Sacrifice on h7

One game played yesterday in OTB tournament (I did play white):
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Nf3
Ngf6 6. Nxf6+ Nxf6 7. c3 Be7 8. Bd3 O-O 9. O-O b6 10. Qe2 Bb7 11. Rd1 Re8 12. Ne5 Qc8 13. Bg5 c5 14. Bxf6 Bxf6

15.Bxh7+! and my opponent did play 15...Kf8 as after 15...Kxh7 I would play 16. Qh5+ Kg8 17. Qxf7+ Kh7 18. Rd3 winning

The French if mishandled can lead to a quick downfall. This is a game I was kibitzing on playchess :-

[Event "16m + 0s, rated"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2007.08.01"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Cerimovic"]
[Black "Reykjavík Master"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C10"]
[WhiteElo "2077"]
[BlackElo "2046"]
[PlyCount "35"]
[EventDate "2007.08.01"]
[EventType "rapid"]

1. e4 {1} e6 {1} 2. d4 {7} d5 {1} 3. Nd2 {3} dxe4 {3} 4. Nxe4 {3} Nd7 {1} 5.
Nf3 {4} Ngf6 {2} 6. Nxf6+ {5} Nxf6 {0} 7. Bd3 {3} c5 {2} 8. dxc5 {3} Bxc5 {8}
9. Qe2 {5} O-O {8} 10. Bg5 {5} Be7 {2} 11. O-O {23} Bd7 {58} 12. Rad1 {75} Qc7
{19} 13. Ne5 {6} Rfd8 {50} 14. Bxh7+ {32} Kxh7 {64} 15. Bxf6 {13} Bxf6 {14} 16.
Qh5+ {12} Kg8 {2} 17. Qxf7+ {9} Kh7 {17} 18. Rd3 {
Reykjavík Master gibt auf (Lag: Av=0.66s, max=5.5s) 5} 1-0

"Art of Attack in Chess" has a lot of good stuff on it

Originally posted by MoneyMaker7
"Art of Attack in Chess" has a lot of good stuff on it

Yes it does, it actually has a whole chapter dedicated to the sac on h7 and what pre-conditions on the board need to be in place to make it sound.

Originally posted by Korch
One game played yesterday in OTB tournament (I did play white):
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Nf3
Ngf6 6. Nxf6+ Nxf6 7. c3 Be7 8. Bd3 O-O 9. O-O b6 10. Qe2 Bb7 11. Rd1 Re8 12. Ne5 Qc8 13. Bg5 c5 14. Bxf6 Bxf6
[fen]r1q1r1k1/pb3ppp/1p2pb2/2p1N3/3P4/2PB4/PP2QPPP/R2R2K1 w - - 0 1[/fen]
15.Bxh7+! and my opponent did play 15...Kf8 as after 15...Kxh7 I would play 16. Qh5+ Kg8 17. Qxf7+ Kh7 18. Rd3 winning

Hi Korch - thanks for posting this. My question is - why do you play 10. Qe2? This is a developing move, but I just want to understand your positional plan here...

Originally posted by Exuma
Hi Korch - thanks for posting this. My question is - why do you play 10. Qe2? This is a developing move, but I just want to understand your positional plan here...

I made this move with intention of Rd1 - to bother c5

Originally posted by Korch
I made this move with intention of Rd1 - to bother c5

To line up the rook with the queen, threatening dxc5, followed by Bxh7+ discovery on the queen you mean? And hope games are going well...

Originally posted by Exuma
To line up the rook with the queen, threatening dxc5, followed by Bxh7+ discovery on the queen you mean? And hope games are going well...

If i was you I would get a couple of chess books that explain what openings and chess is all about. I had a couple of books by IM Hartson that explained ideas in the popular openings but I'm sure you have other authors that are good too. If you have ever listened to Yasser Seirawan on Playchess during broadcasts of championship games you can understand the thinking process.

Originally posted by z00t
If i was you I would get a couple of chess books that explain what openings and chess is all about. I had a couple of books by IM Hartson that explained ideas in the popular openings but I'm sure you have other authors that are good too. If you have ever listened to Yasser Seirawan on Playchess during broadcasts of championship games you can understand the thinking process.

Thanks for the advice z00t. I thought maybe i'd try asking about things in the chess forum too, just in case.