why didn't # come up

years ago I sumbled into a funny checkmate myself.  I don't have the exact game itself, but I rememeber I was playing someone who by all rights should have won against me easily.  He was starting to form a mating net and focusing on that.  I noticed one of my bishops was attacking a pawn where he had castled his king and moved my queen onto that diagnal.  He kept forming his net, and the next move I captured that pawn with the queen and had him in checkmate.  Neither of us could believe I won that game.

Quick attack blinded black from protecting his c5 pawn in the opening. Nf6 could have saved his pawn and his king...

Thanks!

Good job=chess can be a funny game

That's really kind of funny but I've had that happen to me before, I might want to be more careful next time.

Black's lack of foresight, and poor play somehow does not equate

with his 1800 rating.

Hi, very nice and instructive game. To me its fascinating that the game looks balanced until blacks 9. move. The moves are logical, and even the 9. move which lost the game looks plausible at a first glance, and with a 9...0-0 10.0-0 it would have been a strong 10. move. Thanks for posting the game:-)

BTW, thanks for the comment.

To zankfrappa:

I have had lots of people play that.  I just pin the knight with 7. Bg5, which is especially annoying after 8. Nxe4, when Black will have to double his pawns after White takes on f6, unless Black plays ...Nbd7 first, which blocks the c8 bishop.  I have had lots of people play ...Nf6.  Usually nobody plays ...Bxc3, but rather ...Be7, just to avoid that pin.

    Why did black give the pawn back so easily.  Couldn't he have defended it with
a simple Nf6?

He used tactics too early and didnt focus too much on defending his king...

Yes, it is a good game. But black player makes easy the mate of white king.

nice checkmate!

To Petrosyan09 again:

As you note in #3, White comes out a rook ahead after 11....Nf5 12. Qxh8+ Kd7  13. Bxd8 Rxd8 14. O-O-O+ Nd6 and here White could even play 15. Qxd8+ Kxd8 16. Nxd6 cxd6 17. Rxd6+ and he is a rook, the exchange, and a pawn ahead.  This hardly qualifies as a "plausible" continuation, although I suppose it's better than mate in one, as in the game.  After 11. Qxg7, Black is 100% lost.

Yeah, Kd7 was pretty amatuerish...I think 11...Nf5 is a plausible move freeing a possible square for the king to evacuate to, which could result in

1. Queen exchange, since the f5 knight has trapped the queen

2.A heavy exchange exercise in the d7-d8 region

3.Worst-case scenario 12.Qxh8+ leading to queen exchange and white only a rook ahead.

Isn't this a plausible move for black in this situation?

To Petrosyan09:

Thank you for reading my article and taking the time to comment on it.

First, 11...Kd7 is met by 12. O-O-O+ winning Black's queen, since the knight can't bloc the check as it is pinned to the queen by the bishop.  Second, 10...f6 (not 10...f7) does not save Black because of 11. Bxd7+ Qxd7  12. Bxf6! gxf6  13. Nxf6, winning the queen.  If 12....Qxd4, then 13. Bxd4, leaving White a piece ahead.

As for your last question, I always recommend castling early, but merely castling is not a precondition for "an all-out attack."  To attack, you need to have an advantage in the area of the opponent's king, such as superior development or weak squares around the king.

To see some of my attacking games, go to www.brucetill.com and click on the "Visit My Blog" button at the top.

No no, 11.Qxg7 isn't the clincher..Black still has a chance with Kd7 instead of Rg8

What do you say?

10....f7 should've been the move..That's where he went off the rails.

As a general question, which do you consider the better strategy in the starting moves....Setting up your pawn garrisson or castling the king and preparing for all-out attack?

very nice .. i have to play the alekhine-gambit myself sometimes

nice