Calm Pawn Move for attack DOWN A ROOK (1600)

Hey all! This was not one of my finer games, in fact, for most of it I was losing! Nevertheless, my opponent was obviously nervous at just how much material I had pointed at his King, and overcompensated. I was worried he had held off mate with his last queen move, but a lovely, calm d4 forced him to resign. Let's take a look...

So, we have to move from Legend club forum to this broader scope forum in order to post our game. This site is having problem in their database processing that I think it's the reason why they do not provide feature/button to create a new topic in the legend club forum anymore.

Here's my "Rook sacrifice then quiet Pawn move" game:

From the header of the PGN, I see this was a game taken from the board 1 of a team match, right ?

Now, regarding your move 35... Rxf3, I want to ask : Did you also consider other option 35... Bxg4 as a sacrifice alternative ? The result might not be really obvious, but at least, it deserves to discuss.

Bxg4 was the first sacrifice I looked at, yes. Same idea... to open the f-file.

But one of Black's possible defenses was to first grab the sacrificed material and then flee with the King to the h3 square. Then I would need to send in a second wave.

I felt (correctly) that I would have a MUCH easier time prying his King out of h3 if I still had that Bishop sitting on e6 (and looking at h3).

So I sacrificed my Rook instead. In order to retain the Bishop for the second wave of the attack.

Thanks for reply.

I agree that the alternative 35.. Bxg4 doesn't really have promising follow-up moves afterwards, as can be understood by your analysis of that option. White might have been able to find strong defensive moves by the time black prepared the follow-up moves. In that situation, I realize the bishop was still needed, esp, as you also said, when white's king moved to h3.

So, I can understand your decision to chose 35.. Rxg3, instead.

Btw, what was the time control : daily or rapid 10/15/30 minutes ? Because, in calculating for options in that critical moments, esp in move 35, it needed enough time, seeing that you calculated every possible moves from both sides.

Daily, three days per move.

Here is the link to the game itself. The Info page has all the details.

Chess: veeyaar vs blueemu - 90890754 - Chess.com

If you like looking at crazy tactical games... have I got a game for you!

Link : A Heroic Defense in the Sicilian Najdorf - Kids, don't try this at home!

I will have a look.

Yeah... Sicilian is one of openings that I want to have solid grasp. I have used it in my recent games, before switching to Caro-Kann as other alternative.

For training, I play them in Blitz 5 or 3 min to gain some experience.

I have just reached 1700 for the 1st time this morning. I think my opponents will get stronger, that I need to havr good preparation in openings too. Therefore, I think, playing black in this level, to respond to e4, Sicilian and Caro-Kann are better than the likes of Scandinavian which I still use in Blitz where my rating is still low.

I have just seen your 2nd game, but in the post written by user @donkey. I commented about it there. Yes, it's a bold play by you. I myself wouldn't want to take so much risks, even right before the battle of heavyweight pieces began.

However, that game shows an example that with precise calculation, we can win even if our king is exposed to opponent's full attack by the heavyweight pieces. It needs high level skill and courage, though.

Terrific play by you. 👍

Thanks for the kind words.

You can probably see why I labelled this game "Kids, don't try this at home".

Since it was a Daily game at three days per move, I had all the time I needed for calculation... my main problem was that the game was so complex that half a dozen alternatives had to be considered at almost every turn.

It was incredibly nerve-wracking. After playing a game like that, people are supposed to cheer. My first reaction at the time was not "Woo-Hoo!"... it was "Well, thank Christ THAT'S over!"