Ouch...missed tactic
I was playing the Ruy as white, having a slugfest with someone rated over 1470 (the highest rated player I've played at ICC, not for lack of trying to get better players). Move 54, my brain getting tired, it is my move:
What did I play? I went through with my plan of getting my rook behind my passed pawn, Re5??. I didn't consider Rxg6 because his rook can recapture. Aaarggh! 54. Rxg6+ and if 54...Rxg6 55. e8=Q+ and black is ever so dead. I only spent 17 seconds on the move...
Note to self: look a little more thoroughly at checks and captures, especially in the endgame. A few seconds of thought and I would have seen this. Man, I hope this pattern comes up again because I won't forget it.
Instead, I drew the game (even after Re5 white is winning but I didn't play it out correctly).
What did I play? I went through with my plan of getting my rook behind my passed pawn, Re5??. I didn't consider Rxg6 because his rook can recapture. Aaarggh! 54. Rxg6+ and if 54...Rxg6 55. e8=Q+ and black is ever so dead. I only spent 17 seconds on the move...Note to self: look a little more thoroughly at checks and captures, especially in the endgame. A few seconds of thought and I would have seen this. Man, I hope this pattern comes up again because I won't forget it.
Instead, I drew the game (even after Re5 white is winning but I didn't play it out correctly).
posted by Blue Devil Knight at 6/09/2007 12:35:00 AM
10 Comments:
Isn't it frustrating? I've done it many times myself. One slip is all it takes. It's like Heisman says, you have to play "Real Chess" on 100% of you moves. If you move just once without thinking properly about the alternatives or the consequences, then it could be your downfall.
yes, this is a standard tactical problem at cts, and we who train there have seen it many, many times. but far harder to see it in the heat of battle.
next time, sure you wont miss that one! DK
This is a pattern that will come up again. The temporal loss of material to deflect the guard is a hard concept that goes against what has been engrained in us: Piece safety.
With pawn on the seventh, this should trigger flags to look for sacrifices, especially if promoting will result in a double attack or fork. Don't forget sometimes that a promotion to a knight in some instances can also provide winning results.
you said it yourself, your brain was tired. if this happened in the first 10 minutes of the game, you would most likely have seen it right away. it is easy to see when you look at it for the first time, but after 54 moves, perhaps there is a blurring that occurs. i wonder if you can train stamina and mental acuity over time? at least you drew the game and didn't outright lose it (which is what i do)...
Yeah, those moves really hurt. It helps me to keep modest [ahem]
I look at this as progress, really. After I made it my mission about a month ago, I am missing fewer one-move tactics (knock on wood and praise Caissa with a burnt offering). I predicted this would get me to 1400, and it sort of has. With this baseline (that I need to actively maintain!), perhaps I can start to focus on two-move tactics like this one.
Was this 45+45 time control?
Is it possible that time management is something you need to work on? That's about as important as "real chess" in Heisman's view. I seem to be OK with that aspect of my game, at least (non-Blitz), so I haven't dwelled on that aspect of the game.
I had plenty of time. My mistake was planning inertia: I had been planning to put my rook behind my pawn on a multi-move sequence. He moved his king right into the correct square for the tactic, but I didn't even consider it. I just plowed on along with my plan. It was a matter of looking around for the best move in the present position rather than the position as I had imagined it N moves ago (revised slogan that I talked about here). I was in a rhythm and that can often be dangerous cuz the song had actually changed.
Don't promote to queen. Play around a bit with e8=B+.
By the way, it's a winning position even you wouldn't promote with check.
Vote for Pedro, Antonio.
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