Debacle Series - How to Make a Comeback

The story: 

Making a blunder in a chess game is an exercise in living with regret. It is an exercise in pain and self-hatred that lasts for hours(if you’re playing in a classical tournament). As your clock ticks away, you become existential: Why am I spending so much time and energy playing this game? Why did I give up my entire weekend to play this tournament if I’m going to make a careless and idiotic error? How long is it going to take me to learn to find straightforward, simple checks that scream in my face before making the move, not afterwards?

Once I invited the clearance of the c5 square, her queen waltzed right in on a red carpet, carefree and ruthless to feast on Rook-on-a-platter. Once the position is on the board it seemed so obvious, like it was in front of me all along and for the next four hours, even as I began to crawl back into the game, I sat in disgust of my own mental laziness. Pushing the pawn to b4?? was by far the most emotionally charged move of the weekend, the one with the biggest impact on my psyche. 

Despite my rampant self-loathing, I continued to fight. The nature of the position transformed repeatedly throughout the game as did my plans. I thought everything was under control, and then it wasn’t, and I adapted again and again. 

First, my pieces made a valiant effort to trap the Black queen. If any argument can be made for my rook “sacrifice” it was the open b-file, control of the center of the board, and the strong bishop pair. The queen was out of position, and I was able to put immediate pressure on her, but my opponent made all of the right moves. I just didn’t have enough firepower, and I was forced to retreat my bishop. I remained flexible. 

My second plan led to more success, but I needed a completely different approach. My pawns pointed me towards the queenside, but my opponent’s main force was on that side of the board, so I decided to try to create counter play with a vigorous pawn storm. The g and h pawns charged into battle knowing that this was our last hope. What I did well throughout the game, before and after my blunder, was to control the initiative. This allowed me to execute each new plan as they required on the board. My opponent was up material, but played passively, allowing me to take control. 

The storm of the pawns led to Black to an over extended and weak pawn structure. Suddenly, I was able to trade my knight for my opponent’s strong bishop leading to my complete control of the a1-h8 diagonal. This was my most significant breakthrough, and I used it build a suffocating attack on the king. 

The third phase of the game was pushing my passed pawn. At the beginning of the game, my opponent created a detrimental weakness by creating a backwards pawn structure with d6 all alone at its base. My lone rook and center dark squared bishop worked together to clear the path for my d pawn to make it all the way to the back rank. All of my pieces worked together to complete this final mission, while Blacks pieces were disorganized and passive. At one point, the queen was sitting at the edge of the board stuck between a connected bishop and pawn. 

Though my clock was counting down to its final minutes, I was accurate and forceful. I dealt with Black’s final counter play, and my d pawn promoted, which led to mate. 

Yet, even with this victory, all I could think about was how all of this energy could have been easily avoided if I had just been more careful out of the opening. Instead of getting comfortable once my position started to look strong, I needed to stay sharp and relentless. 

Ultimately, I am proud of this victory. I named this series after the following quote: "If you're not willing to sit through a debacle, you'll never witness a miracle." I thought I heard this quote from Chris Bosh after the Heat came back against the Spurs in the 2013 Finals, but I couldn't find where it comes from. Maybe I made it up? Either way, I was able to pull off the miracle, because I didn't give up and fought through what was truly a debacle. 

Here are my tips on how to make a comeback: 

1. Hold onto the initiative for dear life - When you’re down material, it’s important to make sure the other imbalances stay in your favor. If you control the tempo of the game, you’ll make it difficult for your opponent to develop their pieces to squares where they can make use of their material advantage. 
2. Avoid trades unless they benefit your position - Trading when you’re down significant material should be avoided in most situations. With the pieces you do have, be aggressive and attack, but don’t trade unless...
3. You have an opportunity to eliminate strong pieces - Once I traded off my opponent’s strong dark squared bishop, I was able to control the initiative. 
4. Stay focused on your plan, but remain flexible 
5. Keep on fighting - as always, push the tempo and play aggressively. Take advantage of your opponent's passive play. 
6. Passed pawns are meant to be pushed 
7. Be courageous with your king - you’re down material, so you might need your leader on there front lines as the castle is falling apart.  
8. Look for tactics - Trust me, they are there. You just need to find them. Look for checks, captures, and threats on every move. The way you’re going to come back is by being aggressive and tactically sharp.