Fritz 19 Opponents

    The last several days have brought our first nasty weather. It’s been cold dreary and we had our first snow. Now today it's warmed up with solid overcast and drizzle; it ‘s a good day to play a couple of test games against the personalities on my fairly new Fritz 19 program. 

    I don’t really enjoy playing against engines, but wanted to at least test the feature. I have read a number of reviews of Fritz 19 and am surprised at how many people have found fault with the program. I have several ChessBase programs and have had no difficulties with them whatsoever. One person found it offensive that ChessBase used animal avatars for the personalities! 

    Fritz 19’s pre-set opponents are: Beginner, Hobby Player, Club Player, Strong Club Player, Master Candidate and Grandmaster. For each opponent you can choose a style: All Around, Aggressive, Swindler, Positional, Timid and Endgaome Specialists. 

    I have no idea and have been unable to locate an estimated rating for any of the personalities. I am guessing a Club Player would fall in the range of 1700-1800 and Strong Club Player 2000-2100. 

    These personalities with their different playing style could be fun for those who enjoy playing against engines and it could also be good training for those who arr actually hoping to improve. 

    In any case, here is a casual game I played against the Positiona; Hobby Player personality. I played two casula games lasting about 15-20 minutes each. One against the Aggressive Club Player and one against the Positional Hobby Player. I defeated the Aggressive Club Player in a game in which we both played sloppy chess. It seemed the engine was giving me tactical chances, most of which I missed. 

    The second game against the Positional Club Player was more difficult and was actually instructive. The personality put up strong resistance and when we reached the critical position I missed the best line and went into an ending that proved to be pretty difficult, at least for me. 

    Analyzing the game with Stockfish leads me to believe that the game could very well have been played by a couple of non-Masters. In conclusion, although I still prefer live opponent, I think the personalities do make good sparring partners. 

[Event "Casual Game"] [Site "?"] [Date "2024.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Tartajubow"] [Black "Positional Hobby Player"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D03"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "125"] [EventDate "2024.12.09"] {D03: Torre Attack} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bg5 {This old favorite of mine, the Torre Attack, is rarely seen in modern play. White sims quick development and hopes to obtain attacking chances on the K-side.} Ne4 {Black usually plays 3... e6, but this move is a crucial continuation as it questions the early B move and prepares for quick counterplay.in the center. Black hopes to seize the initiative by gaining a tempo on the B.White's main choices are 4.Bf4 and 4.Bh4 } 4. Bh4 {This move leaves the B on a less active square, but the hope is that it will interfere with black’s development. The disadvantage is that it has no effect on the Q-side and so allows black to prepare pressure against the P on b2 by ...c5 and ...Qb6.} (4. Bf4 {This is the more principled continuation. After 4..c5. white has to support the center with either c3 or e3.} c5 5. e3 Nc6 {White can now play just about any reasonable move.}) 4... c6 {This is solid, but passive. More robust was 4...c5} 5. Nbd2 g6 {A novelty, but the finchetto is a very solid approach.} (5... Nxd2 6. Qxd2 Qb6 7. c3 Bf5 8. e3 e6 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 Qb5 {an here Leuba,D (2295)-Kamber,B (2270) Suhr 1991 agreed to a draw.}) (5... Bf5 6. e3 {Equally good was 6.Nxe4} Qb6 {with equality/ Moran Llera,J-Gadeo Colomina,F (2088) Linares 2005}) (5... Qa5 6. c3 Bf5 7. Nxe4 Bxe4 8. e3 Nd7 9. Bd3 Nf6 {Boring! Pyrzynski,M (1980)-Velecky,V (2104) Polanica Zdroj 2006}) 6. e3 Qa5 7. c3 Bg4 {Black would have dine better capruring on d2 or retreating to d6.} 8. Be2 {This is too routine. 8.h3 was more precise.} Bg7 9. O-O O-O {An outright error losing a P. 10...Nxd2 was best } 10. h3 {I must confess that I totally overlooked the win of a P with 10.Bxe7} Bxf3 11. Nxf3 {Now I realized black's e-Pawn was attacked, but so did the Hobby Player!} e6 12. Qb3 b5 {This is the wrong reaction to the attack on the b-Pawn. 11...Qc7 or 11...Qb6 are acceptable.} 13. a4 {With no prospects on the K-side white's attention turns to the Q-side.} Nd7 {A mistake that loses a P and leaves white with a decisive advantage. Correct was 13...bxa4} 14. axb5 Qc7 15. bxc6 Qxc6 16. Rfc1 a5 17. Bb5 Qc7 18. c4 Qd6 {Here I did npt see any clear way of forcing the issue on the Q-side so decided to switch operations back to the K-side/} 19. Ng5 (19. cxd5 {is crushing.} exd5 20. Bc6 {picks up the d-Pawn after which black os quite helpless.}) 19... Nd2 20. Qd3 Nxc4 21. Bxc4 dxc4 22. Qxc4 Nb6 23. Qc5 Qd8 {A tactical mistake. Trading Qs would have at least kept black on the game.} 24. Nxh7 {[%mdl 512] Attacking both the Q and R. } Qxh4 25. Nxf8 Qd8 {Why give up another P?!} 26. Nxe6 fxe6 27. Qc7 e5 28. Qxd8+ Rxd8 {It would seem the ending is easilt won for white.} 29. Rc6 (29. dxe5 Bxe5 30. Rxa5 Bxb2 {is won, but there looks to be a lot of technical problems for white to solve.}) 29... Nd5 30. Rxg6 Kf7 31. Ra6 exd4 32. exd4 Bxd4 33. R1xa5 {I thought about resigning for the machine here, but decided to play on not realizing that black still has some play keft.} Nb4 34. Ra8 Rd6 35. Rb5 Nd3 36. Rb7+ Kg6 {How can I meet the attack on f2?} 37. Rc8 {Not this way!} (37. Rg8+ {Like this!} Kf5 (37... Kh5 38. Rf7 Kh6 39. Kf1) 38. Rf7+ Ke6 39. Rg6+) 37... Bxf2+ 38. Kf1 Kg5 {[%mdl 8192] Missing the opportunity equalize.} ( 38... Re6 39. Rg8+ Kf6 {Mate is threatened with ,,,Re1# so...} 40. g3 Re1+ 41. Kg2 Bc5 {and theoretically the chances are equal. In Shootouts white scored +1 -0 =4}) 39. Rg8+ Kh6 40. b4 {Playing on the wrong side of the board!} (40. g4 { and white stays cle on top as g5+ would win.} Bh4 41. Rh8+ Kg5 42. Ke2 Nc1+ 43. Ke3 {White gets his K into play and black's pieces are tied up.}) 40... Re6 { Threatening ...Re1#} 41. g4 Re5 {[%mdl 8192] A tacticl mistake that should have lost outright. 41...Bh4 and ...Bf6 makes it much more difficulr for white to make progress.} 42. g5+ {An excellent move that simplfies into an ending that is easier to win.} Rxg5 43. Rxg5 Kxg5 44. b5 {Of course 44.Ke2 wins a piece. As things are bow winning is not so easy! Stockfish is giving me about a 5 Pawn advantage, but I do not play at Stockfish's level,} Nc5 45. Rc7 Ne4 46. Rc6 Kf5 47. b6 Bxb6 48. Rxb6 {[%mdl 4096] White must be very careful not to lose the P and be left with a R vs N>} Nd2+ 49. Ke2 Nc4 50. Rb5+ Ke4 51. Rb4 Kd5 52. h4 {This required a bit of calculation to maje sure the P cannot be stopped!} (52. Rxc4 Kxc4 53. Kf3 (53. Ke3 Kd5 54. Kf4 Ke6 55. Kg5 Kf7 {draws}) 53... Kd5 54. Kf4 Ke6 55. Kg5 Kf7 56. h4 Kg7 57. h5 Kf7 {The P can;t be forced to h8 so the game is drawn.}) 52... Ne5 53. Rb5+ Ke6 54. h5 Kf6 55. h6 Ng6 { This ending is turning out to be nuch tougher than expected!} 56. Rb6+ Kf7 57. h7 Nh8 58. Rb7+ {Now all white needs to do is bring up the K.} Kg6 59. Kf3 Kf6 60. Ke4 Kg6 61. Ke5 Nf7+ (61... Kh6 62. Kf5 Kh5 63. Rb8 Ng6 64. h8=Q+ {wins}) ( 61... Kg5 62. Rg7+ Kh6 63. Kf6 Kh5 64. Rg8 {wins/}) 62. Rxf7 Kxf7 63. h8=Q { Here I did something you can't do in a real game...I resigned for my opponent.} 1-0