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Saturday, January 31, 2026

Tartajubow vs. Morphy (Personality)

    
Does Fritz 20 really play like the historic personalities? The fact that I lost two games against the Fischer personality wasn't surprising, but what about my win over the Morphy personality?!  
    The “book” on Fritz 20 is, “Yes, (it is) largely succeeds in playing like specific, configurable personalities by deliberately reducing tactical precision to mimic human decision-making, positional preferences, and weaknesses.” 
    During the following game I ignored the hints the program suggested and simply plated my own game. Honestly, I don’t know how Morphy-like the program played, but I never saw any tactics or traps from the program nor did I ever feel like I was in any danger of losing.  “Morphy” seemed to play a pretty passive game. Also, I cannot explain the horrible blunder on move 34. 

    One thing is clear though. If you are interested in training and practicing against a fairly realistic environment then Fritz 20 (or even Fritz 19 which does not have the historic players) then it is an entertaining program that is well worth the price. (Note: I have no financial interest in ChessBase products.) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A game that I liked (Fritz 17)

[Event "Fritz 20 Personality"] [Site "?"] [Date "2026.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Tartajubow"] [Black "Paul Morphy (Personality)"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C55"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "115"] [EventDate "2026.01.29"] {C55: Two Knights Defense} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 {I am not familiar with Morphy's play, but this lools like something he might have played.} 3. Bc4 Be7 4. O-O Nc6 5. c3 Nf6 6. Re1 {White usually plays 6.d3} O-O (6... Nxe4 {This looks more like a Morphy move than the text.} 7. Rxe4 d5 {This position is tactically tricky!} 8. Nxe5 (8. Re1 dxc4 9. Nxe5 Nxe5 10. Rxe5 O-O {White has some problems trying to get developed so black is better.}) 8... Nxe5 (8... dxe4 9. Nxf7 {wins}) 9. Bb5+ Bd7 {with a completely equal position.} 10. Rxe5 Bxb5) 7. d4 {[%mdl 32] Again, white almost always plays 7.d3} Bg4 {The threat is ...Bxf3 removing the guard from the d-Pawn, so white does not have much choice/} 8. d5 Nb8 {Here I was not happy with my position. It's closed and so tactics are at a minimum which is probably a good thing against the Morphy personality, but the bad B and lack of attacking prospects is a downer.} 9. h3 (9. Nbd2 c6 10. Nf1 Nbd7 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Qxf3 cxd5 13. exd5 Rc8 14. Ne3 g6 15. Bb3 {is about equal. Vykouk,J (2445)-Dolezal,R (2396) Liga Zapad Czech Republic 2015}) 9... Bh5 {Should I play 10.g4 risking that black will sacrifice a piece?} (9... Bc8 10. Bf1 h6 11. c4 Nbd7 12. Nc3 a5 {White is slightly better. Niephaus,W-Witkowski,S Heidelberg 1949}) 10. Bd3 {It would have been OK to play 10.g4 because any sacrifice would not have been quite correct...black has no followup to het to the white K.} h6 11. Nbd2 Nbd7 12. g4 {Played after coming to the conclusion that there is no other way of making progress.} Bg6 13. Nh4 a5 {Oddly, this is not a bad move, but it came as a total surprise.} (13... Bh7 {was what I expected.} 14. Nf5 {I would not expect black to play 14...Bxf5 which allows the opening of the g-file, but Stockfish finds ni fault with it. Evidently, black can defend any attack on the g-file. Equally good would be counterattacking in the center with 14...c6}) 14. Nxg6 { I was surprised to find that Stockfish disapproves of this move, It wants me to play 14.Nc5. It now considers black's position to be more promising.} fxg6 { There is no way to take advantage of the doubled Ps, so I decided to improve the position of my N.} 15. Nf1 {Now black should play ...Nh7 and ...Bg5 eliminating the dark squared Bs/ Instead, the next move is rather aimless as black's opportunities on the Q-side are limited.} a4 16. Ng3 Nh7 17. Be3 Ng5 18. Bxg5 Bxg5 19. Qc2 {The idea is to connect the Rs and hopefully open the h-file.} Qf6 20. Rf1 h5 {[%mdl 512] I thought this was a mistake, but the auto-analysis by Fritz gave it a ! and black is better by about 1.75 Ps.} 21. f3 Be3+ 22. Kg2 Bf4 23. Ne2 Qh4 {This is hardly bad, but keeping the B woth 23. ..Be3 was a bit better.} 24. Nxf4 {Happy to eliminated the B!} exf4 25. Qf2 Qxf2+ {Keeping Qs on with 25...Qe7 was a bit better.} 26. Kxf2 Ne5 27. Be2 { White is weak on the dark squares and the B is useless. If 27.Rac1 there would be no chance that blacl would make the mistake of exchanging his good N for it. It’s a miracle that the B actually makes a major contribution to winning the game.} hxg4 28. hxg4 g5 29. Rh1 Rfb8 30. Rh5 {At long last...counterplay against the weak g-Pawns!} Ra5 31. Rah1 (31. Rxg5 {is a bad mistake.} g6 { and the R is trapped.}) 31... Kf7 32. Rh8 Rxh8 33. Rxh8 {[%mdl 4096] Here I was confident that with the R behind enemy lines I would not lose the game and might even win. Actually, the position is equal.} b6 34. Rc8 {I cannot explain black's next move which loses outright. 34...Ra7 draws.} Ke7 {[%mdl 8192]} 35. Rxc7+ Kf8 36. Rb7 b5 37. Rxb5 Rxb5 {Keeping the Rs on would have held out longer.} 38. Bxb5 a3 39. bxa3 Ke7 40. a4 g6 41. a5 Kd8 42. a6 Kc8 43. Bc6 Kb8 44. Bb5 Kc7 45. a4 {[%mdl 32]} Kb6 46. a5+ Ka7 47. Be2 {To free the K to advance to the Q-side.} Nd7 48. Ke1 Ka8 49. Kd2 Ne5 50. Kc2 Kb8 51. Kb3 Kc7 52. Kb4 Kb8 53. c4 Nd7 {Wards off c5} 54. Kb5 Kc7 55. a7 {Sacrificing the P to allow the K to penetrate.} Kb7 56. a8=Q+ Kxa8 57. Kc6 Nf6 58. Kxd6 {Here I resigned for black. Unfirtunately you cannot resign for your opponent in a real game.} 1-0

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