Brilliant #1: The best sort of Pin, the Absolute Pin

In playing games naturally I occasionally encounter a brilliant (!!) assessment in the Game Review. In self-study, I examine each and save them to my Library for review. Generally, I rather fell into the superior position and in the game itself did not always follow up to best capitalize on my advantage. In my own study I am creating these puzzles and commentary from actual games for the edification of myself and anyone else interested.

Here White's misstep allowed me to execute the best sort of Pin, the Absolute Pin. While it may seem that trading for the is the best option for White, the vulnerability lined up with means White's real priority is moving , as is already lost. My general assessment of this game is that White brought out early and sacrificed development.

If White goes for the instant gratification of revenge on Black by taking with , this really just translates into a loss of tempo with Black piling in material and forcing moves due to the position of . White's dark-squared is too easily pinned to be the retaliation it seeks.

Here is the actual game as it unfolded. Indeed, my opponent did go for sacrificing before giving any kind of escape route and the double fork opportunity presented when takes prompted my opponent to resign.

Brilliant #2 | My Blog