December, 2005

With a Fighting Spirit, A Comeback Win.

This game took place online with a time control of G/10. Yes, it is still considered a blitz game although it allows the players more time to contemplate their moves as compared to the very popular G/5. A time control of G/10 blends intuitive play with some hard, over-the-board analysis. If the game goes the full measure, the total amount of time spent playing will be twenty minutes, not too short nor is it too long.

So, what about this game? Well, a tremendous amount of material is about to disappear from the board. Let's assess the position. Both sides have a bishop pair, but black's pair is beautifully placed on attacking diagonals. They bear down unmercifully on the white king's castled position. The black queen is a menacingly poised on H5, forming a mate-in-one threat on H2 in conjunction with the bishop on D6. To make things worse for white, while this mating threat begs for immediate attention, his queen on G8 is also under attack from the black rook. Even white's rook on D1 is threatened by the black bishop on F3. Multiple threats, how does white deal with them? Take note that the black king is in relative safety on the queenside, behind a wall of pawns. Surely, decisive action is about to occur on the kingside.

Playing with the white pieces, I could have declared a national state of emergency and not be found guilty of fraud and inciting a riot . There is enough here to make a grown man cry.

Instead...

From the jaws of defeat, I began my counter-attack with a lighting bolt on the queenside--- 24. Rb6+ !!!, sacrificing a rook for counter-play and wresting the initiative from black. My opponent responded with 24... Kb6. This continuation, I felt, presented more opportunities for white to continue the counter-attack than 24... cb. The game went on 25. Rb1+, Ka7. Black could have gone 25... Ka5 after which 26. Bd2+, Ka4 27. Qb3# is decisive. White continued 26. d5+, c5. If instead 26... Ka8, then 27. Qd8#.

Here, if white chose to capture en passant with 27. dc6+ , black would have lost anyway after 27... Ka8 28. Qd8+, Bb8 29. Qb8#. On the other hand, if black went 27... Bc5, then 28. Qg7+, Rd7 29. Qd7+, Ka8 30. Qb7#. So, there are several winning lines for white.

However, the game continuation allows for a wonderful gift-giving, or blood-letting if you prefer the half-empty glass, and that began with 27. Qg7+, Qf7 28. Qf7+, Be7 29. Qe7+, Re7 30. Qe7+. Having nothing more to offer, black continued with 30... Ka8 and finally the end came with 31. Qb7#