Tactics from my Recent Games

Here are some puzzles from some of my recent games.

Let's start with an easy one.  Black has just played 16...Ba6 to develop his last minor piece.  Why is this wrong?

Next is one that's only a little harder.  In this recent OTB game Black just played 11...f5, which Black often plays against White's particular English setup.  In this case it has a tactical refuation!

Warmed up?  This next one is a little tougher.  In this correspondence game my opponent and I had been following another game for quite a few moves.  In the Ruy Lopez White sacrificed two pawns to try for an attack.  In my notes to move 31...Nd4 I wrote that I expected his move.  Then for my 32. Qd3 I wrote "With threats.  Enough?  We shall see!"  See if you can spot what I missed.

I guess that's why it's important to look at all threats before making a move.

Fortunately for me, my opponent didn't spot this and instead played 32...Qg4.  Unleash White's threat!

Recently I won for the first time against a National Master in an OTB game.  However, if my opponent had found this tactic on move 15 the result would have been quite different.

In the next one White has a queen for a rook, bishop, and two pawns.  It's quite an interesting material imbalance, and I had guessed White's queen would be very hard to play against.  Here, after Black defended against a checkmate threat with 19...Bf6 I found an interesting way to win a pawn.

Finally, here's a different type of puzzle, more of a positional one.  In this OTB tournament game my opponent played 19. Bxg7.  Should I simply recapture or should I first trade my knight for his bishop?  I chose the wrong option.

Hope you enjoyed these!