[Event "2022 Washington Senior Open"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2022.04.16"] [Round "3"] [White "Scholz, Fritz"] [Black "Harwood"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B21"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [EventType "simul"] [EventRounds "5"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.12.29"] [SourceQuality "1"] {Fritz and I have played 247 blitz games on LiChess. My record is 188.5 - 58.5. So I am +130. Slow chess is different though. There is more time on the clock. That means care must be taken to analyze every move carefully before making it. } 1. e4 c5 2. f4 {The Grand Prix attack is Fritz's favorite weapon against the Sicilian.} g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. c3 Nf6 $6 {While not wrong, Nc6 is more flexible.} (4... Nc6 5. Bb5 Nf6 6. d3 O-O 7. O-O $11) 5. Qc2 $6 {This is a new move from Fritz. Normally, he plays d3 here.} (5. d3 Nc6 6. Be2 O-O 7. O-O b5 8. a3 d6 9. Kh1 a5 10. Be3 Bb7 11. Nbd2 b4 12. Qc2 e6 13. axb4 axb4 14. Rxa8 Qxa8 15. Nc4 Qb8 16. e5 Nd5 17. Bg1 dxe5 18. Bxc5 Nxf4 19. Bxf8 Bxf8 20. Re1 g5 21. Bf1 f6 22. Qf2 Ne7 23. Nfd2 Nf5 24. Ne4 Qd8 25. Qb6 Qxb6 26. Nxb6 Kg7 27. Nc4 Nh4 28. Ra1 Kg6 29. Ra7 Bd5 30. g3 f5 31. Nxe5+ Kh6 32. c4 {1-0 (32) Carlsen,M (2863) -Ding,L (2791) chess24.com INT 2020}) 5... Nc6 6. Be2 O-O 7. O-O d5 $6 { A bit overanxious. d6 is the right idea as it slowly builds up the center.} ( 7... d6 8. Kh1 Bd7 9. d3 b5 10. Be3 Rc8 $11) 8. e5 {[#]} Ne8 $2 $146 {The wrong retreat. I needed to calculate this better.} ({Predecessor:} 8... Ng4 9. d3 (9. h3 Nh6 10. g4 d4 $11) 9... h5 10. Nh4 Nh6 11. Qd1 Bf5 12. Nd2 e6 13. Ndf3 f6 14. Nxf5 Nxf5 15. exf6 Qxf6 16. Ng5 Rae8 17. Bd2 Nd8 18. Bf3 Nf7 19. Qb3 Nxg5 20. fxg5 Qe7 21. Rae1 Qd7 22. Re2 Nh4 23. Ref2 Nxf3+ 24. Rxf3 b6 25. Be1 Qd8 26. h4 Qd7 27. Bg3 e5 28. Rxf8+ Rxf8 29. Rxf8+ Kxf8 30. Qd1 Qf5 31. Qf3 Qxf3 32. gxf3 Ke7 33. Kf2 Ke6 34. f4 e4 35. dxe4 dxe4 36. Bh2 b5 37. Kg3 b4 38. cxb4 {Unkic,M (1862)-Dautovic,D (2109) Mostar 2021 0-1}) ({First, these is no reason why I shouldn't get a free tempo on the queen with} 8... Bf5 9. Qd1 Nd7 10. d4 f6 $11) 9. d3 $6 {A tentative move.} (9. d4 $1 f6 10. Be3 Bh6 11. Qd2 cxd4 12. cxd4 Ng7 13. Nc3 Be6 14. Bb5 $14) 9... d4 $6 {I played this to prepare f6 but. In other games I played against Fritz, the computer always recommended d4 so White couldn't defend by him playing d4. The problem is that d4 seriously weakens e4 square which becomes a problem later on.} (9... f6 10. d4 Qb6 11. Qb3 (11. Be3 $2 cxd4 12. cxd4 fxe5 13. fxe5 Nxe5 $17) 11... Qxb3 12. axb3 cxd4 13. cxd4 $11) 10. Nbd2 {[%csl Yc4,Ye4][%CAl Gd2e4,Gd2c4]} b6 { Getting the c8 bishop on the long diagonal.} 11. a3 $2 {I don't understand this move. Perhaps he intended to expan on the queenside?} (11. Ne4 Nc7 12. c4 f6 13. Qd1 Qd7 $11 (13... fxe5 {At first this looks good, but trading on e5 wins a pawn at the expense of activating White's c1 bishop.} 14. Nxe5 Nxe5 15. fxe5 Bxe5 16. Bf3 Bf5 17. Bh6 Bg7 18. Bd2)) 11... Bb7 {[%CAl Gb7h1] Getting on the long diagonal.} 12. Ng5 {At first I thought he was planning e6 but then realized his idea was Nge4.} h6 {More time wasting and helping the knight get to where it wants to go.} (12... Nc7 13. Nde4 Qd7 14. c4 f6 15. Nh3 fxe5 16. Bf3 Ne6 17. Neg5 Nxg5 18. Nxg5 Rae8 19. Qe2 e6 $15) 13. Nge4 Nc7 $6 (13... Qd7 14. Nf3 f5 15. Ng3 dxc3 16. bxc3 Nc7 $11) 14. Bf3 (14. c4 Ne8 15. Ng3 Qd7 16. Bf3 $16) 14... Nd5 ({Once again,} 14... Qd7 {is a logical move, doubling up on the d-file and eyeing the weak d3 pawn.} 15. Nc4 Rad8 16. f5 Nd5 17. f6 exf6 18. exf6 Nxf6 19. Bxh6 Nxe4 20. Bxg7 Kxg7 21. Bxe4 $17) 15. Nb3 $6 {Trying to add protection to d4 but the knight is misplaced here.} ({Instead,} 15. Nc4 Rb8 16. a4 Ba8 $11 {was the way to go.}) 15... Qd7 $4 {The move that was logical twice before now loses immediately. This is a classic case of not analyzing the position and not spending time thinking of your opponents moves. The irony of this move is that *I* was the one that let this happen. Nb3 by itself threatens nothing. The simple Rc8 keeps the material balance. But now, I am simply lost. Losing two pawns is bad enough but they give Fritz connected passed pawns which is simply too much to manage.} (15... Rb8 {This is the best way to protect the bishop and has the most flexibility.} 16. Bd2 f5 17. exf6 exf6 18. f5 dxc3 19. bxc3 Ne5 20. Be2 Ne7 $11) (15... Rc8 16. Qf2 f5 17. Nexc5 bxc5 18. Nxc5 Nxe5 19. Nxb7 Nxf3+ 20. Qxf3 Qd7 $11) 16. Nexc5 $1 bxc5 17. Nxc5 Qc7 18. Nxb7 Qxb7 19. Bxd5 Qd7 20. Be4 Rac8 $4 {Making a bad situation even worse.} ({At least get some open files with} 20... dxc3 21. bxc3 Rac8 22. Qa2 e6 $18) 21. c4 {Correct. After b4, there isn't much I can do. The rest of the game has me fighting for my life in the best way I can, but to his credit, Fritz doesn't let me back in the game.} e6 22. b4 Ne7 23. Qf2 f6 {The only move to get some counterplay.} 24. exf6 Rxf6 25. b5 Rcf8 (25... Nf5 26. Bxf5 ( 26. g4 Ne3 27. Bxe3 dxe3 28. Qxe3 Rf7 {[%csl Ra1,Re3][%CAl Gg7d4,Yd4g1,Gd4a1]} 29. Qc1 Bd4+ 30. Kg2 Kh7 31. Ra2 Rcf8 32. Kh1 Qd6 33. f5 gxf5 34. gxf5 exf5 35. Bd5 Rg7 $18) 26... Rxf5 27. Bd2 Rcf8 28. Qe2 $18) 26. g3 e5 27. Qg2 g5 28. Bd2 exf4 29. gxf4 g4 (29... gxf4 30. Bb4 Kh8 31. Kh1 $18) 30. Bb4 Rxf4 31. Rxf4 Rxf4 32. c5 {My bad bishop on g7 seals my fate. I cannot get it activated, and even if I could, White's bishop pair is too much to manage.} Qxb5 33. c6 Nc8 ( 33... Nxc6 34. Bxc6 Qxd3 35. Re1 Qg6 36. Be4 Qh5 37. Qe2 $18) 34. Bd5+ Kh8 35. Bd2 Rf8 36. Bb4 Rf4 37. Bc4 Qe5 38. Re1 Qh5 39. Qe2 Qh4 40. Qe8+ Bf8 41. Qe5+ Bg7 (41... Rf6 42. Rf1 $18) 1-0