Red Army vs. Christian Chess World results

Black wins a pawn but then on his 17th turn, he allows a removal of defender tactic in 17...Qg5?? Much better was 17...Nxc3, eliminating the dangerous Bishop. Not only does 18. Rxe4! eliminate a defender, it also defends the attacked Queen as well. There is no substitute for calculation -- there are five days in this match. Take at least as long as you would in an OTB game or set up the board and look at the position.

A wild game in which Black fought fire with fire and came out on top.

The move 5...Bc5?! is weak -- it allows White to strengthen his center for free and makes the Bishop into a target. Thematic would have been 5...g5, in order to force White to prove his compensation for the Pawn. White starts off strongly, but then, instead of moving the piece twice in the opening, he should have played 12. Nxh4. The point was that 12...Nxe4 was impossible because of the removal of defender tactic 13. Nxg6, while 12...Bxe4?? would have allowed a mating attack after 13. Nxe4 Nxe4 14. Bxf7+ Kd7 15. Ng6.

Instead of the speculative 14...Qd7, which should have been answered by the pin 15. Bb5, 14...Rhe8 would have completely equalized.

Black passed up two chances on moves 16 and 17 to play ...hxg4. Black's hanging pieces were poisoned -- White would have been mated if he had tried to capture them. Finding these moves is a matter of being able to make judgments -- in this case, in order to find such a move, Black has to be able to judge that his mating attack will crash through before White can put his extra piece to any use. Black still has three pawns covering his King while the White pawn cover has already been stripped bare.

Instead of 18. d5, 18. g5 would have been answered by the spectacular shot 18...Nxe4!! -- if White tries to save his piece, Black can play ...Qxh3, with at least a perpetual in hand.

Instead of 19. d5, 19. Bxb6!? would have been very unclear. The ending after 19...gxf3 20. Qxf3 Qxh3 21. Qxh3 Rxh3 would have likely ended in a perpetual check while Black could try for more with 20...cxb6 21. Rxa7 Nxa7 22. Bxd7+ Rxd7. White wins Black's queen in this line, but Black has a Rook and two pieces.

White missed a spectacular win -- one that even Rybka doesn't see at first. The win is in the notes, but it doesn't require exact calculation to find a move like 20. Rxa7!! -- just common sense. The whole goal of opposite-side castling situations is to blow open the other guy's pawn cover. Therefore, sacrifices like 20. Rxa7 are totally justified because of the fact that they open the way for the rest of White's army to get to the King. White is going to lose anyway if he makes a passive move, and all the Bishop does is prevent his own pieces from getting to the Black King. Lasker warned against moves like 20. Ba6+?!. It turns out that the Bishop solidifies Black's position more than Black ever could have. Therefore, White should have played 20. Rxa7!! Black's hesitation on moves 17 and 18 should have cost him.

Black missed a way to win quicker on move 22 -- 22...g3! is called a clearance sacrifice -- it gets all of the pawns -- both Black's and White's -- out from in front of White's King and clears the way for the Queen to come to h3 in some variations. Also possible was the temporary piece sacrifice 22...Nxe4!?. This is more complicated than 22...g3, but the idea behind 22...Nxe4 is that there are three White pieces between the Black Bishop and the King -- a perfect opportunity to set up a pin. But the White Pawn is blocking the Rook on d8 from entering the fray. However, with the temporary piece sacrifice, the Rook comes into play and sets up the pin along the a7-g1 diagonal. 22...Nxe4 23. Nxe4 Rxe3 (removal of defender) 24. Bxe3 Bxe4 25. Bd3 (Other replies allow Black to mate or set up a skewer of the White Queen down the h-file) Bf3 26. Be2 Re8 27. Bxf3 gxf3 28. Qxf3 Rxe3 29. Qxe3 Qxg4+ 30. Kh1 Bxd4. Now, White is up the exchange, but Black has a host of pawns for it and should win.

At first, I thought 23...Rxh3 was sloppy and 23...gxh3 would have been better, to clear the way for either the Queen or Knight to enter g4, with decisive effect. But then Rybka comes around to Black's move on the 14th ply -- it turns out that after White's best defense of 24. Bf1, Black plays 24...g3 with even greater effect -- the Rook cannot be captured, or the Queen will enter the game on h3. But White implodes on his last two moves and Black is able to win the Queen with a discovery.

Black drops a pawn on his 12th move -- he would have been find had he played 12...e4, which attacks one of White's pieces. Later, he drops another pawn and then the Queen.

White overlooks a perpetual attack on his Queen. After he took the pawn, Black could have tried for more with ...e5.