Merry Christmas to All the LCCC'ers - All Over the World!

Chess is a game for all - all year round!

Here is wishing everyone a great Christmas and a wonderful holiday time.

Our league - Week 6 - finished with the final game being played at Teekos Coffee Shop. An uneventful but positionally tough draw was the outcome between Ken T and Vince V.

On that concept of peace and harmony, here is a draw I played with the Black pieces. More fireworks than the Ken-Vince draw, but a lot more errors made by my opponent and me. Errors usually cause fireworks. Enjoy.

1. e4                    e6

2. Nf3                  d5

3. exd5                exd5

4. d4                    c6

5. Be2                  Bf5

6. O-O                 Nf6

7. c3                    Nbd7

8. Nbd2               Bd6

9. Nh4                 Bg6

10. Re1                  O-O

11. Nxg6               fxg6

12. Nf3                  Ne4

13. Bd3                 Nxf2!

14. Kxf2                Qh4+

White to move after 14. ........    Qh4+

Every game has a defining moment. This is it. Black has a small pawn-size lead with the sacrifice. Unfortunately, both players fail to make the right choice going forward (-1).

15. Ke2??              ………

(-5) This is the perfect panic response move Black was looking for to his sacrifice. White blunders as the ugly looking 15. Kf1 holds the fort (-1.3). Now if Black had the foresight - or guts - to sacrifice one more time, he gets a huge advantage with 15. ….Rxf3!, 16. Kd2 (if 16. Kxf3???, Rf8+ 17. Ke2 , Qf2#), Rf2+, 17. Re2, Re8 18. Qe1, Rexe2, 19. Bxe2, Bxh2.

15. ……..              Rae8+??

Black misses his best shot and now his sacrifice fails (+2.3). White has a nice lead now.

16, Kd2                 Bf4+

17. Kc2                 Qf2+?

(+3.7) Black has lost his mojo but thinks if he keeps pushing, White will make another mistake, so he keeps what is left of his army. But complete liquidation of all of White’s active pieces was required to not lose more ground with 17. ….Rxe1, 18. Qxe1, Qxe1 19. Nxe1, Bxh2.

18. Bd2?               ………

White needed to start pushing his advantage with 18. Re2. But White's probably feels that he still needs to be on the defensive.That is the mental advantage you get with a sacrifice.

18. ………            Bh6?

(+4) Black needed to regain some material with 18. ….Qxg2.

19. Rxe8                Rxe8

20. Kc1??              ……..

White’s big lead is now gone! (+.6). The simple 20. Qf1 protects the pawn, forces a queen trade and locks in White’s advantage. Black got another White error that he was banking on.

20. ……..              Qxg2

21. Bxh6               gxh6

(+.5) I think mental fatigue as set in for both players. I had it after escaping what should have been a crushing disadvantage.

White doesn’t like his restricted pieces. Black hates his King-side pawn structure.Both players were not happy that they both missed golden opportunities.

Draw agreed to.