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 did 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, week 2 pgn can be downloaded here, week 3 games can be downloaded here, and selections from week 4’s games will be forthcoming…

In Week 4 we ran an “arena” tournament on Lichess… Congrats to Jeff for winning with a bonus score of multiple wins! Games to come!

[Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/pFJccoxj"] [Date "2020.05.22"] [Round "-"] [White "Bafna, Mihir"] [Black "Newman, Steven"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1721"] [BlackElo "1500"] [ECO "C65"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [UTCDate "2020.05.22"] [UTCTime "02:09:07"] [Opening "Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense"] [Annotator "Darren Erickson"] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.Qe2 Be7 5.c3 O-O 6.O-O d6 7.d3 Nb8 8.Nbd2 c6 9.Ba4 a5 10.Rd1 Be6 11.Nf1 Nbd7 12.Ng3 Re8 13.d4 Nb6 14.dxe5 Nxa4 15.exf6 Bxf6 16.e5 Be7 17.Qc2 b5 18.exd6 Bxd6 19.Ng5 g6 20.N5e4 Bd5 21.Bg5 Be7 22. Bh6 Qc7 23.c4 Bxe4 24.Nxe4 Qe5 25.b3 Nb6 26.f4 Qc7?? ( 26...Qxe4 27.Qxe4 Bc5+ =+ ) 27.Qc3 Bf8 28.Nf6+ Kh8 29.Nxe8+ Kg8 30.Nxc7 {1-0 Black resigns.} 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/4OXpzvUG"] [Date "2020.05.22"] [Round "-"] [White "Kessinger, Joseph"] [Black "Smith, Jeff"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2147"] [BlackElo "1500"] [ECO "D06"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [UTCDate "2020.05.22"] [UTCTime "02:09:33"] [Opening "Queen's Gambit Refused: Marshall Defense"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nf6 ( 2...e6 ) ( 2...c6 ) 3.cxd5 Qxd5 ( 3...Nxd5 4.e4 Nf6 {(see commentary next move…)} ) 4.Nc3 {Now white gets the entire center. If black’s knight had recaptured, then e4 would give white the entire center.} 4...Qd8 5.e4 e6 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Nf3 O-O 8.Bd3 Nc6 9.e5 Nd5 10.Bxe7 Ncxe7 11.h4 {Fritz suggests that’s a wee bit over-aggressive. He likes 0-0 or Qc2} ( 11.O-O ) ( 11.Qc2 ) 11...b6 12.Ng5 g6 {Too many weaknesses, says Fritz. He suggests h6 or f5.} ( 12...h6 ) ( 12...f5 ) 13.h5 Nf4 14.Be4 Rb8 {Fritz says this is much too passive. Ned5.} ( 14...Ned5 ) 15.hxg6 Nexg6 16.Nxh7 Bb7 17.Nf6+ {1-0 Black resigns. Black must give up the queen because 17. …Kg7 18. Rh7 is mate} ( 17.Nf6+ Kg7 18.Rh7# ) 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/6zmSfnoG"] [Date "2020.05.22"] [Round "-"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Senshan"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1500"] [BlackElo "1500"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [UTCDate "2020.05.22"] [UTCTime "02:09:58"] [ECO "C41"] [Opening "Philidor Defense"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bg4 (3... exd4 { The bishop move has not been playable since Morphy played his famous Paris opera game. }) 4. dxe5 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 dxe5 6. Bc4 Nf6 7. Qb3 Qe7 8. Nc3 b6 { In the Morphy game, the two opponents played c6 } 9. Bg5 a6 10. Nd5 { Here or next move Morphy’s 0-0-0 would be good. } (10. O-O-O) 10... Qd7 11. Nxf6+ (11. Bxf6 { Wins a piece } 11... gxf6 (11... c6 12. Nxb6 Qb7 13. Bxe5) 12. Nxf6+) 11... gxf6 12. Bxf6 Rg8 13. Rd1 Bd6 14. O-O (14. Bxe5 { and trade on d6 is probably good enough. }) 14... Nc6 15. Bd5 Nd4 16. Rxd4 c6 (16... exd4 { Not this because… } 17. Bxa8 { and white is piece up. }) 17. Rfd1 exd4 18. e5 { It would be nice to say I saw the power of this move. Truth is, I blundered a rook and got lucky in the results. Black threatened 18. …cxd5 19. Qxd5 Bh2+ } 18... cxd5 19. Qxd5 Rc8 { An unfortunate choice, but the weakness of black’s king decides the game. } 20. exd6 Qg4 21. d7+ Qxd7 22. Re1+ Qe6 23. Rxe6+ { 1-0 Black resigns. } 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/dkfAR8Bx"] [Date "2020.05.22"] [Round "-"] [White "Erickson, Darren"] [Black "Kumar, Prithiv"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1336"] [BlackElo "1500"] [ECO "B42"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [UTCDate "2020.05.22"] [UTCTime "02:14:48"] [Opening "Sicilian Defense: Kan Variation, Modern Variation"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford, Darren Erickson"] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 {I’m really pleased to see that I’m still well within book here. -Darren} 5...Qc7 6.Nc3 ( 6.O-O {Castle was my second choice here. I foresaw 6. …Bd6 next, and I didn’t like an early Q-B battery on a long diagonal. I also was starting to shift the knights defensively, too early. – Darren} ) 6...Nf6 7.a3 {And it’s not a novelty but I go out of the standard book here. Not fatal, I think, but castling would have been better. Wanted to prevent a …Bb4 if I castled right now. – Darren} 7...d6 8.O-O {The Opening explorer likes castling. It’s only a smallish advantage to black to do so. But on 40 ply Stockfish wants me to go on the offensive with any number of other ideas, to retain equality. [%clk 0:51:16]} ( 8.g4 {It takes a LONG plycount for Stockfish to recommend this as best.} 8...h6 9.Be3 Nbd7 10.Qe2 Ne5 11.h3 b5 12.f4 Nc4 13.O-O-O Nxe3 14.Qxe3 Bb7 15.Rhf1 Nd7 16.h4 O-O-O 17.Kb1 Kb8 18.Be2 Nc5 19.Bf3 e5 20.Nde2 Be7 21.Qf2 Rc8 22.Bg2 Nd7 23.Bh3 Nc5 24.g5 Rcf8 25.Bg2 hxg5 26.hxg5 exf4 27.Nxf4 Bxg5 28.Nfd5 Qd8 29.Qe2 f6 30.Nb4 Ne6 31.Ncd5 Rh2 {=} ) ( 8.f4 {Stockfish will recommend f4 many, many times over the next several moves as a way to gain equality… until it is too late to do so.} ) ( 8.Be3 ) ( 8.Qe2 ) 8...Be7 9.Nde2 {Joe: Fritz want to know why you are retreating. Qf3 or Be3. Don’t retreat unless you are forced to retreat. (Darren: Wasn’t thinking of it as retreating but trying to shift forces Kingside. But it does retreat, yes.)} 9...O-O 10.Ng3 b5 11.Bd2 Bb7 12.b4 {Joe: This leaves the c-file very weak.} ( 12.Qe2 {Stockfish’s choice after 40 ply to make it equal, this move only. Don’t understand the why.} ) 12...Nc6 13.Nce2 Ne5 14.h3 Rfd8 15.f4 {But f4 is finally no longer viable. Too late!} ( 15.Nc3 ) 15...Nc4 16.Bc3 {Joe: Missing a fork, but Bc4 would leave a weakness at c2. Fritz likes Qe1 or Re1.} ( 16.Bc1 {I gave a lot of thought to considering Bc1 (the immediate choice of Stockfish), but not in terms of freeing up d2 as an escape for the Queen. The oncoming Knight fork wasn’t something I saw at all. } ) ( 16.Rc1 Nxa3 {Still better than text move.} ) ( 16.Kh2 ) ( 16.Qe1 ) ( 16.Re1 ) 16...Ne3 17.Qe1 Nxf1 18.Kxf1 ( 18.Qxf1 ) 18...d5 {Joe: Black plays to open attacking lines. White plays to keep them closed.} 19.e5 {Finally make a move Stockfish likes! (Although I’m hurting already).} 19...Ne4 20.Bxe4 {The last large mistake before it spirals. I didn’t like his Knight there and saw …Nxg3+ as unfavorable. -Darren} ( 20.Bd4 {Joe: The white-squared bishop is doing valuable service protecting c2 and attacking h7. The other bishop is just a target.} 20...f6 ) 20...dxe4 21.Rd1 {Still thinking I can do Bd3 and c3 and either Q or R to d2 as a wall. Nh5 was the only saving move here, though that loses also. [%clk 0:30:00]} ( 21.Nh5 e3 22.Qg3 g6 23.Nf6+ Bxf6 24.exf6 Qc6 25.Bd4 a5 26.bxa5 Rxa5 27.Qf3 Qa6 28.Qxe3 b4 29.Kf2 Rc8 30.Qd3 Qc6 31.Qf3 Qxf3+ 32.gxf3 Rxc2 33.Rb1 Ba6 34.Rxb4 Rxe2+ {And it’s Rook down and then some…. (This came from Stockfish 11 64 bit on a 40 ply search).} ) 21...Bh4 22.Rc1 {I didn’t see that e3 would open the long diagonal. Rd6 could have stemmed it, but I’m still dead. -Darren Joe: The c-file is no longer the problem.} 22...e3 23.Bd4 {Blind to the opening of the diagonal still.} ( 23.Kg1 Qc6 24.Qf1 Bxg3 25.Nxg3 Qxc3 26.Ne2 Qc4 ) 23...Qc6 {0-1 White resigns. Collapsed. It’s Mate in 9, and I didn’t think it was even that far away.} ( 23...Qc6 24.Qf2 exf2 25.Bxf2 Qxg2+ 26.Ke1 Bf3 27.Rd1 Bxg3 28.Rd6 Qxf2+ 29.Kd2 Qe1+ 30.Kd3 Bxe2+ 31.Ke4 Rxd6 32.exd6 Qd2 33.c3 Qxf4# ) 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[Event "Casual Classical game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/JSgrHWTX"] [Date "2020.05.22"] [Round "-"] [White "Bloomberg, Luke"] [Black "Heil, Sam"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1776"] [BlackElo "2154"] [TimeControl "G/60 inc 5"] [UTCDate "2020.05.22"] [UTCTime "02:15:30"] [ECO "B45"] [Opening "Sicilian Defense: Four Knights Variation, Exchange Variation"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford, Darren Erickson"] 1. e4 { Comments are Joe’s unless otherwise indicated. } 1... c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Nxc6 { This is a common position in the Sicilian Defense. Black does not want to capture on d4 because that would bring white’s queen to the center. White does not want to capture on c6 because that gives black a very powerful center. Note that Fritz thinks 5. …Nc6 is just fine. } 6... bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 8. e5 { The pawn becomes a target. Better to trade it. } 8... Nd7 9. Bf4 Rb8 10. Rb1 Bb4 11. O-O Qa5 12. Ne2 Ba6 13. Bxa6 Qxa6 14. Nd4 (14. a3 { Joe’s selection. (Stockfish at 24 ply believes it’s marginally better at -0.8 over the text -0.9. Kicking the Bishop while advancing the a file seems good to my inexperience. -Darren). }) 14... c5 15. Nf3 Qxa2 16. c3 Qc4 17. cxb4 Qxf4 18. bxc5 Nxc5 19. Qc2 Qb4 20. Rfc1 Rb5 21. Qc3 { When ahead, trade. White is not ahead and should not be trading. On the other hand, white’s pieces are as well-placed as they will ever be. } 21... Qxc3 22. Rxc3 Nb7 23. Rc8+ Nd8 24. Ra8 Rb7 25. Nd4 Kd7 26. Kf1 Re8 27. Ke2 { Fritz does not like this move. He prefers Rc1. (Stockfish likes b4 -Darren). } (27. Rc1) (27. b4) 27... Nc6 { When ahead, trade. } 28. Rxe8 Nxd4+ 29. Kd3 Kxe8 30. Kxd4 Kd7 31. Kc3 a5 32. b3 { Fritz calls this an error (as does Stockfish -DRE). Now 32. …a4 33. b4 will give black two passed pawns. } 32... Kc6 33. Ra1 Kb5 34. Ra4 Rc7+ 35. Kd3 f6 36. f4 { Trading is better. When white’s pawns get separated, they die. } (36. exf6 gxf6) 36... Rc1 37. Ra2 Rf1 { Black’s turn to blunder, says Fritz. Now 38. exf6 gxf6 39. Re2 gives white counter-chances. Black should have traded leaving white too many weakness to cover. } (37... fxe5 38. fxe5) 38. g3 (38. exf6 gxf6 39. Re2) 38... Rf3+ 39. Kc2 fxe5 40. fxe5 Rf2+ 41. Kb1 Rxa2 42. Kxa2 d4 43. Kb2 Kc5 44. Kc2 Kd5 45. Kd3 Kxe5 46. h3 Kd5 47. g4 e5 48. h4 e4+ { 0-1 White resigns. } 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

[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.