Is it considered poor form to play flashy moves when prosaic ones win more easily? For instance take this game:
Game 4111902
In this position 18. Rb1 Qa3 19. e5 is an easy win. But so is 18. e5?! which sacrifices a rook with check. I couldn't resist (same goes for the queen sac at the end). Am I a jerk?
I don't think it matters whether the move is flashy or not, but 18.e5 is not really a winning move. Your opponent should have played 19...Qxf1+, after which he is ahead by +2 on material and the game is about even.
18.Rb1 gives about a +5.0 eval on Crafty-21.5, whereas 18.e5 gives maybe +0.3 or so.
It was only the fact that your opponent blundered on move 19 that let you keep the advantage.
Of course I didn't hope for 19... Qxf1+ 20. Kxf1 but I don't see how it would equalize, black is losing a piece. I'll fire up Fritz later today, see if it finds anything big I missed. But I already said 18. e5? isn't good. Let me rephrase my question: is it considered poor form to play bad moves on purpose?
Originally posted by zzywHmm, that's strange, I thought you said 18.e5 was also an easy win.
But I already said 18. e5? isn't good.
Actually after 20.Kxf1 Ne7 21.exf6 gxf6 material is even.
As for whether it's poor form-- I don't see how anyone can complain (what, that they won too easily?) After all, you can resign any time you want anyway. It just makes you a worse player. Also, I think most people will suspect that you thought the move was good at the time, not that you played it deliberately knowing it was bad (why exactly would you do this again?)
If you're just making a bad move as a way of taunting your opponent, assuming they can't find the refutation and you'll win anyway, that's not going to work for long unless you always play people well below your rating.
Poor form to play a flashy move when a simple one will do? Depends what you call flashy. Probably a bit annoying to get yourself 6 queens just because you can, but a pretty ending v's something more straight forward would be fine. I once showed a win to one of the seniors at the chess club and they pointed out an alternative and very pretty win (saccing the rook and mating with the knight)...that I'd overlooked.
