Phases of an Attack
Not every attack ends in mate in under 30 moves. Some attacks go through phases, where goals are accomplished in parts and acheiving one goal leads to the creation of a new goal. This pattern may be repeated several times in one game. And tactics are the tools used to acheive goals. The following game has many phases of the attack, which does not end in mate, but rather an endgame in which White reaps the rewards of the goals he acheived througout the game.
So what were the phases of White's attack? Can you name some? How about the attacking f7 with e6 and Ng5 phase, followed by the Qf2-h4 and Nf7 phase, winning a pawn. Then there was the line opening phase when White sacrificed two kingside pawns just to open lines for the queen and rooks. Following that was the redeployment of the knight that led to a tactic which won the exchange. That allowed the phase where White penetrated Black's position with the queen and rook, forcing the king into the center. This enabled White to win Black's knight with a tactic, putting him a whole rook ahead. The next phase was trading queens and the last phase was using the extra rook and White king to stop Black's extra pawns.
Although White played a sharp opening line, he did not acheive a quick knockout. But he never let up on Black's king and kept coming after it in phase after phase. Along the way, even though Black avoided mate, White piled up advantages (an extra rook), which he used to win the endgame. So while a mating attack that leads to mate is nice, a relentless attack in phases, each phase forcing some concessions from your opponent, can lead to just as satisfying a win.
Although White played a sharp opening line, he did not acheive a quick knockout. But he never let up on Black's king and kept coming after it in phase after phase. Along the way, even though Black avoided mate, White piled up advantages (an extra rook), which he used to win the endgame. So while a mating attack that leads to mate is nice, a relentless attack in phases, each phase forcing some concessions from your opponent, can lead to just as satisfying a win.
