How Swindling Got Me The !!-Move, At Last!

Let’s talk about swindling our opponents. I just learned, or rather re-learned, this concept, from the WGM Qiyu Zhou’s lesson on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/lessons/how-to-swindle-your-opponent. This tool is so up my alley, since I tend to get into a lot of positional trouble playing fast 10 minutes games, topped up with me being so out of (chess) shape.

The idea behind swindling is this: when you are in an inferior position, or downright losing a game, start stirring things up. Play bold, risky moves that give you chances for counterplay and confuse your opponent. This creates an opportunity for your opponent to make a mistake. And that’s what we want. Be pro-active; avoid being passive.

Thank you Qiyu Zhou for a great reminder! I was able to apply this concept in my game today, right after the lesson. How timely!

Here is the game I played today against islamcasper55. After some 25 moves, I got myself into the following position, playing Black:

With under 6 minutes to go, I quickly evaluated this as losing for Black. The engine also shows +2.82 in the evaluation. I had no time to waste. I decided to activate my rooks and cause some trouble by chasing pawns. I knew if I did nothing and went into a defensive mode, I would lose. So, I swindled.

After several moves, Black managed to win some pawns and ended with this position:

In my mind, with 2 minutes left on the clock, I thought I was still losing (or was equal at most). As such, I was still looking for bold moves when I spotted a trap.

In this position, the recommended move for Black is to play Rc5. But after some analysis, I find that White holds on. Instead, I played Rh4. Can you see the trap now? Can White play Nxb6?

The answer is no. Nxb6 loses to my double-exclam move – Pa3!! Hurray at last! 😊

White now cannot stop my a-pawn from Queening. If White plays Kc2, then Black has Rb4. If White plays Kc3 then Rh2 wins. And if Kc1, then Rh1+.

Black played on to win the game, with 2 seconds (!!) left on the clock!

You can view the entire  game here:

Summary: Be proactive and maintain a positive mindset when you are losing. Always look for opportunities to create trouble and lure your opponent into making mistakes.