Nearly Miraculous
After a less than ordinary performance in the English chess league last season, my captain had subtly hinted that I was playing for my spot in the team in the first weekend of rounds for the new season. But, despite my slip from the 2500s, I felt that the recent Stonewall break-up and the end of the Tinbergen study ‘year of death’, I was ready to step back up to the plate.
And, indeed, I notched a solid but unremarkable win in the first round against Donald Mason, a respectable twenty-two-hundred, about an hour ago. After a thoroughly entertaining analysis session, I’d just returned to my room, feeling pretty smug at my performance and happy to be back on the winning side of the chess board, when I made the horrible error of checking the game with my computer analysis engine….
Just one move before Donald resigned, it turns out he had a chance to win on the spot with one of the more beautiful moves I’ve seen in a very long time. As asthetic as it would have been, though, it would have been just as equally devastating for me. Finally a bit of chess Karma?!
See if you can spot it: (answer below). Playing black, I’d just moved 28…Be2, after which the game continued 29.Nh6+ Bxh6 and Donald resigned. But instead…
29.Qh6!! wins on the spot. The most beautiful variation runs 29…Bxf1 30.Qh8+! Bxh8 32.Nh6#. Exquisite!
Please start posting again! Your posts are a joy to read!
Just to make you feel a bit better have a look at the following game:
Schneider-Tal Lucerne 1982…
The combination was pretty much the same, which was missed by both Schneider (2365) and Tal (2705). BTW, 2705 was Tal’s highest ever rating.
You can find this game as a tactical exercise in “Chess Chool 3-the manual of chess combinations”. In fact it is the first position in the book.
I thought I was out of form, but saw it! Gorgeous…. finally it looks like a little bit of the Karma which has deserted you has returned… She’s a tantalising mistress 🙂