sac’ed on me ended up getting a win.
17. ... Kxh7
Mr. Carnall was right to take the
bishop. The gift was not free but I
would’ve had even more of a devastating
follow up if the gift was refused. (If 17. …
Kh8, then still 18. Ng5.)
18. Ng5+ (punch 2)
This is a typical second punch after
Bxh7+. That’s why Black could’ve prevented the sac by ... Be7 or ... h7-h6.
18. ... Kg6
18. ... Kg8 is no better after 19. Qh5
Re8 (escape route) 20. Ba5! White will
sac another bishop but will get lost material back and have a strong attack.
19. Qg4 (punch 3)
My queen on g4 sets up strong discovered attacks by the knight, such as Nxe6
attacking Black’s queen. Instead of ...
Kf6, Black’s best move here is ... f7-f5.
White usually can keep the discovered
attacks by simply moving straight back to
g3. In this game though, g3 is controlled
by Black.
rsn-+-tr-+
+pwq-+pzpp+lvlp+k+
+-+-+-sN-+-zP-+Q+
zP-+-+-+-zP-vL-zPPzP
tR-+-tR-mK-
After 19. Qg4
19. ... Kf6?
This move is easy for the computer to
find but not for a human even without
time pressure. To make Mr. Carnall feel
better, I didn’t find the best move myself.
I missed the mate in two here which is
Rxe6+. Instead I fell in love with Nh7+
forking the king and rook.
20. Nh7+ Ke7 21. Nxf8 Kxf8
Houdini suggested Rac1 or Qxg7
instead of Nxf8.
After 21. Qxg7 (or first 21. Rac1 and
then 22. Qxg7) White, slightly down in
material, has a strong attack. After 21.
Nxf8 White is also somewhat down material—with no real attack.
22. Qh4 Kg8 23. Rac1 Qd7 24. Qg4 Bf8 25.
Rc3 Bd5 26. Rg3
(see diagram top of next column)
26. …f5 27. Qg6 Nc6
uschess.org
rsn-+-vlk+
+p+q+pzpp+-+p+-+
+-+l+-+-+-zP-+Q+
zP-+-+-tR-zP-vL-zPPzP
+-+-tR-mK-
After 26. Rg3
After 27. ... Qf7 there is no attack, while
the endgame clearly favors Black.
28. Rh3 Ne7 29. Qh7+ Kf7 30. Qh5+ Ng6?
If 30. ... g6, then 31. Qh8, followed by
32. Rh7+. And if 30. ... Kg8, White had a
choice: continue repeating moves with 31.
Qh7+, or keep attacking with 31. Ree3.
31. Rg3 Ke8 32. Rxg6 Kd8 33. Rc1
r+-mk-vl-+
+p+q+-zpp+-+p+R+
+-+l+p+Q
-+-zP-+-+
zP-+-+-+-zP-vL-zPPzP
+-tR-+-mK-
After 33. Rc1
The knight pin and capture really
secured my thought that I had the lead.
My dad said Rc1 was his favorite move in
this entire game, other than the bishop
sac. I did Rc1 because that would cut off
his king’s escape route. Black can’t do a
rook trade at this time because of the
immediate checks.
Besides, White is up an Exchange and
a pawn.
33. ... e5 34. Ba5+ Ke8 35. Rxg7+ Bf7 36.
Qh8
r+-+kvl-wQ
+p+q+ltRp+-+-+-+
vL-+-zpp+-+-zP-+-+
zP-+-+-+-zP-+-zPPzP
+-tR-+-mK-
After 36. Qh8
Houdini found 34. Bg5+ (mate in four).
I also missed 35. Re6 mate. Again that
good old lesson to never fall in love with
the first move you see. I didn’t see Black’s
powerful 35. ... Bf7. But I managed to pin
his bishop with Qh8.
36. ... Rc8 37. Rxc8+ Qxc8 38. h3 Qc1+ 39.
Kh2 Qf4+ 40. Rg3 Qxd4 41. Bb4
-+-+kvl-wQ
+p+-+l+p+-+-+-+
+-+-zpp+-vL-wq-+-+
zP-+-+-tRP
-zP-+-zPPmK
+-+-+-+-
After 41. Bb4
I managed to deflect Black’s attempt to
force a draw and finally got back to
attacking the pinned bishop. Black is
hopeless.
41. ... Qxf2 42. Qxf8+ Kd7 43. Qxf7+ Kc6 44.
Qc4+ Kb6 45. Rg6+ Ka7 46. Bc5+ b6 47.
Rg7+, Black resigned.
To conclude, I’ll present, in brief,
Andrew’s “Summary of Learning”:
* Even a lower-rated player can
succeed with The Sacrifice.
* You don’t have to calculate all the
way through. If you see reasonable
chances, go for it.
* Consider all forcing moves first.
* Don’t settle for small material gains.
.
Send in your games!
If you are unrated or were rated
1799 or below on your Chess Life
(CL) label, then GM Lev Alburt invites
you to send your most instructive
game with notes to:
Back to Basics, c/o Chess Life
PO Box 3967 Crossville, TN
38557-3967
Or e-mail your material to
backtobasics@uschess.org
GM Alburt will select the “most
instructive” game and CL will award
an autographed copy of Lev’s newest
book, Fresh Look at Chess (by Lev
Alburt and Al Lawrence) to the person submitting the most instructive
game and annotations.
Do not send games with only a
few notes, as they are of little instructive value and can’t be used. Writing
skills are a plus, but instructiveness
is a must! Make sure your game (or
part of it) and your notes will be of
interest to other readers.
Chess Life — July 2012
45