@greenpawn34 said
Good game, well played, though here.
[fen]5rk1/pp2b1pp/1qn1b3/3pP3/1P3r2/P4N2/1B1QB1PP/2KR3R b - - 0 19[/fen]
19...h6 with the Rxf3 and Bg5 was OK but I'd have played 19...Nxb4 whilst the
King was still on c1. than Na2+ is a huge threat. It has to be taken. I hate
working out what happens if my sacs are not taken. Here it is a must and
White caves in. Al ...[text shortened]... ck to c1.
I would chop off my arm before playing a move like that. You punished it well.
Thanks gp, yes i had considered Nxb4 immediately, but there were a couple of reasons why i went for ..h6. My opponent was down to 2 mins and i could see that the move could be played without any calculation, there is no way to defend b4 with the queen, so the sac cannot be prevented on the following move. Also, i have established a weakness in my play from other games, namely that often sacrifice king safety when i sniff an attack, if i miss calculate something and white does achieve a check on the back rank then my king has to walk out into tha open. I judged this to be their only hope, however unlikely, so taking this opportunity seemed a good practical decision based on the conditions of play at the time. I could start calculating Nxb4 on my opponents clock (i was down to 10 mins)
As for Bc1, yes i agree, it's a hard move to make. I suspect my opponent might have felt that i may go for a repetition. I was tempted actually, but then i realised that my lead in development and my structural advantages must be winning in the end, so played patiently instead.
White does have approximately a level position after ..0-0, he can play Nf-d4 in some lines, which i hadn't considered properly. The engine gives close to equality here, but you need to play close to engine perfection to achieve this.
20 Sep '19 13:243 edits
My first classical alekhine defence
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