Probably my best game ever.

I just played an insane game!

A few moments ago, I played probably the best game I have ever played in my life. As of creating this blog post, I have been unable to check the game review on it, so this post will be updated with some images of that once I have it.

This is the game. I won in 27 moves due to a resignation after Rxa7. In this game, my opponent made two major mistakes, and some minor ones. The first major mistake led to the loss of a bishop, the second to the loss of a rook. The game went as it normally does for me: Somewhat weak opening play on my behalf, but I built an advantage from a somewhat mid position. My opponent made a bit of a minor mistake in the position below, by playing Ne4. This led to the loss of a pawn, which didn't have a major effect on the game, but did shift the game further in my favor.This mistake would certainly not be the first big break I got. Being the idiot I am, I did manage to lose a big chunk of my advantage in a few moves (about +0.3 or +0.4 worth of it). However, that moment is the moment the game turned.

I played g4 in the position shown above and lost a staggering amount of my advantage. However, my opponent thought they knew their tactics, and played a seemingly normal move. It cost them the game.You might be wondering why I marked this move with a blunder symbol myself. That is because this move completely lost the game. There was only one way to capitalize on this major mistake. d5. This initiates a double attack that my opponent failed to see. It may look like the game can be saved... but it couldn't be. Naturally, my opponent played exd5 (as most sensible people would). However, after cxd5, the game was over. My opponent played the only move that seemsed sensible, Nd6. In that position, I thought my tactic had gone to waste. However, as I looked around the board, I saw the move that would get my tactic up and running once again. 

Bxd6. This move removes the only saving grace Black had, and after taking back, Black lost their bishop, and we traded queens (the aftermath was a 2-pawn advantage for myself). However, my opponent later allowed me to play the real kicker move in this game.In this position, Black initiated what I call a reverse pin (the rook was pinned to the knight, vs the knight being pinned to the rook). I didn't mind it, seeing as how I was winning by 2 pawns anyway. However, after playing Rhd1, the best and most natural move, my opponent made a horrendous move that cost them the game, and gave me a nice gem for the game review. They played c6. This move completely ruined any chance at a comeback for Black. This is because of Nxf6.
This knight sacrifice capitalizes on a basic positional issue in the game:  doubled rooks vs two rooks on the starting rank. In this case, I used the reverse pin to my advantage after Rhd1, and used the sacrificial check to win a whole bishop in the aftermath. Additionally, after the check to end the combination, a fork wins an extra pawn regardless of the place the king moves.

This was a wonderful game, and I hope to play many more just like it. Stay tuned to this blog post for images of the game review.

GAME REVIEW: