Tragedy

Tragedy

I wish I could say that this was an exaggeration. I've played a lot of games, where I make silly mistakes, and I've had plenty of games that I felt bad about afterward. However, none of those games can compare to a game that I played recently. The game that I am about to share is by far the most tragic game that I have played thus far. The time format is 10 minute rapid. I am playing with the white pieces against a 2032 from Russia. 

I start the game off with d4, and black responds with the Englund Gambit with e5. This is often considered somewhat of a dubious opening. However, I was not quick to lose my guard, as my opponent was considerably higher rated than I was. Black would develop his knight, targeting the pawn, and I would in turn develop my knight to defend. 

Black continued by bringing out his queen, trying to continue to build up tension on the pawn in the center of the board. However, I decided to give back the pawn, rather than fight for it. This is because I already have the momentum of the game in my favor with extra time to develop. I also play e4, gaining more central control when compared to black. 

Black continues the game by taking on my knight, however, this leaves black with no significant development. Notice, how my pieces are easily developed, as my bishop's diagonals are cleared and my king is ready to castle either way. Black on the other hand is sorely lacking develop from the beginning of the game. I decide to focus develop my supporting my e pawn and continuing to control the center of the board. 

I decide to castle short, and here, black makes a serious blunder with g6, but the reason is not obvious, and I miss the idea by playing Bg5. But Bb5+ is completely winning the game because white will have to surrender castling the king or lose material. White can try to block the check with the bishop, but this is where Bg5 should be played, pinning the knight to the queen, not allowing black an easy way out. 

The game continues with a bit of development, but black decides to bring and centralize their queen. Soon, black offers a trade of queens. However, I avoid this trade, but the computer thinks that I should have played more aggressively with e5, potentially discovering a check on the king with my rook after my pawn takes. 

Unfortunately, I play e5 a move late, and black is able to castle out of danger. We have an exchange in the center of the board, followed up with me trying to harass black's queen. Black offers another exchange of queens, but I avoid this attempt as well. 

Black develops their bishop and begins rotating their pieces to the queenside, attacking my vulnerable pawns. I play Rb1, trying to defend my b pawn, while my knight guarded the a pawn. Black challenges my knight, and I take on the knight in a trade in order to get rid of black's powerful knight outpost. 

It was in this position, that I would be forced to do a queen trade, as black threatened a mate in one, and any attempts to block it would result in a damaged pawn structure. I would also be able to trade off black's long diagonal bishop. It seemed as though we were entering a symmetrical endgame.

Black tries to take control of the open d-file, but I bring out my bishop, revealing an attack on black's bishop. Black tries to defend with his pawn in order to keep the d file open, but I play f3, forcing black's bishop onto the d-file. This closes black's file, while opening the e-file, which I control.

Black immediately challenges control of the file, while I slowly buildup my pawn structure. I try to build on the light squares, in order to restrict the movement of my opponent's bishop, although this also restricts my own bishop. Black on the other hand is trying to activate his king and builds a pawn chain on the queenside. 

I play f4, trying to prevent black's king from coming forward. Here, black pushes his bishop for a trade, which I take on. This is in order to make his f pawn softer by isolating it from the other pawns. This also leaves the d file open, which I challenge, and black allows for me to take control of. This allows my rook easier infiltration of the black position. 

The next moves I take are in order to restrict the forward movement and activity of the black king. Notice how my pawn structure ensures that both light and dark squares in front of the enemy king are restricted. I also place my king in front of the passed pawn to make sure it can not advance any further. I also utilize the open file to infiltrate into the enemy position. 

The game continues with my slowly making my pawns move forward. Soon, my rook is covering the back of the king and my pawns the front. Black decides to sacrifice one of their pawns in order to get breathing room for their king in fear of a potential mating net. 

The game continues with a trade of pawns on the queenside, and we soon transpose to a position, where I am up a pawn on the king side with a 2 on 1. The queenside is symmetrical with a 2 on 2, and both sides have a rook. Stockfish evaluates the position as a +1.47 favorable position for me. This was potentially the best game I had ever played, as I was beating a +2000 rated player, which I had never done before by purely outplaying. I could at the very least draw the game in worst case scenario. I also still had 4 minutes and 23 seconds compared to black's 2 minutes and 36 seconds. Black played Rc1, looking to sneak behind the king, and I responded by playing Rd8 to also sneak behind black's position. 

You might be wondering what the tragedy is then. This is what the tragedy is: 

I have the most tragic mouse slip of all time. I mouse slip by two entire squares and leave my rook completely hanging to be taken by the enemy king, and I go from +1.47 to -8.2. I resigned right there and then. But what are your thoughts on this game? Let me know!