A rare gem


If you mean why I didnt capture his bishop, Its because it was protected by his queen. The move before my queen was under attack. A general rule in chess if are attacking avoid trading down.

9. e5! really gives white advantage, winning a pawn for sure and stopping him from castling.
16... Nh8, even though that's a terrible square for the knight, looks better than the trade for knight and bishop. That wedge pawn is too brutal. 17. h6 is answered by g6. And obviously not Qxg6+?, hoping for hxg6, Rxh8#, just Nxg6. White's still winning after 17. ...g6, but I think Black holds on in that variation, at least for a little longer.
Otherwise looks like a good game. Nice spot with that sacrifice mate.
Thanks for the compliment. I had actually wanted him to castle. Its what I had in mind the whole time. I was planning a back rank mate. I was going to bait his rook out. since his bishop was blocking his other rook. However he moved Be7 instead too protect his queen so I altered my approach a little

Advice enough has been given from what i can tell so all i need to say is very nicely played game mate!

Nice game. How did you get that board with your game to appear?
In the place where you type in a new post, there is a little board at the left. Click on that and follow directions.

What about 4. Nxe5 ?
At this stage of my knowledge, I was studying the concept of sacrifice tactics. When sombody offers a free piece, there is usually adequate compensation. In this case I believe my opponent was looking for rapid development of his pieces. I took the exchange instead causing black to lose more tempo.

Rapid development is the last thing he would have got. 4. Nxe5 threatens Bxf7+ which forces Ke7, stopping him from castling and blocking in the Q and KB. Then 4...Nh6 5. c3 Nc6 6. d4 d6 7. h3, white dominates the centre and the h6 knight has no square to move to except the one it started from. Or 4...d5 5. Bxd5 Be6 6. Bxe6 Nxe6 7. d4, two pawns up, control of the centre, black knight on a bad square blocking in the QB.
I'm not saying you didn't play a good game - it's a fine thing to have your opponent resign when he's an entire rook up - I'm just defending Nxe5.

Rapid development is the last thing he would have got. 4. Nxe5 threatens Bxf7+ which forces Ke7, stopping him from castling and blocking in the Q and KB. Then 4...Nh6 5. c3 Nc6 6. d4 d6 7. h3, white dominates the centre and the h6 knight has no square to move to except the one it started from. Or 4...d5 5. Bxd5 Be6 6. Bxe6 Nxe6 7. d4, two pawns up, control of the centre, black knight on a bad square blocking in the QB.
I'm not saying you didn't play a good game - it's a fine thing to have your opponent resign when he's an entire rook up - I'm just defending Nxe5.
I did consider the move but I saw Ne6 as the counter move instead of d5.

You're right, I hadn't thought of Ne6. It's a bit awkward, but it would hold white up. Anyway, from an aesthetic point of view perhaps it's better that the game went as it did just to see the h-pawn march all the way up the board on its own to give mate. I love things like that.