Queen Sac For Bishop/Pawn Checkmate
It isn't everyday that you can sacrifice a Queen to pull off a checkmate. It isn't everyday that you can checkmate the opponent's King with a pawn and a Bishop. But today the stars aligned, so let's see if you do what I did:
It's certainly the most beautiful checkmate I've ever played.
You know, though, it raises an interesting point. Whenever an opponent seems to just throw you a Queen, it's best to look twice before taking it. Because this wasn't a hard mate to see--it was a mate in two. A cursory glance at the board gives it away after the terribly weak g3.
Honestly, I probably would have taken the Queen myself, because I wouldn't have been looking for a Pawn/Bishop checkmate. And I'd have then lost. That's an unusual combination to checkmate a King with. But I think I'm going to be on the lookout now, in particular for Queen sacrifices and strange Bishop/Pawn checkmates.
I've sent the game to GM Daniel Naroditsky, hoping that he's willing to take a look at it--if for no other reason than the unusual checkmate. Of course, I wouldn't mind having a GM look at my games, either. :D
Anyway--think twice before grabbing what seems to be a free Queen. Unless you're playing me in Blitz, in which case... yeah, it's probably a free Queen, because I suck at Blitz.
I'd also like to point out that it's obviously not truly a sacrifice--it's a gambit. This is because "gambit" is not a synonym for "gamble." The two words aren't related. "Gambit" actually refers to exchanging one advantage for another, not with risk/reward. Sadly, "gambit" is often used to refer to a gamble, but the etymology is distinctly different.
"Gambit" originates from the Italian word gamba and gambetto, and essentially mean "tripping up." So even the modern usage of exchanging one advantage for another isn't quite correct (note the Wikipedia entry for the Queen's Gambit, where the article notes that it's not a "true gambit" because Black can't keep the pawn--Wikipedia appears very confused about what the word means).<br />
Gamble, of course, originates with gamel, as in "to play games," so also doesn't have anything inherently to do with risk and reward.