A Fun Queen Sacrifice
I recently played a daily game where I found a pretty nice idea. Like most people around my rating, I have a bad habit of automatically moving attacked pieces without looking for alternatives, so was happy to find this. The game and my comments are below. The critical moves were 16...c4 and 18...cxb3.
With 16. Nd5 I saw that the only way to avoid weakening the d6 pawn while preventing Nxe7 was to put a Rook on e8. I also saw that the instinctual 16… c4 might fail to 17. Nxe7+ Kh8 18. Nc6 forking my Rook and Queen. After something like 18…Qb5 to save the queen and keep the bishop trapped, the line might continue 19. Nxb8 Rxb8 20. c3 cxb3 21. axb3 and I would have a bishop and knight for a rook and pawn (20. Bxc4 is not possible since 20…Qxb2#).
But then I noticed the strong continuation that was played in the game, 18…cxb3! 19. Nxa5 is then basically forced, and I can sneak in the intermezzo 19…bxc2+. Hiding behind the pawn is possible, though I still have pressure on the King. Instead, White took the pawn, and I gained a tempo on the King while putting my Rook on the 7th rank. The finishing move was 21…Rc8+, which wins the queen back. At the end of the line, Black is up a full piece and has two unopposed bishops targeting a very naked King.
Any queen sacs of your own that you found especially satisfying and care to share? How about any master games that were fun to see?
Hope you liked the game!
-LeeEuler