Cooked Rooks and Queens Sacs

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. O-O Bb7 6. d4 exd4 7. Qxd4 Qf6 8. e5 Qg6 {The position in Kotov's book. I’ll play out Kotov continuation but with my notes.} 9. e6 {One of these shots that only reasonable chess players fall for. A weak player won't see it at all, a good player will and should spot the hole, the 'in betweener' which we are all capable of slipping back into will see it but miss the last trick.} 9... fxe6 10. Ne5 {End of White analysis. The Black Queen which is attacked cannot move and hold d7 where White is threatening mate. 1-0 and off to the pub.} 10... Qxg2+ 11. Kxg2 c5+ {Black has won back the Queen and is two pawns up. Recovering from such a blow when you were halfway to the pub to show your mates your quick win is often beyond even the strongest players.}

[FEN "2b2rk1/p1p4p/2p1p1p1/br2N1Q1/1p2q3/8/PB3PPP/3R1RK1 w - - 0 21"]

21. Ng4 {This appears to achieve the same mate but here...} 21... Qxg2+ 22. Kxg2 Rxg5 {...the Knight is pinned.}

[FEN "5k2/1p3Nbr/p1q1n1Qp/5np1/P1B2r2/2R5/1PP2PPP/5R1K w - - 0 28"]

28. Bb5 {White, a piece down, was relying on this move. The discovered attack on the Queen looks very good. No biscuits for guessing what Black played next.} 28... Qxg2+ 29. Kxg2 Nh4+ {Winning back the Queen and Black is a piece up.}

[FEN "2b3k1/6q1/2p1p2b/p1P5/Pp1P4/3Q2N1/1Pn3PP/6K1 w - - 0 1"]

1. Nh5 {You have to admire the hope that went into this move. Instead of resigning White sets one last trap. Black is now meant to save the c2 Knight with 1...Qh7 when 2.Nf6+ wins the Queen.} 1... Qxg2+ {Black losses his Queen alright...} 2. Kxg2 Ne1+ {But so does White.}

[FEN "1r4k1/p1p3p1/b1p3qp/3pR3/1B1Pnr2/PP3N2/2P3PP/R2Q2K1 w - - 0 1"]

1. Rc1 Qxg2+ 2. Kxg2 Rg4+ {White resigned Both 3.Kh1 meets 3...Nf2 mate a common mating pattern. A pattern not to common is...} 3. Kh3 Nf2 {Mate (perhaps new blog theme.)}

[FEN "3r4/1pQ4p/p3k3/3p1rq1/8/1B6/PPP2PP1/5RK1 w - - 0 1"]

{White has an easy win here with 1.Re1+. Instead we can chalk up another lose for he who grabs the QNP.} 1. Qxb7 Qxg2+ {The proverbial bolt from the clear blue sky.} 2. Kxg2 Rg8+ 3. Kh3 Rh5 {He who takes the QNP with the Queen sleeps in the streets.}

[FEN "r4rk1/1q3p1p/p3pBn1/1p2P3/8/2P1bP2/P5PP/R2Q1R1K w - - 0 1"]

1. f4 Rfc8 {Correct (and as it turns out all part of the plan.) When faced with such a Bishop as that on f6 you must give the King some room or allow a Bishop/Queen access to f8 to cover g7.} 2. Qh5 {Looking good boys, here comes White mating on the dark squares.} 2... Bxf4 {This looks like desperation.} 3. Rxf4 {White walks right into it.} 3... Qxg2+ {Hello!} 4. Kxg2 Nxf4+ 5. Kf2 Nxh5 6. Rg1+ {And now see why it was important to move the f8 Rook. If the Rook was still on f8 this would be mate in two for White. After 6...Kf8 White resigned.}

[FEN "2k1r2r/ppp3b1/3p2np/8/1P1PP1q1/P2Q1N2/1B3PP1/R3R1K1 w - - 0 1"]

1. Nh2 Qxg2+ 2. Kxg2 Nf4+ 3. Kf1 Nxd3 {Black's wee combo has won a pawn......but it's not finished yet. There is the slight matter of the Bishop and Rook being forked to attend to.} 4. Re2 Nxb2 5. Rxb2 Bxd4 {Cooked Rooks! 0-1}

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 h6 {This is too slow, White should now play 4.d4 forcing Black to give up the centre with 4...exd4 then White plays 5.0-0 and 6.c3 with fun ahead.} 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. d3 {Blergh! We going into a quiet game when 3....h6 goes unpunished.} 5... Nc6 6. O-O Bg4 7. h3 Bh5 {A hint of excitement if White now plays 8.g4 Nxg4 might be interesting. But as we shall see White is aware of this trick and invites it.} 8. Bb5 {Played to stop Black from playing Nd5.} 8... a6 9. Ba4 b5 10. Bb3 Nd4 {Looks good for Black.} 11. g4 Nxg4 {And 12 hxg4 is indeed good for Black but....} 12. Nxd4 {The f3 Knight that was to be pinned after hxg4 moves. This is what I like about the quiet games on here. They can blow up at any moment.} 12... Nf6 {White should now just drop the Knight back to f3 and if he counts his pieces he will find he has more than Black. White unwinds with Kg2 Ne2 and Ng3 ideas. Instead he gets carried away.} 13. Nc6 Qd7 14. Qd2 Qxc6 {Black has won his piece back.} 15. Nd5 {Maybe Black should ignore that Knight. I doubt very much if White will play Nxf6+ opening the g-file towards his King. 15...Qd7 looks OK. But Black has an idea in mind...} 15... Nxd5 {...that involves getting a Rook skewered.} 16. Bxd5 Qd7 17. Bxa8 Qxh3 {Messy. There are loads of perpetual tricks for White to avoid. It would have been interesting to see how this panned out after 19.f4. See the next game fragment.} 18. Qe3 {An early Christmas present for Black.} 18... Bf3 {White resigned.}

[FEN "B3kb1r/2p2pp1/p2p3p/1p2p2b/4P3/3P3q/PPPQ1P2/R1B2RK1 w k - 0 18"]
18. f4 Bf3 19. Qh2 Qg4+ 20. Kf2 Be7 {This Be7 move may have been the tempting idea why Black chose to play Nf6xd5 on move 15}21. Bc6+ Kd8 22. Rg1 {Looks plausible for an instructive purpose.} 22... Bh4+ 23. Ke3 exf4+ 24. Kd2 Bg3 25. Rxg3 fxg3 {What's going on here? As I said it's messy.}

[FEN "1k1r3r/1Pp2ppp/8/1Bb2bn1/3P1pq1/2P2N2/PP4PP/R1BQ2KR b - - 0 1"]

1... Rxd4 {White cannot allow the discovered check.} 2. cxd4 Bxd4+ {Now if 3.Qxd4 Nxf3+ forks the White King and Queen.} 3. Kf1 Qxg2+ {This weeks theme.} 4. Kxg2 Bh3 {Checkmate.}