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Some lessons really stick with you. For me, this game is one of the most efficient lessons I have ever received.
I just now put this game, played only seven months into my comeback after an 18-year layoff, into Chessbase. I didn’t remember some of the info, such as the opening, but I could still picture the tactic as clear as day.
This was the tactic that made me realize how important in-between moves are. Since then, any book I have seen with a chapter on this theme is one I really enjoy reading.
This takes us back to the game we reviewed a snippet of yesterday. We have this position:
Here, my opponent plays 29…Qf7. At the board, I had calculated his other alternative, 29…Qe8 as follows: 30.Bg4 Rf8 31.Bxe6+ Kh8 32.Rc7 and just assessed this as crushing for White.
However, it turns out that Black has a nice resource here. Instead of retreating the rook on f5 here:
Black can play 30…Rc8 and if White captures the rooks with 31.Bxf5 Black then plays 31…Nxf5 32.Rxc8 Qxc8 33.Bf4 Nc4 and White is only the tiniest bit better. Now, the engine will show lines where as long as White avoids taking the rook right away, then White is still better, but I don’t think that in the game I would have looked deep enough to even think of those ideas.
Luckily for me, in the line that appeared on the board I saw the nice intermezzo.
Again, here is the position:
I see that my opponent is planning that after 30.Bg4 Rxf4 that as long as I play 31.Bxf4 Qxf4+ he gets a pawn for the exchange. Instead, I play 31.Bxe6
Now after 31…Qxe6 32.Bxf4 I am up a clean exchange.
This is the reason that reviewing your games matters. Yes, I didn’t analyze the game with Ryan in Chessbase, but we did go over it a bit after the game.
Til Next Time,
Chris Wainscott