Sometimes I will play a game, and be happy with it: I put on the pressure, my opponent cracked.
Then I will turn the game over to Rybka and see what the computer program has to say. About the following game, it suggested that I played so poorly, my opponent probably cracked up laughing, and as a result lost his focus and lost...
perrypawnpusher - bartab
standard, FICS, 2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+
The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bxd4 8.Qxd4 Nc6 9.Qd3
Bill Wall has taken a look at 9.Qc4+, and maybe I should, too: 9...Kf8 (9...Ke8 10.Bg5 (10.0-0 Na5 11.Qa4 b6 12.e5 Ng4 13.Qxg4 h6 14.Qxg7 Black resigned, Wall,B - Donavan, Chess.com 2010) 10...h6 11.Bh4 g5 12.Bg3 d6 13.0-0-0 Qe7 14.Nd5 Nxd5 15.exd5 Ne5 16.Qc3 Qg7 17.Rhe1 Kd8 18.Bxe5 dxe5 19.Rxe5 Qd7 20.d6 c6 21.Rf5 Re8 22.Qf6+ Re7 23.dxe7+ Ke8 24.Qf7# Wall,B - Firewoods, Chess.com 2010) 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bh4 d6 12.0-0-0 Bg4 13.f3 Bd7 14.Nd5 Be6 15.Rhe1 Bxd5 16.exd5 Na5 17.Qd3 g5 18.Bf2 c6 19.Bd4 Rh7 20.Bxf6 Qxf6 21.Qxh7 Black resigned, Wall,B - Jag, Chess.com 2010
9...Re8
Or 9...Ng4 10.Bf4 Nge5 11.Bg3 Nxd3+ White resigned, perrypawnpusher - anandh, blitz, FICS 2011.
Better, yet, might be 9...d5 10.Nxd5 Nxe4.
10.Bg5
A bit better was 10.0-0, as in perrypawnpusher - Duir, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 42).
10...h6
Missing the shot 10...Nxe4!?
11.Bxf6 Qxf6 12.0-0 Re5
Perhaps with the idea of shifting the Rook to the Kingside for attack, but this looks like asking for trouble.
13.f4 Re7 14.Nd5
It was either this move, or the positional 14.e5, with pressure against Black's d-pawn, which, in turn, confines Black's light-squared Bishop. Of course, after the game, Rybka preferred 14.e5 over the text.
14...Qd6
The safe play was ...Qd4+, exchanging Queens, either right away, or after 14...Qxb2 15.Rab1
15.Qc4 Re6
Planning to block the Queen's check, but sounding a lot like "Trouble, please."
16.Nxc7
Am I the only person who did not see 16.f5 Kg8 (16...Re5 17.Nb6+ Kf8 18.Nxa8 Rc5 19.Qd3) 17.fxe6 dxe6 ?
16...Qxc7 17.f5 Ne5
Perhaps my opponent was laughing too hard at my play to see 17...Kg8 18.fxe6 dxe6 with an edge to Black.
In any event, he missed something.
18.fxe6+ Ke7 19.Qxc7 Black resigned
That was not so much "funny, ha ha" as "funny, strange".
I have gotten into plenty of trouble by not looking far enough ahead in a chess position. This game has one of the few examples that I can think of where looking too far ahead allowed me to choose a second-best move, when a quick-reaction move would have been stronger.
Go figure.
perrypawnpusher - Duir
blitz, FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+
The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bxd4 8.Qxd4 Nc6
9.Qd3
When I played this move, I knew that 9.Qc4+ was probably a bit better. It turned out (I checked after the game) that there are 3 Bill Wall games with it in The Database, not to mention perrypawnpusher - Avious, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 40).
What can I say? The patzer in me was hoping for 9...Nb4? (That's a poor way to play chess.)
9...Re8 10.0-0 Ne5 11.Qe2 d5 12.f4
Hoping to complicate things, and support my e-pawn as it stepped past Black's d-pawn on the way to e5; but 12.exd5 was better.
12...Nxe4
The frisky Knight should have returned with 12...Nc6, in order to answer 13.e5 with 13...d4 with a better game. It think that it is possible that my opponent overlooked the fact that my next move comes with check.
13.fxe5+ Kg8 14.Qf3
A hallucination. I was afraid of the correct 14.Nxe4 because I thought that 14...Rxe5, winnning a pawn and pinning my Knight, would be a good response. I did not see 15.Qf3 Rf5 16.Qb3!? moving the Queen to safety and pinning the Black d-pawn, thus saving my Knight.
14...Rf8
Black immediately returns the favor. Instead, 14...Nxc3 15.Qxc3 d4 would have been at least equal, maybe a bit better for the second player.
15.Qxf8+ Qxf8 16.Rxf8+ Kxf8 17.Nxd5
Suddenly the complications have vanished, and White is a pawn up. Should the Knights and Rooks be exchanged, there would be the risk of a drawn Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame, but I was alert to that slip up.
17...Bf5 18.Be3 Rd8 19.c4
After the game, Rybka 3 saw further than me: 19.Nxc7 Rc8 can be met with 20.Rf1 Rxc7 21.Rxf5+ Ke7 22.c3 and White is up a second pawn.
19...a6
Missing something in the position.
20.Rf1 g6 21.g4 c6 22.Nc3 Nxc3 23.bxc3 Rd3 24.Bc5+
It's funny, but I came up with this second-best move (24.Bd4 is simplest and strongest) because I had already looked at the possibility of sacrificing the piece several moves down the road...
24...Kf7 25.gxf5 gxf5 26.Rxf5+ Kg6 27.Rf2 Rxc3 28.e6 Rxc4 29.Re2
Of course, Black can have the Bishop, as the pawn is going to promote.
29...Rxc5
Oh, well.
30.e7 Rc1+ 31.Kf2 Rh1 32.e8Q+ Kg5 33.Qe7+ Kg6 34.Re6+ Kf5 35.Qf7+ Kg5 36.Qf6+ Kg4 37.Qf3+ Kg5 38.Qxh1 Kf5 39.Qe4+ Kg5 40.h4+ Kh5 41.Kg3 c5 42.Qe5 checkmate
