On chess.com, I usually play 30 min rapid, and try to take the games seriously. When I’m feeling of playing games with a shorter time control with less effort, I usually play on Lichess. Sometimes, this results in some wild games, and I obtained what I would describe as “delicious” checkmates, on these two recent matches!

Game 1 was a Vienna Game Accepted where my opponent played the position well! I incorrectly navigated the early middle game, resulting in my opponent consolidating. On move 16, I attempted to set a trap with my rook down the d-file (16. Rad1), a move that was objectively a blunder according to Stockfish. My trap didn’t work, resulting in a significant loss of material, and my opponent getting the initiative on a powerful king-side attack with their queen and light square bishop. In fact, it looked like checkmate might be unavoidable with my opponent completely winning at [-16.4]! However, in their haste, they overlooked a serious deficiency in the defence of their king. Some of this related to the structure of their position, including the lack of development of two of their pieces. It’s never too late, to hang back rank mate, and this was a tricky one indeed!

Game 2, my opponent attempted the Center Game, which I accepted, to which they tried the Danish Gambit, which I declined. A blunder in the opening resulted me down a full piece. However, although the evaluation was between [+3] and [+5], I did have some compensation in that I was much better developed, and my opponent had an exposed king in the middle of the board. On move 21, my opponent attempted to develop their dark square bishop (21. Bd2), which had yet to move the entire game. Unfortunately, this move was a terrible blunder as it blocked the only remaining escape square of their king in the coming, but possibly unexpected, mating net. Two moves later, the king was checkmated in the middle of the board by a net of my four remaining pieces – both rooks, knight, and bishop!

Game 1: https://www.chess.com/analysis/library/5b1DizEqk2

[Event "Rated Rapid game"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/gVzIaHL2"]
[Date "2022.08.07"]
[Round "?"]
[White "vitualis"]
[Black "Bibek289"]
[Result "1-0"]
[UTCDate "2022.08.07"]
[UTCTime "05:02:00"]
[WhiteElo "1534"]
[BlackElo "1564"]
[WhiteRatingDiff "+15"]
[BlackRatingDiff "-12"]
[TimeControl "600+5"]
[ECO "C29"]
[Opening "Vienna Game: Vienna Gambit"]
[Termination "Normal"]
[Annotator "lichess.org"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 {C29 Vienna Game: Vienna Gambit} 3... exf4 $5 {Vienna Gambit Accepted [+0.59]} 4. e5 {[%c_arrow
e5f6;keyPressed;none;from;e5;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false,c3d5;keyPressed;none;from;c3;opacity;0.8;to;d5;persistent;false,c3e4;keyPressed;none;from;c3;opacity;0.8;to;e4;persistent;false,d1g4;keyPressed;none;from;d1;opacity;0.8;to;g4;persistent;false,d1h5;keyPressed;none;from;d1;opacity;0.8;to;h5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d5;persistent;false,g4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g4;persistent;false,h5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h5;persistent;false]}
4... Ng8 5. Nf3 d6 6. d4 Nc6 7. Bxf4 dxe5 8. dxe5 Bg4 9. Bd3 Qe7 10. O-O O-O-O 11. Qe2 $6 {Inaccuracy [0.00]} 11... f6 12. h3 Bh5 13. Bf5+ Kb8 14. e6 g6 15. Nb5 $2 {A mistake [-1.11]. Be4, moving it out of the attack is best..} 15... gxf5 16. Rad1 $4 {An attempted trap that was unsuccessful [-2.78]} 16... Rc8 $4 17. Rd7 $4 Qc5+ 18. Kh1 Ne5 19. Be3 $4 {[-3.13]} 19... Qc6 $1 20. Nxa7 Qxe6 21. Nxc8 Qxd7 22. Na7 Bd6 23. Rd1 Nxf3 24. gxf3 f4 25. Nb5 Qxh3+ 26. Kg1 Bxf3 $4 {A serious blunder [+M3]. Black missed the back rank mate threat with the clearing of the e-file.} 27. Ba7+ $1 Kc8 28. Qe8# {[%c_effect
g1;square;g1;type;Winner,c8;square;c8;type;CheckmateBlack] White wins by
checkmate.} 1-0

Game 2: https://www.chess.com/analysis/library/2x86hNg5qY

[Event "Rated Rapid game"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/UOCUdFLK"]
[Date "2022.08.08"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Noob_player9"]
[Black "vitualis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[UTCDate "2022.08.08"]
[UTCTime "06:02:48"]
[WhiteElo "1558"]
[BlackElo "1549"]
[WhiteRatingDiff "-5"]
[BlackRatingDiff "+13"]
[TimeControl "600+5"]
[ECO "C21"]
[Opening "Danish Gambit Declined: Sorensen Defense"]
[Termination "Normal"]
[Annotator "lichess.org"]

1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 d5 {C21 Danish Gambit Declined: Sorensen Defense} 4. Qxd4 Nf6 5. Bb5+ $2 c6 $6 6. Ba4 Nxe4 $6 7. Nf3 Bc5 $2 {A mistake [-0.51] as the bishop is no longer guarding g7} 8. Qxg7 Bxf2+ 9. Kf1 Qf6 $4 {A blunder [+3.92] as the bishop on f2 will be lost after the sequence of trades} 10. Qxf6 $1 Nxf6 11. Kxf2 Ne4+ 12. Ke3 $6 {Stockfish labels this as only an inaccuracy. However, the decision by White to move their king into the centre of the board was a strategic error.} 12... Rg8 13. Rg1 Nd7 14. c4 b5 15. cxd5 Nec5 16. dxc6 bxa4 17. cxd7+ Bxd7 18. Nc3 O-O-O 19. Kf2 Nd3+ 20. Ke3 $5 Bc6 21. Bd2 $4 {A serious blunder [-M10] as a the bishop blocks the king's last escape square} 21...
Rge8+ $1 {[%c_highlight
d7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d7;persistent;false,d6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d6;persistent;false,d5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d5;persistent;false,d4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d4;persistent;false,d3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d3;persistent;false,e7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e7;persistent;false,e6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e6;persistent;false,e5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e5;persistent;false,e4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e4;persistent;false,e2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e2;persistent;false,f2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f2;persistent;false,f4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f4;persistent;false][%c_arrow
d3f2;keyPressed;none;from;d3;opacity;0.8;to;f2;persistent;false,d3f4;keyPressed;none;from;d3;opacity;0.8;to;f4;persistent;false]}
22. Ne4 $6 Rxe4# {[%c_effect
c8;square;c8;type;Winner,e3;square;e3;type;CheckmateWhite] Black wins by
checkmate.} 0-1