Brillancy Dept.

Originally posted by greenpawn34
HI TV.

All these lines look like they have something but in all cases
Black is still better and I had to select how better I wanted Black to be.

You will have to remember my 0-0 was a complete blunder. I pondered resigning.
It took a while to compose myself.

I recall the bemused looks from my team mates. Some were not to pleased,
I was about ...[text shortened]... pulling poking the position
about. You learn things doing that. I did it/do it all the time.

It always starts with: "Hey, isn't this move much better than what is played." After which I try to analyse it and get drawn into all kinds of variations which complicate the initial idea. It's fun to look at positions with many possibilities. Mostly, the ideas don't make it to a post though, after I've found a simple refutation. So, I was glad with this one.

Anyway, I think in all the lines I gave, the worst for white is the cost of the initial bishop sac for 2 pawns, which was your intention. So I think Qf3+ was a better move. But it's easy to miss things, so I may be wrong.

Have a nice weekend.

Originally posted by tvochess
Hey GP,

if you don't mind, I'd like to try 9. Qf3+ here.

[fen] r1bq1knr/pppp2pp/8/nP2N3/3bP3/5Q2/P1PP1PPP/RNB2RK1 [/fen]

I have been analyzing a lot of lines here, and they all seem to save the knight or better. I hope I didn't miss some obvious refutation here, but someone will point it out then anyway. I'll give an overview.

What will black d lay Nxe4 at some point further on, we have Qf3+ and QxNe4.

What do you think?

The lesson here is that you sac for the initiative so you can't go giving it back just to save material. Besides material there are temporal and spacial aspects to chess as well.

PS the edits are because I used your original FEN but missed that you showed the position with the queen starting on f3... it took me a while to figure this out lol.

Originally posted by greenpawn34
"I wish I had my games from 1980."

You have done it again.

Well not you, I should say I have just been reminded again of a very sad day.

I kept of a record of all my games and even wrote down the interesting skittles
games (Botvinnik again.) But I have lost a score book containing serious OTB
games from 1981 - 1984. I have some from that perio .. Qe7 22. gxh8=Q Nxe3 23. Qxg8+ Kd7 24. e6+ Qxe6 25. Qxe6+ Kxe6 26. Rbe1 {Perfect.}[/pgn]

Awesome and interesting game.

As an aside as Black, I always accept here Bxb4 against the Evans Gambit and Black must play very careful as we know, and refute the imminent White attack (I like to get the White's light-square bishop if possible), and try to win as Black with the extra pawn or give a pawn later for position. The Bb6 that Black did in your game is too weak to me, but just my feeble opinion. Firmian of the MCO says that Black Bb6 (declining the gambit) is "a seemingly safer line that nonetheless has some pitfalls." Black to move.


I can see here as white being tempted with the Bxf7 sac, disrupting the black king and getting two pawns including a center pawn for the bishop. What exactly is a “spec sac” or “spec saccing?” White to move.


I have never done that amount of saccing you did in this game. The otucome was nice for you, being the exchange up and with a 2 to 1 pawn majority on the king side. Black to move.

Originally posted by greenpawn34
HI TV.

All these lines look like they have something but in all cases
Black is still better and I had to select how better I wanted Black to be.

You will have to remember my 0-0 was a complete blunder. I pondered resigning.
It took a while to compose myself.

I recall the bemused looks from my team mates. Some were not to pleased,
I was about pulling poking the position
about. You learn things doing that. I did it/do it all the time.

If you were already contemplating resigning, it's like you had nothing to lose (except maybe rest) by playing on.

Originally posted by Paul Leggett
In the game, I think it was when my opponent played ...f6 that got my attention. I had recently read and played through a Larsen game in the KIA where he talked about dark and light squares, and the light squares in my game sort of metaphorically glowed after ...f6.

In fact, I should add that I exchanged the e3 bishop for black's c5 bishop mainly so tion, which is why the game is memorable for me. And it did end on move 25, which was a bonus.

Reasonable characterization of “white squares glowing” after Black moves f6. White to move.


White to BxB (which you did) to get the Black Q off the white square. White to move.


Result (with the 22.Qc4 move). Black to move.

Originally posted by Paul Leggett
This is a game I won in round 2 of my very first appearance in the Open Section of a big tournament. I was 2-0 at the end of the day, and tied with several 2300+ Masters, which led my my getting absolutely thrashed the very next day!

At the time, I thought my sacrifice of the d3 pawn was inspired, and that my subsequent play proved its soundness. M Red1 Qf8 21. Qg4 f5 22. Qc4 Re8 23. Rxb7 e4 24. Rdd7 e3 25. Rxf7 1-0[/pgn]

You indicate that your opponent Black 21 . . . f5 was a key bad move, and it would definitely seem so.

I was also wondering a couple of moves earlier if Black had moved 19 . . . R/f8-d8 instead of Rf7 (below) which he did. White to move.



Instead, if Black does 19 . . .R/f8-d8, reluctantly giving up his b-pawn, does he have a chance at least a draw? White to move.



20.Rxb7 Qd5. White to move.


Or this possibility.


Or this haphazard more extended and unlikely possibility with the blitz moves I made.



By the way, nice metaphor with the reference to "mate."

Originally posted by moon1969
If you were already contemplating resigning, it's like you had nothing to lose (except maybe rest) by playing on.

For a couple of minutes I just wanted a hole to appear for me to dive in.
I never saw 8...Bd4 coming. At least I'm honest.
Alekhine would have said he saw it all! 🙂

So I put on my best poker face and attacked.

I've had worse. Yes I really have had worse than this and won.
One lad I played had mate in one against me, he missed it and I won.

I've missed mate in one twice for me OTB - but on both occassions I won.
One was because it was mid combo and I just played out the combo - the other
was because I thought I had mated him. I had not and had to pulll out a real
jammy combo to mate him.
(Spec sacs luck - you cannot beat spec sacs luck.)

3 people have resigned against me in won positions!

And that of course leads us to....

jvecchio - gafford RHP 2007

Black misses mate in one and gets mated next move.