Bxh7, the Greek gift sacrifice

Hey chess.com,

Just finished what I thought was a great example of a Colle sacrifice - take a look! (And please point out something that I missed, if I did :x)

nice

After Kg6, I would have played Qg4 with all sorts of nastiness threatened.  Black should have played Re8 after Qh5 and maybe he can hold.  But you still get the better position regardless.  Nice game!

Killabeez, 13...Re8 allows a typical mate: 14.Qxf7+ Kh8 15.Qh5+ Kg8 16.Qh7+ Kf8 17.Qh8+ Ke7 18.Qxg7#. After 12...Kg6 13.Qg4 indeed seems best, and very convincing.

Nice sac, by all appearances completely sound.

Nice game. Just so you know move 4 e4 is not actually the best, because on move 5 he could have played e5 with a good position, so 4 Nf3 is actually a better move taking control of e5 and so e4 cannot be prevented next move and you will get a full pawn centre and it will be impossible for him to challenge it with such moves as e5. When gaining a 'big' centre the most important thing you should consider is if your opponent can challenge it with such a move.

One remark about the opening: 4.e4 was too soon. Black could have played 5...e5, when he is in fine shape after 6.dxe5 Qxd1+ 7.Kxd1 Pg4, threatening both Nf2+ and Nxe5. You should have played 4.Nf3 first, which leads to positions similar to those in the game.

Edit: Atomic chicken, you just beat me to it.

atomichicken - Good point about 4. Nf3, I haven't played that before. It just always seemed like gaining time via kicking the knight was a good strategy - I'll play Nf3 the next time I see Nxd5 and see what happens.

Yeah I used to just play e4 without a moments thought until recently it's a common mistake, but I'm trying to consider the opponent's opportunities more now.

I assume pushing the d-pawn after 5. .. e5 is overextending?

I don't think so, maybe I'm wrong.

Sorry mathijs, I just gave a cursory examination of the board without really calculating.

 Te absolvo. I do that all the time. I just looked a little closer here because I wanted to make the sac work.

And six years later... I played my first perfect game according to computer analysis, with a greek gift in the mist. Actually the one mathjis mentioned on quote 4.

http://www.chess.com/livechess/game?id=840853317