Bloomington Normal Chess Club

May 2020 Virtual Exhibition Games

The club is continuing to have virtual club meetings on Discord and play on Lichess on Thursdays at 7:00 PM. See the main page on virtual play for more about joining us!

Throughout the month of May we are doing casual exhibition matches and games in preparation for a tournament in June. Here are annotated games. Week 1 pgn of the games can be downloaded here, and week 2 pgn can be downloaded here

[Event "May 2020 Exhibition Games"] [Site "https://lichess.org/pMKuRH6R"] [Date "2020.05.15"] [Round "2"] [White "Heil, Sam"] [Black "JosephOAlford"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2154"] [BlackElo "1500"] [ECO "A35"] [UTCDate "2020.05.15"] [UTCTime "00:46:00"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Opening "English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Four Knights Variation"] [Termination "Normal"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 e5 {d6 transposes to a Sicilian.} 6.Ndb5 a6 {Again, d6 is better.} 7.Nd6+ Bxd6 8.Qxd6 Qe7 9.Qxe7+ Nxe7 {This is the position I was seeking with my 5th move. It is not a good position. Probably, Ke7 is better. There is no need to 0–0 here.} 10.e4 d6 11.Be2 Be6 12.f3 Rc8 13.Nd5 Nfxd5 14.cxd5 Bd7 15.O-O O-O {I was feeling pretty good about this position. My backward d-pawn is now perfectly safe. Right about now I realized that the black bishop is going to eat my entire center.} 16.b3 f5 {This attack is always just a move too slow.} 17.Ba3 Rc2? +- {Added to the other weaknesses, this seals the deal. fe; Bd6 ef; Be7 Rf7 (var) looks better.} ( 17...fxe4 18.Bxd6 exf3 19.Bxe7 Rf7 +/- ) 18.Bd1 Rd2 19.Bb4 Rd3 20.Bxd6 Re8 21.Rc1 fxe4 22.fxe4 Ng6 23.Rc7 Nf8 24. Rxb7 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "May 2020 Exhibition Games"] [Site "https://lichess.org/QOuWKSWI"] [Date "2020.05.15"] [Round "2"] [White "Bloommberg, Luke"] [Black "Erickson, Darren"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1776"] [BlackElo "1336"] [ECO "C84"] [UTCDate "2020.05.15"] [UTCTime "00:44:44"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Opening "Ruy Lopez: Closed Variations"] [Termination "Normal"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.c3 h6 {Too passive. Fritz likes Ne4 or b5} 7.Re1 O-O 8.d4 d6 9.h3 {White’s turn to be too passive. Fritz says Bc6 wins a pawn on e5.} 9...Bd7 10.Nbd2 Nb8 {White’s bishop chooses to re-deploy to a better diagonal. White could also win a pawn with de. 11.Bc2 Nc6 protecting e5, but he just gets chased back again.} 11.Bc2 Nc6 12.d5 Na7 {The knight becomes a target here. It should have gone back to b8 with aspirations of Nd7 and Nc5.} ( 12...Nb8 {[%draw arrow,b8,d7,blue][%draw arrow,d7,c5,blue]} ) 13.Nf1 Rb8 14.Be3 b6 {Nc8 is better. Fritz gives c5 as an alternative. It is seldom a good idea to pin oneself.} ( 14...Nc8 ) ( 14...c5 ) 15.Ng3 c6 16.c4 cxd5 {Opening White’s mating diagonal.} 17.exd5 Qc8 18.Qd3 g6?? {Preventing Nh5 which threatens mate on h7.} 19.Bxh6 Re8 20.Nh4 b5 {Too slow, but everything is too slow now.} 21.Nxg6 bxc4 22.Nxe7+ Rxe7 23.Qd2 +- {This allows Black to survive a bit longer with Nh7. Fritz likes Qe3 (hitting a7).} 23...Rxb2 ( 23...Nh7 24.Bxh7+ Kxh7 +- ) 24.Qg5+ 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "May 2020 Exhibition Games"] [Site "https://lichess.org/hZ63QnJh"] [Date "2020.05.15"] [Round "2"] [White "Smith, Jeff"] [Black "Bafna, Mihir"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1500"] [BlackElo "1721"] [ECO "B06"] [UTCDate "2020.05.15"] [UTCTime "00:45:55"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Opening "Robatsch (Modern) Defense"] [Termination "Normal"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 d6 4.Bc4 e6 5.O-O Ne7 6.Nc3 b6 7.Bd2 Bb7 8.Re1 Nd7 9.d5 e5 10.Bg5 f6 11.Be3 h6 12.Bb5 a6 13.Ba4 O-O 14.Qc1 {Qd2 would help protect d5.} 14...Kh7 15.a3 f5 16.exf5 gxf5 17.Bb3 f4 18.Bd2 Nf6 19.Qd1 Nfxd5 20.Nxd5 Nxd5 21.Bxd5 Bxd5 22.Bc3 Bb7 23.Qd3+ Kh8 {“What about just e4?” I asked. Fritz provided an answer.} ( 23...e4 24.Rxe4 Bxe4 25.Qxe4+ Kg8 26.Qd5+ Kh8 27.Bxg7+ Kxg7 28.Nd4 Qf6 += ) 24.Rad1 -+ Bxf3 {I don’t like this bishop for knight trade. Fritz agrees, suggesting Qf6.} 25.Qxf3 Qg5 26.Rd5 {Hoping to tempt pawn weaknesses.} 26...Rae8 27.Re4 Re6 28.Rc4 Rf7 29.Ra4 a5 30.Rc4 Qg6 31.Re4 c6 32.Rd3 {Setting the rook up for a pawn fork. It must retreat to d2 or d1.} 32...d5 33.Re1 e4 34.Bxg7+ {Fritz says Qh3 is much stronger, since it does not set up a mate for Black.} 34...Rxg7 35.Qh3 {To answer ed with Re6 but that is not good enough. Black just continues dc threatening to queen with mate. (Although Stockfish 11 64 bit suggests Qh3 is best move despite being Mate in 14 if Black doesn’t take the c pawn with 36. …d2!!. -Darren)} ( 35.Qh3 exd3 36.Rxe6 dxc2! ( {[Stockfish 11 64 POPCNT] 52:M12} 36...d2!! 37.Kf1 d1=Q+ 38.Re1 Qdxc2 39.g3 Qd2 40.Qe6 Qgd3+ 41.Kg1 fxg3 42.Qe8+ Kh7 43.Qg8+ Rxg8 44.Re7+ Kh8 45.Rh7+ Kxh7 46.hxg3 Qe1+ 47.Kh2 Qxf2+ 48.Kh3 Qdxg3# ) ) 35...Re5 36.Rdd1 Rh5 37.Qc8+ Rg8 38.Qxg8+ Qxg8 39.g3 Qg4 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "May 2020 Exhibition Games"] [Site "https://lichess.org/YojzRFjn"] [Date "2020.05.08"] [Round "1"] [White "Senthilkumar Shanmugam"] [Black "Mihir Bafna"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1325"] [BlackElo "1828"] [ECO "B43"] [Opening "Sicilian Defense: Kan Variation, Knight Variation"] [UTCTime "00:40:27"] [UTCDate "2020.05.08"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Termination "Normal"] [Annotator "Mihir Bafna"] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Nf3 {Black is playing a Kan Sicilian. This versatile opening typically results in a hedgehog position for black, and white had to try to break through to win. However, white here goes off the main line and moves his knight away from the strongest square it could be on.} ( 6.Bd3 Nf6 7.O-O b5 8.f4 d6 {This is a traditional Kan Sicilian} ) 6...Bb4 7.Bd2 Nf6 8.Bd3 Nc6 {Blocks the queen from the c file, but also puts pressure on the e5 square that white vacated.} 9.O-O b5 10.a3 ( 10.a4 bxa4 11.Rxa4 Be7 12.Rc4 {Taking advantage of the knight on c6} ) 10...Be7 11.Re1 d6 12.h3 Bb7 13.Bf4 e5 {Mistake from black. The pawn on d6 is now backwards, and the knight on c3 is ready to exploit the opening on d5.} 14.Bg5 {White has good attack while black has an exposed king and weak pawns at d6 and f5.} ( 14.Nd5 Nxd5 15.exd5 exf4 16.dxc6 Qxc6 17.Qe2 Qd7 ) 14...Rd8 15.Bxf6 Bxf6 16.Nd5 Qc8 17.Nxf6+ gxf6 18.Nh4 Rg8 19.Nf5 Nd4 {Right idea, bad execution. By putting the knight on d5, white had the opportunity to compund his advantage.} ( 19...Ne7 20.Ng3 {White still has the advntage, but black can launch a counter attack focusing on e4 and f2.} ) 20.Qh5 {Blunder. Black now can take the g2 square with a massive attack.} ( 20.Nxd4 exd4 21.Bf1 Qxh3 22.a4 {While it seems like white’s king is in trouble, the bishop protects the kingside. Meanwhile, black’s pawns are a mess and an endgame from this position would be advantageous for white.} ) 20...Nxf5 21.exf5 Rxg2+ 22.Kf1 Ke7 23.Ke2 Qc5 24.Rf1 e4 25.Rae1 Rf8 26.Kd1 d5 27.Qf3 Rfg8 28.Qf4 Kd7 29.b4 ( 29.Be2 Rc8 30.Qd2 {White has a stronger defense here.} ) 29...Qc3 30.Qe3 exd3 31.Qe7+ Kc8 32.Qc5+ Qxc5 33.bxc5 dxc2+ 34.Kxc2 Kd7 35.Rb1 Rc8 36.a4 Rxc5+ 37.Kd3 Rg5 38.Kd4 Rc4+ 39.Ke3 Rxa4 40.f4 Rg3+ 41. Ke2 Ra2+ 42.Ke1 d4 43.Rd1 Re3# {White had the opportunity to take advantage of the backwards pawn on d6, but the execution fell short because of the blunder. Black responded with an attack, and while White defended valiantly, the pressure on the king and bishop was too much.} 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "May 2020 Exhibition Games"] [Site "https://lichess.org/I1bM2GgV"] [Date "2020.05.08"] [Round "1"] [White "Prithiv Kumar"] [Black "Jeff Smith"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D20/02"] [WhiteElo "1387"] [BlackElo "1435"] [Opening "QGA: 3.e3"] [UTCTime "00:40:39"] [UTCDate "2020.05.08"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [Termination "Normal"] [Annotator "Mihir Bafna"] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 {Uncommon response to the Queen’s Gambit. Instead of black declining the gambit, he accepted it. While white should win the pawn back in the next few moves, black will use the opportunity to attack white’s centre.} 3.e3 e5 4.Bxc4 exd4 5.exd4 {White has got the pawn back in return for black giving white an isolated pawn. Now the game will be based around whether black can win the pawn or whether white can use it to gain space and attack.} 5...Nf6 6.Qb3 Qe7+ 7.Ne2 Nc6 {While Nc6 is a good developing move, Qb4+ could be a better variation for black.} (7...Qb4+ 8.Nbc3 Qxb3 9.axb3 {The computer rates this endgame as even. White has superior piece development, but his pawn structure is ruined.}) 8.O-O Na5 9.Qa4+ Nc6 10.Nbc3 (10.d5 Qb4 11.Qxb4 Nxb4 12.Nbc3 Nc2 13.Rb1 Bf5 14.Bf4 {Similar variation, a little more forceful and advantageous to white.}) 10...Qb4 11.Qxb4 Nxb4 12.Nb5 Bd6 (12...Kd8 13.Bxf7 c6 14.Nbc3 Ke7 15.Bc4 Be6 16.Bxe6 Kxe6 17.a3 Nbd5 {White is a pawn up, but there is a lack of a strong attack and black now has better piece activity than white.}) 13.Bf4 {At this point, white has a strong advantage over black. He is taking full advantage of the initiative while black has been unable to properly develop his pieces and attack the weak d4 pawn.} 13...Bxf4 14.Nxf4 O-O 15.Nxc7 Rb8 16.d5 a6 (16...Rd8 17.Rfd1 g5 18.Ne2 Bf5 19.Ng3 Bg6 20.d6 b5 {A sharp, highly aggresive, and computer-driven line by black to attempt to get the d6 pawn while increasing piece activity.}) 17.a3 Nc2 18.Rad1 {The d5 pawn, while isolated, is now a strong, supported pawn for white to use. Meanwhile, black’s c2 knight is not supported, and the undeveloped bishop restricts black from pushing a counterattack.} 18...Bf5 19.d6 Nd7 20.Rd2 Nc5 21.Rd5 b5 22.Rxf5 Nd7 23.Ba2 Nd4 24.Rd5 Ne6 25.Ncxe6 fxe6 26.Nxe6 Rf6 27.Rd3 Kh8 28.Rc1 Re8 29.Rc7 Ne5 30.d7 Nxd7 31.Rdxd7 {The use of the isolated d-pawn and the initiative white took advantage of lead to white winning the game. While seemingly insignificant, 5…Nf6 led to black losing initiative and putting him in a significant hole that got bigger throughout the game.} 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.