No Retreat, No Surrender

Everyone needs some Van Damme in their Chess!

There comes a moment in a Chess game where you must not retreat or surrender. You must fight fire with fire or perish. Such was the time for my opponent to fight back, where I was on the Black side of a Sveshnikov Sicilian where we reached the following position.

White to Move

White's position is critical in that he must avoid being steamrolled by Black's advanced pawns. The Knight critically guards c5, preventing Rc5.

To that end, White had to exploit the pin Black e-pawn with 25. Rfe1 and the game goes on.

Instead, White played 25. Nc1 giving Black a dream position in the Sveshikov, with a quick deployment of the Rook to Kingside, followed by weakening of light squares.

Forced Mate

Black to Move

Death on light squares follow, with 27. ... Qe6 intending Qh3. Black sacrifices his Queen on h2 and the other Rook slams on the h-file.

My Game Annotations and Analysis