Tactics Question
So the game I played earlier today has attracted some attention from some people I’ve shown it to. The question they are asking is whether the piece sacrifice was sound. The piece sacrifice happened in the following position.
Black played 24..Be1.
Is this a good move opening the h-file and leading to victory?
Is this a blunder of a piece?
Is the final result likely to be a pereptual with best play from both players?
[Event "icc 45 45"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.01.08"]
[Round "?"]
[White "slimedog2"]
[Black "sandham"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D20"]
[WhiteElo "2163"]
[BlackElo "2078"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2003.12.21"]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nc3 a6 4. a4 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. e3 Na5 7. h3 Bxf3 8. Qxf3
e6 9. Be2 Nf6 10. O-O Nd5 11. e4 Nxc3 12. bxc3 c6 13. Bf4 Bd6 14. e5 Be7 15.
Qg4 g5 16. Be3 h5 17. Qg3 Kd7 18. f4 g4 19. hxg4 Bh4 20. Qf3 hxg4 21. Qxg4 Qe7
22. Qf3 Rh7 23. g4 Rah8 24. Kg2 {So in this critical position I tried a piece
sacrifice that I felt gave me great practical chances, and would probably
allow me to bail out with a draw. Was my intuition right? Well my opponent
blundered straight after so what if he’s accepted the piece?}
24..Be1 25. Rfxe1 (25. Bg1? Rh3 26. Ra3?? Rxf3 {0-1}) 25… Rh2+ 26. Kf1 {and now how
to continue?} R8h3 (26… Qh4 27. Bg1 Rh3 28. Qf2 Rxc3 29. Qxh4 Rxh4 {Black
shouldn’t have enough compensation here}) (26… Rh1+ 27. Bg1 Nb3 28. Ra2 {
doesn’t look too promising}) 27. Qe4 Nb3 (27… Rxe3! {I’m not sure I’d have
found this idea over the board, removing a critical defender} 28. Qxe3 Qh4 29.
Bf3 (29. Reb1? Nb3 30. Ra2 Rh1+ 31. Kg2 Rxb1 {and black is winning}) (29.
Rab1 Rh1+ 30. Kg2 Rh2+ (30… Rxe1 31. Rxe1 Qxe1 32. f5 {black has lost the
initiative}) 31. Kg1 (31. Kf3 Rh3+ 32. Ke4 Qh7+ 33. f5 Rxe3+ 34. Kxe3 Qh6+ 35.
Ke4 Qd2 {Black may have some advantage because of the activity of his queen,
but there is a long way to go here}) 31… Rh1+ 32. Kg2 Rh2+ {with a draw})
29… Qh3+ 30. Kg1 Qg3+ 31. Kf1 Qh3+ 32. Kg1 Qg3+ draw) 28. Bf3!? {giving back
material but preventing the check on h1.} (28. Rad1 Rxe3 {this is a great move
removing a defender} (28… Rh1+ 29. Bg1) 29. Qxe3 Qh4 30. f5 Rh1+ 31. Kg2 Rh2+
32. Kg1 Rh1+ {with a perpetual}) 28… Qh4 (28… Nxa1 29. Rxa1 Qh4 30. Rb1 Qg3
31. Rxb7+ Kd8 32. Rb8+ Ke7 (32… Kc7? 33. Qxc6+ Kxb8 34. Qb7#) 33. f5 Qxf3+
34. Qxf3 Rxf3+ 35. Kg1 Ra2 36. Bg5+ Kd7 37. Rb7+ Kc8 38. Rxf7 {Black is not
worse}) 29. Rad1 Rg3 30. Bf2 Rxf3 (30… Qh3+ 31. Ke2 {White’s king is getting
away}) 31. Qxf3 Rxf2+ 32. Qxf2 Qh1+ 33. Ke2 Qe4+ 34. Qe3 Qg2+ 35. Qf2 Qe4+ 36.
Kf1 Qh1+ {with a perpetual} 0-1
Looks like the sac was good enough for a draw but no more. Of course, the game could have gone either way and neither player could really have been expected to see all this.
