In a previous article on chess tactics, you saw how a GM (Tartakover) transferred his vision to reality by adopting sacrificial tactics. In the game below, see how the same GM displayed a surprising lack of vision to succumb to the brilliance of another GM (Reti) in only 11 moves!
Here is how it happened.
| 1. | e4 | c6 |
| 2. | d4 | d5 |
| 3. | Nc3 | dxe4 |
| 4. | Nxe4 | Nf6 |
| 5. | Qd3 | e5 |
| 6. | dxe5 | Qa5+ |
| 7. | Bd2 | Qxe5 |
| 8. | 0-0-0 | Nxe4 |
Position after Black’s move 8
Even as a beginner, you would surely try to guess White’s motives behind his castling, even surrendering his Knight when he could easily provide additional support for it (the Knight of course could not move as it was pinned). Black on his part must have seen that White Rook could pin his Queen on the next move, but he might have banked on 8. … Be7 to take care of it. Was it a false sense of security or was the
temptation of gobbling a Knight too irresistible?
| 9. | Qd8+ | Kxd8 |
| 10. | Bg5+ | Kc7 |
| 11. | Bd8# |
3 Comments
[...] of inability to see a resource that would have completely turned the table in your favor. Though in Chess tactics: Some days are really not yours! we have shown some errors of judgment even at top levels, what we are discussing below are [...]
[...] Tartakower, two top grandmasters of those times. We will not repeat the play as you can see it in Chess Tactics – some days are really not yours, where White makes a Queen sacrifice at move 9 to set up a double check on the next move. The game [...]
How can the black night move from e4 to c6 for 1 thing, and there’s a black pawn on c6 for another.
i’m sure i dont understand so please help me out.