A few days ago, we discussed the idea of “Never give up, never surrender“. Basically, it’s always possible that the opponent will make a bad move, a blunder, to which you can use to your advantage. Today, we’re going to cover the same theme as both a caution and an opportunity to look out for. One of the learnings from this game is that you always need to keep an eye on that back rank – the opponent’s, and your own! If you’re in the luxury of being in a winning position, holding onto your enthusiasm and sparing a move to give your king an escape square can prevent a disaster. It’s never too late to hang back rank mate!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/analysis/library/KJYtJnG4v

[Event "Rated Rapid game"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/AXy9aO6a"]
[Date "2021.11.24"]
[Round "?"]
[White "vitualis"]
[Black "AlgernopKrieger"]
[Result "1-0"]
[UTCDate "2021.11.24"]
[UTCTime "05:38:13"]
[WhiteElo "1544"]
[BlackElo "1530"]
[WhiteRatingDiff "+8"]
[BlackRatingDiff "-6"]
[TimeControl "600+5"]
[ECO "B23"]
[Opening "Sicilian Defense: Closed"]
[Termination "Normal"]
[Annotator "lichess.org"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 {B23 Sicilian Defense: Closed} 3. f4 Nc6 4. Nf3 d5 5. Bb5 a6 6. Bxc6+ bxc6 7. d3 c4 8. O-O Bb4 9. a3 Ba5 10. Nd4 Bb6 11. Be3 Ne7 12. Qe1 Qd6 13. Qg3 Ng6 14. e5 Qd8 15. Nxc6 Bxe3+ 16. Qxe3 Qc7 17. Nd4 Qb6 18. Rab1 O-O 19. g3 f6 20. Na4 Qa5 21. Nc5 Qxc5 22. b4 Qb6 23. c3 Qc7 24. b5 fxe5 25. b6 exd4 26. Qxd4 Qe7 27. dxc4 dxc4 28. Qe4 Rb8 29. b7 Bxb7 30. Rxb7 Rxb7 31. Qxc4 Qf7 32. Qxa6 Rfb8 33. Qe2 Qf5 34. a4 Rb1 35. a5 Rxf1+ 36. Kxf1 Rb1+ 37. Kf2 Qxa5 38. Qxe6+ Kh8 39. Qe8+ Nf8 40. Qxf8# {White wins by checkmate.} 1-0