32.Ke1 Rxe3
33.fxe3 Qxe3
...does this force a win of material? Dunno...
J.S.
knight sac draw
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Jul 24, 2013
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#3
Play for the win, your king is quite safe and nothing can stop your 3 connected passed pawns.
I almost certainly should have Viktor, spooked by the rating and feeling fortunate to have gotten out of a bind. g file worried me although the more I look at this, the more useless that knight appears 
Thank you for your comment!
J.S.
13...Nxe4? simply lost a pawn. More striking is that you went ahead with it anyway, especially given your tactical vision is pretty good by seeing 17...Nxb4! later. Instead, a plan for black would be to play for ...c5 (might not work since white already played b4) or to fight on the queenside light squares. Concrete lines are subject to tactics so I won't give any, but maybe 13...b5!? to lock the structure. Then maneuver Bb7-c8-e6 (it's better there, looking at c4) Nc6-a7-c8-b6-c4 or Nc6-b8-d7-b6-c4 going for the queenside. A possible plan.
17...Nxb4! was well spotted. A little surprising though, considering that it's far better than most of your other critical moves in the game. It also isn't a sac. After the little sequence until 19...Bxe4, you emerged up a pawn with a mobile queenside passed pawn steamroller. Definitely play for the win here.
Then stuff happened, you left your bishop to hang with 22...Rd8 and later again with 25...c5. However you can still play for a win with those pawns. The draw offer was not a good choice.
Do NOT, I repeat DO NOT be spooked by higher-rated opponents. In fact, don't even care about their rating or yours. During a game, just play what best moves you see. Your annotations before the blunder 13...Nxe4 seem far too pessimistic; black has a perfectly playable game despite being cramped by b4. You just have to take your time to unravel the pieces and find good pawn breaks. The draw offer also seemed motivated by the rating gap, no?
17...Nxb4! showed that you have what it takes to find tactics against strong players. Just objectively evaluate each position (without caring about the player sitting across you) and if you're winning, play for the win!
I didn't go through the entire game yet, but what strikes me first is that 17...Nxb4? is bad because of 18.Bh7+! Kh8 19.axb4 g6 20.Bxg6 and white is better. Therefore, the move was 17...Nxd4! Remember, when you see a good move (or what you think is a good move) look for a better one!
Whup. Missed that too. Bah.
LOL, JMB if what I thought was my best move in the game was bad JMB, I should be double thankful for the draw! :D
I think this game shows my relative strengths and weaknesses...I play Indian defences to 1.d4 and Caro-Kann to 1.e4 (and Queen's Gambit as white) but I really have little justification to do so. I don't know at all whether they suit my style of play or not. Despite reading and studying (which allows me generally to get the first six or seven moves "right), I am doing nothing but following rote instructions and this frustrates me. I don't know whether they are the right openings/defences for me at all.
My endgame play is also very poor - due to relatively little practise mainly. Pawn endgames, and pawn moves in general, terrify me. Here, again it seems obvious that the pawns on the right flank need to be pushed, but I usually feel a move behind and taking so many moves leaves me skittish generally. Not so much in this game, but say, rook and pawn endgames seem to have a certain mathematical character that I usually cannot unlock or do not feel comfortable unlocking.
I feel I am at my best in the middlegame, as my tactical instincts, I think are improving (as I think this game shows) and this isn't the first time I've wriggled out of a bad, almost hopeless position. I also can generally, if given time, methodically improve a position and put real pressure on (less exemplified here). It's the opening and in this case, looming rather than actual endgame, where I feel genuinely an out and out weak player.
Thank you so much for looking and commenting, thank you!
J.S.
Remillion, 22...Rd8 as opposed to moving the bishop - leaving the rook on a8 loses a rook, surely!?
J.S.
13...b5 looks like a palatable choice, certainly leagues better than Ne4 which was simply succumbing to pressure and just a terrible move...the b1-h7 diagonal worried me, but obviously this wasn't a solution
J.S.
*blinks* 22...Rd8 was needed to save the rook? Bah, ignore me then. Such wonderful oversights...
And if you're weak in endgames, work on them! If you feel uncomfortable in the endgames like rook and pawns, don't worry, odds are your opponent is too.
For openings, you just have to get something that you understand the plans behind. Once you're "out of book", know what your ideas and manoeuvers are. Perhaps experiment a little with 1. e4 as white, or and 1. e4 e5 as black. At the least those will net you some less closed/intimidating positions... but feel free to go your own way here, the one who picks openings has to be the player himself.
hi all, I'm not sure this will even work, and if not, maybe someone can help me. I played this game against a player ranked 400 points higher than me at my local chess club and managed to get a draw out of it. Honestly, I could have won, but didn't have the confidence to push forward aggressively.
Comments appreciated (notes that I have left largely talking through the game to myself for my own benefit, I'm sure there are LOTS of omissions and mistakes, I am no great player, believe you me!)
J.S.