3 a6 7. h3 b5 8. Bb3 Nbd7 9. a4 Bb7 10. axb5 axb5 11. Rxa8 Qxa8 12. Bg5 O-O 13. Nbd2 e6 14. Qa1 {If Black trades, the White rook has an entry on a7. If White trades, the Black rook has no entry point.} d5 {I played Bg5 hoping to encourage h6 which would be a weakness, but that is preferable to this which loses the knight or an exchange.} 15. e5 Nh5 16. g4 h6 17. Qxa8 {When (about to be) ahead, trade. Also, I did not like Black’s bishop and queen hitting the long diagonal.} Rxa8 18. Be3 Nxe5 19. Nxe5 Bxe5 20. gxh5 gxh5 {Fritz says c4 or d4 to free the Black bishops} 21. f4 {I think this is better than taking either pawn. I was concerned about a rook check on the g-file with Black’s two bishops raking the diagonals. Cold-blooded Fritz says Bc5 and it will cost too much to open lines for the bishops.} Bd6 22. d4 {Lock up the center and make at least one of Black’s bishops into a tall pawn.} c4 23. Bc2 b4 {I did not see progress for Black after Ra2 Rb1} 24. cxb4 Bxb4 25. f5 Kg7 {Fritz says ef or Bc8, both bad for Black, but this is worse} 26. f6+ Kh8 27. Bxh6 {Now Rg8+; Bg7+ or Ra2; Rb1 White used 17 minutes for this G/60. Black used 7.} 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Alford-Bafna Match"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.10.27"] [Round "5"] [White "Bafna, Mihir"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C77"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2017.10.28"] [SourceDate "2017.10.28"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. Re1 {d4 is common here to prevent Nc5} Nc5 7. Nxe5 Nxe5 8. Rxe5+ Be7 9. Nc3 Nxa4 {A serious error, as shown by White’s next move. 0-0 looks much better.} 10. Nd5 O-O {Fritz would rather trade queen and bishop for rook and knight. I don’t think so.} 11. Nxe7+ Kh8 12. Nxc8 {Fritz points out Qh5 with the threat of Qh7+ and Rh5 mate! You can always take the bishop later.} Rxc8 13. b3 Qf6 14. d4 d6 15. Rh5 Nc3 16. Qd3 Qg6 17. Qf3 {Fritz does not like this pawn sacrifice. He says trade queens or move Rh3} Qxc2 18. Bh6 Qg6 {Of course the bishop is immune. gh; Qf6+ Kg8 and Rh3 is a killer. White might have tried Nd2+ and Nd4 to bring the knight back for defense. Fritz totally disagrees and says that not taking the bishop is a blunder. gh; Qf6+ Kg8; Rh4 Rfe; Rg4+ Kf8} 19. Bxg7+ Kxg7 20. Rh4 f5 21. Qxc3 Qf6 {Intending c5 after the rook moves.} 22. Qh3 h6 23. Re1 Rce8 24. Qg3+ {Fritz says now is the time to trade queens with either Qg5 or Qg6. He is still showing equality or a slight plus for Black at this point.} Kh7 25. Rxe8 Rxe8 26. h3 Re1+ {thinking I would fork two pawns after the coming queen trade. Re4 was the other move I was considering.} 27. Kh2 Re2 {hoping to force the advance of the a-pawn so that in an ending his pawns would be easier to attack.} 28. Rh5 {Only now did I realize I was in trouble. Qd4 is met by Rf5 and Ra2 is met by Qf3. In both cases Black is lost. Again, Fritz disagrees. Ra2; Qf3 Ra5 with advantage to Black.} Qg6 29. Qf3 Rxf2 {I saw the counter-sacrifice. I did not realize yet how deadly the passed rook-pawn would be. Ra2; Rf5 and White can force a draw at will with chances at more.} 30. Rxh6+ Kxh6 {Qh6. I still did not see that if the queens trade then the passed h-pawn wins.} 31. Qxf2 Kg7 {Qh5 or Qe6 Black must keep the queens on the board to have any chances.} 32. Qg3 b6 {Blunder. Trying to get in c5 to create a passed protected pawn and a draw. A passed pawn is not good enough. Because White’s pawn is protected his king can run over and deal with any queen-side problems. I did see during the game that c5 would let me trade off the queen-side pawns and then White would have only a draw, but I was still looking for a win at this point.} 33. d5 Kf6 34. Qxg6+ Kxg6 35. Kg3 Kg5 36. h4+ Kh5 37. Kf4 Kxh4 38. Kxf5 Kg3 39. Ke6 Kxg2 40. Kd7 Kf3 41. Kxc7 {A very nice game by Mihir, full of inventive play.} 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Alford-Bafna Match"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.11.03"] [Round "6"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Bafna , Mihir"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B22"] [Annotator "Alford, Joseph"] [PlyCount "50"] [EventDate "2017.11.03"] [SourceDate "2017.11.03"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c3 d5 4. exd5 exd5 5. d4 Nc6 6. Bb5 a6 7. Qe2+ Qe7 8. Bxc6+ bxc6 9. Ne5 Bb7 10. dxc5 f6 11. Nd3 Qxe2+ 12. Kxe2 Ne7 13. Re1 Ng6 14. Kf1+ Kd7 15. Kg1 a5 16. b4 Ba6 17. Nb2 Ne5 18. Bf4 {Fritz does not like that move. Be3 or Nd2} axb4 19. cxb4 Rb8 20. a3 Bxc5 21. Bxe5 {White’s pieces get tied down. Nd2 Bd4; Rab} fxe5 22. bxc5 {Re5 loses to Bd4} Rxb2 23. Rxe5 { losing. Nc3 now} Rc2 24. Re1 Re8 25. Rd1 Ree2 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Alford-Bafna Match"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.12.15"] [Round "7"] [White "Bafna , Mihir"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C80"] [Annotator "Alford, Joseph"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. Re1 {I prefer the line d4 ed; Rd1 when White is down two pawns, but has threats on both e4 and d4.} Nc5 7.Bxc6 dxc6 8.Nxe5 Be6 {I’ve played this move for years. It is second choice for Fritz who says Be7; d4 Ne6} 9.d4 Nd7 10.f4 {I have never seen this move before. The threat is f5 Bd5; c4. Be7 would eliminate that threat. Fritz shows the line in the game} Nxe5 11.fxe5 c5 12.c3 cxd4 13.cxd4 c5 14.Be3 cxd4 15.Bxd4 Qd7 {Fritz likes Qd7. He also suggests Qa5, freeing d8 for the rook while controlling the diagonal. I think that is the better move.} 16.Nc3 Rd8 {Fritz likes Bg4 or Be7 or Rc8. He does not like this move which throws away most of Black’s advantage. I saw Bb6, but did not care because my rook was not going to be there.} 17.Bb6 Qxd1 18.Raxd1 Rxd1 {Rc8 with a very small advantage for White. } 19.Rxd1 Be7 20.Nd5 Bd8 {Bd5; Rd5 h5. I did not even think about this method of activating my rook.} 21.Nf6+ Ke7 {Bf6; ef6 0–0 is still playable. I saw only a double trade on d8 and then he gets the h-pawn and I get the a-pawn.} 22.Bc5 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "Alford-Bafna Match"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.12.22"] [Round "8"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Bafna, Mihir"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B22"] [Annotator "Alford, Joseph"] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.c3 d5 4.exd5 exd5 5.d4 b6 {Fritz points out dc Bc5; Bb5+ when the hanging pawn prevents Bb7. I knew I had never seen b6 before, but did not realize why.} 6.Bb5+ Bd7 7.Qe2+ Be7 8.O-O Nf6 9. Re1 {The point – Black cannot castle.} Bxb5 10.Qxb5+ Qd7 11.a4 Nc6 12.Ne5 {Fritz says dc bc; Qc5 } Nxe5 13.Rxe5 cxd4 {I thought at the time that this was good move that I had overlooked. It turns out that this lets White activate his knight quickly. Fritz correctly marks this an error.} 14.cxd4 Qxb5 15.axb5 Kd7 16.Bg5 h6 {I expected Bd6 and was very willing to play Bf6 to trade the rook for two pieces} 17.Bxf6 Bxf6 18.Rxd5+ Ke6 {Ke7 or Kc8, says Fritz. This is a blunder.} 19.Nc3 Bg5 {White was threatening Re1 mate! But Fritz says Ke7 is needed.} 20.Re1+ Kf6 21.Rd6+ Kf5 22.Re5+ Kg4 23.h3+ {Wrong pawn. [23.f3+ Kh4 24.g3+ Kh5 25.Nd5 f5 26.Rxf5 Rhe8 27.Nf4#] } Kh4 24.Kh2 Kh5 {Rhe seems to hold everything. White is just up a pawn. [24…Rae8 25.g3+ Kh5 26.f4 Rxe5 27.dxe5 and wherever the bishop goes, white has g3+ Kh3 and then Nd5-e3-g2 mate.] } 25.f4 f6 26.Red5 {We each used 10 minutes on this game. Clearly, not enough.} 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.01.05"] [Round "9"] [White "Bafna, Mihir"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C77"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2018.01.06"] [SourceDate "2018.01.06"] [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.01.05"] [Round "9"] [White "Bafna, Mihir"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C77"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2018.01.06"] [SourceDate "2018.01.06"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Qe2 {Fritz does not like this move, saying that b5 gives instant equality, but Mihir played it very successfully against me.} b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 O-O 8. d3 h6 9. Be3 Qe7 {Fritz says trade bishops or play d6. This allows Nh4, heading for g6} 10. Nbd2 Bb7 {Fritz says the bishop is not effective here and Nh4 is still possible. He is still suggesting Be3} 11. O-O Rad8 {This does not seem to work. I was reluctant to trade bishops because that would give White control of d4, but perhaps this move or last move Be3 would have been the proper line with d5 to follow, hoping to exploit the weak d-pawn. Fritz is still pointing out Nh4} 12. d4 { Isn’t that the weak d-pawn I was just talking about? Fritz agrees that this is not a good move. Black’s error comes later. Fritz still likes Nh4.} exd4 13. cxd4 Bb4 14. e5 {Fritz is happy with this move, but prefers Bc2. Considering the problems this bishop causes on its current diagonal, I’m not so sure about that.} Nh7 {Fritz likes Ng4. I thought White could reply Bf4 and then h3 when the knight has no retreat, but Fritz says Bf4 is an error that can be met with d6. After Ng4 Fritz says a3 or a4 with a slight edge for White.} 15. Ne4 Nxe5 {I want so badly to play f5 followed by f4, but the f-pawn is pinned. I considered d5, which puts White’s bishop out of play, but also puts Black’s bishop out of play. Fritz says Ne4 is an error, best exploited by d6. Ne5 is his second choice.} 16. Nxe5 Bxe4 17. Bxh6 gxh6 {Bg2; Qg4 Qf6 looks like a better plan. I’m playing to win the pinned knight. Fritz likes Qh4 protecting my bishop and attacking his. He says capturing the bishop is an outright blunder.} 18. Qxe4 Bd6 {Only now realizing that after d6; Qg4+ that knight would win the game on c6} 19. Qg6+ {Worried about losing the game on the queen-side, I totally overlooked losing thegame on the king-side. Qf6; Ng4 looked like a slow loss. Fritz suggested Kg7 to prevent this check, but then Bf7 Rf7; Qg6+ Kf8; Qh6+ Kg8; Nf7 Qf7; Qa6 looks pretty bad for Black.} Kh8 20. Nxf7+ Rxf7 21. Bxf7 Rf8 {This rook has been ineffective all game, and remains so. The White bishop has to move to get back in the game. Forcing it to move, helps nothing. Qh4 now. Of course, Fritz says Rf8 is slightly the better of the two moves.} 22. Bb3 Qh4 23. g3 Qxd4 {Yes, Black wins two pawns to White’s one, but with 3 passed connected pawns White can just trade queens and win. Qh3 protects the h-pawn. Then Ng4 activates the knight. The game is still lost.} 24. Qxh6 Qxb2 25. Qh3 {How do you draw a lost game? Fritz calls for activty. Bc5 threatening Bf2+ while the a-rook is still attacked.} Qg7 26. Rad1 Rf6 {White is going to play Rh5 and Bc2} 27. Rd5 Rh6 28. Rh5 Rxh5 29. Qxh5 Qe7 30. Bc2 Kg8 31. Bxh7+ Qxh7 32. Qe8+ Kg7 {Bf8 says Fritz, but the game is still lost.} 33. Qxd7+ Kg6 34. Qc6 Qh5 35. Qxa6 Qc5 36. Rb1 c6 37. Qc8 Qd5 38. Re1 Kf6 39. Qd8+ Kf7 40. Qe8+ Kf6 41. Qe4 {Fritz calls this a blunder, but trading off the queens leaves White with a simple win. A nice final game by Mihir. With this win, he wins the match +4, -3, =2} 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.
