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Today, I gambited a rook, and won! Full disclosure, it was more of an opening blunder! However, sometimes, it’s the attitude that you take in a game of chess that matters. In this game, I opted to treat it as an involuntary gambit so I played aggressively for the rest of the game. And it worked! I managed to use the opportunity to gain a massive initiative, claw back material, and eventually, checkmate!

The loss of a rook by a knight isn’t necessarily a critical blow. In this game, the knight was one of my opponent’s most active pieces in the opening and after it captured the rook in the corner, it was effective in “gaol” for the rest of the match on that square. The loss of my rook wasn’t felt, while the opponent ceded their knight from play. My opponent was still winning after that move, but it required very accurate play, which can be difficult. Furthermore, this was another game where I managed to coordinate my queen and bishop pair very effectively. The psychological impact of having a queen in your territory picking off pieces with check cannot be underestimated!

I hope you enjoyed this video, and thanks for watching!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/live/35072369813

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2022.01.04"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Boldus"]
[Black "vitualis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C48"]
[WhiteElo "1193"]
[BlackElo "1165"]
[TimeControl "1800"]
[EndTime "14:22:08 PST"]
[Termination "vitualis won by checkmate"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. Nc3 Nd4 5. Nxe5 Nxb5 6. Nxb5 Nxe4 7. d3 Qe7 8. Nxc7+ Kd8 9. Nxa8 Qxe5 10. dxe4 Qxe4+ 11. Qe2 Qxg2 12. Qf1 Qe4+ 13. Be3 Qxc2 14. Rd1 Bb4+ 15. Bd2 Re8+ 16. Qe2 Rxe2+ 17. Kxe2 Qe4+ 18. Be3 d5 19. f3 Qc2+ 20. Bd2 Qxb2 21. Rhe1 Qe5+ 22. Kf1 Bh3+ 23. Kf2 Bc5+ 24. Be3 Qxh2# 0-1