Aaarrgh!!!

In one of my games during the recent tournament, I missed the most beautiful mate I have ever had the chance to deliver. This is straight out of a puzzle book. Dammit! I can’t believe I didn’t see this during the game, it’s so obvious… sigh. Chess blindness I guess. So in the following position, I am white and I already have a crushing advantage. Black just played Rxe5, and after taking his rook I’m up the exchange plus a pawn, and a vicious attack with a discovered check. So it’s all good. Or not.



Instead of taking his rook, I should of course have played 1…Nf8+ Kh8 2.Qh7! Nxh7 3.Ng6#

I was thinking there must be a mate somewhere but somehow I couldn’t see it clearly in my mind, always thinking that his knight was covering the h7 square. Of course I missed the fact that I could sac my queen, because by taking on h7, he would allow the smothered mate. I guess the lesson here is, forget about material, always look at forcing moves when mate is in the air.

I won the game anyways so it’s not a huge deal, but I might not have another chance anytime soon to sac my Queen for a pretty smothered mate. Now I can’t even show off at my club. Crap.

Greek Sacrifice Miniature

Here's a cute blitz game I played tonight, with a Greek sacrifice. These sacs work particularly well when your opponent doesn't have much time to calculate :-)

Ah yes, chess blogging.

I almost forgot that I have this blog. Too many things going on in my life… I haven’t been playing much in the last 2 months except for the occasional blitz game and a few casual games against friends and family, without a clock. Not much happening in terms of studying…

So I did manage to go to my chess club last night for the first time in months, and I actually played pretty decently. Here’s a position from a casual, untimed game that stuck in my head:



I am black, and it’s my opponent’s move. I had gotten my rook into an unpleasant spot on e4, but there were some tactics looming that I thought would keep my opponent from trying to chase the rook with Nf1-d2. Well, he played 1.Nd2 anyways, which allowed me to play the cute 1…Nxd4, threatening to take his queen. Play continued 2.cxd4? Qxd2, and white seems to be lost in all lines. I’ve got a mate threat on e1 and plenty of other options. If, for example, 3.Bc3, I can simply take the knight with Qxf4.

That was fun :)

Duh.

I was playing a blitz game earlier today against a guy rated about 200 points higher than me. I'm white and we reached the following position after he just played Qe4, with each about a minute and a half left on the clock:



I'm thinking about my move, and after about 5 seconds he offers a draw. Here's what went through my head, all within a few seconds: "I can't castle to protect my rook on b1 since he will just take my queen with his bishop. Ne7+ obviously doesn't work. Oh he's offering a draw? Well he's higher rated and probably doesn't see any win for either side. Screw it, just take the draw." Duh. Stupid blitz. I'm such a patzer.

Simple But Beautiful

I love this position (number 165 in Alburt's Chess Training Pocket Book). It's white to move - what would you play?

Highlight between the brackets for the solution.
[ 1.Bg5! And black resigned. He can't take the bishop with the h pawn, as Qh5 will be mate. If black's queen takes the bishop, white wins with Qg8# ]

White to Play and Kick Ass

I found the following little gem on Tim Krabbé's Chess Curiosities site. Take a look at the following game from Hendriks - Spanton, Hastings 2006. After

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 c6 4.Nf3 d5 5.Bb3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Bxd2+ 7.Qxd2 dxe4 8.Nxe5 O-O 9.dxe4 Qe7 10.Qf4 Nh5

they reached the following position:



What’s the best continuation for white? Hint: It’s a beautiful move. Highlight between the brackets for the solution:

[12.Qg3! Nxg3? 13.Ng6+ hxg6 14.hxg3# Note Black isn’t forced to play 12…Nxg3, but 12...Rxf7 still leaves white with an advantage, for example after 12...Rxf7 13.Qg5]

For Your Entertainment

I have added a new little gadget to my blog - the daily chess puzzle you see on the right, courtesy of Shredder. Yet another way for you to kill a minute or two while pretending to be busy at work! :)

Cheap Shot

It's so much easier to pull off little tactical shots in blitz games than in longer games. This is a typical example: had the guy thought for a few seconds, he probably would've seen this. But he moved to fast. He's white and just moved Rfc1. I play Ba5, and without much thought he takes the Bishop with his Queen. Well, greed kills. He resigned after the obvious Rxc1+, Rxc1, Qxa5. Heh.