I once read in a chess book that beginning players and anyone wanting to improve their level of chess play should *never* resign, but should play until checkmated or all material has been exhausted. Needless to say that I still resign in many of my games, but I am more hesitant to resign these days than in the past. These days, I look at a position I believe is lost, give it a quick analysis, and then decide whether there are things I can try based on the material and position I am given. Even if the position is obviously lost, there are often things to learn and challenges to behold past those positions. This game was *hopelessly lost* early on, but a series of blunders created by bait-traps I set throughout the game had an exhilaratingly positive outcome. It just goes to show that even when a position *seems* lost that unless a King is in checkmate (#), the game is not over until we, the players, decide it is. Enjoy!
[pgn]
[Event “Live Chess”]
[Site “Chess.com”]
[Date “2015.01.12”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Wesley Surber”]
[Black “1127”]
[Result “1-0”]
[WhiteElo “1089”]
[BlackElo “1127”]
[Annotator “Surber,Wesley”]
[PlyCount “51”]
[EventDate “2015.??.??”]
[TimeControl “15”]
1. e4 {A strong and popular move at all levels of chess. 1.e4 allows White a
multitude of options for proceeding with development of his pieces.} d5 {Black
wasted no time challenging White’s control of the center. The intention is to
get White to take the bait and sacrifice a pawn for a pawn. If White chooses
the sacrifice, he would find himself behind in development.} 2. Nc3 {White
rejects the sacrifice and attacks the d5 pawn while offering support for the
attacked e4 pawn.} dxe4 {It was obvious that Black was going to be greedy for
material in this game. He quickly gobbled up the e4 pawn and opened the
d-file for his Queen.} 3. Nxe4 {White recaptured the e4 pawn and completed the
sacrifice. White came out on top in this instance and now had a powerful
piece in the center to support further development.} e6 {A curious response.
Better was:} (3… Bf5 4. Ng3 Bg6 5. Nf3 c6 6. d4 Nd7 7. h4 {and White would
be better.}) 4. d3 {Sensing that Black is prepared to build along the d-file,
White released his dark-squared Bishop and shored up support for the outpost
Knight in an attempt to counter the advance.} a6 {Black seemed confused when
making this move. None of his pieces were developed and the a6 pawn offered
no chance for a Bishop or Rook to develop. White watched this move with
cautious optimism.} 5. Nf3 {Showing signs of some broken Sicilian Defense,
White advances his Knight to sieze control of the e5 square and to threaten on
the g5 square. However, advancing to the g5 square would be dangerous since
Black has simple counterplay (see note on 6.Be2).} Nc6 {At this point, Black
developed his first piece. The c6 Knight balances the pressure on the e5
square and brings Black into the center-control struggle for the first time.}
6. Be2 (6. Bg5 f6 7. Bh4 g5 8. Nexg5 fxg5 9. Bxg5 Be7 {and White would not
stand a chance.}) 6… Nd4 {Black engaged White’s arsenal immediately by
forking the Knight and Bishop. White considered this move for a short time
before deciding against going after the threatening Knight.} 7. O-O {White
rejected the threat and castled to safety.} (7. Nxd4 Qxd4 8. c3 Qd8 {and White
is down in material.}) 7… Qd5 {Black developed his Queen fairly early in the
game and still had not cleared a way for his King to castle safely. Black’s
Queen threatens both Knights, but not without effective responses from White.
At this point, the Queen was merely a tool of intimidation.} 8. Be3 {White
engaged the Knight to force him off of his outpost. Black was not going to
sit back and allow White to capture a Queen with his Knight, so therefore the
purpose behind this move was to push the Knight away by forcing it to attack a
piece or move away to further White’s development.} Nxf3+ {Black chose to
trade Knights and White was happy to oblige.} 9. Bxf3 {White completed the
trade and was left with a pair of highly developed Bishops.} ({White also
considered this move, but it restricted development of his Bishops and opened
his King to attack.} 9. gxf3) 9… Qb5 {Black moved his Queen to safety,
sensing that white was preparing to play Nf6+ and Black would immediately have
lost his Queen.} (9… f6 10. Nxf6+ gxf6 11. Bxd5 exd5 {and Black would have
been lost.}) 10. c4 {White made this move because he was running out of
counterplay ideas. The simple attack on the Queen was a blunder initially,
but it paved the way for White’s dramatic comeback.} Qxb2 {Black gained
position and material in White’s own territory with this move. The natural
urge to counter this move is Rb1, but the a2 pawn would have been history.
Instead, White chose a different approach.} 11. Qa4+ {White had been eyeing
this move for quite some time. Black certainly had a large number of
responses, but this move checked the Black King and reminded Black not to get
too comfortable.} Bd7 {Probably the best of Black’s move options. White’s
Queen was threatened from multiple angles and had to retreat.} 12. Qd1 {
White’s Queen retreated to safety on the first rank.} Nf6 {Black took the
opportunity to sieze tempo and began an attack on White’s center control.} 13.
Nc5 {White offered the Knight as a sacrifice to gain position closer to
Black’s territory.} Bxc5 {Black refused to allow White additional chances to
develop into his territory and eliminated the Knight with a trade.} 14. Bxc5 {
White completed the trade and applied addition pressure to Black’s King.} Qe5 {
Black brought his Queen back to the center to threaten the c5 Bishop.} 15. Bxb7
{White offered Black a choice: take the Bishop and lose a Rook, but Black had
other plans. White missed the fact that this move was another devastating
blunder.} Rb8 {Black challenged the White Bishop. At this point, White
realized his mistake and knew that one of his Bishops would soon be gobbled up
by Black’s threatening Queen.} 16. Bxa6 {White captured a consolation prize.}
Qxc5 {White’s advantage was quickly disappearing as Black’s Queen maintained a
strong position in the center of the board and White’s options remain
increasingly limited.} 17. Rb1 {White threatened Black’s Rook with the hope of
engaging in forced-move counterplay.} O-O {Black quickly castled to safety and
eliminated White’s plan for forced-moves.} 18. d4 {White continued to attack
Black’s Queen in hopes of regaining some hope of cohesiveness in the center.}
Qa5 {Black moved his Queen to safety on the a-file to prepare his counter play
against what he believed was a White pawn-push.} 19. d5 {White continued to
push his pawns toward Black’s front lines.} Qxa6 {White’s final pawn fell, and
the game became significantly desperate for White.} 20. Rxb8 {This was a move
of desperation! White realized that Black’s counterplay was simple, but he
needed to eliminate the Rook if he had any hope of continuing the game.} Rxb8 {
Black completed the trade and was up a Knight.} 21. dxe6 {White pushed his
pawn deeper into Black’s territory with little expectation of positive outcome
except for collecting more material and possibly dislodging Black’s back-rank
fortress.} Bxe6 {Black surprisingly took the pawn with his Bishop and opened
the d-file for attack. This is probably the move that lost the game for Black.
White recognized the importance of the open file and sought desperately to
capitalize on it.} 22. f3 {White dismantled his castle infrastructure in a
last-ditch effort to force Black to engage in deeper counterplay.} Qxa2 {Black
gobbled up another pawn and threatened to move into White’s territory for a
final assault.} 23. Rf2 {Realizing that death is certain, White challenged
Black to begin his attack or go home.} Qxc4 {Despite obvious advantages, Black
seemed hesitant to begin his assault. Qxc4?? gained material, but reduced the
cohesiveness of Black’s attack and further opened the d-file for a White
incursion.} 24. Rb2 {A move of solid desperation as White sought to sacrifice
his Rook to gain a surprise advantage over Black’s position. In this position,
Black had only one move to make that would seal his fate in the game…and he
made it.} Rxb2 {A devastating blunder as Black goes for the bait. There is no
hope for Black to win this game.} 25. Qd8+ {White’s Queen launched a
devastating assault on Black’s King and left him with only one available
forced move.} Ne8 {The only move Black could make.} 26. Qxe8# {Checkmate, and
Black’s decisive advantage is over as White wins by checkmate.} 1-0
[/pgn]