Thursday, March 27, 2014

A 6th grade girl's game

Both of her (Black) bishops are hanging. Is there a way for this 6th grader to save them?
Yes! Move one with a threat. 13. ... Bxc3+ 14. bxc3 Nxe4 15. Nxe4 Bxe4 Not only did we save our Bishop, we came out a pawn ahead and traded off a few pieces leaving us with a three pawn advantage.

Here's the same game a few moves later. She is now up three pawns and although she lost her bishop she got his rook with a fork. Her last move was h6 and Richard replied with an odd move - he moved his queen from g3 to h3. What is her best move?
a) hxg5 b) Nb3 c) d5 d) c6
If it's White's turn, he has no good attack.
If you said b) very good! Let's save that knight while we still can
If you said c) very good! You're castled and your opponent isn't so open up that d-file for your queen and rooks!
If you said d) that's good too - it gains time while repelling his bishop while supporting the center and the d4 push while opening a possible path for your queen.
If you said a) hxg5 you just lost the game like she did. The game continued 20. hxg5 Nh5! 21. Qxh5 f6! 22. g6!! Rf7! 23. Qh8#!! I liked the way she fought after making the mistake to try to get away. But if she didn't take the poisoned knight, she could have won this game.

No comments:

Post a Comment