Playing Fritz

After a lengthy absence, I played an online game against Fritz on chessbase.com and was going fairly well up until move 29 when I blundered. It's been a while since I inserted a game into a blog and you need to practise these techniques or else you quickly forget. So here goes.

[White "Sean"] [Black "Fritz Club Level"] [Result "0-1"] [Termination "voodooguru23 resigned"] 1.Nf3 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.d4 e6 5.Nc3 Nbd7 6.Be2 Nb6 7.b3 Nbd7 8.0-0 b6 9.Bb2 Bb4 10.Qc2 Bb7 11.Bd3 0-0 12.a3 Be7 13.b4 c5 14.bxc5 bxc5 15.cxd5 exd5 16.Rab1 c4 17.Be2 Qb8 18.Nd2 Qc7 19.e4 dxe4 20.Ndxe4 Bxe4 21.Nxe4 Nxe4 22.Qxe4 Rae8 23.Qc2 Bd6 24.g3 Rc8 25.Qc3 Rfe8 26.Bf3 Nf6 27.Rfe1 Rxe1+ 28.Rxe1 Rb8 29.Re2 Rb3

OK, looks like I've succeeded. Reviewing the game, I simply didn't see the black rook sweeping down to b3. However, if I'd taken the time to tuck my white-squared bishop into the fianchettoed pawn position that was already set up, I might have had a chance. As it turned out, I lost a piece outright and it was all over really. Even if I move the queen to e1 and threaten problems on the black's back rank, the move Qb8 is decisive. Ah well. I should keep practising and remember not to leave pieces completely undefended because they then become targets for attack. In this case, my queen was attacked and the undefended white bishop. I couldn't save both. Below is a continuation after I retracted my losing move and in which I manage to secure a draw by perpetual check. I should practise inserting comments into games as well.

[White "Sean"] [Black "Fritz Club Level"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] 1.Nf3 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.d4 e6 5.Nc3 Nbd7 6.Be2 Nb6 7.b3 Nbd7 8.0-0 b6 9.Bb2 Bb4 10.Qc2 Bb7 11.Bd3 0-0 12.a3 Be7 13.b4 c5 14.bxc5 bxc5 15.cxd5 exd5 16.Rab1 c4 17.Be2 Qb8 18.Nd2 Qc7 19.e4 dxe4 20.Ndxe4 Bxe4 21.Nxe4 Nxe4 22.Qxe4 Rae8 23.Qc2 Bd6 24.g3 Rc8 25.Qc3 Rfe8 26.Bf3 Nf6 27.Rfe1 Rxe1+ 28.Rxe1 Rb8 29.Rc1 Qb6 30.Rc2 Qc7 31.Bc1 h6 32.Bg2 Re8 33.Be3 Qb8 34.Qxc4 Qb1+ 35.Rc1 Qb2 36.a4 Ng4 37.Rc2 Qa3 38.Rc3 Qb2 39.Rc2 Qb1+ 40.Rc1 Qb2 41.Rc2 Qb1+ 42.Rc1 Qb2 43.Rc2 Qa3 44.Rc3 Qb2 45.Rc2 Qb1+