Crushing the Scandinavian (Played on FICS 11.07.2020)

 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. b4 Qxb4 5. Nb5 Qa5 6. Bc4 c6 7. Bxf7+
Kxf7 8. Qh5+ Kf6 9. Bb2+ e5 10. Qxe5+ Kg6 11. Qe8+ Kh6 12. Qxf8 Nf6 13. Qxh8
Nh5 14. Qxc8 Qxb5 15. Qe6+ g6 16. Bd4 Na6 17. Be3+ Kg7 18. Qe7+ Kg8 19. Nf3
Rf8 20. Ng5 Nf6 21. Ne6 Rf7 22. Qd8+ 1-0

 I encounter the Scandinavian from time to time, never had good results against - especially in tournament play.  I learned these tactics and traps from IM Rosen's Youtube Channel withe the video of the same name - "Crushing the Scandinavian"!

- Lizzi

I missed an EASY win (Played on FICS 10.21.20)

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. b3 Bg7 4. Bb2 O-O 5. e3 d5 6. Be2 c5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8.
Bxg7 Kxg7 9. Nc3 Nb4 10. d4 Bf5 11. Rc1 Qa5 12. a4 Rd8 13. O-O N8c6 14. Bc4
e5 15. d5 Bg4 16. h3 Bf5 17. g4 e4 18. gxf5 exf3 19. Qxf3 Ne5 20. f6+ Kh8 21.
Qf4 Nbd3 22. Qh6 Rg8 23. Bxd3 Nxd3 24. Ne4 g5 25. Rc3 Ne5 26. f3 Rg6 27. Qh5
Nd7 28. Kh1 Rag8 29. Rg1 Nxf6 30. Rxc5 Qb4 31. Nxf6 Rxf6 32. Rb5 Qe7 33. d6
Rxd6 34. Rbxg5 Rxg5 35. Rxg5 Qxe3 36. Qxf7 Qxg5 37. Qf8+ Qg8 38. Qxd6 Qxb3
39. Qf4 Qb1+ 40. Kg2 Qg6+ 41. Qg4 Qxg4+ 42. fxg4 Kg7 43. Kf3 b6 44. Ke4 a6
45. Kd5 b5 46. axb5 axb5 47. Kc5 Kf6 48. h4 Ke5 49. Kxb5 Kf4 50. g5 Kg4 51.
Kc5 Kxh4 52. Kd4 Kxg5 53. Ke3 Kg4 54. Kf2 Kh3 55. Kf3 h5 56. Kf2 Kh2 57. Kf3
h4 58. Kf2 Kh3 59. Kf3 Kh2 60. Kf2 h3 *

DRAW

30 ...Qb4?  30 ...Qxc5 out right wins a piece!  God ******!!  You see, this is why you GO OVER YOUR GAMES.  I still need to buy an engine.  I'm just using my mind to analyze my games.  I need something more powerful.. like.. Fritz 17 on 8-core processor.  Too bad I'm poor.  I actually need to book another appointment with Turzo (IM) to go over the last few games I've posted here on my blog.

There will be another day!

- Lizzi

Winning with the Alekhine (Played at FICS 10.02.2020)

 
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. exd6 exd6 7. Be2 Bf5 8.
O-O Be7 9. a3 Bf6 10. b4 O-O 11. Nc3 Qd7 12. Be3 a5 13. b5 Na7 14. a4 Rad8
15. Qb3 Nac8 16. Rad1 Ne7 17. c5 Nbc8 18. b6 cxb6 19. Bb5 Qc7 20. Bf4 bxc5
21. dxc5 Qxc5 22. Nd5 Nxd5 23. Rxd5 Be6 24. Rxc5 Bxb3 25. Rc7 Bd5 26. Nd2 Ne7
27. Nc4 Ng6 28. Bxd6 Bxc4 29. Bxf8 Bxf1 30. Bxf1 Nxf8 31. Rxb7 Rd7 32. Rb5
Bc3 33. g3 g6 34. Kg2 Rd2 35. h4 Bd4 36. Bc4 Rxf2+ 37. Kh3 Bc3 38. Rb7 Bb4
39. Bd5 Ne6 40. Re7 Bxe7 {SlowDave resigns} 0-1

 Good game, good win, I guess.  But, my opponent blunder his knight on move 28.  I mostly study my Alekhine games to get a better understanding of The Alekhine Defense and how to play it.  I've only played this defense one time in a USCF tournament and it was recently.  That game ended in a draw.

 Note:  Bobby Fischer played the Alekhine Defense on more than one occasion during the 1972 WCC against Spassky

 There will be another tomorrow!

- Lizzi  

Instructive End-game Tactic (Played at Chess.com)

I felt like I played a pretty good game, but I blundered at the end. My opponent played the sharp 26.Nc8. I resigned after this move because either I lose my rook on b6, or I get checkmated.

[Event "Let’s Play!"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.11.29"] [White "gary5daniels"] [Black "TERLIZZI"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C47"] [WhiteElo "1709"] [BlackElo "1507"] [TimeControl "1 in 2 days"] [Termination "gary5daniels won by resignation"] [CurrentPosition "2N3k1/5ppp/1r6/1p6/8/1b6/3R1PPP/6K1 b - - 0 27"] 1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Nxd4 6.Qxd4 d6 7.e5 dxe5 8.Qxe5 Qe7 9.Qxe7 Bxe7 10.Bf4 c6 11.Bd3 Be6 12.O-O O-O 13.Ne4 Nd5 14.Bd6 Bxd6 15.Nxd6 Rab8 16.Bc4 a5 17.Bxd5 Bxd5 18.c4 Be6 19.b3 b5 20.cxb5 cxb5 21.Rab1 Rfd8 22.Rfd1 a4 23.Rb2 axb3 24.axb3 Rb6 25.Rbd2 Bxb3 26.Nc8 Rxd2 27.Rxd2 1-0'/>

Update 7.12.14

My next tournament is probably going to be the Southern Illinois Summer Open in my hometown on August 16. I, at least, hope to win 2 games out of 3 which should be enough to push into the next rating Class (Class B). Other than that there isn't a whole lot that's new. I'm studying daily on Chess(dot)com. I use it's tactics trainer and it's a really good tool for keeping my game sharp. I go over about 20 - 30 puzzles every day. I also watch a few instructive chess videos on YouTube and I try to play about 2-3 games/week online (I use the Free Internet Chess server available at http://www.freechess.org). And I really have no idea when my next BIG tournament is going to be - maybe in St. Louis. Maybe not. Who knows. I've actually been fairly busy the past few weeks. Stay posted for more updates.

Strong Tactical Maneuver for Checkmate (Online Opponent)

[Event "Let’s Play!"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2013.09.19"] [White "zedlepp"] [Black "TERLIZZI"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1410"] [BlackElo "1581"] [TimeControl "1 in 3 days"] [Termination "TERLIZZI won by checkmate"] 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 c6 3.e3 Nf6 4.Bd3 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Bd2 O-O 7.Qe2 Bg4 8.O-O-O b5 9.h3 Bxf3 10.Qxf3 b4 11.Ne2 a5 12.g4 Qd6 13.g5 Ne4 14.Bxe4 dxe4 15.Qxe4 a4 16.h4 b3 17.cxb3 axb3 18.a3 Nd7 19.h5 Rxa3 20.bxa3 Qxa3 21.Kb1 Nc5 22.Nc3 Nxe4 23.h6 Nxc3 24.Bxc3 Qa2 25.Kc1 Qc2# 0-1'/>