Sam has closed his piano and gone to bed ... now we can talk about the real stuff of life ... love, liberty and games such as Janus, Capablanca Random, Embassy Chess & the odd mention of other 10x8 variants is welcome too
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Thanks for playing, it was a good game. I felt that the lead changed hands a few times as we played this one.
At 8. Bxh6+ ixh6 White is better, and 9... 0-0? surely is a mistake given that the i-pawn is not there to sheleter the King. The problem is, how does one go after this weakness most efficiently?
As soon as I played 10. f4 I knew this was not the best. I block a diagonal that leads to the weakened area of your board, and I prevent my Chancellor from being able to become effective more quickly.
But SMIRF really hung in there, and even turned things around, nullifying any attempt by me to create tactical chances.
So...it was time to get strategic... what to do?
For one I had to get Archbishops off the board, my own vulnerability in the vicinity of h3 was becoming a problem that SMIRF was exploiting well. I think a timely ...Qd7 was called for, but it never happened.
15. Rb1? was a mistake by me, I should have played 15. i3 and held the pawn that dropped right afterwards.
22. Kj1? was more of a "confession" that I didn't know what to do rather than a mistake, but since we were playing quickly, I had not time to reflect. A grandmaster once said "If you do nothing, do it well!" so that is what I tried to do.
24. Rg5?!? is purely cavalier, and an attempt to complicate matters. I did not know if I was digging my own grave, but I surely had a shovel in my hand.
What happened next is entertaining, and I will let the rest of you enjoy it.
I fully expect Chessmaster1000 to tell me all the reasons why this was a bad move, because I deserve it!