BRB #4 | A Critical Blunder...

backrankme

Updated: Apr 24, 2021, 2:50 PM | 0

In spending a lot of time playing the game of chess, you may at some point find yourself in a position where you at one point had complete dominion over your opponent, but soon blundered yourself into a completely losing position. I recently found myself in one of these situations, and I find that these blunders have the most educational value; to have a completely crushing position slip through your fingers because of a single mistake, can be hard to forget. In this blog-post, I'll be analyzing a game where I was in a completely winning position until I dropped the ball.

Computer Aggregated Precision Scores

1. d4, e5

My opponent opts for the Englund Gambit, and I decide to decline by responding with 2. c3. The opening proceeds with pretty natural developing moves and exchanges.

2. c3, exd4
3. cxd4, Nf6
4. Bg5, Be7
5. Nf3, h6
6. Bxf6, Bxf6
7. e4, O-O
8. e5, Re8
9. Be2, d6?!

Here, my opponent hangs their bishop on f6, a more accurate move would have been Be7, moving the bishop to safety.

10. exf6, Qxf6
11. O-O, Bg4
12. Nc3, Nc6
13. d5, Ne7
14. Qd4, Qxd4

I offer an exchange of queens on move 14 in an effort to trim some pieces off of the board and move closer to the endgame.

15. Nxd4, Bxe2
16. Ndxe2, c6
17. Nf4, g5?

g5 is a slight inaccuracy here, as it allows Nh5 on the next turn, preventing black's h-pawn from progressing temporarily. This also weakens black's castled king, opening up possibilities for future attacks.

18. Nh5, Nxd5
19. Nxd5, cxd5

I quickly accept an exchange of knights on the d5 square, as this opens up space for me to deliver a fork with 20. Nf6+! This exchange isn't the worst for black, however- because black has captured a pawn and two knights for a rook and knight. So, the material exchange is almost even here.

20. Nf6+, Kg7
21. Nxe8+, Rxe8
22. Rae1, Rc8
23. Rd1, Rc5

Here, my second rank is a bit weak- leaving space for black to play Rc2, however, black chooses Rc5 instead, defending the pawn on d5. I decided to focus on winning this d5 pawn.

24. Rd2, b5
25. Rfd1, a5
26. Rxd5, Rc4
27. Rxb5, a4
28. Rxd6??

And here, I made my one and only blunder in the entire game, dropping the evaluation bar from +7.6 for white, to mate in 2 for black! I had completely forgotten that this move would leave my vulnerable back rank entirely undefended! The pawn on d6 looked like a free piece, but it created a significantly damning weakness in my position. It was in this position that I resigned, because the only way the game can continue is as follows:

28... Rc1+
29. Rd1, Rxd1# 0-1

This was overall a very interesting game, and I enjoyed analyzing it! I've learned a very valuable lesson from this game, to always be extra mindful with your back rank! Even if it seems like a good move to capture free material, it's important to consider how such moves can change your position and create weaknesses. This game was a perfect example of how to lose a crushing position, however, I found it to be very insightful! In the end, this was a very fun game, and I look forward to continuing to grow and improve as a chess player. Good game, Gaby!

BRB #4 | A Critical Blunder...

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