Bloomington Normal Chess Club

July 2020 Virtual Tournaments (Plural!)

In July we tried a little expansion, playing a US Chess Federation online-rated tournament through Chess.com, and our monthly unrated via Lichess.org. All three rounds are finished, and the games are below. We’ll have a little fun with an Arena on the 30th!

Link to Round 1 Games for download – both tournaments.
Link to Rounds 2 and 3 games for download – both tournaments.
All Games in Both Tournaments Download file.

[Event "July 2020 Online USCF Rated Tournament"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2020.07.23"] [Round "3"] [White "Kopula, Panduragan"] [Black "Bafna, Mihir"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B00"] [WhiteElo "553"] [BlackElo "1828"] [PlyCount "22"] [EventDate "2020.07.09"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 b6 2. Nf3 Bb7 3. Nc3 g6 4. Bc4 e6 5. d4 Ne7 6. d5 Bg7 7. e5 exd5 8. Nxd5 O-O 9. Bg5 Nbc6 10. O-O h6 11. Bh4 g5 {At this point Black resigned. Mihir immedately protested. What just happened? I did not resign. Tournament Director Darren Erickson got involved. After some negotiation, the players agreed to a draw. Very strange.} 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "July 2020 Online Unrated Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/bPwMSnaQ"] [Date "2020.07.24"] [Round "3"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Newman, Steven"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C44"] [WhiteElo "1920"] [PlyCount "91"] [EventDate "2020.07.09"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Bc5 {That’s what I play on the black side, though I have also played Bb4+; c3 dc; bc which just gives White too much development} 5. O-O {Fritz says Ng5 is only equal after Nh6; Nf7 Bb4+ (Nf7; Bf7+ Kf7; Qh5+ snags the bishop); c3 Nf7; Bf7+ Kf7;} (5. Ng5 Nh6 6. Nxf7 Bb4+ 7. c3 Nxf7 8. cxb4 Qe7 9. O-O Qxb4) 5... d6 6. c3 Be6 {Fritz calls that a blunder. he prefers Bg4} 7. Bxe6 fxe6 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. d5 {I had reservations about this plan. White has the better game and might just continue to develop with Nc3 or Bg5. Fritz likes d5.} exd5 10. exd5 Nce7 11. Ng5 Nf6 12. Ne6 Qd7 13. Nxg7+ Kd8 {The other line, rejected during the game, was Bg5 Ned5; Qd5 Qg7; Qb7 Kd7; Bf6 Qf6; Nc3 which seemed to promise Black all the attacking fun} 14. Ne6+ Kc8 15. Nf4 Rg8 {thank you for opening that file for me.} 16. Nc3 Ng4 17. Qe2 {Here and later White would be happy to play Qe6 trading off queens.} Ne5 18. Be3 Nf5 19. Bxb6 axb6 20. Qh5 Kb8 21. Ne6 {Cutting off defense for Black’s knight on f5} Ne7 22. Qxh7 c6 23. Nf4 {Fritz suggests f4 which I never considered.} Ka7 {I thought that was a dangerous move, bringing the last rook into the attack. Fritz says Rg4 is much stronger.} 24. Qh3 Nf5 25. dxc6 {Good enough, says Fritz, but why not a4 bringing White’s rook into an attack?} bxc6 26. Ne4 {Black’s rooks were close to winning White’s queen} Raf8 {No fork, and by the way, that’s the last of Black’s pieces.} 27. Rfd1 {Another defensive plan is Nh5 and Nef6 or Neg3 (probably after Qa3+). That would lock all of White’s pieces into defense.} d5 28. Qa3+ Kb7 29. Ng3 Nh4 30. Rd4 {Protecting f4 and threatening Ra4, but now there are threats on f3 with a fork of king and rook.} Nc4 {During the game I was afraid of Nef3+; gf Rf4; Rf4 Qh3 when I have the saving move Qe7+ and Qh4. Black’s next blocks that queen check} 31. Qd3 {Now the saving check is at h7} Ne5 32. Qd1 {That’s a blunder. Rg4 equalizes. the threats on f3 and h3 and f4 are just too much. Fritz likes Qe3 protectng f3 and attacking e5} Rh8 {Threatening Qh7, but Rg4 or Qg4 are better} 33. b4 Nhf3+ {I expected Nef3+; gf Rf4; Rf4 Qh3; Rh5 when I expected to survive} 34. gxf3 Rxf4 35. Rxf4 Qh3 36. Qd4 Qxh2+ 37. Kf1 Qh3+ 38. Ke2 Qe6 39. Qe3 Re8 40. Rh1 {Rf5 with f4 to follow is more exact} d4 41. Rh7+ {Not a good idea?} Kb8 42. Rxd4 Qxa2+ {Now I see that Kf1 Qb1+ snags the rook.} 43. Rd2 Qc4+ 44. Kd1 Qxb4 45. Qxe5+ Rxe5 46. Rd8# {wow! My blood pressure was still over 200 an hour later.} 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "July 2020 Online Unrated Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/EQZc7m10"] [Date "2020.07.17"] [Round "2"] [White "Newman, Steven"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C54"] [BlackElo "1920"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2020.07.09"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 Bxd2+ 8. Qxd2 {Nbd2 protects the pawn} Nxe4 9. Qd3 d5 10. Bb5 O-O 11. Bxc6 { Eliminating one of the knights that could chase the queen, but generally you should not trade when you are behind.} bxc6 12. O-O a5 13. b3 {Several times in this game, White ignores threats. Re1 avoids the skewer.} Ba6 14. Qe3 Bxf1 15. Kxf1 Re8 16. Ne5 Qc8 {The threat of Qa6+ protects c6. Fritz does not care for this move, suggesting c5 or a4. I considered both, but still like the queen move} 17. f3 Qa6+ 18. Kg1 Nd6 19. Nc3 {The pin should not be ignored.} f6 20. f4 fxe5 21. dxe5 Nf5 22. Qf2 Qb6 {When ahead, trade} 23. Ne2 Qxf2+ 24. Kxf2 g5 25. g3 gxf4 26. gxf4 Kf7 27. Rc1 Re6 28. Ng3 {Hoping the connected pawns will work magic, but every trade makes Black’s job easier.} Nxg3 29. hxg3 Rb8 30. Ke3 a4 31. Rc3 axb3 32. axb3 Rb4 33. Kf3 d4 34. Rd3 c5 35. Ke4 Reb6 36. g4 Rxb3 37. Rxb3 Rxb3 38. f5 Re3+ 39. Kd5 d3 40. e6+ Ke7 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "July 2020 Online USCF Rated Tournament"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2020.07.16"] [Round "2"] [White "Kumar, Prithiv"] [Black "Bafna, Mihir"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E20"] [WhiteElo "1387"] [BlackElo "1828"] [PlyCount "45"] [EventDate "2020.07.09"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bd2 c5 5. a3 Bxc3 6. Bxc3 cxd4 7. Bxd4 Nc6 8. e3 O-O 9. Nf3 Ne4 10. Bd3 Ng5 11. O-O f5 12. Bc3 d6 13. Nxg5 Qxg5 14. f4 Qe7 15. Rf3 e5 16. Rg3 Be6 17. b4 Rf7 18. b5 e4 {If the knight leaves then Black loses a pawn on e5. White could still win a pawn with bc ed; cb Qb7; Qd3, but the c-pawn is so weak that it will probably fall. However, the key factor here is that the move unleashes the bishop on g7.} 19. Be2 Nd8 20. Qd4 {Good enough. Fritz suggests Bh5 now} Kf8 21. Rd1 Rc8 22. Bb4 Ke8 23. Bxd6 {Black resigns because Qd7; Bh5 g6; Qh8+ forces mate. Fritz shows Qf6; Qf6 Rf6; Rg7 Nf7; Rg8+ Kd7; Be5+ killing the rook} 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "July 2020 Online Unrated Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/EtFYYxwl"] [Date "2020.07.17"] [Round "2"] [White "Bhamidip, Nishant"] [Black "Erickson, Darren"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D00"] [WhiteElo "1448"] [BlackElo "826"] [PlyCount "107"] [EventDate "2020.07.09"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 c6 3. Nf3 Nd7 4. e3 Ngf6 5. Bd3 e6 6. c3 Nb6 7. Nbd2 Bd6 8. Ne5 O-O 9. O-O Nbd7 {Fritz suggests Qc7 pointing out that White could now win a pawn wth Nf7} 10. h3 Ne8 11. Qc2 g6 12. Ndf3 Qc7 13. Nxd7 Bxd7 14. Ne5 a6 15. Bh6 Ng7 16. f4 f5 17. g4 Bxe5 18. fxe5 b6 19. Rac1 c5 20. b3 cxd4 21. cxd4 Qxc2 22. Rxc2 Rac8 23. Rfc1 Rxc2 24. Bxc2 {Allowing Black to pin. Rc2 was better} Rc8 25. Kf2 fxg4 26. hxg4 Rf8+ {Bb5; Ke1 Bd3; Kd2 is equal} 27. Kg3 Rc8 28. Kf3 {Bb5; e4 and the bishop on h6 protects the rook.} Rf8+ 29. Ke2 Bb5+ 30. Kd2 { Fritz says Bd3 and after the trade Black cannot defend his pawn because his pieces are all tangled up by the pin.} Rf2+ 31. Kc3 {The alternative was Ke1 Rf1+; Kd2 Rf2+} a5 32. Bf4 Rg2 33. Bd1 {g5 would release black’s knight from its prison, but it would not lose a pawn.} Be2 {Free pawn on a2. Fritz shows big advantage for White after Rc2 and even bigger advantage after Be2.} 34. Bxe2 Rxe2 35. a4 {Kd3 Ra2; Rc8+ Kf7; Rc7+ Kg8; Bh6 Ne8; Re7 says Fritz} h5 36. gxh5 gxh5 37. Rg1 h4 {Fritz actually shows Black slghtly ahead now. But this loses the knight. Pins should not be ignored.} 38. Bh6 h3 39. Rxg7+ Kf8 {The game is lost, but stepping into a discovered check is very bad.} 40. Rg2+ Ke7 41. Rxe2 Kd7 42. Rh2 Kc6 43. Rxh3 b5 44. axb5+ Kxb5 45. Rh1 a4 46. bxa4+ Kxa4 47. Ra1+ Kb5 48. Ra8 Kc6 49. Ra6+ Kd7 50. Kb4 Ke8 51. Ra7 Kd8 52. Kc5 Ke8 53. Kd6 Kd8 54. Ra8# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "July 2020 Online USCF Rated Tournament"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2020.07.16"] [Round "2"] [White "Blumberg, Luke"] [Black "Kopula, Panduragan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C60"] [WhiteElo "1270"] [BlackElo "553"] [PlyCount "19"] [EventDate "2020.07.09"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nge7 {Not a good response because Black now gets a cramped game. Most common is a6. Nf6 and d6 and Bc5 are all good alternatives.} 4. O-O a6 5. Ba4 d6 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 Bg4 {This is not a good move, but White fails to punish it. Now Bf7+ Kf7; Ng5+ and Qg4. White will lose the d-pawn, but Black’s pieces are in turmoil and he cannot castle.} 8. dxe5 Nxe5 {And that loses at least a piece. de was required. Fritz likes Bf3; Qf3 Ne5; Qe2} 9. Nxe5 Bxd1 10. Bxf7# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "July 2020 Online USCF Rated Tournament"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2020.07.09"] [Round "1"] [White "Bafna, Mihir"] [Black "Blumberg, Loke"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C00"] [WhiteElo "1828"] [BlackElo "1270"] [PlyCount "96"] [EventDate "2020.07.09"] [TimeControl "3600+10"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 d4 4. g3 e5 5. Bg2 c5 6. Ngf3 Nc6 7. O-O Be6 8. Re1 Be7 9. Nf1 h5 10. h4 c4 11. a3 f6 12. dxc4 Bxc4 13. N3d2 Bxf1 {Fritz is not impressed with trading the active bishop for the dead horse. Be6} 14. Nxf1 Qb6 15. Kh1 O-O-O 16. f4 {Aren’t those pawns supposed to be guarding the king?} g5 {Yes, they are, says Black. Time to open lines.} 17. Nh2 gxf4 18. gxf4 exf4 19. Bxf4 Ne5 {Here aand later Qb2 opens lines for White to attack.} 20. Qe2 Nh6 21. Bh3+ Kb8 22. Nf3 Nhf7 23. Rg1 Rhg8 {Preventing Rg7 which would stress e5} 24. Qc4 {There is another way to attack f7} Rxg1+ 25. Rxg1 Ka8 26. Bxe5 Nxe5 27. Nxe5 fxe5 28. Qf7 Qf6 29. Qxh5 Qxh4 30. Qxh4 Bxh4 31. Kh2 Bf2 32. Rg5 Be3 { A little trap. The fork protects e5} 33. Rf5 Bf4+ 34. Kg2 b5 35. Rf7 Rg8+ 36. Kf2 Re8 37. Bd7 Rh8 38. Bxb5 {Black is going to win 2 pawns for one. More importantly, the d-pawn is going to become passed and supported by bishop and rook.} Rh2+ 39. Kf3 {Mistake. Here and later the king must stay close enough to stop the d-pawn.} Rxc2 40. b4 Rc3+ 41. Kg4 Rxa3 42. Rd7 Rb3 43. Bc6+ Kb8 44. Rb7+ Kc8 45. b5 Ra3 46. Rd7 d3 47. Kf3 d2+ 48. Ke2 Ra1 {With Re1+ and d1Q to follow. Except that Fritz points out Rd2 Bd2; Kd2 which is still a lost game.} 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "July 2020 Online USCF Rated Tournament"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2020.07.09"] [Round "1"] [White "Kopula , Panduragan"] [Black "Smith, Jeff"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "553"] [BlackElo "1435"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2020.07.09"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bc4 O-O 5. d3 d6 6. h3 Nc6 7. O-O Bd7 8. Bd2 Qc8 {Fritz says that’s an error. White should respond Nd5 Bd2; Nf6+ gf; Qd2} 9. Ng5 {protecting h3 and attacking f7. But the knight can’t stay there, so it actually does neither.} h6 10. Nf3 a6 11. Nd5 Nxd5 {Not good, says Fritz. After ed Black has too many pieces attacked. Correct was Bd2 as n the earlier note.} 12. Bxd5 Bxd2 13. Qxd2 Ne7 14. Bb3 Ng6 15. g3 {To keep the knight from f4. Kh2 and then Ng1 would protect h3.} Bxh3 16. Rfe1 Qg4 17. Nh2 Qd7 18. Re3 Kh8 19. d4 f5 20. dxe5 Nxe5 21. f4 Ng4 22. Nxg4 Bxg4 23. exf5 Bxf5 24. Rae1 c6 {Rae1 Black cannot allow white to own e7 and attack g7. This is the losing move.} 25. Re7 Qc8 26. Qxd6 Rd8 {Fritz says Rf6 also chases the queen and blocks off g7} 27. Qe5 Rg8 28. Bxg8 Qxg8 29. Qxf5 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "July 2020 Online Unrated Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/sC920tpy"] [Date "2020.07.09"] [Round "1"] [White "Erickson, Darren"] [Black "Aydogdu, Selman"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B32"] [WhiteElo "1336"] [BlackElo "826"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2020.07.09"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. Nc3 Bb4 7. Bd2 Nf6 8. Bd3 O-O 9. a3 Bc5 10. O-O d5 11. Re1 {The losing move. This weakens f2. Fritz suggests Bg5 with pressure on the center.} Ng4 12. h3 Nxf2 13. Qf3 {good enough. I like Nd3+ and Ne1} dxe4 14. Rxe4 Nxe4+ 15. Be3 Ng5 16. Qg3 Bxe3+ 17. Qxe3 Ne6 {Fritz suggest Qb6. When ahead, trade.} 18. Qe4 f5 19. Qxe5 Qb6+ 20. Kh2 Qxb2 21. Rb1 Qxa3 22. Bc4 Rf6 23. Rd1 {Fritz likes Nd5 cd; Bd5 with threats on e6 and a8} Qe7 24. Rd6 Kf7 {Fritz says just get out of the pin with Kh8} 25. Ne2 Ke8 26. Rxc6 Bd7 {Working too hard, says Fritz. Black is a rook head. Nd8 forces a queen trade.} 27. Rd6 Rc8 28. Bd5 Rxc2 {Good enough. Fritz still likes moving the knght to force a queen trade.} 29. Bxe6 {White is a rook down. Trading loses. Fritz says Be6 is the best move available.} Rxe6 30. Rxe6 Qxe6 31. Qb8+ {Fritz says Qe6+ Be6; Nd4 wins the bishop, but that still a lost game.} Kf7 32. Qxa7 Rxe2 33. Qd4 Re4 {Fritz says chase the king, not the queen. Qc6} 34. Qf2 Qe5+ 35. Qg3 f4 36. Qf2 f3+ 37. Kg1 Re1+ 38. Qf1 f2+ 39. Kh1 Rxf1# 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.