I thought I'd share a couple of my games by isolating the moves that made them memorable.
The first game I was defending against the King's Gambit. I had succeeded in getting a strong attack along the g-file. But I was so intent on pressing for the win that I neglected to notice my opponent moving out of the pin. On later analysis, my chess engine rated my move as a 15-point turnaround.
The other game has fonder memories. I was playing the Bird Opening against a much higher rated opponent. I had just finished sacrificing my Rook in an unsound attack in the center to counter his Queen-side attack. He moved his Queen back to complete his defense. I realized that trading Rooks was a losing proposition. Then I spotted this move. My opponent looked at it for a few minutes and quietly tipped over his King.
Happy Holidays everyone!
Re: the second game, that's a classic example of a player failing to visualize the change in a future position (the Black queen blocking e7 creating a mating pattern after Qxh7+ and Qh8). This is the sort of thing that intermediate level players like me do on a regular basis (and higher-rateds on occasion too). Great job finding it!
ReplyDeleteRe: the first game, also a useful example, this time of how our chess brain assumes that a prior board condition (in this case a pin) is still in effect after an opponent's move. One of the things I'm working on is employing a standard thinking process that includes asking "what did the opponent's move change?" every single move, not just when I think it's important to do so.