I won! I won!

     Last week started out sunny and warm, but come Wednesday we experienced wind that would blow the fur off a dog. Thursday the weather was supposed to be abominable; we were predicted to get showers in the morning then possibly severe thunderstorms in the afternoon continuing into the evening before changing to freezing rain, sleet and snow showers after midnight. Instead, all we got was some light drizzle as the heart of the storm passed to our south and east. 

     Even so, it got cold and dark outside; it was a good day to play online. I lost a couple of poorly played games and won one, also poorly played, when my opponent resigned in a drawn position. 

     Because it's been a while since readers have been treated to one of my games, here is my most delightful win. I thought the opening wasn't very well played by my opponent, but a post-game analysis shows that he actually didn't play too badly! 

     I played a bunch of sacrifices with little or no calculation only because it was a G/5 and I had a slight time advantage while my opponent was using too much time. Going over the game afterwards revealed that it was filled with wild complications! 

[Event "Chess Hotel G/5"] [Site "?"] [Date "2023.02.16"] [Round "?"] [White "Tartajubow"] [Black "Anonymous"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D00"] [Annotator "Stocjfish 15.1"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] {Blackmar Gambit} 1. e4 d5 2. d4 {This, the Blackmar Gambit, is an aggressive opening that has some amateur enthusiasts. It's dismissed as unsound by GMs, but it's not likely I'll be meeting any on Chess Hotel.} dxe4 {If black wants to play it safe he can play 2...c6 or even 2...e6} 3. f3 exf3 4. Nxf3 {White can offer a second P with 4.Qxf3, the Ryder Gambit, but that's going too far even in a 5-minute game!} e6 {The Euwe Defense. Other options are 4...Bf5, 4... Bg4, 5...g6 and 5...c6. Take your pick.} 5. Bd3 {After the game I found out that 5.Bg5 is the usual continuation, but there seems nothing wrong with the text.} g6 {Not really bad, but somehow it just looks wrong.} (5... Nf6 6. O-O Bd6 7. Bg5 Nbd7 {is equal. Pelekh,O-Chumagina,Y Illichevsk 2006}) 6. Bg5 { [%mdl 1024] White actually has compensation for the P!} f6 {Ugly as it looks, this is Stockfish's first choice and...surprise...it evaluates the position as dead equal.} (6... Ne7 {is bad.} 7. Bf6 Rg8 {and white has an excellent position.}) (6... Be7 7. h4 Nf6 (7... Bxg5 8. Nxg5 {is also a wee bit in white's favor.}) 8. Nc3 {favors white slightly.}) 7. Bf4 Ne7 8. Nc3 {White has sufficient compensation for the P, but not more.} Bg7 9. Qd2 c6 {Clearly, black intends a Q-side demonstration, but after this white is better.} (9... Nbc6 10. a3 Nd5 {and black keeps the balance.}) 10. O-O-O b5 11. Kb1 {Played quickly to get a little thinking time. I had no idea how to best continue!} ( 11. h4 {is the engine's move with the following continuation.} h5 12. Ne4 Nd7 13. Rdf1 O-O {and now white launches a strong attack with} 14. g4) 11... a5 12. Ne4 {The threat is Nd6+ displacing black's K.} O-O {There wasn't anything better. Now that black has castled I hit on the idea of advancing the h-Pawn.} 13. h4 {And now h5 would win.} Bb7 {Black has underestimated the strength of the obvious 14.h5} (13... h5 {This is what I was worried that he would play and I was not sure of how I would continue. It stops the advance of the h-Pawn, but it turns out his K-side gets ripped apart after...} 14. g4 {Let's pretend that I would have seen this.} hxg4 15. h5 f5 (15... gxf3 16. h6 Bh8 17. h7+ Kf7 18. Nd6+ {Black has to surrender his Q because} Kg7 19. Bh6+ {mates in 3.}) 16. h6 Bf6 17. h7+ Kh8 18. Nxf6 Rxf6 19. Ne5 Nd7 (19... Qf8 20. Bh6 {wins}) 20. Bg5 {white is winning.}) (13... Nd5 {This is the best defense and black does not come off too badly after} 14. Bd6 f5 15. Bxf8 Qxf8 16. Nc3 Nf6) 14. h5 Nd7 ( 14... g5 {was probably the best practical chance because, let's be honest, it would have confused me and cost me some time. Actually, white should win no matter what he plays, but the best line is} 15. h6 (15. Nfxg5 {This would also work!} fxg5 16. Nxg5 Nd5 17. Bxh7+ Kh8 18. Nxe6) 15... gxf4 16. hxg7 Rf7 17. Nxf6+ Rxf6 18. Rxh7 {followed by doubling Rs on the h-file.}) 15. hxg6 Nxg6 16. Bh6 (16. Nd6 {is evaluated a little higher by the engine.} Qe7 (16... Bc8 17. Rxh7 Kxh7 18. Rh1+ Kg8 19. Bxg6 {wins}) 17. Nxb7 Nb6 18. Nc5) 16... Ra7 { All black can really do is make pointless moves.} (16... Bxh6 17. Qxh6 Qe7 18. Neg5 fxg5 19. Bxg6 hxg6 20. Qh8+ Kf7 21. Rh7+ Ke8 22. Rxe7+ Kxe7 23. Qh7+ Rf7 24. Qxg6 {etc.}) 17. Bxg7 Rf7 (17... Kxg7 18. Qh6+ Kf7 19. Qxh7+ Ke8 20. Nd6#) 18. Bh6 c5 {The engine likes 19.Nd6, but my move is also good.} 19. Neg5 { [%mdl 512] All I saw was that this opens up the diagonal for the B.} fxg5 20. Nxg5 c4 (20... Re7 {This is what I expected. The engine sees that 21.Nxh7 wins easily; I didn't.} 21. Bxg6 {My intended move which is good enough, but...} hxg6 {The material is equal here and white's advantage is put at nearly 8 Pawns which is winning easily. However, I have no idea how I would have continued here and no idea how to win!} 22. Qd3 (22. dxc5 {Best, but only by a bit.} Bd5 23. Qd3 Qe8 24. Qd4 Be4 25. Nxe4 e5 26. Qe3 {and wins}) 22... Qe8 23. Qh3 Nf6 24. Bf8 Nh5 25. Bxe7 Qxe7 26. Nxe6 Bd5 27. Nf4 {and white is winning.}) 21. Nxf7 Kxf7 22. Bxg6+ hxg6 23. Rdf1+ Kg8 24. Qe3 {Adding the Q to the attack and threatening Qxe6+ with mate in 9, but there was a mate in 8.} (24. Bg7 Bf3 25. Rxf3 Nf6 26. Bxf6 Kf7 27. Qg5 Qg8 28. Qc5 Ke8 29. Qxa7 Qf8 30. Rh8 e5 31. Qe7#) 24... Bd5 25. Qg3 (25. Bg7 {This still leads to mate.} Nf6 26. Bxf6 Qf8 27. Rh8+ Kf7 28. Be5+ Ke7 29. Rhxf8 Bf3 30. Qxf3 Kd7 31. Qe4 Ke7 32. R1f7#) 25... Be4 26. Qh4 {In the auto-analysis the engine slapped a ? on this move because it missed the mate and white's advantage dropped to "only" 4 Ps.} (26. Bg5 {mates} Bf5 27. Bxd8 Nf8 28. Bf6 {[%eval 32752,53] [%wdl 1000,0,0] [%emt 0: 00:09]} Kf7 29. Qe5 {[%eval 32754,55] [%wdl 1000,0,0] [%emt 0:00:07]} Rd7 30. Bg5 Ra7 31. Qf6+ Ke8 32. Qd8+ Kf7 33. Rh8 e5 34. d5 Kg7 35. Qxf8#) 26... Bf5 { A final blunder.} (26... Qxh4 27. Rxh4 Bd5 28. Rhf4 Rb7 (28... Bxg2 29. R1f2 Bd5 30. Rf7 {sould win without much trouble.}) 29. Rf7 Nc5 30. Rxb7 Nxb7 { Again, white should win, but it was a 5 minute game and time was running short, so the outcome would by no means be certain!}) 27. Bg5 {Missing the obvious 27. Qxd8+, but black resigned anyway.} (27. Bg5 {There is a forced mate after this. } Nf8 28. Qh8+ Kf7 29. Bxd8 Ke8 30. Qe5 Kxd8 31. Qb8+ Ke7 32. Rh8 Ra8 33. Qxa8 Bxc2+ 34. Kxc2 Kd6 35. Qxf8+ Kc6 36. Qc5+ Kb7 37. Rf7+ Ka6 38. Ra8#) 1-0