Monday, November 25, 2013

Sometimes, one finds himself in a most enviable position where there are more than one way to win.

Black had my passed E pawn pretty much  blocked, but that came at a high cost. To have a rook and a knight blockading a passed pawn constituted a colossal waste of resources.

I just played 33. Qc4-Qg4 with an eye on the h5 square for my queen, attacking not only the rook on e8 but also the f7 square. Black must have sensed my plan and decided to play 33... Ng6, blocking the h5-e8 diagonal and freeing one of his pieces from blockading duties.


I played my queen back to 34. Qc4 to threaten once a again the e7 pawn push with a  discovered check. I figured that I should play actively at this point. Black evidently did not see the other way of winning in this position since he played 34...Ne5 (diagram) with a wonderful fork of the queen and rook. That should be enough to take care of the discovered check since the queen was under attack.

This, however, did not take into account that the f8 square would be under attack by white three times if 35. e7+ was played and a backrank mate was possible.

And so 35. e7+ Nc4 and then 36. Rf8+ and black resigned. But there is also the immediate and very artistic 35. Rf8+ Rf8  36. f7+ Nc4 [ 36...Rf7  37. e8(Q)mate] 37. Rf8 mate.