Draw for Black or mate in 2?

Here is a position from a game I recently played as Black.  The board is actually facing the way that White would have seen it ... In a time scramble, I could not find a way to win, so had to settle for the draw and the loss of a few rating points ... 

Is there a mate in two for Black instead of a draw?

You will become a great chess tactician if you can see two moves ahead here. 

CLUE:  Black is close to mate here, but what is the next move??. Without looking at the solution, try and devise a series of moves in your head that you can play to attack the opponent's king for a favourable outcome ...

Show Solution

Solution: 1. .. Ne6+ 2.Ke4 Qd4#

Bowdler Attack - The Bishop was up for grabs ... !

In this, my latest game on the FIDE online Arena, I had decide whether it was safe enough to capture the Bishop on offer.  In the game, I calculated that I could not take the Bishop, when in actual fact after looking at the chess.com analysis - I could take it!! 

Personally I would like to improve my approach to facing the Bowdler Attack as Black as I have had to face it many times before and I've never really done that well against it?  Eventually, my opponent got his Bishop trapped (although I think this was avoidable).  They also allowed their Rook to be exchanged for my Bishop ... the mating net was obviously coming ...  

Bowdler Attack

As usual, any comments welcome ... 

 

The endgame bamboozled me !!

I had a few rapid-play games online today.  The shocking result in my last game was that I could only manage a draw - when in fact I had a won endgame.  I think that to really improve my chess, I need to start getting to work on practicing winning endgames.  I feel that its OK to do a few endgame lessons, but when it comes to playing real games over the board, the pressure is far more intense, especially when you are up against the clock.  I've included the analysis from Move 59 of where I went wrong in this game - with a 4 vs 3 pawn majority :) 

Won endgame only drawn!  

Breaking down the walls ...

I have attempted to solve many tactical puzzles over the years, where you are encouraged to look for ways to 'break through' the castled King's defenses through the city walls ... When you have at least two pieces aimed at the pawns around the castled enemy King, it is always worth trying to imagine what you could do once those pawns have been eliminated.  Ask yourself - what possible tactics can I try, after I've effectively broken in ... Here is the critical position that was reached during my game this evening. 

As you can see, there is a possibility of winning the g and f pawns for the Bishop, but how do you follow this up?  The key is to have a look at the remaining Black pieces to see what can potentially be exploited.  In this case, I could see that the Queen and the Bishop are lined up along the 7th rank, so effectively I get to skewer the Queen and the Bishop, meaning I win the Bishop back once the Queen moves .. !!  So the net result is two pawns profit ...   

Here is the beginning of this little combination ... it was considered a brilliancy by chess.com's analysis.  

Unfortunately after

22. Bxg6 fxg6

23. Rxg6+ Kh8

24. Rg7 

my opponent tried to counter with 24. ..Nd5? threatening my Queen, but this made the eval bar max out in my favour, because I can then counter again with Queen 25. Qe5!!  My opponent then resigned ... Here is the full game ... 

Caro-Kan

Grand Prix Attack - f7 pin

I find that, when playing the Grand Prix Attack as White, having the Bishop aiming at f7 is a very useful lever and establishes a pin.  In my recent online game, my opponent eventually dealt with the Bishop, but by then I had a slight initiative and managed to get a Queen and Rook battery. 

FIDE online chess arena   

Game against Sophia-BOT on chess.com leads to confinement!!

So, my latest mission is to beat Sophia-BOT on chess.com. This is so far proving to be a real challenge and I haven't managed it yet!! (Although I've managed to get two draws). In the latest 'drawn' game, I spent time at the end Reviewing the game using the analysis on chess.com, and it appears that if I'd played the ending correctly, I'd actually of won ... but instead my King was subjected to 'confinement' ..! If you are relatively new to chess, then the chances are that you won't have experienced this yet ...

Confinement

Confinement is a technique used by an enemy King to 'confine' your King to either the 'a' file or the 'h' file, normally when you are trying to promote a Rook's pawn. The problem is that, if you make an attempt to leave the 'a' file for the 'b' file, or the 'h' file for the 'g' file, leaving way for the pawn to promote, then the enemy King will make a beeline for the the "corner, promotion square" where they are guaranteed a draw. So, in summary, with accurate play there is no win for the side with a Rook's pawn if the enemy King is well placed enough to dive into the corner square where the pawn wants to be.

Game against Sophia-BOT (2300)

Mistake in the Endgame ...

Here is the mistake I made in the endgame. Instead of taking on h5, I should have actually played h4! This would have guaranteed a win.

Here is the continuation when playing for a win ...

c3 Sicilian - won endgame

So, just one small mistake in my last game on FIDE online, but the endgame was eventually won by Black here ... 

Here is a "c3 Sicilian" 

As usual, any comments welcome 

Budapest Gambit: Fajarowicz Variation - (Blitz Trap)

Although this particular version of the Fajarowicz can be easily refuted ... it's still a nice one to play when playing bullet or blitz 😀

Fajarowicz Variation - Trap 3

It also works if the White Knight was developed on c3 ... 😀

Budapest Gambit: Fajarowicz Variation - (Trap 2)

Here is situation where White is wary of Bishop b4+ and so they prevent that check with a3.  However they are still not aware that Black takes a massive lead in development by exchanging White's e-pawn for their d-pawn ... The result is decisive after White unwittingly develops their Knight to f3!!  

Fajarowicz Variation - (Trap 2)

Shockingly - White loses their Queen to two minor pieces ... !  

Budapest Gambit with offbeat continuation

Here is a nice offbeat lime from the Budapest Gambit ... Its great to play when your opponent is expecting you to play a standard Budapest Gambit variation and instead you pull the 'Fajarowicz variation' out of the drawer for novelty value 😋 I have to say, I'm a great fan and this variation is especially effective when White is unclear as to what they are doing ...  

Budapest Gambit: Fajarowicz Variation (basic)

Mate in 10 moves! 
 
Please send me your games and I will add them to the Blog ...