Bloomington Normal Chess Club

All 2023 BNCC Games

This is a collection of all the games annotated by Joseph Alford (and, in one case, Darren Erickson) for 2023. Rather than scrolling through the whole list you can download a pgn file of all the games and open them in your own offline reader (ChessBase, Chess Assistant, or SCID) by clicking on the following link:

All 2023 BNCC Games (75 Games total)

[Event "Lesson"] [Site "Barnes & Noble"] [Date "2023.01.23"] [Round "4"] [White "Shah, Tej"] [Black "Alford, Coach"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C37"] [PlyCount "54"] [EventDate "2023.01.02"] [SourceDate "2023.01.23"] 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. d4 {Tej wanted to play h3 here. I told him he needed swift development for his attack with Bc4 or Nc3 or d4. Fritz likes h3 to prevent g4.} g4 5. Ne5 Qh4+ 6. Ke2 f3+ {premature, says Fritz. d6 would drive away White’s only developed piece.} 7. gxf3 gxf3+ 8. Nxf3 {Kd3 to protect e4. The pawn on f3 will fall soon.} Qxe4+ 9. Be3 d5 10. Nc3 Qe6 11. Qd2 Bh6 12. Ne5 {Fritz says develop the rooks at either e1 or g1.} c5 {Overly aggressive, says Fritz. Continue hitting the center with f6 and then f5. Now White could play Bh6 and then Re1} 13. Bg2 cxd4 {Good, but even better is Be3; Qe3 cd; Qd4 Nc6} 14. Qxd4 Bg7 15. Bf4 {Now the game is lost. White has too many weaknesses on the e-file.} Nc6 16. Bxd5 {To trade queens, but Black captures with check, Qd5 was better.} Nxd4+ 17. Kd2 Nf3+ {This does not work. Fritz likes Qf5 or Be5; Be6 Bf4+ and Ne6} 18. Bxf3 Bxe5 19. Bxe5 Qh6+ {Only now realizing tht Qe5 is met by Re1.} 20. Kd3 {Ouch! This lets Black bring up two more attacking pieces. Ke2 is best.} Bf5+ 21. Be4 Rd8+ 22. Bd4 Qh3+ 23. Kd2 Rxd4+ 24. Ke2 Bxe4 25. Nxe4 Rxe4+ 26. Kd2 Qe3+ 27. Kd1 Rd4# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Lesson"] [Site "Barnes & Noble"] [Date "2023.01.23"] [Round "4"] [White "Alford, Coach"] [Black "Shah, Tej"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C30"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2023.01.02"] [SourceDate "2023.01.23"] 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Nc6 3. Nf3 d6 {Very slight advantage to White. Fritz likes ef or d5.} 4. Bc4 Bg4 5. h3 Bxf3 6. Qxf3 Nf6 7. O-O Be7 8. Nc3 Nd4 9. Qd1 O-O 10. d3 c6 11. Be3 d5 12. fxe5 dxc4 13. exf6 Bxf6 14. dxc4 Re8 {Fritz does not like letting White trade the rook for two pieces. Be5 or Ne6} 15. Rxf6 Qxf6 16. Bxd4 Qd6 17. Be3 Qxd1+ {When ahead, trade. Black could play Qb4 but White gets a ferocious attack after c5 Qb2; Bd4 Qa3; Qg4} 18. Rxd1 Rad8 {Here f5; Rd7 favors White.} 19. Rd4 c5 {Giving White’s pieces many squares. b6 was better.} 20. Rxd8 Rxd8 21. Bxc5 b6 22. Be3 Rc8 23. b3 g6 24. Kf2 f5 {Here and later advancing pawns just makes them easier to attack.} 25. Nd5 Rd8 26. exf5 gxf5 27. Ne7+ Kf8 28. Nxf5 h5 29. Kf3 Kf7 30. Kf4 Rd1 31. Kg5 Ra1 32. a4 Rd1 33. Kxh5 Kf6 34. g4 Rh1 35. h4 Re1 36. Bd4+ Ke6 37. Bc3 Re4 38. Nd4+ Kf7 39. g5 Re8 40. g6+ Kg8 41. Kh6 Re7 42. Nf5 Rd7 43. h5 a5 44. Kg5 Rd1 45. h6 Rg1+ 46. Kf6 Rd1 47. h7+ Kh8 48. Kf7+ Rd4 49. Bxd4# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Lesson"] [Site "Barnes & Noble"] [Date "2023.01.09"] [Round "2"] [White "Alford, Coach"] [Black "Shah, Tej"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C29"] [PlyCount "30"] [EventDate "2023.01.02"] [SourceDate "2023.01.09"] 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 {Now White’s pawns will chase Black’s knights off the board. d5 is correct to meet fxe5 with Nxe4} 4. fxe5 Nxe5 5. d4 Neg4 { That drops a piece. Nc6 is correct.} 6. e5 Ne4 7. Qxg4 Nxc3 8. bxc3 d5 9. Qg5 { When ahead, trade} f6 10. exf6 gxf6 11. Qh5+ Kd7 12. Qxd5+ Ke7 {Bd6 Look for chances to develop your pieces.} 13. Ba3+ Ke8 14. Qxd8+ Kxd8 15. Bxf8 Rxf8 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Lesson"] [Site "Barnes & Noble"] [Date "2023.01.09"] [Round "2"] [White "Alford, Coach"] [Black "Shah, Tej"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C30"] [PlyCount "37"] [SourceDate "2023.01.09"] 1. e4 e5 2. f4 f5 {That’s a terrible response. White can now rip into Black’s position. Better moves are Nf6 or exf4 or d5} 3. exf5 exf4 4. Qh5+ Ke7 5. Qg5+ Nf6 6. Qxf4 Nc6 7. Nf3 Nd5 8. Qe4+ Kd6 9. c4 Ncb4 {The other knight should move either to f6 or to b6} 10. Na3 c6 11. cxd5 Nxd5 12. Qe5+ Kc5 13. b4+ Kxb4 14. Qd4+ Ka5 15. Nc4+ Ka6 16. Nb6+ Ka5 17. Nxa8 Qe7+ 18. Kd1 Qb4 19. Qxa7# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Lesson"] [Site "Barnes & Noble"] [Date "2023.01.09"] [Round "2"] [White "Shah, Tej"] [Black "Alford, Coach"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C54"] [PlyCount "50"] [SourceDate "2023.01.09"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 Bxd2+ 8. Nbxd2 d5 9. Bd3 {Too passive. The d-pawn now becomes weak. ed Nd5 is better} dxe4 10. Bxe4 Nxe4 11. Nxe4 O-O 12. O-O Bg4 13. h3 Bxf3 14. Qxf3 Qxd4 15. Rab1 Rae8 16. Rfe1 Ne5 17. Qf4 Nd3 18. Qf3 Nxe1 19. Rxe1 f5 20. Ng5 Rxe1+ 21. Kh2 h6 22. Qxb7 Qf4+ 23. g3 Qxf2+ 24. Qg2 Qxg2+ 25. Kxg2 hxg5 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Lesson"] [Site "Barnes & Noble"] [Date "2023.01.02"] [Round "1"] [White "Shah, Tej"] [Black "Alford, Coach"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "709"] [BlackElo "1900"] [PlyCount "50"] [SourceDate "2022.12.31"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 { Playing the White side of this, I prefer Bd2 Bd2+; Nd2 protecting the e-pawn} Nxe4 8. O-O Bxc3 9. bxc3 d5 10. Re1 {Bd3 or Qc2} O-O 11. Bb3 Bg4 12. c4 {Ba3 Complete your development before you attack.} dxc4 13. Bxc4 Nd6 14. Qc2 {Be2 Now White’s castle is destroyed and his center falls.} Bxf3 15. gxf3 Nxd4 16. Qc3 Nxc4 17. Qxc4 Nxf3+ 18. Kf1 Nxe1 19. Kxe1 Re8+ 20. Kf1 {Be3} Qd1+ 21. Kg2 Re6 22. Bb2 Rg6+ 23. Kh3 Qh5+ 24. Qh4 Qf5+ 25. Qg4 Qxg4# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Lesson"] [Site "Barnes & Noble"] [Date "2023.01.02"] [Round "1"] [White "Alford, Coach"] [Black "Shah, Tej"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D07"] [WhiteElo "1900"] [BlackElo "709"] [Annotator ",JosephOAlford"] [PlyCount "74"] [SourceDate "2022.12.31"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6 {Playable, but not good. Better moves are e6 or c6 or dxc4} 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 e6 7. Nf3 Be7 8. Bd3 O-O 9. h4 { White’s entire attack is premature. Black is very cramped. White should just concentrate on development with Be3 and Qc2 and 0-0} f5 10. Ng5 g6 {To keep the queen out, but h6 would encourage the knight to leave} 11. h5 Qe8 {Bg5 would ask White if he has an attack worth a piece. Fritz says he does, but finding it is not easy.} 12. hxg6 Qxg6 13. Nxh7 Rf7 14. exf5 {The knight can’t escape. White is fishing.} exf5 {Rh7 fg; Rh1+ Ke2; Rd1 leaves White a piece down} 15. Bc4 Be6 16. Qe2 {I had been looking at Rh6 and forgot it in the heat of the moment.} Bxc4 17. Qxc4 Qxg2 {Now Fritz is showing Black as slightly plus.} 18. Rh6 b5 {Deflecting the queen from its pin, but now White can win the c-knight to replace the doomed h-knight. Fritz says Black retains the advantage with Kg7 or with Re8} 19. Qe6 Qe4+ {When ahead, trade. Black is about to be a pawn down. Qg1+ would try to drive the king to a worse square.} 20. Qxe4 fxe4 21. Rxc6 Rxh7 22. Rxc7 a6 {Passive. Rh1+; Ke2 Bg4 or b4 hoping for cxb4 Bb4+ picking off White’s rook. Fritz suggests e3 when both fe and Be3 are bad.} 23. Bb2 Rh1+ {Both sides miss Ba3!} 24. Ke2 Rxa1 {again, when ahead, trade. Every trade makes the job easier for the side with more pieces.} 25. Bxa1 Re8 {losing all the queen-side pawns. Kf8} 26. Ra7 Bg5 27. Rxa6 e3 28. Rg6+ Kf7 29. Rxg5 Rc8 30. Rxb5 Ra8 31. Rb2 Kf6 32. fxe3 Re8 33. a4 Ra8 34. Ra2 Ke6 35. c4 Rc8 36. c5 Kd5 37. a5 Rb8 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Lesson"] [Site "Barnes & Noble"] [Date "2022.12.26"] [Round "1"] [White "Tej"] [Black "Alford, Coach"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C50"] [BlackElo "1900"] [Annotator ",JosephOAlford"] [PlyCount "24"] [EventDate "2022.12.26"] [SourceDate "2022.12.26"] 1. e4 {This is a textbook example of the “Pin It and Win It” attack. White has 3 chances to blunt this attack.} e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O {0-0 is a reasonable move, but c3 (to be followed by d4) is more aggressive.} d6 5. Nc3 { White misses all 3 chances to blunt the attack. Here h3 would prevent the pin. Or c3 would prevent the knight from coming to d4 to attack the pinned piece. Or d3 Bg4; Be3 would let White’s bishop trade away the Black knight when it gangs up on the pinned White knight. The game is probably lost at this point. This is an attack you should be playing against your opponents.} Bg4 6. h3 h5 7. Re1 {White cannot take this bishop: hg hg; Nh2 Qh4 with a quick mate. Note that White could have played d3 here so that his knight could move to g5 cutting the queen off from the h-file. Try to determine why White is still lost despite being a piece ahead.} Nd4 8. d3 Nxf3+ 9. gxf3 Bxh3 10. f4 Qh4 11. Nd5 Qxf2+ 12. Kh1 Qg2# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Lesson"] [Site "Barnes & Noble"] [Date "2022.12.26"] [Round "1"] [White "Tej"] [Black "Alford"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C54"] [BlackElo "1900"] [Annotator ",JosephOAlford"] [PlyCount "51"] [SourceDate "2022.12.26"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 Bd6 {ed; cd Bb4+; Bd2 Bd2+; Nd2 d5} 6. dxe5 Bxe5 7. Ng5 O-O 8. f4 Bd6 9. e5 Bxe5 10. fxe5 Nxe5 11. Bb3 b6 12. O-O d5 13. Bf4 Bg4 14. Qd4 Ng6 15. Nd2 h6 16. Ngf3 Nxf4 17. Qxf4 Qd7 18. Ne5 Qe6 19. Rae1 Rae8 20. Ng6 Qd7 21. Nxf8 Rxf8 22. Nf3 Nh5 23. Ne5 Nxf4 24. Nxd7 Ne2+ 25. Kh1 Rd8 26. Ne5 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Lesson"] [Site "Barnes & Noble"] [Date "2022.12.26"] [Round "1"] [White "Tej"] [Black "Alford, Coach"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C30"] [BlackElo "1900"] [Annotator ",JosephOAlford"] [PlyCount "58"] [SourceDate "2022.12.26"] 1. e4 e5 2. f4 {This is an excellent opening for you since most of your opponents won’t have a clue how to meet it.} Nf6 3. Nf3 d5 4. fxe5 Nxe4 5. d3 Nc5 6. h3 {passive. You are playing a gambit opening. You should be striving to open lines and attack. d4 with Bd3 and 0-0 to follow. Pile up on f7} Be7 7. g3 {Again, much too passive. Perhaps Be3 meeting Bh4+ with Bf2} O-O 8. Nc3 { The King’s Gambit is an attack on the f-file. Move the bishop, castle, and launch an attack.} f6 9. Be3 Ne6 10. d4 Nc6 11. Qd2 fxe5 12. Nxe5 Nxe5 13. dxe5 d4 14. Ne4 dxe3 15. Qxe3 Qd4 16. Qxd4 Nxd4 17. O-O-O Nc6 18. Bc4+ Kh8 19. Rhf1 Bxh3 20. Rxf8+ Rxf8 21. e6 Bf5 22. Re1 Nd4 23. c3 Nxe6 24. Bxe6 Bxe6 25. Nc5 Bxc5 26. Rxe6 Kg8 27. b4 Bd6 28. g4 Rf4 29. a3 Rxg4 {The game continued with Black queening a pawn. You should have resigned some time ago. Don’t spend energy on lost causes. Tej, in all 3 of these games you suffered because of a lack of book knowledge. For the people you are playing now, you don’t need book knowledge, but for the people you are going to play soon you will need it. Otherwise you are going to get crushed in the opening.} 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Site "The Proving Ground"] [Date "2023.02.28"] [Round "4"] [White "Frank, Cole"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C78"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2023.02.28"] [SourceDate "2023.02.28"] {Note that I am now playing at TPB on Tuesdays again. Changing to Wednesdays did not result in more games.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 Bc5 6. O-O d6 7. c3 O-O 8. h3 h6 9. Re1 Re8 10. Nbd2 b5 {Fritz now shows Black with a slight advantage.} 11. Bc2 d5 12. Nf1 dxe4 13. dxe4 Qxd1 14. Rxd1 Bb7 {Fritz now shifts a very small advantage to White. Be6 was better.} 15. Ng3 Rad8 16. Rxd8 Nxd8 17. Bd2 Bd6 18. Re1 Ne6 19. Nf5 Nc5 20. Ng3 Ne6 21. Nh4 Nf4 {Returning to Nc5 is probably best, though Fritz claims equality here.} 22. Nhf5 N6h5 {But letting White trade knight for bishop is not good. Fritz wants the bishop on either c5 or f8} 23. Nxd6 cxd6 24. Nf5 Re6 {Very bad because of Bb3. I had visions of the rook joining the knights in their attack.} 25. Bxf4 Nxf4 26. Rd1 g6 {d5 meets Bb3. g6 hopes to distract the knight for a few moves giving time to protect the d-pawn.} 27. Nxd6 Bc6 28. Bb3 Re7 29. f3 Ne6 30. Bd5 Nd8 31. Nxf7 Bxd5 {Rf7 still favors White} 32. Nxd8 Bxa2 33. Nc6 Re6 34. Nb4 Bb3 35. Rd8+ Kf7 36. Ra8 Rd6 37. Ra7+ Ke6 38. Rxa6 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/EPqfKt8u"] [Date "2023.02.23"] [Round "4"] [White "bitterroot88"] [Black "JosephOAlford"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B50"] [WhiteElo "1731"] [BlackElo "1890"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/bitterroot88"] [PlyCount "110"] [EventDate "2023.02.23"] [TimeControl "2400+1"] 1. b3 c5 2. e4 Nc6 3. Nf3 d6 4. Bb2 Nf6 5. d3 {Fritz prefers Nc3 when White can still play d4 later.} g6 6. Nbd2 Bg7 7. Nc4 {Be2 and 0-0 here and later. White will now fall behind in development.} b5 8. Ne3 O-O 9. c3 Bb7 10. d4 {Do not open the center while your king is still in the center. Again, Be2 and 0-0} cxd4 11. Nxd4 Nxe4 12. Nxb5 Qa5 13. Qc2 Ne5 14. f3 Qb6 15. Nd4 Nc5 16. Nc4 {It looks like White will finally get developed, but now Black’s pawns chase the White pieces out of the center.} Nxc4 17. Bxc4 d5 18. Be2 e5 19. Nb5 a6 20. Na3 Rac8 21. O-O-O e4 22. Kb1 exf3 23. Bxf3 Ne4 24. Bxe4 dxe4 25. Rhe1 f5 {White is looking much better. Now he re-deploys his poorly-placed knight. Black’s passed pawn is a problem.} 26. Nc4 Qf6 27. Nd6 Rc7 {Fritz shows this as equal or slightly favoring White. I am happy with my passed supported pawn.} 28. Nc4 {Trade knight for bishop} Rfc8 29. Rd6 Qe7 {Threatening RxN} 30. Red1 e3 31. Qe2 f4 32. Ka1 Re8 33. Re1 Qe4 34. Rdd1 {After the game, I suggested g3, but Black should still win after f3} (34. g3) 34... Qxg2 35. Qd3 Qe4 36. Qe2 Rce7 37. Nd6 {Has Black blundered?} f3 38. Nxe4 fxe2 39. Nf6+ Bxf6 40. Rxe2 Bf3 41. Rde1 Bxe2 42. Rxe2 Rd8 43. Kb1 Rd1+ 44. Kc2 Rf1 45. Kd3 Rf2 46. Ba3 Rxe2 47. Kxe2 Re6 48. c4 Bg5 49. b4 Rf6 50. Bb2 Rf2+ 51. Ke1 Rxb2 52. c5 Bh4+ 53. Kd1 e2+ 54. Kc1 Bf6 55. c6 e1=Q# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Site "Barnes & Noble"] [Date "2023.02.06"] [Round "1"] [White "Newman, Steve"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A10"] [Annotator ",JosephOAlford"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2023.02.06"] [SourceDate "2023.02.06"] 1. c4 d5 {Intending to meet cd with Nf6} 2. e3 g6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Bd3 Bg7 5. Ne2 O-O 6. O-O Nc6 7. Qe1 {Preventing Nb4, but the move is passive. a3 is better. Fritz likes cd and let Black prove he has a center.} e5 8. f3 {Losing at least a pawn. Fritz likes c5} exd4 {dc is much simpler. Fritz prefers ed} 9. Na3 { This is actually 2nd choice for Fritz which prefers ed.} dxc4 10. Bxc4 dxe3 11. Rb1 {On Be3 Black gets strong pressure on the e-file with both rook and queen.} Ne5 12. Nf4 {Losing a piece. Fritz says Be3 is relatively best.} Nxc4 13. Nxc4 Qd4 14. Nxe3 Qxf4 15. Ng4 Qf5 16. Bh6 Nxg4 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. fxg4 Qc5+ 19. Kh1 Bxg4 20. Rc1 Qd4 21. Rc2 Rae8 22. Qc1 c6 23. b3 Bf5 24. Rd2 Qe3 25. Qb2+ Qe5 26. Qc1 Re7 27. Rdf2 Rfe8 28. Rxf5 gxf5 29. Qg5+ Kh8 30. h4 Rg8 31. Qh5 Qg3 32. Rg1 Re4 33. Qxf5 Rxh4+ 34. Qh3 Rxh3+ 35. gxh3 Qxh3# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "The Proving Ground"] [Site "The Proving Ground"] [Date "2023.02.04"] [Round "1"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Newman, Steven"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C42"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2023.02.04"] [SourceDate "2023.02.04"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nc6 {Black sacrifices a pawn for rapid development. This move has been featured on the internet several times recently. I don’t care for it. d6; Nf3 Ne4 is better.} 4. Nxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Bc5 6. Be3 {Fritz says Be2 with quick 0-0 or c3 to defend the center.} Bxe3 7. fxe3 Ng4 8. Qf3 O-O 9. h3 Ne5 10. Qg3 Qd6 11. Kd1 {Black threatened Nd3+ sacrificing the knight to win White’s queen or Qb4+ and Qb2} Be6 12. Nd2 Rad8 {Well, he got his development, but White still has his pawn.} 13. d4 Ng6 {After the queen trade White is simply a pawn ahead. Fritz likes f6 since the d-pawn is pinned.} 14. Qxd6 cxd6 15. Bd3 Ne7 16. Rf1 f5 17. Ke2 d5 18. e5 Ng6 19. Rf2 c5 20. c3 Rf7 21. Raf1 c4 22. Bxf5 Bxf5 23. Rxf5 Re7 24. e4 b5 25. exd5 Rxd5 26. Ne4 Rdd7 27. Nc5 Rd8 28. e6 Rf8 29. Rxf8+ Nxf8 30. d5 a5 31. d6 Ra7 32. e7 Ra8 33. d7 Nxd7 34. Nxd7 Re8 35. Rf8+ Rxf8 36. exf8=Q# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Rated Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/SZ5mbNAJ"] [Date "2023.03.30"] [Round "5"] [White "Newman, Steven"] [Black "Brown, Dajuan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D20"] [WhiteElo "1688"] [BlackElo "1667"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2023.03.02"] [TimeControl "G/60; 6"] {ratings are by lichess} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nc3 e6 4. e4 Bb4 5. Bxc4 Ne7 6. Nge2 a6 7. O-O Bxc3 {The threat of a fork by Qa4+ is better met with 0-0} 8. bxc3 Nbc6 9. f4 Na5 {The deployment of the knights to the queen-side is not effective. Again, 0-0 is the best move.} 10. Bd3 Nec6 11. Ba3 Bd7 12. Rb1 Qf6 13. e5 Qh6 14. Ng3 O-O-O 15. Ne4 f6 16. Nc5 {With a threat of Na6 bxa6; Ba6 mate!} b6 {Nb8 to protect a6} 17. Nxa6 {Ba6+ seems more to the point since after Kb8 the b-pawn is pinned. White could also just play Qe2 since bxc5 unleashes a bloodbath starting with Ba6+} fxe5 18. dxe5 {fxe5 brings the second rook into the attack. Qe3+ is irrelevant.} Nxe5 {An interesting sacrifice, but not sufficient} 19. fxe5 Qe3+ 20. Kh1 Qxe5 {Bb5; Qf3 Qf3; Rf3 Rd3 still leaves White a piece ahead.} 21. Qf3 {Threatening Qa8 mate!} Bc6 22. Qh3 Qxc3 {Seeking to recover a piece, but this opens the c-file for the White rooks.} 23. Qxe6+ Bd7 24. Qe4 Bc6 {I was expecting Qg4+ Bd7; Qf3 Bc6; Bf5+ winning the Black queen. White gains time with another mate threat.} 25. Qf4 Bxg2+ 26. Kxg2 Rxd3 27. Bb4 {Rfc is simpler} Qc6+ 28. Kg1 Rhd8 29. Rfc1 R8d4 30. Qxc7+ Qxc7 31. Rxc7+ Kd8 32. Be7+ Ke8 33. Re1 Rd1 34. Bh4+ Re4 35. Rc8+ Kd7 36. Rd8+ Kc6 37. Rdxd1 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event ""] [Site "The Proving Ground"] [Date "2023.03.21"] [Round "3"] [White "Frank, Cole"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C78"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2023.03.02"] [SourceDate "2023.03.21"] 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 wants Bc6+ or c3} h6 8. c3 O-O 9. Re1 b5 10. Bc2 Bb7 11. Nbd2 {Fritz does not approve of this Spanish Torture massing of pieces on the king-side. He says it is time for d4.} Re8 12. Nf1 d5 13. exd5 Nxd5 14. Ng3 b4 {But this throws away most of Black’s advantage. Logical moves are Qd7 or Bb6} 15. Ne4 Bb6 16. c4 Nf6 17. Qe2 Nd4 18. Nxd4 Bxd4 19. Rb1 Nxe4 20. dxe4 Qf6 21. Be3 Rad8 22. Ba4 Bxe4 {This favors White, says Fritz. The rook should move to e7 or e6} 23. Bxe8 {Fritz says this is good enough for equality, but Bd4 is much better.} Qg6 24. Qg4 Qxg4 25. hxg4 Bxb1 26. Bxf7+ Kxf7 27. Rxb1 c5 {Be3 followed by a rook penetration} 28. Rd1 Kg6 {Ke7 With the pieces off the board, Black is better.} 29. Kf1 Rf8 30. Ke2 Bxe3 31. Kxe3 Rf4 32. Rd6+ Kg5 33. b3 Rf6 {Black has over-extended. White is now better.} 34. Rd5 Rc6 35. Rxe5+ Kxg4 { Material equality, but Black’s king is in constant danger and White’s king is ready to attack.} 36. Ke4 h5 {Now Black does not control g4} 37. f3+ Kh4 38. f4 Rg6 39. Kf3 Rg3+ 40. Kf2 Rd3 41. Rxc5 Rd2+ 42. Kf3 Rd3+ 43. Ke2 Rg3 44. Kf2 Rd3 45. g3+ Rxg3 46. Rxh5+ Kxh5 47. Kxg3 Kg6 48. Kg4 Kf6 49. c5 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event ""] [Site "The Proving Ground"] [Date "2023.03.14"] [Round "3"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Frank, Cole"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B34"] [PlyCount "74"] [EventDate "2023.03.07"] [SourceDate "2023.03.14"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Bg7 5. Bc4 Nc6 6. c3 Nf6 7. Qe2 d5 8. exd5 Nxd5 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. O-O O-O 11. Rd1 Be6 12. Bb3 Qc7 13. c4 Nb6 14. Nc3 Rad8 15. Be3 Rxd1+ 16. Rxd1 Rd8 17. c5 Nd5 18. Ne4 {this loses the b-pawn and the game.} Nxe3 19. fxe3 Bxb3 20. axb3 Rxd1+ 21. Qxd1 Bxb2 {Simple. Fritz prefers Qe5 or even better f5.} 22. b4 Qe5 23. Qd3 Ba3 {imaginative. Fritz prefers simple moves like h6 or Kg7} 24. Qxa3 Qxe4 25. Kf2 Qh4+ 26. Kf1 Qxh2 27. Qxa7 Qh1+ 28. Kf2 Qh4+ 29. Kf3 Kg7 30. Qb8 h5 31. Qe5+ Qf6+ 32. Qxf6+ {Ke4. Now Black’s king is close enough that b5 doesn’t work.} Kxf6 33. Ke4 Ke6 34. Kd4 g5 35. Ke4 f5+ 36. Kf3 Kd5 37. g3 Kc4 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "JosephOAlford simul"] [Site "https://lichess.org/naPxTIgr"] [Date "2023.03.09"] [Round "2"] [White "JosephOAlford"] [Black "bitterroot88"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "1890"] [BlackElo "1688"] [PlyCount "74"] [EventDate "2023.03.02"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O a6 {Black must protect e5 before initiating this trade} 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Nxe5 Bd6 {Not Ne4; Re1} 7. Nf3 Ng4 8. h3 Ne5 9. d4 Nxf3+ 10. Qxf3 O-O 11. c4 Re8 12. Nc3 b5 {The rook hanging on a8 makes this inadvisable. Bd7 is better.} 13. cxb5 axb5 14. e5 Bf8 15. Nxb5 Ba6 16. Qxc6 Bxb5 {Fritz shows a slight Black advantage after Re6; Qc7 Bb5} 17. Qxb5 Qxd4 18. Be3 Qe4 {I expected Qe5 which is 2nd choice for Fritz. He likes Qe4 better, though both moves favor White.} 19. Rfc1 Rxe5 20. Qc6 Rc8 {Pinning the pawn. Fritz says trade queens and play Bd6} 21. Qxe4 Rxe4 22. Rc6 f5 23. Rac1 Bd6 {Blunder, but it is not clear how Black can stop the queen-side pawns. } 24. Rxd6 f4 25. Bb6 Rce8 26. Bxc7 f3 27. gxf3 Re2 28. Rd8 Kf7 29. Rxe8 Kxe8 30. b4 Rxa2 31. b5 Ra3 32. Rb1 Rxf3 33. b6 Rf8 34. b7 Kd7 35. b8=Q Rxb8 36. Bxb8 Kc6 37. Kg2 h5 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "JosephOAlford simul"] [Site "https://lichess.org/SpmIAgUx"] [Date "2023.03.09"] [Round "2"] [White "JosephOAlford"] [Black "daone309"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "1890"] [BlackElo "1668"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "2023.03.02"] [TimeControl "G/60; 5"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Bc5 5. Nc3 O-O 6. d3 d6 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bxf6 Qxf6 9. Nd5 Qd8 10. c3 Bg4 11. h3 Bh5 12. b4 Bb6 13. Nxb6 {Fritz is not impressed with White’s king-side attack. Starting here, he shows a slight advantage to Black.} axb6 14. g4 Bg6 15. Nh2 d5 16. exd5 Qxd5 17. Bc4 Qd8 18. f4 b5 {sacrificing a pawn to free the king-side. Fritz thinks Black may be giving up too much.} 19. Bxb5 f5 20. Bxc6 bxc6 21. fxe5 Qh4 22. Kg2 fxg4 23. Qxg4 Qxg4+ 24. hxg4 Rxf1 25. Nxf1 Bxd3 26. Nd2 Ra3 27. e6 Kf8 28. Nb3 Bc4 29. Nd4 {sacrificing a pawn to get the a-pawn moving. Black should take the a-pawn. Fritz prefers taking the c-pawn} Rxc3 30. a4 {And now Fritz evaluates to a slight advantage to Black again. He prefers Re1 with e7+ and a knight helping to queen.} c5 {This is not a sacrifice since Black recovers the pawn immediately. Black breaks up White’s queen-side pawns, but Fritz likes g6 either before or after Bd5+ to keep out the knight.} 31. bxc5 Bd5+ 32. Kf2 Rxc5 33. a5 Ke7 34. a6 {Please, win my e-pawn letting my a-pawn queen.} Ba8 35. a7 Rd5 36. Ke3 Re5+ 37. Kd3 Be4+ 38. Kc3 Rc5+ {The bishop had to return to a8. White has winning chances after Ba8; Ra6 with Nf5+ coming.} 39. Kb4 Rg5 40. Nf5+ {Note that a8/Q is not sufficient. Ba8; Ra8 c5+ with a win for Black!} Kxe6 41. Re1 Rxg4 42. a8=Q 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Rated Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/VjxxhuvP"] [Date "2023.03.02"] [Round "1"] [White "Newman, Steven, bitterroot88"] [Black "Brown, Dawon, daone309"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D06"] [WhiteElo "1731"] [BlackElo "1615"] [PlyCount "126"] [EventDate "2023.03.02"] [TimeControl "G/60, 6"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6 {The pawn should be defended by a pawn, either e6 or c6. Now White could grab the center with cd Nd5; e4 or cd Qd5; Nc3 with e4 to follow} 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Bf4 {Fritz says play in the center with cd Nd5; e4} Bf5 5. Nb5 e5 6. dxe5 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 {Bd2 is much safer. See the next note.} Ne4 { Second choice for Fritz. It is logical to use the attacked knight to increase the attack on c3, but here d4 would give Black an overwhelming attack. Okay, just a better attack after d4; Bd2} 8. Qxd5 Qxd5 {Big advantage to Black, but Fritz agrees that Nc3 is deadly} 9. cxd5 Nd4 {Advantage shifts back to White. Again, Nc3 is a killer} 10. O-O-O {Rc1 is a good defense that does not lose a rook} Nxf2 11. Rxd4 Bxc3 12. bxc3 Nxh1 13. e4 {Not a bad move, but Be3 to trap the knight is better.} Bd7 14. a4 {Wasting time. Be3 and g3 and Bg2 with an even game.} O-O {Saving the knight with Nf2 should be a priority over the next few moves.} 15. g3 c5 16. dxc6 {activating Black’s pieces. Rd2 and Bg2} Bxc6 17. Bb5 Bxb5 18. axb5 Rad8 19. Ne2 h6 {Last chance to bring the knight back into the game.} 20. Be3 Rde8 21. Rd5 f6 22. Bd4 fxe5 23. Rxe5 Rxe5 24. Bxe5 Nf2 25. Nf4 Nxe4 26. Kc2 g5 27. Nd3 Rf5 28. Bd4 Rxb5 29. Bxa7 Ra5 30. Bd4 Ra2+ 31. Nb2 Kf7 32. c4 Ke6 33. Kd3 Kf5 34. Ke3 Nd6 35. h3 Ra1 {Fritz points out Rb2; Bb2 Nc4+ and White can resign.} 36. g4+ Ke6 37. c5 Nb5 {Nf7 to protect the pawns. White should reply Bg7} 38. Nd3 Nxd4 39. Kxd4 Rf1 40. c6 bxc6 41. Nc5+ Kf6 42. Ne4+ Kg6 43. Ke3 Rh1 44. Nf2 Re1+ 45. Kd4 Rc1 46. Ne4 c5+ {Why give up the pawn? It is a useful distraction for an attack on White’s pawns.} 47. Nxc5 Rh1 48. Ne4 Rxh3 49. Nf2 Rf3 50. Nd3 Kf6 51. Ke4 Rxd3 {Thinking the king will now penetrate which does not happen. But it should. Fritz says yes to the trade.} 52. Kxd3 Ke5 (52... Kg6 53. Ke3 h5 54. gxh5+ Kxh5 55. Kf3 Kh4 56. Kg2 Kg4 57. Kh2 Kf3 58. Kh3 g4+ 59. Kh2 Kf2 60. Kh1 Kg3 61. Kg1 Kh3 62. Kh1 g3 63. Kg1 g2) 53. Ke3 Kf6 54. Ke4 Kg6 55. Kf3 h5 56. gxh5+ Kxh5 57. Kg3 g4 58. Kg2 Kh4 59. Kh2 g3+ 60. Kg2 Kg4 61. Kg1 Kh3 62. Kh1 g2+ 63. Kg1 Kg3 1/2-1/2 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Cole Frank Simul"] [Site "https://lichess.org/sMFA2q5f"] [Date "2023.04.27"] [Round "4"] [White "Frank, Cole, zxprodigyx"] [Black "Jones, Nick, ndjones42"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C41"] [WhiteElo "1807"] [BlackElo "1500"] [PlyCount "31"] [EventDate "2023.04.06"] [TimeControl "G/30; 60"] {City Champion Cole Frank gave a simul against 4 players. He won 4 games, lost 1. He played Nick Jones twice} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 {This is just too passive. Nc6 or Nf6} 3. d4 Nf6 4. dxe5 Nxe4 5. Bd3 d5 {And this costs a pawn. Even more importantly, it traps the Black king in the center. Nc5 was better.} 6. Bxe4 dxe4 7. Qxd8+ Kxd8 8. Ng5 Ke7 {Ke8 does not block in the bishop} 9. Nxe4 Bf5 10. Nbc3 Nc6 11. Bg5+ Kd7 { Now White gains an overwhelming advantage in development. Ke8 was bad, but this is worse.} 12. O-O-O+ Ke6 {Retreating to the 8th rank is bad, but getting mated in the center is worse.} 13. f4 h6 14. Bh4 Be7 15. Bxe7 Nxe7 16. Nc5# { White suggested they play another game.} 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Cole Frank Simul"] [Site "https://lichess.org/SmGmcTDr"] [Date "2023.04.27"] [Round "4"] [White "Frank, Cole, zxprodigyx"] [Black "JosephOAlford"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C80"] [WhiteElo "1807"] [BlackElo "2012"] [PlyCount "44"] [EventDate "2023.04.06"] [TimeControl "G/30; 60"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O {For weeks White has been playing d3 and I have lost game after game trying too hard to force a win} Nxe4 6. Re1 Nc5 7. Nxe5 {Fritz says Nc3 is equal and Bc6 maintains a slight advantage for White. This favors Black slightly.} Nxe5 8. Rxe5+ Be7 9. Bb3 Nxb3 10. axb3 O-O 11. Nc3 c6 12. d4 d5 13. Re1 Bd6 14. Qf3 Qh4 15. h3 Bd7 {Fritz says take the d-pawn, but this is his second choice.} 16. Bd2 Rae8 {Again, Fritz wants the d-pawn and he prefers offering the other rook to trade.} 17. Ne2 Re6 18. Qg4 Qe7 19. Nf4 {losing instantly. Rg6 was threatened.} Rxe1+ 20. Rxe1 Qxe1+ 21. Bxe1 Bxg4 22. hxg4 Bxf4 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Cole Frank Simul"] [Site "https://lichess.org/9TwNjoPL"] [Date "2023.04.27"] [Round "4"] [White "Frank, Cole, zxprodigyx"] [Black "daone309"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "1807"] [BlackElo "1629"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2023.04.06"] [TimeControl "G/30; 60"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Nxc6 bxc6 {dxc6 is better, freeing the bishop.} 8. Ba4 O-O 9. Nc3 Nb7 10. d4 c5 11. Bb3 d6 12. Nd5 Be6 {Losing a piece. Bf6 is best. Actually, Fritz prefers Bh4; g3 c6 } 13. Nxe7+ Qxe7 14. d5 Qf6 15. dxe6 fxe6 16. Qe2 {Re6 looks impressive until you see that Qf2+ forces mate} Kh8 {Fritz suggests Rae8 when White can win the pawn but will have to spend some time untangling his pieces while protecting both e6 and f2} 17. Bd2 e5 18. Bd5 Rab8 19. Bxb7 Rxb7 20. b3 d5 21. f3 c6 22. Qxe5 Qg6 23. Qg5 Qxc2 24. Re7 Rxe7 25. Qxe7 Rg8 26. Bg5 h6 27. Bh4 d4 28. Qe1 { reacting to the dangerous passed pawn.} g5 {Removing a critical defender from the king. Qg6 is better} 29. Bg3 Qb2 30. Qe5+ Kh7 31. Qf5+ Rg6 32. Re1 d3 33. Re7+ Kh8 34. Qf8+ Rg8 35. Qxh6# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Cole Frank Simul"] [Site "https://lichess.org/7nDv0RNZ"] [Date "2023.04.27"] [Round "4"] [White "Frank, Cole, zxprodigyx"] [Black "Newman, Steve, bitterroot88"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C02"] [WhiteElo "1807"] [BlackElo "1766"] [PlyCount "91"] [EventDate "2023.04.06"] [TimeControl "G/30; 60"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Ne7 {c5 attacks the base of the pawn chain with Nc6 to follow and then Nge7 heading for f5. Find a weakness and pile up on it.} 4. Nf3 Ng6 5. Bd3 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Nc3 c6 {Again, c5} 8. Re1 Nd7 9. h3 Re8 10. Ne2 Ndf8 11. Ng3 f6 12. exf6 Bxf6 13. Nh5 Be7 14. Ne5 Bg5 15. Nxg6 Nxg6 16. Bxg6 hxg6 17. Ng3 Bf6 18. c3 Kf7 {Fritz says e5 or Qc7 to support e5.} 19. Qf3 Rf8 20. b3 Ke8 21. Qg4 Kf7 22. Qf3 Kg8 23. Ba3 Rf7 24. Qg4 Kh7 25. Qe2 Bg5 {Black has 2 queen-side pieces that are asleep.} 26. Nf1 Qf6 27. Nh2 Bf4 28. Ng4 Qf5 29. Bc1 Bc7 30. Ba3 Bd7 31. Rf1 Re8 32. Ne5 Bxe5 33. Qxe5 Qc2 34. Qe3 b6 35. Rfc1 Qf5 36. Re1 a5 37. Bd6 b5 38. Re2 Qf6 39. Be5 Qe7 40. Qg3 Ref8 { Unfortunate error in an interesting game. Rf5} 41. Bd6 Qf6 42. Bxf8 Rxf8 43. Rf1 Qe7 44. Re5 c5 45. Rg5 Rf6 46. Qe5 {A reasonable move. I expected Qh4+ Kg8; Rg6. I’m not sure what happened next. Without any further moves, Black lost on time nearly half an hour later.} 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Cole Frank Simul"] [Site "https://lichess.org/5DEjVXMd"] [Date "2023.04.27"] [Round "4"] [White "Jones, Nick, ndjones42"] [Black "Frank, Cole, zxprodigyx"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A52"] [WhiteElo "1500"] [BlackElo "1807"] [PlyCount "92"] [EventDate "2023.04.06"] [TimeControl "G/30; 60"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Ng4 4. Bf4 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bb4+ 6. Nc3 Qe7 7. a3 {Fritz shows a slight advantage for White after Rc1 or Qd5, a slight advantage to Black after a3.} Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 Ngxe5 9. Nxe5 Nxe5 10. e3 {Too passive. Fritz suggests Qd5 d6; c5 to dissolve the doubled pawns.} d6 11. Bd3 O-O 12. O-O Be6 13. Qh5 {Dropping a piece. BxN first wins a pawn.} Nxd3 14. Rfd1 Nxf4 15. exf4 Bxc4 16. h3 Rfe8 17. Kh2 {Either the queen or the rook should move out of the bishop fork.} Be2 18. Re1 Bxh5 19. Rxe7 Rxe7 20. g4 Bg6 21. f5 Bxf5 22. gxf5 Re2 23. Kg2 Rae8 24. Rb1 b6 25. Rb4 Rc2 26. Rc4 Ree2 27. Rxc7 Rxf2+ 28. Kg3 Rg2+ 29. Kh4 h6 30. Rxa7 Rcf2 31. Ra4 g5+ 32. fxg6 fxg6 33. Rg4 Rxg4+ 34. hxg4 Rf3 35. g5 h5 36. c4 Rf4+ 37. Kg3 Rxc4 38. Kf3 h4 39. a4 Rc3+ 40. Kg2 h3+ 41. Kh2 Kf7 42. a5 bxa5 43. Kh1 Rc2 44. Kg1 a4 45. Kf1 h2 46. Ke1 h1=Q# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event ""] [Site "The Proving Ground"] [Date "2023.04.18"] [Round "3"] [White "Blade"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D37"] [PlyCount "34"] [EventDate "2023.04.04"] [SourceDate "2023.04.18"] {This was the best of 3 games played at The Proving Ground on Tuesday evening. } 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. Bf4 {With the threat of Nb5} c6 6. e3 O-O 7. Bd3 Nbd7 8. O-O Nh5 9. Re1 Nxf4 10. exf4 Bd6 11. Ne5 Qh4 12. Ne2 Nf6 13. Qd2 Bxe5 14. fxe5 Ng4 15. h3 {I thought he had played Qd2 so that he could play Qf4 now protecting both pawns. He saw Qf4 but was afraid of the response g5.} Qxf2+ 16. Kh1 Ne3 17. Qc1 Qxg2# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Rated Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/DXbNDyJZ"] [Date "2023.04.06"] [Round "1"] [White "daone309"] [Black "JosephOAlford"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C23"] [WhiteElo "1646"] [BlackElo "1890"] [PlyCount "30"] [EventDate "2023.04.06"] [TimeControl "G/60; 3"] 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. d3 d6 5. f4 {Trying for too much out of the opening. Now BxN; RxB Qh4+ would win a pawn.} Nf6 6. f5 {The point of this opening is to get an open f-file without giving up a King’s Gambit pawn. Blocking the f-file makes no sense. Nf3 is better.} Na5 7. Bd5 Nxd5 8. Nxd5 c6 9. Ne3 d5 10. Bd2 {Threatening b4, but he’s never going to get there.} dxe4 11. Qh5 exd3 12. c3 {White wants to use 000 to attack the d-file. The plan is much too slow.} Bxe3 13. Bxe3 Nc4 14. Bg5 d2+ 15. Kd1 {The king must go to e2 to protect d3.} Qd3 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Rated Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/DXbNDyJZ"] [Date "2023.04.06"] [Round "1"] [White "JosephOAlford"] [Black "daone309"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C23"] [WhiteElo "1646"] [BlackElo "1890"] [PlyCount "30"] [EventDate "2023.04.06"] [TimeControl "G/60; 3"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Be7 5. Nc3 O-O {No. In the Lopez, as soon as White protect e4 black must protect e5. Thus, d6} 6. Bxc6 bxc6 7. Nxe5 Bb4 8. d3 Re8 9. Nf3 Bxc3 {Trade when it improves your position. Here d6 or d5 would be preferable.} 10. bxc3 d6 11. Bg5 h6 12. Bh4 Bb7 13. h3 c5 14. Nh2 d5 15. Ng4 dxe4 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17. Nxh6+ Kf8 18. Qh5 Bd5 {Qd5 to try to force the queens off the board.} 19. Nf5 Kg8 20. Qg4+ Kf8 21. Qg7# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Rated Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/0Qdbaymi"] [Date "2023.04.06"] [Round "1"] [White "bladeparrish"] [Black "bitterroot88"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "1500"] [BlackElo "1789"] [PlyCount "92"] [EventDate "2023.04.06"] [TimeControl "G/60; 6"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Nbd7 5. e3 Bb4 6. Bd2 Ne4 {This drops a piece. 0-0 is best.} 7. Nxe4 Bxd2+ {Fritz says the last move doesn’t drop a whole piece. At this point Black should play dxe4 dropping only a pawn.} 8. Nexd2 O-O 9. Bd3 c6 10. c5 {This kind of move is almost always wrong. It removes the tension from the center allowing Black to do whatever he likes.} Qc7 {But Black needs to take a little more care than that. Black is looking to play e5. Nf6 would help protect the king-side. Fritz suggests h6 or even f6.} 11. Ng5 f6 {Again, Nf6.} 12. Nxe6 {Fritz is showing a mating sequence starting Bh7+ Kh8; Qh5} Qb8 13. Qg4 {Take the rook. Fritz suggests Qh5 which should lead to a quick mate.} Rf7 14. Bxh7+ {Premature. Just 0-0 or add to the attack with Nf3 or h4. Fritz suggests Qh5} Kxh7 15. Qh5+ Kg8 16. Nf3 Nf8 17. Nf4 Qc7 18. b4 {Not totally irrelevant since queen checks could be annoying, but Black was threatening to win material with g5. White could prevent this by playing Ng6.} b6 19. Nh4 Bd7 {Now g5 would win material. g5 Ng6 threatens mate, but Rh7 would win the game.} 20. Nhg6 Nxg6 {Nh7 blocks out the queen mate, says Fritz. The alternative is a massive loss of material.} 21. Nxg6 Re7 {Rf8; Ne7+ is mate!} 22. Nxe7+ Kf8 23. Qh8+ Kxe7 24. Qxa8 bxc5 25. dxc5 Be6 26. Qh8 Kf7 27. h4 Qe5 28. Rc1 d4 29. O-O d3 {de. Black’s only hope is perpetual check so he should try to denute the enemy king of pawn protection.} 30. Rcd1 Bc4 31. Rfe1 Qc3 32. Qh5+ Kf8 33. Qh8+ Kf7 34. Qd8 Qxb4 35. Qd7+ Kg6 36. Qxc6 Bxa2 37. Rxd3 {That’s an oops. Qe8+ when Bf7 is met with h5+} Qxe1+ 38. Kh2 Qxf2 39. Qe8+ Bf7 40. Qe4+ f5 41. Rd6+ Kh7 42. Qf3 Qxh4+ {Although White’s last move lost a pawn, it was a game-winner. Now Qh3 leaves White with an easy win.} 43. Kg1 Qe1+ 44. Kh2 Qh4+ 45. Kg1 Qe1+ 46. Kh2 Qh4+ 1/2-1/2 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Rated Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/d3WcEZdz"] [Date "2023.05.18"] [Round "3"] [White "bitterroot88"] [Black "daone309"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D06"] [WhiteElo "1729"] [BlackElo "1629"] [PlyCount "119"] [EventDate "2023.05.04"] [TimeControl "G/60; 6"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6 {Black must defend the pawn with a pawn. Now cd Nd5; e4 or cd Qd5; Nc3 and White gets the entire center.} 3. Nc3 Bf5 {Losing a pawn. e6 or c6} 4. Qb3 b6 5. Qa4+ {Take the free pawn.} Nbd7 6. cxd5 e6 7. Bg5 Be7 8. dxe6 fxe6 9. Bxf6 {Trade when it improves your game. This just helps Black develop.} Bxf6 10. e4 Bg6 11. Nf3 O-O 12. Bc4 Qe7 {That should lose a piece after e5. Black’s queen is over-loaded. The same is true next move.} 13. O-O Kh8 14. Rfe1 Bh5 15. Be2 Rf7 16. e5 Bh4 17. Nxh4 Qxh4 18. f3 Raf8 19. Qc6 {Rad} Qxd4+ 20. Kh1 Nxe5 21. Qxe6 Ng6 {That kills Black’s bishop.} 22. Qd5 Qf2 23. Qxh5 Nf4 24. Qg4 Rf6 25. Ne4 Qe3 26. Nxf6 Nxe2 27. Ne4 h6 28. Rxe2 {Why not Nc3? A pinned piece should be attacked.} Qxe2 29. b3 {Fritz shows Rb1 Qc2; Nc3 and everything is protected.} Qb2 30. Rg1 Qxa2 31. Qe6 a5 32. Qc6 Rc8 33. Qd7 Ra8 34. Qxc7 Qxb3 35. Nd2 Qd5 36. Nc4 Qc5 37. Qxc5 bxc5 38. h3 a4 39. Ra1 Ra6 40. Ra3 Kg8 41. Kg1 g5 42. Kf2 Kg7 43. g4 Kf6 44. Kg3 Ke6 45. f4 Kd5 46. Ne3+ Kd4 47. fxg5 hxg5 48. h4 gxh4+ 49. Kxh4 c4 50. Nf5+ Ke4 51. Ng3+ Kd4 52. Ne2+ Ke4 53. Nc3+ Kd4 54. g5 Rb6 55. Kh5 Rb3 56. Rxa4 Rxc3 57. g6 Rb3 58. g7 Rb8 59. Kh6 Ke5 {Kd3 and the game should be drawn.} 60. Rxc4 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Rated Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/ZZ8CFZBp"] [Date "2023.05.19"] [Round "3"] [White "daone309"] [Black "bitterroot88"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C26"] [WhiteElo "1609"] [BlackElo "1784"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2023.05.18"] [TimeControl "G/60; 6"] 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. Nc3 c6 4. Nf3 d6 5. Ng5 {Fritz says this is overly aggressive. Black can reply d5} Bg4 {This should not work. White can play Bf7+ and then f3 with advantage.} 6. f3 Bh5 7. d3 {Too passive. d4} h6 {Good enough for equality. Fritz shows a slight Black advantage after either d5 or Be7} 8. Nh3 d5 9. Bb3 {too passive. ed cd; Bb5+} d4 {Logical, but Black is better after either Bb4 or Bc5} 10. Ne2 Be7 11. Bd2 O-O 12. g4 Nxg4 {After this sacrifice White has open lines and material. Bg6 is better.} 13. Ng3 Bh4 14. fxg4 Bg6 15. Qf3 Qf6 16. Qe2 {When ahead, trade. White thinks to gain attacking moves by chasing the Black queen.} Nd7 17. O-O-O Nc5 18. Rhf1 Qd6 19. Bb4 {Dropping a piece. Double the rooks on the f-file to continue the attack.} Nxb3+ 20. axb3 Qxb4 21. Rf2 Qa5 {a5. The queen, by itself, is not enough. Black must open lines for his rooks. Fritz also likes Bg3 to remove one attacking piece} 22. Rdf1 {But the queen must be respected. Kb1. Now Qa1 and Qxb2 and the drawing threats would distract White from his attack.} Be7 23. Kb1 Qc7 24. Nh5 Bxh5 {This turns the path to Black’s king into a super highway. Black wants to keep those king-side files closed. Fritz says a5 or Qd7 which threatens the h3 knight after a trade on h5.} 25. gxh5 Bd6 26. Rg2 Rae8 27. Rfg1 f6 {Fritz still shows equality after f5. White trades the two rooks for the queen but the pawn on f5 prevents Qg4+ with a queen penetration to d7} 28. Qd2 Kh7 29. Rg6 Re7 {Fritz still shows a small Black advantage after Rf7 which allows the bishop to join the defense.} 30. Nf2 Rff7 31. Ng4 Kh8 32. Nxh6 gxh6 33. Qxh6+ Rh7 34. Qf8# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event ""] [Site "The Proving Ground"] [Date "2023.05.09"] [Round "2"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Frank, Cole"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B30"] [Annotator ",JosephOAlford"] [PlyCount "94"] [EventDate "2023.05.02"] [SourceDate "2023.05.09"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bc4 Nc6 4. O-O Bg7 5. Nc3 d6 6. h3 Nf6 7. Re1 O-O {A little too passive for Fritz who would prefer a4 or d4 with a tiny White advantage} 8. d3 Nd7 9. Be3 Nde5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Bb3 Be6 12. f4 {And now a little too aggressive for Fritz who would prefer d4 or Nd5} Nc6 13. Qd2 Bxb3 14. axb3 Bd4 15. Bxd4 Nxd4 16. Ne2 Nxe2+ 17. Qxe2 Qb6 18. Kh1 Qb4 19. Ra4 { Hoping to slide the rook to the king-side which does not happen.} Qb6 20. Qe3 a6 21. e5 {Perhaps f5 now.} d5 22. f5 d4 {Very important because it blocks off White’s second rook from the attack.} 23. Qh6 Qc6 24. e6 {Blocking Black’s queen from the defense. Note that Re4 is met with gf} gxf5 25. Qg5+ {Black is now on top. Fritz likes ef+ Rf7; Qc6 bc; Re5} Kh8 26. Qxe7 {Marginally better than Qxf5. The game is approximately equal} fxe6 {Fritz likes the immediate Rg8 better. Note the mate threat.} 27. Rxe6 Rae8 28. Rxc6 {Equal, despite White’s extra pawns. Fritz likes Qf8+ Rf8; Rc6 bc; Ra6 with the queens and one set of rooks off the board} Rxe7 29. Rxc5 Re2 30. Rxd4 Rg8 31. g4 fxg4 32. hxg4 {Rg4 Rf8; Rg2 looks very good.} Rf8 33. Rf5 {Kg1 R82 gives Black a draw. Not so, says Fritz: Kg1 R82; Rd8+ Kg7; Rd7+ Kf6; Rh7 denies Black a check on h2.} Rxf5 34. gxf5 Rxc2 35. Rd8+ Kg7 36. Rd7+ Kf6 37. Rxh7 Rxb2 38. Rxb7 a5 39. Rb5 Rd2 40. Rxa5 Rxd3 41. b4 Rd4 42. Rb5 Rf4 43. Kg2 Rxf5 44. Rb6+ {Trading rooks is a draw.} Ke7 45. Kg3 Kd7 46. Kg4 Kc7 47. Re6 Rf1 1/2-1/2 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event ""] [Site "The Proving Ground"] [Date "2023.05.02"] [Round "1"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Frank, Cole"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B30"] [PlyCount "41"] [EventDate "2023.05.02"] [SourceDate "2023.05.02"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bc4 Bg7 4. Nc3 Nc6 5. O-O d6 6. d3 Nf6 7. h3 O-O 8. Bg5 { A little too aggressive, says Fritz who calls for a3 or a4 to give the bishop a bolt hole. I’m happy with the move.} Na5 9. Bb3 Nxb3 10. axb3 a6 11. Qd2 Be6 {This bishop becomes a target later. Fritz wants to avoid the coming bishop trade with Bh8 or Re8} 12. Bh6 Qc8 {Threatening a sacifice on h3 that never looks quite good enough.} 13. Bxg7 Kxg7 14. Ng5 {Protecting h3 and threatening the bishop. The point is to play f4 and put the knight behind the pawns.} Bd7 15. f4 h6 16. e5 Nh5 17. Nge4 {Threatening g4 when the knight would have no retreat. Fritz wants f5 as a reply.} dxe5 18. fxe5 Kh7 {Not sufficient to stop White’s attack. Fritz likes Qc7 or Qc6} 19. g4 Ng7 {f5 is quite a bit better, but not enough. Bg4 sacrifices a pawn to trade away the attack.} 20. Nd5 Qd8 { blocking the threats on b6 and e7, but missing the sacrifice.} 21. Ndf6+ { Black can take the first knight, but must sacrifice his queen to stop the mate. } 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "JosephOAlford simul"] [Site "https://lichess.org/CoGL7VP8"] [Date "2023.05.04"] [Round "1"] [White "Newman, Steve, bitterroot88"] [Black "JosephOAlford"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C77"] [WhiteElo "1766"] [BlackElo "2012"] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "2023.05.02"] [TimeControl "G/30; 30"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 Bc5 6. O-O d6 7. c3 Bd7 8. b4 Ba7 9. Bb3 O-O 10. Kh1 {Not necessary and not good as it makes f2 a target. Be3. Fritz prefers Bg5 or a4} Ng4 11. Bg5 Qc8 12. d4 {I expected Bh4. White finds another way to protect f2, but this weakens the center and ultimately costs material.} exd4 13. Nxd4 {Now Black is for choice. Fritz still shows a very slight advantage to White after cd} Nxd4 14. cxd4 Bb5 15. Kg1 {The rook cannot abandon defense of f2.} Bxf1 16. Kxf1 {The queen cannot abandon defense of d4} Nxh2+ 17. Kg1 Qg4 18. Qxg4 {White has too many weaknesses. Qd2 loses to Nf3+. Fritz says try Be3 Qh4; f3 (trying to trap the knight) d5 (to add the queen to an attack on d4} Nxg4 19. Be3 Nxe3 20. fxe3 c5 21. Nd2 {Better to trade on c5} cxd4 22. Bd5 dxe3 23. Nf3 e2+ 24. Kh2 Bf2 25. g4 Rac8 26. Bxb7 Rc2 27. Bxa6 {The king needs to leave the 2nd rank} e1=Q 28. Nxe1 Bxe1+ 29. Kh3 Bxb4 30. a4 Bc3 31. Ra3 Be5 32. Bb7 Rh2# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "JosephOAlford simul"] [Site "https://lichess.org/jemx1O5s"] [Date "2023.05.04"] [Round "1"] [White "daone309"] [Black "JosephOAlford"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C02"] [WhiteElo "1629"] [BlackElo "2012"] [PlyCount "94"] [EventDate "2023.05.02"] [TimeControl "G/30; 30"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bd7 6. Be3 Qb6 7. b3 {Qd2. Here b3 is second choice for Fritz, with a slight advantage to Black.} cxd4 8. Nxd4 { Both cd4 and Bd4 are better.} Bc5 {Fritz shows Ne5 as even better, but I was worried about a discovered attack on the queen.} 9. b4 {White is falling behind in development. Be2. It is worth noting that Fritz prefers b4.} Bxd4 10. Bxd4 Nxd4 11. Qxd4 Qxd4 12. cxd4 Ne7 {White cannot defend both d4 and b4} 13. Bd3 Nc6 14. O-O Nxb4 15. Rd1 Rc8 16. Na3 Rc3 17. Nb5 Rxd3 18. Nd6+ Ke7 19. Rdc1 Bc6 {overlooking White’s reply. Rb8 is better, Fritz likes Nc6 or just Rd4} 20. Nxb7 Rb8 {I did not want the rook to be caught in a skewer behind the king. Fritz prefers Bd7 or Rd2} 21. Na5 Be8 22. a3 Rxd4 {Black pins all his hopes on the passed d-pawn.} 23. axb4 Rdxb4 24. g3 a6 25. Nc6+ Bxc6 26. Rxc6 Rb1+ 27. Rxb1 Rxb1+ 28. Kg2 Rb7 29. Rxa6 f6 30. f4 Rd7 {Fritz says trade on e5 and White’s pawn becomes unprotectable.} 31. Kf2 Kf7 32. exf6 gxf6 33. g4 e5 34. fxe5 fxe5 35. g5 d4 36. Rf6+ Ke7 37. h4 Rd6 38. Rf5 Ke6 39. Rf6+ Ke7 40. Rf5 Re6 {The immediate e4 is even stronger.} 41. h5 e4 42. Rd5 e3+ 43. Ke2 Re4 44. h6 Ke6 45. Rd8 Kf5 46. Kd3 Re7 {Just e2 is sufficient.} 47. Rxd4 e2 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event ""] [Site "ARC"] [Date "2023.06.22"] [Round "4"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Parker, Bob"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B13"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2023.06.01"] [SourceDate "2023.06.22"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 Bf5 5. Nc3 e6 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Qf3 Be6 8. Bf4 Nf6 9. Bb5+ Nc6 10. Nge2 Bd6 11. O-O O-O 12. Rfd1 {Played because I want to recapture on f4 with the knight to attack the second bishop. That does not work out as planned. Fritz suggests Rfe or Rac} Bxf4 13. Nxf4 Bg4 14. Qg3 Bxd1 15. Rxd1 a6 16. Ba4 Re8 17. h4 Ne4 18. Nxe4 Rxe4 19. Bxc6 bxc6 20. f3 Re8 21. Qf2 Qd6 22. Nd3 a5 23. Rc1 Re7 24. Rc5 f6 25. Qc2 Ra6 26. Qc3 Re3 27. Qd2 Qe6 { The rook should retreat.} 28. Kf2 Rxd3 29. Qxd3 Rb6 30. Qc3 a4 31. Ra5 h5 32. Rxa4 Qd6 33. Ra8+ Kh7 {Losing move. Kf7} 34. Qc2+ g6 35. Ra7+ Kh6 36. Qd2+ g5 37. hxg5+ {Qc2 or Qd3 and Black’s pawns are prison bars} fxg5 38. Qc2 Qg6 39. Qxg6+ Kxg6 40. b3 h4 41. Ke3 Rb8 {and Black resigned} 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event ""] [Site "ARC"] [Date "2023.06.22"] [Round "4"] [White "Parker, Bob"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D05"] [PlyCount "50"] 1. d4 e6 2. b3 d5 3. Bb2 Nf6 4. e3 c5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Bd3 Nb4 {In this set of games, I spend a lot of time trading knights for bishops. White now goes ahead in development, but active play soon brings him back} 7. O-O Nxd3 8. Qxd3 b6 9. Nbd2 Bb7 10. c4 {Fritz prefers dc activating the remaining bishop} Be7 11. Rfe1 O-O 12. e4 {blunder. dc is still best.} dxe4 13. Nxe4 Bxe4 14. Rxe4 Nxe4 15. Qxe4 cxd4 16. Bxd4 Bf6 17. Be5 Bxe5 18. Nxe5 Qd6 19. Re1 Rad8 20. Nf3 Qd3 21. Qe5 Qc2 22. Qe2 Qxe2 23. Rxe2 Rd1+ 24. Ne1 Rfd8 25. Kf1 R8d2 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event ""] [Site "ARC"] [Date "2023.06.22"] [Round "4"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Parker, Bob"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B50"] [PlyCount "85"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 e6 4. d3 Be7 5. O-O a6 6. a4 Nc6 7. Nc3 h6 8. h3 Qc7 9. Nh2 Nf6 10. f4 O-O 11. Ng4 Nxg4 12. Qxg4 d5 {Fritz suggests Qd8 or Bf6} 13. Bxd5 exd5 14. Nxd5 Qd8 15. Nxe7+ Qxe7 16. f5 Qf6 17. Be3 Ne5 18. Qg3 b6 19. d4 Nc4 {Fritz says Bh6 is met with Nd3} 20. e5 Qc6 21. f6 g6 22. Bxh6 Bb7 {The rook should move.} 23. Bxf8 Kxf8 24. Rf2 {White must block the mate on g2 before he can threaten his own mate.} cxd4 25. Qh4 Ke8 26. Qxd4 Rd8 27. Qh4 Rd2 28. Re1 Rxf2 {Fritz shows Qg2+; Rg2 Rg2+; Kh1 (Kf1 Nd2 mates!) Rg4+ with a win for Black.} 29. Qxf2 Qe6 30. Qd4 Qc6 31. Re2 Qe6 32. b3 Na5 33. Qd6 {Good enough, but Rd2 was much stronger} Nc6 34. Qxe6+ fxe6 35. Kh2 Kf7 36. h4 Nxe5 37. Rxe5 Kxf6 38. Re2 e5 39. Rd2 Ke7 40. Kg3 Ke6 41. Kg4 Be4 42. c3 b5 43. Kg5 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event ""] [Site "ARC"] [Date "2023.06.22"] [Round "4"] [White "Parker, Bob"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A48"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2023.06.01"] [SourceDate "2023.06.22"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bf4 Bg7 4. e3 Nh5 5. Be5 f6 6. Bg3 Nxg3 7. hxg3 d5 8. Bd3 Qd6 9. Bxg6+ {Not realizing that the rook is protected. Fritz shows the right way: Rh7 with Bg6 to follow.} hxg6 10. Rxh8+ Bxh8 11. Qd3 Bf5 12. Qb3 Nc6 13. c3 Bxb1 14. Rxb1 O-O-O 15. Qc2 Rg8 16. Qd2 Bg7 17. g4 Rh8 18. Ke2 e5 19. g3 exd4 20. cxd4 Qb4 21. a3 Qxd2+ 22. Kxd2 Kd7 23. b4 a6 24. Nh4 Ne7 25. Ke2 g5 26. Nf5 Nxf5 27. gxf5 Bf8 28. g4 Bd6 29. f3 Rh2+ 30. Kd3 Rf2 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event ""] [Site "The Proving Ground"] [Date "2023.06.20"] [Round "3"] [White "Frank , Cole"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C78"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2023.06.01"] [SourceDate "2023.06.20"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 Bc5 6. O-O b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. Bg5 { Fritz prefers c3 to make an escape square for the other bishop. He shows a minor plus for Black instead of a minor plus for White.} h6 9. Bh4 Na5 10. Nbd2 Nxb3 11. axb3 Bg4 12. c3 Qd7 {Please open that g-file to your king with BxN. Fritz is not impressed, saying g5 is better. White now has regained the first move edge.} 13. Qc2 {h3, says Fritz who did not read my last note about opening lines to the king. Black now has the edge again.} g5 14. Bg3 Nh5 15. d4 exd4 16. cxd4 Bb6 17. e5 {Fritz calls this premature. Qd3 or Rfe1 would be better.} Nxg3 18. hxg3 dxe5 {A serious mistake that gives White good winning chances. Bf5 or d5 would leave Black in good shape.} 19. Nxe5 Qxd4 {Disaster with the Black king still in the center. Bf5 left Black still with a small advantage} 20. Qc6+ Ke7 21. Rae1 Be6 {The move I was counting on to protect the king, but White can destroy this defense with Nf7.} 22. Ng6+ fxg6 {Now the game can’t be saved. I rejected Kf6 Nh8; Rh8 which Fritz claims still favors Black} 23. Rxe6+ Kf7 24. Nf3 Qxb2 25. Ne5+ Kg7 26. Qd7+ Kf8 27. Qf7# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event ""] [Site "ARC"] [Date "2023.06.22"] [Round "4"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Parker, Bob"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C68"] [PlyCount "43"] [EventDate "2023.06.01"] [SourceDate "2023.06.22"] {Played at the Adult Recreation Center at 1 pm on Thursday} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O Bd6 6. d4 exd4 7. Qxd4 Be7 { The ugly f6 is best} 8. Qxg7 Bf6 9. Qg3 Ne7 10. e5 Nf5 {second choice for Fritz who prefers Rg8 and suggests White take the bishop, knight, and rook with more than enough for the queen} 11. Qf4 Be7 12. Nc3 Be6 13. Rd1 Qc8 14. Ng5 h6 15. Nxe6 Qxe6 16. Ne4 Rd8 17. Rxd8+ Kxd8 18. Be3 Kc8 19. Bc5 b6 20. Bxe7 Nd4 {Losing a piece. Ne7} 21. Qd2 Qxe5 22. Bf6 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event ""] [Site "ARC"] [Date "2023.06.22"] [Round "4"] [White "Parker, Bob"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D04"] [PlyCount "65"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. e3 Bg7 4. b3 d5 5. Bb2 O-O 6. Nbd2 Nbd7 7. c4 c6 8. Bd3 Nb6 9. O-O Bg4 10. c5 Nbd7 11. Qc2 Qc7 12. h3 Bxf3 13. Nxf3 Nh5 14. g4 Ng3 { Cute, but the knight is better back on f6. Now fg Qg3+; Qg2 Qg2+; Kg2 Nc5 gets two pawns for the piece.} 15. Rfe1 {fg Qg3+; Qg2 should win here or next move} f5 16. g5 {I liked this move. Fritz does not, suggesting Ng5. Note that fg gives the same 2 pawns for a knight as on move 15} f4 {Fritz says this gives up too much for a dubious attack. Ne4 with advantage or e5 with equality.} 17. e4 dxe4 18. Bxe4 Nh5 {Ne4 leaves White all the attacking chances but this allows a pretty sacrifice} 19. Rad1 Rae8 20. Bxg6 hxg6 21. Qxg6 Ng3 {offering the knight again with even worse chances this time.} 22. Qc2 {taking the knight should be good enough, but Fritz points out the deadly d5} Nf5 {And Fritz shows Black ahead at this point! This knight has led a charmed life.} 23. h4 e5 24. dxe5 Nxe5 25. Bxe5 Bxe5 26. Kg2 Qg7 27. Qc4+ Kh8 28. h5 {There is a move missing here. The scoresheet says 18 h6. If the move is h5 then Fritz suggests Nh4+ sacrificing the knight for two pawns and an attack.} -- 29. h6 Nxh6 {A blunder, but Qg6; Re5 Re5; Ne5 Qg5+ favors White.} 30. Rh1 Rf6 31. Rh3 Qg8 32. Qxg8+ Rxg8 33. Nxe5 {Black resigned. But Rg5+ followed by Re5 leaves Black a piece ahead} 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event ""] [Site "ARC"] [Date "2023.06.22"] [Round "4"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Parker, Bob"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C50"] [PlyCount "67"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Bc5 5. O-O O-O 6. d3 d6 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 Bg4 9. h3 Be6 10. Nd5 Bxd5 11. Bxd5 g5 12. Bxc6 bxc6 13. Bg3 Nd7 14. Qd2 Qf6 15. Nh2 h5 16. Nf3 h4 17. Bh2 Qh6 18. Qxg5+ Qxg5 19. Nxg5 Rae8 20. Nf3 f5 21. exf5 Rxf5 22. Nxh4 Rh5 23. Bg3 Re7 24. Kh2 Nf6 25. Rae1 Reh7 26. f4 Rxh4 27. Bxh4 Rxh4 28. fxe5 Nh5 29. e6 Ng7 30. e7 d5 31. e8=Q+ Nxe8 32. Rxe8+ Kg7 33. g3 Rh6 34. Kg2 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event ""] [Site "ARC"] [Date "2023.06.22"] [Round "4"] [White "Parker, Bob"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E90"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2023.06.01"] [SourceDate "2023.06.22"] 1. d4 c5 2. d5 Nf6 3. c4 g6 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. e4 d6 6. Nf3 O-O 7. Bd3 Nfd7 8. O-O Ne5 9. Nxe5 Bxe5 10. f4 Bd4+ 11. Kh1 Nd7 12. Qf3 Nf6 {The bishop is cut off from defense of the king. Fritz prefers a6 or Re8} 13. h3 e6 {The knight needs to get out of the way} 14. Ne2 e5 15. Nxd4 exd4 {Even worse is cxd4; fxe5} 16. e5 Nh5 17. g4 Ng7 18. Bd2 f5 {Fritz suggests h5. The f-pawn is needed to protect e6} 19. e6 Qh4 {Fritz says try b5 to activate the bishop on b7} 20. Rae1 fxg4 21. Qxg4 Qxg4 22. hxg4 b6 {Fritz is still suggesting b5. Now the White pawns will come crashing through} 23. Kg2 Bb7 24. f5 gxf5 25. gxf5 Rae8 26. Kh3 Rf6 27. Bg5 Nh5 28. Bxf6 Nxf6 29. b3 Re7 30. Kh4 h6 31. Rg1+ Kh7 32. Rg6 a6 33. a4 b5 34. Rxf6 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Rated Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/D0Gofi2A"] [Date "2023.06.22"] [Round "4"] [White "bitterroot88"] [Black "JosephOAlford"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D30"] [WhiteElo "1742"] [BlackElo "2095"] [PlyCount "100"] [EventDate "2023.06.01"] [TimeControl "G/30; 30"] {Played on Lichess on Thursday evening at 7 PM} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 O-O 6. Bd3 a6 7. cxd5 exd5 8. O-O Bg4 9. Nbd2 Ne4 10. Bxe7 Qxe7 11. Rc1 c6 {As soon as I made the move I realized that Nd2 was much stronger. White’s castle will be cracked open. White should have played Qc2} 12. Rc2 {An awkward solution to the problem of the last note. Fritz wants to eliminate the problem with Qc2 or Qb3. Black now has a slight advantage} Nd7 13. Be2 Rae8 14. Ne1 Nxd2 15. Rxd2 Bxe2 16. Rxe2 f5 {Perhaps a trifle over optimistic, but Black’s pieces are ready to attack. Fritz was looking for calmer moves like Qd6} 17. Nd3 {This does not protect f4. Fritz says Qb3 which seems rather passive} f4 {Now Nf4 Rf4; ef Qe2} 18. Ree1 f3 {I really liked that move. Fritz says fe; Re3 Qh4 is better} 19. g3 Rf6 {I considered Qd6 and Qe6 and Qg5 and Qe4 (favored by Fritz). I decided the best line had rooks on f8 and h6} 20. Nf4 g5 21. Nh5 Rff8 22. g4 Nf6 23. Nxf6+ Rxf6 24. Kh1 Ref8 25. Rg1 Rh6 26. Rg3 Qd6 27. Qd3 Rff6 28. a3 Rh4 29. Qf1 Qe6 30. h3 Qe4 {Fritz likes h5} 31. Qg1 Rfh6 32. Qh2 a5 33. b4 axb4 34. axb4 Rf6 35. Rgg1 Qe7 {Black misses Rh3; Qh3 Qe6 with Rh6 to follow} 36. Rg3 Qxb4 37. Qg1 Qf8 38. Rb1 Rfh6 39. Qh2 Qc8 40. Rbg1 b5 41. Rc1 {Rf3 gives White an even game. Black has about 3 minutes left to White’s 28.} b4 42. Rc5 Qa6 43. Rc1 b3 44. Rb1 { Fritz claims Rf3 is now equal.} Qd3 45. Rbg1 b2 46. Re1 b1=Q 47. Reg1 Qxg1+ 48. Qxg1 Rxh3+ 49. Rxh3 Rxh3+ 50. Qh2 Qf1# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event ""] [Site "ARC"] [Date "2023.06.15"] [Round "3"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Kellum, Keneth"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B30"] [Annotator "JosephOAlford"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2023.06.01"] [SourceDate "2023.06.15"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 g6 5. O-O Bg7 6. h3 O-O 7. Nc3 e5 8. Bg5 { Encouraging Black to create a target on h6} h6 9. Be3 d6 10. Qd2 Nd4 11. Nxd4 { I was writing numbers on my scoresheet and replied without thinking. Fritz suggests Nh2 or Ne1} cxd4 12. Nd5 {Fritz says Bh6 is better.} dxe3 13. fxe3 Nxd5 14. Bxd5 Rb8 15. Rf3 b6 {Not necessary and the immediae Be6 is better.} 16. Raf1 Be6 17. Qf2 Bxd5 18. exd5 f6 19. e4 Rc8 20. c3 Qd7 21. Qg3 Kh7 22. h4 f5 {h5 is better. Fritz also likes Qb5} 23. h5 fxe4 {Black realized immediately that he had overlooked something, but the game is still in Black’s favor. Black should have played f4 or gh. The pawn is not really important. It is access to Black’s king that matters.} 24. hxg6+ Kh8 25. Rf7 Rxf7 26. Rxf7 Qxf7 {Black thought he had to take the rook to avoid mate.} 27. gxf7 Rf8 28. dxe4 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event ""] [Site "ARC"] [Date "2023.06.15"] [Round "3"] [White "Kellum, Kenneth"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D91"] [PlyCount "46"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. Nc3 d5 5. Bg5 c6 6. e3 O-O 7. Bd3 Nbd7 8. O-O Re8 9. cxd5 Nxd5 10. Nxd5 cxd5 11. Rc1 Qb6 12. b3 e5 13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. Bf4 Bg4 15. Be2 Nxf3+ 16. Bxf3 Bxf3 17. Qxf3 d4 18. Rfd1 dxe3 {I thought I had discovered a nead way to eliminate my isolated pawn. Fritz does not approve, seeing the coming rook penetration.} 19. Bxe3 Qa6 20. a4 {White is for choice after either rook moves to the 7th rank with attacks on b7 and f7} Rad8 21. Rxd8 Rxd8 22. Rc7 Qf6 23. Qxf6 Rd1# {If you can’t be good, be lucky.} 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event ""] [Site "ARC"] [Date "2023.06.15"] [Round "3"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Kellum, Kenneth"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B21"] [PlyCount "35"] 1. e4 c5 2. f4 Nc6 3. Nf3 g6 4. Bc4 e6 5. O-O Bg7 6. c3 Nge7 7. d3 O-O 8. Be3 { Fritz gives Black a slight edge after this move. He prefers Qe2 or Bb3} b6 9. Nbd2 {Fritz wants White to play d4 before Black plays d5} d5 10. Bb3 d4 11. cxd4 cxd4 {Blocking off his own pieces. Black is plus after Nd4. White has problems on d3 and b2.} 12. Bf2 Ba6 13. Bc4 {Fritz prefers Nc4. My thought was that b5 would block off Black’s bishop.} b5 14. Bb3 Nb4 15. Qe2 Rc8 16. e5 Nf5 {Renewing defense of d4. White renews his attack on that square.} 17. Qe4 f6 { Fritz shows Black wth a slight edge after Qd7.} 18. Bxe6+ 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event ""] [Site "https://lichess.org/UZ9dWkDf"] [Date "2023.06.15"] [Round "3"] [White "daone309"] [Black "Newman, Steven, bitterroot88"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C46"] [WhiteElo "1634"] [BlackElo "1711"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2023.06.01"] [TimeControl "G/30, 30"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Bc5 4. Bc4 {Fritz points out Ne5 Ne5; d4 Bd6; de Be5 } d6 5. O-O {That’s a little too passive for Fritz who suggests Na4 or d3} Nf6 6. d3 Ng4 {The trade of bishop and knight for rook and pawn is almost always a bad idea. Bg4, threatening Nd4} 7. Ng5 O-O 8. Kh1 {h3. Now Black could simply play Nf2 winning the pawn plus an exchange.} h6 9. Nxf7 {It’s still a bad trade when White does it. Nf3} Rxf7 10. Bxf7+ Kxf7 11. Qf3+ Kg8 12. Ne2 { Preventing Nd3, but Black’s attack now gets very strong.} Qh4 13. h3 Bd7 {That was a shock. I expected Nf2+} 14. Be3 Rf8 15. Qg3 Nxf2+ {Fritz says trade queens first. Now White could recapture with the bishop on f2 and then also on g3 saving a piece.} 16. Kg1 Qxg3 17. Nxg3 Bxe3 18. Kh2 Nd4 19. Nh5 Nf3+ { Another shocking move. I expected Nc2. Fritz likes Nc2, but also likes chasing the White knight with Be8 or g6.} 20. gxf3 Rxf3 21. Kg2 Rxh3 22. Ng3 Rh4 23. Rfe1 {Two passed, connected pawns down, White is not ready to trade rook for two minor pieces.} Ng4 24. Nf5 Rh2+ 25. Kf3 Bxf5 26. exf5 h5 27. Rh1 Rf2+ 28. Kg3 Rxf5 29. c3 g6 30. Rad1 Nf2 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Rated Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/3eqd5PiY"] [Date "2023.06.08"] [Round "2"] [White "Goodnight, Renton, Syonico"] [Black "Newman, Steven, bitterroot88"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C55"] [WhiteElo "1185"] [BlackElo "1718"] [PlyCount "54"] [EventDate "2023.06.08"] [TimeControl "G/30; 30"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. O-O d5 5. exd5 Nxd5 6. Nc3 Be6 7. d4 {Both sides miss the win of a piece by Nc3} f6 8. dxe5 Nxc3 9. Qxd8+ Rxd8 10. bxc3 { ruining the pawn structure and allowing Black to win a piece with tempo. Be6 is better.} Bxc4 11. exf6 {Re1} Bxf1 12. Bg5 Ba6 13. Re1+ Kf7 14. fxg7 Bxg7 15. Bxd8 Rxd8 16. Ng5+ Kg8 17. Ne6 Re8 18. h3 Bc4 19. Nxg7 Rxe1+ 20. Kh2 Kxg7 21. g4 Ne5 22. Kg3 Bd5 23. h4 Nf3 24. h5 h6 25. a4 Ng5 26. f4 Re3+ 27. Kh4 Rh3# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/pX6YGd4H"] [Date "2023.06.08"] [Round "2"] [White "Goodnight, Renton, Syonico"] [Black "Witte, Jared, Wittyboythe3rd"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C57"] [WhiteElo "1175"] [BlackElo "1500"] [PlyCount "117"] [EventDate "2023.06.08"] [TimeControl "G/30; 30"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 {Bc5 first to meet Ng5 with 0-0} 4. Ng5 Bc5 {d5; ed Na5} 5. Nxf7 Rf8 6. Nxd8 Nxd8 7. Nc3 d6 8. O-O Bg4 9. Qe1 Nc6 10. d3 O-O-O 11. Bg5 h6 12. Bxf6 gxf6 13. Nd5 a6 14. Bb3 Nd4 15. f3 Be6 16. Ne7+ Kb8 17. Ng6 Rg8 18. Bxe6 Rxg6 19. Bf5 Nxf3+ 20. Kh1 Nxe1 21. Raxe1 Rg5 22. c4 Rdg8 23. g3 h5 24. Be6 R8g7 25. Rf5 {Not Rf6 when h4 is dangerous. For example: gh Rg1+; Rg1 Rg1 mate!} h4 26. Rxg5 Rxg5 27. Rg1 {Putting the rook in front of the bishop. gh is playable} hxg3 28. Rxg3 Rh5 29. Kg2 b5 30. b3 c6 31. h3 Rh8 32. Rg6 Rf8 33. h4 Kb7 34. h5 Kb6 {The passed pawn is deadly and must be stopped. Be3} 35. h6 bxc4 36. bxc4 Kc7 {Last chance for Rh8} 37. Kh3 {Rg8 and the pawn queens.} d5 38. exd5 cxd5 39. Bxd5 Kd6 40. Kh4 Be3 41. Kh5 Rh8 42. a3 Kc5 43. Rxf6 Kd4 44. Rxa6 Kxd3 45. Ra8 {Re6 Now Black should take the h-pawn} Rh7 46. Ra6 e4 47. Re6 Bc1 48. a4 {Be4+ is more to the point} e3 49. Bf3 Kxc4 50. Re4+ Kd3 51. Kg6 Ra7 52. h7 Ra8 53. Rd4+ {Re3+} Kxd4 54. Bxa8 e2 55. h8=Q+ Kd3 56. Qd8+ Kc4 57. Qc8+ Kb4 58. Qxc1 Kxa4 59. Qe1 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/DXTGMVRI"] [Date "2023.06.08"] [Round "2"] [White "Witte, Jared, Wittyboythe3rd"] [Black "Goodnight, Renton, Syonico"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "1500"] [BlackElo "1175"] [PlyCount "86"] [EventDate "2023.06.08"] [TimeControl "G/30; 15"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. Bg5 d6 7. Nc3 a6 {White threatens Nd5 busting open Black’s castle. To prevent this Black should play Be6 or h6.} 8. a3 b5 9. Bd5 Bb7 10. Bxf6 {Trade when it improves your position. This improves Black’s position. White should play Ba2 threatening to bring the knight to d5.} Qxf6 11. b4 Bd4 12. Qd2 h6 13. Nxd4 exd4 14. Ne2 Qg5 {This does not address the problem on d4. Fritz suggests Nd8 eventually allowing a pawn to protect d4} 15. f4 Qe7 16. c3 {White could win the d-pawn by trading on c6} dxc3 17. Qxc3 Qd7 18. Nd4 {Right idea: attack the pinned piece, but it fails to a tactic. Rac1} Nxd4 19. Qxd4 {Not Bb7 when Ne2+ wins White’s queen.} Bxd5 { This still leaves White with a small advantage. Fritz suggests c5; bc dc; Qc5 Bd5; Qd5; ed Rfd8 recovering the sacrificed pawn with good play along the d-file.} 20. Qxd5 g6 21. Rac1 Rac8 22. e5 Qe6 23. Qe4 dxe5 24. fxe5 Rfd8 25. Rc6 Qd5 {When I saw this I immediately thought Rg6+ but I didn’t see more than a draw by perpetual check. Fritz shows Rg6+ Kh7; Rf7+ Qf7; Rf6+ Kg8; Qg4+ Qg7; Rg6} 26. Qxd5 Rxd5 27. Re1 Rxd3 {Advantage to Black after either Ra3 or Rd6} 28. e6 {Advantage to Black after either Ra3 or Rd6} fxe6 29. Rexe6 {Now White’s rooks get very active.} Rd1+ 30. Kf2 Rf8+ 31. Ke2 Ra1 32. Rxg6+ Kh7 33. Rxh6+ Kg7 34. Rxa6 Ra2+ 35. Kd3 Rxg2 36. h4 Rg3+ 37. Kd4 Rf4+ 38. Kc5 Rf5+ 39. Kd4 Rg4+ 40. Kc3 {Ke3 Now White is in danger of getting mated.} Rc4+ {Rf3+ The rooks need to work as a team} 41. Kd3 c6 {That should lose. Either White rook can take with advantage. The correct route would be Rf3+ and Rxa3} 42. h5 Kxh6 43. Rxc6+ Rxc6 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Rated Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/x2OVdkih"] [Date "2023.06.08"] [Round "2"] [White "JosephOAlford"] [Black "Newman, Steven, bitterroot88"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2064"] [BlackElo "1723"] [PlyCount "119"] [EventDate "2023.06.08"] [TimeControl "G/30; 30"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Bg5+ Ke8 10. Rd1 Be6 11. Nc3 h6 {Fritz is already showing a slight plus for Black based on his two bishops. The proper reply is the ugly Bd2} 12. Bf4 g5 13. Bg3 Nxg3 14. hxg3 Bg7 15. Re1 Ke7 16. Nd4 Rad8 17. Nxe6 Kxe6 18. f4 f6 19. exf6+ Kxf6 20. Ne4+ Kf5 21. c3 Rhe8 22. Nc5 Rxe1+ 23. Rxe1 b6 {Avoiding gf; gf Kf4; Ne6+} 24. Ne6 Rd7 25. Nxg7+ Rxg7 26. fxg5 Kxg5 27. Re6 c5 28. Kf2 Rf7+ 29. Ke2 h5 30. Re4 a5 31. a4 Rf6 {This gives White a chance. Rd7 or Rh7} 32. Re7 c6 33. Rb7 Kg4 34. Rg7+ Kf5 35. Rh7 Kg5 36. Rb7 Kg4 37. Rg7+ {In effect, offering a draw. Here and later Black need only repeat the previous sequence.} Kf5 38. Rb7 Rg6 39. Kf3 Rf6 40. Ke3 {Offering the draw again, but White is now better after Rb6} Re6+ 41. Kf3 Re4 42. Rxb6 {Slightly better for White, but Fritz suggests Rf7+ Ke6; Ke4 Kf7; Ke5 Ke7; c4 and Black is out of moves} Rxa4 43. Rxc6 c4 44. Rc5+ Kg6 45. Kf4 Kh6 46. Rc6+ Kh7 47. Kg5 Ra2 48. Rc7+ Kg8 49. Rb7 a4 50. Kxh5 {Rb4 is much stronger, says Fritz.} a3 51. bxa3 Rxa3 52. Kg6 Ra8 {If Kf8 the Rf7+ and Rf3} 53. Rc7 Ra6+ 54. Kf5 Ra5+ 55. Ke4 Rg5 56. Kf4 Rg7 {Losing immediately. Ra5} 57. Rxg7+ Kxg7 58. Ke5 Kg6 59. Kd5 Kg5 60. Kxc4 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event ""] [Site "The Proving Ground"] [Date "2023.06.06"] [Round "1"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Witte, Jared, Wittyboy3"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C65"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2023.06.06"] [SourceDate "2023.06.06"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Bc5 5. Nxe5 Nxe5 6. d4 Bd6 7. dxe5 Bxe5 8. f4 Bxb2 {Bd6 e5; Bc5+} 9. Bxb2 O-O 10. e5 Ne4 11. Qf3 d5 12. Ba3 Re8 {Fritz suggests c5} 13. Bxe8 Qxe8 14. c4 {Fritz suggests Qb6+ and Qd4} Qc6 15. cxd5 Qxd5 16. Rd1 Qxd1+ {if the queen leaves the file White mates} 17. Qxd1 Bf5 18. Nd2 Rd8 19. Nxe4 Rxd1+ 20. Rxd1 h6 {Of course White saw the back rank mate before offering the queen.} 21. Ng3 Be6 22. Rd2 g5 23. f5 Bc4 24. Rd8+ Kh7 25. Be7 b5 26. Bf6 Bxa2 27. Rh8# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event ""] [Site "The Proving Ground"] [Date "2023.06.06"] [Round "1"] [White "Witte, Jared, Wittyboy3"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C50"] [PlyCount "30"] [SourceDate "2023.06.06"] 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nc6 3. Nf3 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. Nc3 Bg4 7. h3 Bh5 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bxf6 {You should not open a line to your king. Bh4 or Be3} gxf6 10. g4 { Now Black has an edge. Fritz suggests Na4 to remove the dangerous bishop or Bb5 to keep the knight from joining the attack on f3.} Qd7 11. Ne2 {if White takes the bishop then Qh3 and the open file is deadly, but White can play Nd5 with a threat on f6} Bxg4 12. hxg4 Qxg4+ 13. Kh1 Qxf3+ 14. Kg1 {On Kh2 Bf2 is deadly} Rg8+ 15. Kh2 Qg2# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Rated Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/ivny2oI4"] [Date "2023.06.01"] [Round "1"] [White "daone309"] [Black "bitterroot88"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "1623"] [BlackElo "1741"] [PlyCount "29"] [EventDate "2023.06.01"] [TimeControl "G/30; 30"] 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nc6 3. Nf3 Bc5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. Bg5 {In a symmetrical position, it is important to strike first. Black could have prevented this attack with h6 instead of d6.} Be6 7. Nd5 Bxd5 {h6 now encourages White to open the g-file for Black.} 8. Bxd5 O-O 9. O-O h6 10. Bh4 Qd7 {But you don’t want the file opened while your king is on it. g5 and then Nd5} 11. Bxf6 gxf6 12. Nh4 {Fritz suggests Bc6 first so that the Black knight can’t go to e7} Nb4 {The losing move. Black can no longer defend the shattered castle.} 13. Nf5 Nxd5 14. Qg4+ Kh8 15. Qg7# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Rated Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/6WVVPsW4"] [Date "2023.06.01"] [Round "1"] [White "bitterroot88"] [Black "daone309"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D10"] [WhiteElo "1676"] [BlackElo "1656"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] [TimeControl "1800+30"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Bf4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Bf5 5. e3 e6 6. Be2 Be7 7. Nf3 O-O 8. O-O Nbd7 9. Rc1 c5 10. cxd5 exd5 11. h3 Nb6 {Activate the last piece with Rc8} 12. Ne5 Nbd7 13. Bf3 Nxe5 14. Bxe5 Ne4 15. Nxe4 dxe4 16. Bg4 Bxg4 17. Qxg4 f6 18. Bh2 f5 19. Qe2 cxd4 20. Qc4+ Kh8 21. exd4 Rf6 22. d5 b6 23. Rfd1 Bc5 24. Be5 Rg6 25. Bd4 Qg5 26. g3 Bxd4 27. Qxd4 h5 {Which is stronger, White’s potential queen or Black’s mating attack? Here f5 would gain an important tempo but Black is afraid of a back-rank mate. Fritz likes Rd8 or Rd6 to stop the pawn.} 28. d6 h4 29. d7 Rd8 30. Rc8 hxg3 31. f4 Qe7 {After ef (in passing) Rd8+ Qd8; Rc1 White is on top.} 32. Kg2 Kh7 33. Rxd8 Qxd8 34. b4 {Rc1} Rh6 35. Qe5 Qh4 36. Qxf5+ g6 37. Qf7+ Kh8 38. d8=Q+ 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/9UvrWLQW"] [Date "2023.06.01"] [Round "1"] [White "Wittyboythe3rd"] [Black "JosephOAlford"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "1500"] [BlackElo "2064"] [PlyCount "50"] [EventDate "2023.06.01"] [TimeControl "G/30, 30"] {A new player. He lost the first 2 games to opening tricks, but then got steadily stronger for the last 3 games} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O d6 5. Nc3 Bg4 6. Be2 Nf6 7. d3 h6 8. Be3 Bb6 9. a3 O-O 10. h3 Bh5 11. g4 {Fritz likes Nd2 to eliminate Black’s bishop.} Bg6 12. Nd5 Nxd5 13. exd5 Ne7 14. c4 f5 15. Nh4 fxg4 16. hxg4 Bh7 17. Qd2 {The knight should retreat.} Nxd5 18. cxd5 Qxh4 19. Rfc1 Rf7 20. Bxb6 axb6 21. Rc3 Raf8 22. Rf1 {Finally, a piece to the king-side, but it’s too late. Black ends the game with a cute little sacrifice.} Rf3 23. Bxf3 Rxf3 24. Rxc7 Qxg4+ 25. Kh1 Rh3# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/cqHpOUz2"] [Date "2023.06.01"] [Round "1"] [White "Wittyboythe3rd"] [Black "JosephOAlford"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B02"] [WhiteElo "1500"] [BlackElo "2064"] [PlyCount "44"] [EventDate "2023.06.01"] [TimeControl "G/30, 30"] 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. Bc4 {c4 is better. I like Reuben Fine’s treatment: c4 Nb6; c5 Nd5; Nc3} Nb6 4. d3 {Bb3. Black’s knight is somewhat out-of-play in this opening. A chance to trade it for White’s bishop is a dream come true.} Nxc4 5. dxc4 e6 6. Nf3 Bc5 7. O-O O-O 8. Be3 b6 {Black could trade, leaving White with two sets of doubled pawns.} 9. Nc3 Bb7 10. Nd4 Nc6 11. Nxc6 Bxc6 12. Bxc5 bxc5 13. Qd3 {Free pawn for Black. Fritz suggests Qg4} Qg5 14. g3 Qxe5 15. Rfe1 Qh5 16. a3 f5 17. b4 f4 18. bxc5 fxg3 19. fxg3 Rf3 20. Qe2 Raf8 21. Rf1 Rxg3+ 22. hxg3 Qh1# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "simul 2 players"] [Site "https://lichess.org/QYIUufH0"] [Date "2023.07.20"] [Round "3"] [White "daone309"] [Black "JosephOAlford"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C23"] [WhiteElo "1596"] [BlackElo "2121"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2023.07.06"] [TimeControl "G/30; 30"] 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. d3 d6 4. a3 Qf6 5. Qe2 Nc6 6. c3 Be6 7. Bxe6 Qxe6 8. Nf3 Nf6 9. O-O O-O 10. h3 Nd7 11. b4 Bb6 12. Bb2 f5 13. Nbd2 fxe4 14. Qxe4 Rf4 15. Qe2 Raf8 16. Rae1 Nf6 17. d4 e4 18. Ng5 Qa2 19. Ndxe4 Nxe4 20. Nxe4 Rxe4 { Fritz does not like this exchange of rook for two minor pieces, showing White a full piece ahead.} 21. Qxe4 Qxb2 22. Qd5+ Kh8 23. b5 {Thinking too small. Fritz shows (this move or next) Qf7 Rg8; Re8 with a winning game.} Nxd4 24. cxd4 Bxd4 {Qd4 is needed to cope with Qf7} 25. Re7 Bxf2+ {I had planned Rf2; Re8+ Rf8 discovered check and saw that QxB would threaten mate and the queen. I did not see that Black can then play QxQ+ and win. Rf2 is the better move.} 26. Kh1 Qe2 {I saw that Qf6; Re2 would win the bishop.} 27. Rxe2 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "simul vrs 2 players"] [Site "https://lichess.org/gzrulbYJ"] [Date "2023.07.20"] [Round "3"] [White "bitterroot88"] [Black "JosephOAlford"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D20"] [WhiteElo "1758"] [BlackElo "2121"] [PlyCount "96"] [EventDate "2023.07.06"] [TimeControl "G/30; 30"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 e5 4. Nf3 exd4 5. Bxc4 {Fritz likes either capture of the d-pawn better} c5 {Blocking off the bishop does not appeal to Fritz. He likes Bb4+ or Nc6} 6. O-O {Too passive Fritz likes Ne5 or Qa4+} Nc6 7. Re1 Be7 8. e5 Bg4 9. Na3 a6 10. Bf4 b5 11. Nxb5 {Black sees a line of pawns marching down the board and decides two pawns for a piece is a better deal. Fritz says retreat the bishop} axb5 12. Bxb5 Qb6 13. a4 {Bc6+ Qc6; Nd4 still very much favors Black} g5 14. Bg3 h5 15. h3 Bd7 16. b3 {That doesn’t do anything. Fritz likes Nd2 heading for c4 or e4. Now Black blasts open the White king-side.} g4 17. hxg4 hxg4 18. Nh2 Nh6 19. Qe2 Nb8 20. Bc4 Be6 21. Qe4 Ra7 22. Bb5+ Nd7 23. Bxd7+ Rxd7 24. Qd3 Qxb3 25. Qa6 Qc4 26. Qc6 Qd5 27. Qb5 c4 28. Qxd5 Rxd5 29. a5 Nf5 30. Nxg4 {Falling into Black’s trap. White loses a piece.} Nxg3 31. fxg3 Bxg4 32. a6 Kd7 33. a7 Ra8 34. Ra6 {Rb1 is better, but after Bc5 White is still lost.} Rb5 35. Re4 Be6 36. Rxd4+ Rd5 37. Re4 c3 38. Kf1 c2 39. Ra1 Rd1+ 40. Ke2 Rxa1 41. Rd4+ Ke8 42. g4 c1=Q 43. g5 Qf1+ 44. Ke3 Re1+ 45. Kd2 Qe2+ 46. Kc3 Rc8+ 47. Rc4 Qxc4+ 48. Kd2 Qe2# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Rated Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/iCLkIX2X"] [Date "2023.07.13"] [Round "2"] [White "bitterroot88"] [Black "daone309"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D10"] [WhiteElo "1732"] [BlackElo "1615"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2023.07.06"] [TimeControl "G/30; 30"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. g3 {White should do something about the threat of dxc4. White could trade on d5 or play e3. Note that this is NOT the …e6 line where White recovers the pawn with advantage.} Nf6 4. Bg2 h6 {Passive. g6 with Bg7 and 0-0 to follow. Black could also take the c-pawn (and keep it) by giving White the center.} 5. Nc3 Bg4 {And now overly aggressive. White’s reply wins a pawn because of the weaknesses on b7 and d5} 6. Qb3 e6 {Saving the wrong pawn. Now Black loses two pawns instead of one. b6 was best.} 7. Qxb7 Nbd7 8. Qxc6 Rc8 9. Qa6 Rxc4 10. e3 {Not a bad move, but just Qa7 and White has two passed connected pawns} Bb4 11. Bd2 O-O {On Ne4 White’s bishop takes the knight. Here and later Qc7 protects a7 and adds to the pressure on c3.} 12. f3 Bf5 13. Nge2 Re8 {It makes sense to open the center with White’s king still there, but Qc7 followed by Bd3 and RxN} 14. a3 {Forcing trades, but Qa7 still begs to be played} Bxc3 15. Bxc3 e5 16. Qxa7 exd4 17. Bxd4 Bd3 18. Nf4 Bh7 19. O-O g5 20. b3 {Ne2 is playable. Nh3 is best. White blunders a piece.} Rc7 21. Qa4 gxf4 22. e4 {Hoping to open a file for his rook. Fritz suggests gxf4} dxe4 23. Bxf6 Qxf6 24. fxe4 Qe7 25. Rxf4 Rc2 26. b4 Qe5 27. Raf1 Qd4+ {White has 3 pawns for the piece, but White has 3 minutes against Black’s 18 minutes.} 28. Kh1 Bxe4 {But it is Black who blunders in time trouble. Rec8 is better.} 29. Bxe4 Rxe4 30. Qa8+ Nf8 31. Qxe4 Qd2 32. R4f2 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event ""] [Site "Barnes & Noble"] [Date "2023.08.06"] [Round "2"] [White "Erickson, Darren"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C00"] [PlyCount "32"] [EventDate "2023.08.06"] [SourceDate "2023.08.06"] 1. e4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Bd3 {d4 first and then Bd3. This move blocks in White’s pieces.} Bd6 5. Qe2+ Ne7 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 Nbc6 8. b3 Bg4 9. h3 {Bb2 is needed to keep Black’s knight from joining the attack on f3} Nd4 10. Qd1 Nxf3+ 11. gxf3 Bxh3 12. Nc3 Ng6 13. Ne2 Qg5+ 14. Ng3 Bxg3 15. fxg3 Qxg3+ 16. Kh1 Qg2# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event ""] [Site "Barnes & Noble"] [Date "2023.08.06"] [Round "2"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Erickson, Darren"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A21"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "2023.08.06"] [SourceDate "2023.08.06"] 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 d6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 Ne7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O f6 {Nc6} 8. Bd2 Nbc6 9. Qc1 a6 {Beginning a plan to lose a pawn. Re8 would allow Bh6 to be met with Bh8} 10. Bh6 b5 {Rb8 first} 11. Bxg7 Kxg7 12. cxb5 axb5 13. Nxb5 Bg4 14. Nc3 Nf5 15. h3 Bxf3 16. Bxf3 {Now c6 is a weakness that will cost Black the game. Rb8} Nfd4 17. Bg2 Qd7 18. e3 Ne6 19. d4 exd4 20. exd4 Nexd4 21. Rd1 Rfe8 22. b4 Ne2+ 23. Nxe2 Rxe2 24. Qxc6 Qxc6 25. Bxc6 Raxa2 26. Rxa2 Rxa2 27. Re1 Kf8 28. Re8+ Kf7 29. Bd5+ Kxe8 30. Bxa2 Kd7 31. Kf1 Kc6 32. Bc4 Kb6 33. Ke2 d5 34. Bxd5 Kb5 35. Ke3 Kxb4 36. Bg8 h6 37. Bf7 g5 38. Ke4 c5 39. Kf5 Kc3 40. Kxf6 Kd4 41. f4 gxf4 42. gxf4 c4 43. Bxc4 Kxc4 44. Kg6 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event ""] [Site "The Proving Ground"] [Date "2023.08.01"] [Round "1"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Frank, Cole"] [Result "0-1"] [PlyCount "38"] 1. e4 c5 2. c3 d5 3. Bd3 {Fritz is not impressed. Trade on d5 and advance d4.} dxe4 4. Bxe4 Nf6 5. Bf3 e5 6. Qe2 Bd6 7. Qb5+ {Fishing. d3 is recommended.} Qd7 8. Na3 {Misplacing another piece. Black is not going to trade queens. Trade on d7 and play d3} e4 9. Be2 Nc6 10. Nc4 O-O 11. Nxd6 Qxd6 12. f3 a6 13. Qa4 b5 14. Bxb5 {I was pleased with this successful little trap. Fritz sees deeper and says retreat the queen.} axb5 15. Qxa8 Bh3 {Good enough. Fritz likes ef when White’s king comes under ferocious attack.} 16. Qxf8+ Kxf8 17. Nxh3 exf3 18. O-O Ng4 19. g3 {Rf3 is forced. White has an extra piece, but it is still asleep.} Qh6 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event ""] [Site ""] [Date "2023.09.01"] [Round ""] [White "Erickson, Darren"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A46"] [PlyCount "94"] [EventDate "2023.09.01"] [SourceDate "2023.09.01"] 1. d4 e6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 c5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. Nbd2 Be7 6. O-O a6 7. b3 Qc7 8. Bb2 cxd4 9. Nxd4 e5 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. e4 O-O 12. Nf3 d6 13. c4 Bg4 14. h3 Bh5 15. a3 {These queen-side pawn moves are not effective.} h6 16. b4 Nh7 17. g4 {A serious weakening of the king-side. Fritz suggests Be2} Bg6 18. Ne1 {this loses a pawn. Fritz suggests Qc2.} Ng5 19. Qe2 Nxh3+ 20. Kh2 Nf4 21. Qf3 h5 22. Bc1 hxg4 23. Qxg4 Bh5 24. Qg3 Ng6 {Better to trade the knight on d3.} 25. Bg5 { Better Rh1 or Qh3. The best defense is a good offense and those open lines extend both ways.} Kh7 {At this point the game was adjourned. We restarted on 9/1. I rather liked this move, preparing Rh8. Fritz says just trade of g5 and play Nf4} 26. Bxe7 Qxe7 27. Nf3 Bxf3 28. Qxf3 Qh4+ 29. Kg1 {Qh3 lets Black trade on h3 and then fork on f5} Nf4 30. Be2 {Black’s last prevented this. Now white must play Rfd and move the king rapidly left.} Rh8 31. Qg4 Nxe2+ 32. Qxe2 Kg8 33. f3 Qh1+ 34. Kf2 Rh2+ 35. Ke1 Rxe2+ 36. Kxe2 Qh2+ 37. Rf2 Qf4 38. Rh1 a5 39. Rfh2 Qxh2+ 40. Rxh2 axb4 41. Kd1 {ab allows Ra2+ winning the rook. I saw this line when I sacrificed the queen.} Rxa3 42. Rb2 c5 43. Kc2 Rxf3 44. Rb1 Rc3+ 45. Kd2 Rxc4 46. Ra1 Rxe4 47. Ra8+ Kh7 {White just wanted the spite check} 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Casual Correspondence game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/Z1duGTI5"] [Date "2023.10.05"] [Round "1"] [White "ZelCoMNight"] [Black "bitterroot88"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C80"] [WhiteElo "1500"] [BlackElo "1125"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2023.10.06"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. Re1 Nc5 7. Bxc6 dxc6 8. Nxe5 Be6 {This is the move I always play. Fritz likes Be7} 9. d4 Nd7 10. Bg5 { Black can just take this piece. White considered only f6; Qh5+} Be7 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. c4 O-O-O 13. Nc3 {Fritz likes Nf3 with equality. Now advantage shifts to Black after Ne5; Re5 Qb4} Rhe8 14. Nxc6 {A little too aggressive.} bxc6 15. d5 Nb6 16. Qb3 {White returns the favor. Fritz says Qe2 keeps pressure on e6 and e7 (and a3)} cxd5 17. cxd5 Bxd5 {Nd5 is better. Fritz says Black was almost a full piece ahead and this returns most of that advantage.} 18. Rxe7 Bxb3 19. Rxe8 Rxe8 20. axb3 Kb7 21. Kf1 c6 22. Rd1 Kc7 23. Ra1 Kb7 24. Rd1 Kc7 25. g3 {Fritz says play Ra1 and take the draw.} g5 26. Ra1 Kb7 27. Re1 { Black’s pawns are better. White should not trade.} Rxe1+ 28. Kxe1 f5 29. Ne2 c5 30. h4 h6 31. hxg5 hxg5 32. f3 Nd5 33. g4 f4 34. Kd2 Ne3 {Black needs to bring up his king.} 35. Ng1 Nf1+ 36. Kd3 Nh2 {Losing. The knight cannot now escape} 37. Ke2 Kc6 38. Nh3 Kb5 39. Nxg5 Kb4 40. Ne4 a5 41. g5 c4 42. bxc4 Kxc4 43. g6 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Casual Blitz game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/o6NV9SSr"] [Date "2023.10.06"] [Round "1"] [White "ZelCoMNight"] [Black "bitterroot88"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C80"] [WhiteElo "1500"] [BlackElo "1500"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2023.10.06"] [TimeControl "300+3"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. Re1 Nd6 8. Nxe5 Be6 9. d4 Be7 10. Nd2 O-O 11. Ndf3 Nf5 12. b3 Bd6 13. Bb2 Qc8 14. c4 Rd8 15. Qc2 Ne7 16. Ng5 g6 {Fritz says Bf5 protects h7 and chases the White queen.} 17. Nxe6 Qxe6 {fxe6 is bad, but this is worse} 18. Nxc6 Qf5 19. Qxf5 {Even better, says Fritz, is trade on e7 with check and then trade on f5 and then take the free bishop.} Nxf5 20. Nxd8 Rxd8 21. d5 b5 22. Re2 bxc4 23. bxc4 a5 24. Rae1 Kf8 25. a3 a4 26. Bf6 Rc8 27. Ra2 h5 28. Rb1 Nh6 29. Rb5 Ng4 30. Bc3 Re8 31. f3 Nh6 {Ne3 is a more active place for this piece.} 32. Ra5 Ng8 33. Rxa4 Ne7 34. Bb4 Bxb4 35. Rxb4 Nf5 36. a4 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Casual Blitz game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/sXfAtmVu"] [Date "2023.10.06"] [Round "1"] [White "bitterroot88"] [Black "ZelCoMNight"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D06"] [WhiteElo "1500"] [BlackElo "1500"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "2023.10.06"] [TimeControl "300+3"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c5 3. dxc5 e6 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. cxd5 Qxd5 6. Qxd5 exd5 7. Bf4 Nf6 8. Nbd2 Bxc5 9. Rc1 Bb6 10. e3 O-O 11. Bb5 d4 12. O-O dxe3 13. fxe3 Re8 {Pile up on the pinned pawn. Fritz suggests Nd5 as even better.} 14. Nc4 Bd7 15. Nd6 Bxe3+ {Rxd3, says Fritz} 16. Bxe3 Rxe3 17. Nxb7 Rb8 18. Bxc6 Bxc6 19. Rxc6 Rxb7 20. Rc8+ Re8 21. Rfc1 Kf8 {Attack, says Fritz. Rxb2} 22. Rxe8+ Kxe8 23. b3 Rb6 24. Ne5 Ra6 25. Rc8+ Ke7 26. a4 Ke6 27. Nc4 Ne4 {Fritz likes Rc6+. Play on the side where you are stronger.} 28. Re8+ Kf5 29. g4+ Kf4 30. Re7 h6 31. Rxf7+ Kxg4 32. Rxg7+ Kh5 33. Kg2 Rg6+ {Black is trading into a lost ending.} 34. Rxg6 Kxg6 35. b4 Nc3 {Black’s knight moves help the pawns advance. Kf6 is better.} 36. a5 Nd5 37. b5 Nc3 {The knight must go to c7 and then to a6 after the pawn trade on f6.} 38. b6 axb6 39. axb6 Nd5 40. b7 Nf4+ 41. Kf3 Ne6 42. b8=Q Nd4+ 43. Kf2 Nc6 44. Qd6+ 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/jb536SKu"] [Date "2023.10.06"] [Round "1"] [White "JosephOAlford"] [Black "Rhoney, Shawn, Annotator"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C69"] [WhiteElo "1900"] [BlackElo "1948"] [PlyCount "86"] [EventDate "2023.10.06"] [TimeControl "1800+5"] {Annotator at USCF 1948, is the highest rated member of our group.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O f6 6. Nxe5 {For years I have been teaching that this position requires Bd6 or Qd6 or Bg4. “Here f6 is so bad that White can sacrifice the knight for a winning attack.” I have changed my opinion. Fritz suggests d3 or Qe2} fxe5 7. Qh5+ Kd7 8. Qxe5 Qf6 9. d4 {White doesn’t want to trade queens, but there is no good place to put the White queen. Fritz suggests Qc3 or Qg3} Qxe5 10. dxe5 Bc5 11. Bf4 {Fritz suggests Kh1 or Nd2 and Kh1 next to use the f-pawn to protect e5} Ke6 12. Nd2 Ne7 13. Nf3 h6 14. Rad1 g5 15. Bg3 Ng6 16. Nd4+ Bxd4 17. Rxd4 Rf8 18. Rfd1 b6 19. Rd8 Bb7 20. R8d7 Rac8 21. Rg7 Nxe5 22. Bxe5 Kxe5 23. Re7+ {Fritz likes f3 eliminating back rank mate threats.} Kf6 24. Rdd7 Rcd8 {oops, there’s a back rank mate!} 25. e5+ {Again, f3. Now this pawn becomes weak.} Kf5 26. g4+ {f3 is probably better.} Kxg4 27. e6 c5 28. Rxd8 Rxd8 29. Rd7 Re8 30. e7 Bf3 31. Rxc7 Kf5 32. Ra7 Kf6 33. Rxa6 Rxe7 34. Rxb6+ Re6 35. Rxe6+ Kxe6 36. Kf1 Kd5 37. Ke1 Kd4 38. Kd2 c4 39. a3 Bd5 40. Ke2 Be4 41. Kd2 c3+ 42. bxc3+ Kc4 43. a4 Bc6 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event ""] [Site "Red Raccoon"] [Date "2023.10.01"] [Round "1"] [White "Newman, Steven"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D20"] [PlyCount "39"] [EventDate "2023.10.01"] [SourceDate "2023.10.01"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 e5 {Fritz shows a Black advantage from here.} 4. d5 c6 5. Bxc4 Nf6 6. Bg5 Bc5 7. Nf3 {overlooking Black’s threat. White should trade on f6 and then play Nf3} Bxf2+ 8. Kf1 Bc5 9. Nc3 h6 10. Bh4 g5 11. Bg3 Ng4 12. Qe2 Ne3+ 13. Ke1 Qb6 {Fritz says f6 this move or next. There is no hurry. White should take on e5 though Black still has an advantage.} 14. Bb3 cxd5 15. Nxd5 Qa5+ 16. Nd2 Bg4 {Overlooking the fork. Nxd5} 17. Nf6+ Ke7 18. Nxg4 Nc6 19. Nxe3 Nd4 20. Nf5+ 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event ""] [Site "Red Raccoon"] [Date "2023.10.01"] [Round "1"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Newman, Steven"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A34"] [PlyCount "89"] 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 d6 4. Bg2 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bf5 6. O-O e6 7. d3 Be7 8. e4 Bg6 9. Be3 O-O 10. Nh4 Ne5 11. f4 Neg4 12. Bd2 Bh5 13. h3 {Bf3. Now Fritz points out Ne3 winning material.} Nh6 14. Qe1 {Thinking to protect the knight after g4 Nxg4 but Black has 2 pieces aimed at h4. Qb3 or Qc1 look better. Fritz likes the immediate g4} Rb8 15. f5 e5 16. Nf3 Bxf3 17. Bxf3 Kh8 18. g4 Nfg8 {wrong knight} 19. Qg3 Bh4 20. Qg2 f6 21. Kh2 Nf7 22. Ne2 Ng5 23. Be1 Bxe1 24. Raxe1 Nxf3+ 25. Rxf3 Nh6 26. Rh1 Nf7 27. h4 b5 {Fritz is showing a slight Black advantage here. Time to move the action to the queen side. Qa5 is suggested.} 28. b3 bxc4 29. dxc4 a5 30. Nc3 Rg8 31. Rh3 g5 32. Kg1 Rg7 33. Nd5 a4 34. Qc2 Nh6 {This does not work out in Black’s favor. Fritz suggests continuing to play on the queen side with ab and gh and then Ng5 and Rgb} 35. hxg5 Nxg4 36. g6 Rbb7 37. Qe2 axb3 38. axb3 Nh6 {A sacrifice to remove protection fron b3 hoping to use a check to trade off a set of rooks. It is too slow.} 39. Rxh6 Rxb3 40. Rxh7+ Rxh7 41. Rxh7+ Kg8 42. Rh8+ Kxh8 43. Qh2+ Kg8 44. Qh7+ Kf8 45. Qf7# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "St John's Lutheran Church"] [Site "St John's Lutheran Church"] [Date "2023.11.09"] [Round "2"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Newman, Steven"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E72"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2023.11.02"] [SourceDate "2023.11.09"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. d4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 d6 5. e4 O-O 6. Nc3 e5 {Fritz prefers c5 or Nbd7, each with a tiny plus for Black} 7. d5 Nbd7 8. Nge2 Rb8 9. O-O Ne8 10. f4 f5 11. fxe5 Nxe5 12. Nf4 Nxc4 13. Nb5 {Only now seeing that Qa4 Nb6; Qa7 Ra8 loses the queen} a6 14. Nd4 fxe4 {Here Qe7 favors Black and Bd4+ is equal per Fritz.} 15. Bxe4 Nf6 16. Bd3 Ne5 17. Nde6 Qe7 18. Nxf8 Bxf8 19. Bc2 b5 20. Ne6 Bb7 {The knight must go. Fritz likes either Be6 or c6} 21. Bg5 Bg7 22. Nxg7 Bxd5 23. Bxf6 Nf3+ 24. Rxf3 Bxf3 25. Qxf3 Qxg7 26. Bxg7 Kxg7 27. Qc3+ 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "St John's Lutheran Church"] [Site "St John's Lutheran Church"] [Date "2023.11.09"] [Round "2"] [White "Newman, Steven"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D20"] [PlyCount "91"] [EventDate "2023.11.09"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 e5 4. d5 c6 5. Bxc4 Nf6 6. Nc3 Bb4 7. Qc2 cxd5 8. exd5 Nxd5 9. Bd2 Bxc3 10. Bxc3 Nxc3 11. Qxc3 O-O 12. Ne2 Nc6 13. Rd1 Qe7 14. O-O Be6 15. Rfe1 Rac8 16. b3 a6 17. Ng3 f6 {Blunder. Fritz says trade bishops.} 18. Nf5 Qf7 19. Nd6 Qe7 20. Bxe6+ Qxe6 21. Nxc8 Rxc8 22. Qc4 Qxc4 23. bxc4 Nb4 24. a4 Rxc4 25. Rd8+ Kf7 26. Rd7+ Kg6 27. Rxb7 Nd3 28. Ra1 Nc5 {Fritz likes Rc2 attacking f2. I think getting the queen-side pawns off the board and forming a king-side bunker gives Black a better chance to draw.} 29. Ra7 Nxa4 { Missing Nb3; Rb1 Ra4 when the mate threat protects the knight!} 30. Rxa6 Nb2 31. R6a3 h5 32. Rg3+ Kh6 33. h3 Na4 34. Kh2 Nc5 35. Ra7 Ne6 36. Raa3 Nf4 37. Rgc3 Rb4 38. Rab3 Ra4 39. Rc2 Ne6 40. Rcb2 Rc4 41. g3 Nd4 42. Ra3 Ne6 43. h4 Rc7 44. Kh3 Nd4 45. g4 {From now, Fritz judges the game equal.} hxg4+ 46. Kxg4 {Game abandoned – out of time} 1/2-1/2 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "TCCC Casual Game"] [Site "Barnes & Noble"] [Date "2023.12.31"] [White "Erickson, Darren"] [Black "Alrord, Joseph"] [Result "0-1"] [UTCDate "2024.01.14"] [UTCTime "21:50:31"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "B01"] [Opening "Scandinavian Defense: Modern Variation"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/LaughingVulcan"] 1. e4 { The game is told from White’s perspective here, utilzing Stockfish 15 to aid analysis. } 1... d5 2. exd5 Nf6 { Queen takes is the most popular option in my bases, but this works just as well. } (2... Qxd5) 3. Bc4 { Not very common, give a check or use d4 to re-establish the center and give back the pawn are much more common. } 3... Nxd5 4. Bxd5?! $17 { Not at all common, there was no need to lose a good White Bishop here, gives black initiative and advantage. In this case Darren was thinking to reset the board and hopefully take initiative by sniping at the Queen when she takes – that isn’t borne out even though the Queen must retake. } 4... Qxd5 5. Nf3 $19 Bg4 6. d3?! $146 { d3 is a novelty in my base. Nc3 and O-O have been played here with advantage to Black. It’s like White forgot he was supposed to start chasing the Queen. White isn’t getting the initiative that was hoped for in any event. } (6. Nc3 Qc6 7. d3 Nd7) 6... Nc6 7. Nbd2?? $19 { Be3 is definitely better here. Black is about to bring in more artillery. } 7... O-O-O 8. b3 Nd4?! { Pawn moves …e5 or …f5 are more solid here according to Stockfish. } 9. O-O e5 10. c4?! { Not the time for attack yet. } 10... Nxf3+ 11. Nxf3 Qd6?! { Black preserves the Queens but the pressure comes off. There was nothing to fear here with trading Queens. } (11... Bxf3 { This is Stockfish analysis… } 12. cxd5 Bxd1 13. Rxd1 Rxd5 14. Bb2 Bd6 15. Kf1 Rd8 16. Rac1 f5 17. Ke2 g6 18. Rc4 b6 19. h4 Be7 20. Rdc1 R8d7 21. R1c2 b5 22. Rc6 Bxh4 { -4.87 per Stockfish. }) 12. h3 Bxf3?? $10 { Having preserved the Queen, Stockfish believes preserving the Bishop is also called for. This allows White to equalize. } (12... Bf5 { Slightly better, but retreat to h5 would also work. }) 13. Qxf3 Qxd3 14. Qxd3?? $19 { White, emboldened, blunders. Trading Queens was not correct and gives the advantage right back to Black. } (14. Qxf7 { Equalize! } 14... Bc5 15. Be3 Bxe3 16. fxe3 Qxe3+ 17. Kh2 Rd7 18. Qf5 g6 19. Qe6 Qc5 20. Rae1 Qd6 21. Rxe5 Qxe6 22. Rxe6 a5 23. Re5 b6 24. c5 Rhd8 25. cxb6 cxb6 26. Rc1+ Kb8 $10 { 0.00 Still looks very equal. }) 14... Rxd3 15. Be3 Bb4 16. Rad1 Rhd8 17. Rxd3 { The trade doesn’t help, Black is still winning, but on the other hand doesn’t make the bleeding worse. } 17... Rxd3 18. Rb1 f5 19. g3 h6 20. a4?? { Blunder – White underestimates Black’s kingside pawn majority. } 20... a5 21. Kf1 Kd7?! { But so does Black… …g5 was required to keep up the pressure. Black is still commandingly winning, just less so than previous. } (21... g5 22. Ke2 Rc3 23. f4 Rc2+ 24. Kd3 Rh2 25. fxe5 Rxh3 26. e6 Rxg3) 22. Ke2 e4 23. Rd1 Rd6?? { Letting White equalize again relies more pressure, but Black may still have enough with the single pawn advantage plus advanced position kingside. } 24. Rxd6+ Bxd6 25. f3 (25. g4 { better, defensively, thought it seems counter-intuitive to me. }) 25... Bxg3 26. fxe4 f4?? $10 { Black allows complete equalization, if only White had seen it fully. } 27. Bd4 { This is still equal, even though Stockfish liked Bd2 better. } (27. Bd2 b6 28. Kf3 c5 29. Bc3 g5 30. Bg7 h5 31. Bf6 Bh4 32. Be5 Kd8 33. Bb8 Bg3 34. Be5) 27... g5 28. Kf3 { This was OK. } 28... Ke6 29. Kg4?? $19 { This was not. } 29... b6?? $10 { But Black missed the needed …h5+ White is given one escape hatch with 30. c5. } (29... h5+ 30. Kf3 Be1 { And now Black can go to town. } 31. c5 Bb4 32. c6 b6 33. Bh8 Be7 34. Bc3 Bf6 35. Be1 Kd6 { And we’re at Zugzwang for White, at least, that’s the way I read the computer analysis here. } 36. h4 gxh4) 30. Kh5?? $19 { And completely misses the situation that his King was holding Black from …f3. Having done so, White sees promotion and the game as inevitable. } (30. c5 bxc5 31. Bc3 Bf2 32. Bxa5 Kd6 33. Kf3 Bd4 34. h4 Be5 (34... gxh4 35. Bd2 c4 36. bxc4 Kc5 37. Bxf4 Bc3 38. Bxh6 Kxc4 39. Be3 { Stilll 0.00 }) 35. Be1 Kc6 36. Kg4 Bd4 37. Kf3 { (the key being White sees he can’t allow f3 to occur without the King there to take.) }) 30... f3 { After this move, White is tired and is lost and knows it, and resigns. } 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.