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Earlier in the week I had a seven-game losing streak on my Chessnut PRO. I hadn’t used it for a little bit and had gone a little out of practice visualising the game over a 3D board.

So, I was very pleased when I finally won this game – and even better, two of my moves were rated as brilliancies by the chess.com analytic engine!

In this game, my opponent played the Qa5 main line of the Scandinavian Defense, and so I decided to try the queen trap line (https://adventuresofachessnoob.com/2023/05/24/leonhardt-gambit-scandinavian-queen-trap/) in the Leonhardt Gambit (1. ed d5 2. exd5 qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. b4 Qxb4 5. Nb5)!

This trap is potentially a high-risk manoeuvre at the intermediate level as Black will sometimes see through the plan. In this game, they didn’t, so I managed to capture the queen with the initial brilliant bishop sacrifice with check, and then two subsequent forcing check moves with a discovered attack and capture of the black queen on a5 (7. Bxf7+ Kxf7 8. Qh5+ g6 9. Nd6+ exd6 10. Qxa5)!

This trap trades two minor pieces for the queen and being a bit behind of development. Stockfish still calls it a massive advantage [+4.6], but it’s important to play carefully and consolidate.

Black needed to rapidly develop their pieces, but their attempt to chase my queen initially with a pawn, allowed me to reposition my queen, regaining some tempo with check, and then infiltrate in a slightly more advantageous position. By tactically pinning Black’s knight against their king, it allowed Black’s numerical piece advantage (5 pieces vs 4 pieces) not be felt.

On move 19, I’m proud to have found and played a rook sacrifice/trade for one of Black’s knights. Their knight pair securing each other was quite strong and provided a robust defence for their king. Simplification was in my best interest, and I was pleased that the engine also rated this a brilliant move!

On move 26, Black blunders their bishop and after the capture, resigns, defeated. The interesting aspect of this game is that Black resigned with 15:38 on the clock, in a 15+10 game of rapid. This means that on average, they made each move in less than 10 seconds. I had around 10 minutes left. It’s important to make use of your time in rapid and not undercalculate your moves!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/live/82092095361

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2023.07.03"]
[Round "-"]
[White "vitualis"]
[Black "gjconlon"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "B01"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Scandinavian-Defense-Mieses-Kotrc-Main-Line-Leonhardt-Gambit"]
[UTCDate "2023.07.03"]
[UTCTime "03:02:06"]
[WhiteElo "1384"]
[BlackElo "1444"]
[TimeControl "900+10"]
[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]
[StartTime "03:02:06"]
[EndDate "2023.07.03"]
[EndTime "03:14:50"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/live/82092095361"]
[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.f52a0759.50x50o.ab18600a8723.png"]
[WhiteCountry "17"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/30916816.b083acf0.50x50o.b6838addc779.jpeg"]
[BlackCountry "2"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. e4 {[%clk 0:15:06.3]} 1... d5 {[%clk 0:15:07.9]} 2. exd5 {[%clk 0:15:12.5]}
2... Qxd5 {[%clk 0:15:15.5]} 3. Nc3 {[%clk 0:15:18.4]} 3... Qa5 {[%clk
0:15:23.1]} 4. b4 $5 {[%clk 0:15:24.1][%c_effect
b4;square;b4;type;Interesting;persistent;true] Scandinavian Defense: Leonhardt
Gambit} 4... Qxb4 {[%clk 0:15:30.7]} 5. Nb5 $5 {[%clk 0:15:15.8][%c_effect
b5;square;b5;type;Interesting;persistent;true][%c_arrow
a1b1;keyPressed;none;from;a1;opacity;0.8;to;b1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
b1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b1;persistent;false]} 5... Qa5 {[%clk
0:15:20.2]} 6. Bc4 $5 {[%clk 0:15:22][%c_effect
c4;square;c4;type;Interesting;persistent;true]} 6... a6 $4 {[%clk
0:15:21.5][%c_effect a6;square;a6;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_arrow
g8f6;keyPressed;none;from;g8;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f6;persistent;false] The queen trap has
been set $1 [+0.6]} 7. Bxf7+ $3 {[%clk 0:15:20][%c_effect
f7;square;f7;type;Brilliant;persistent;true]} 7... Kxf7 $4 {[%clk
0:15:26.9][%c_arrow
e8d8;keyPressed;none;from;e8;opacity;0.8;to;d8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d8;persistent;false][%c_effect
f7;square;f7;type;Blunder;keyPressed;undefined;persistent;true] An entirely
natural move, but a blunder [+3.8]} 8. Qh5+ $1 {[%clk 0:15:25][%c_effect
h5;square;h5;type;GreatFind;persistent;true]} 8... g6 {[%clk 0:15:31.3]} 9.
Nd6+ $1 {[%clk 0:15:29.4][%c_effect d6;square;d6;type;GreatFind;persistent;true]}
9... exd6 {[%clk 0:15:32.5]} 10. Qxa5 {[%clk 0:15:34.5] And the queen is
captured $1 Black has gotten two active pieces for the queen [+4.6] so careful
play is still necessary for White $1} 10... b6 $6 {[%clk 0:15:35.8][%c_effect
b6;square;b6;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
f8g7;keyPressed;none;from;f8;opacity;0.8;to;g7;persistent;false,b8c6;keyPressed;none;from;b8;opacity;0.8;to;c6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g7;persistent;false,c6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c6;persistent;false]
Black needed to prioritise development to consolidate their potential
compensation, making this b-pawn push an inacurracy [+6.1]} 11. Qc3 {[%clk
0:15:31.4]} 11... Bg7 {[%clk 0:15:34.7]} 12. Qxc7+ {[%clk 0:15:19.7]} 12... Ne7
{[%clk 0:15:42.4]} 13. Rb1 {[%clk 0:14:46.5]} 13... Nc6 {[%clk 0:15:40.4]} 14.
Bb2 {[%clk 0:14:24.6]} 14... Bxb2 {[%clk 0:15:40.3]} 15. Rxb2 {[%clk 0:14:30.7]}
15... Be6 $6 {[%clk 0:15:48.5][%c_arrow
b6b5;keyPressed;none;from;b6;opacity;0.8;to;b5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
b5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b5;persistent;false][%c_effect
e6;square;e6;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] It's not a simple position for
Black to play... I make use of the semi-open b-file from the Leonhardt Gambit to
attack with my rook.} 16. Rxb6 {[%clk 0:14:16.8]} 16... Rhc8 {[%clk 0:15:46]}
17. Qxd6 {[%clk 0:14:02.4]} 17... Rd8 {[%clk 0:15:48.1]} 18. Qf4+ {[%clk
0:14:01]} 18... Kg7 {[%clk 0:15:42.6]} 19. Rxc6 $3 {[%clk 0:13:41.3][%c_effect
c6;square;c6;type;Brilliant;persistent;true] Stockfish rated this as a
brilliancy $1 It might be relatively obvious to trade one of the rooks to remove
the powerful knight pair that was providing a strong defence for the king.
Simplification is in my best interest as the queen's dominance will be easier to
demonstrate with Black having fewer pieces.} 19... Nxc6 {[%clk 0:15:46.7]} 20.
Qc7+ {[%clk 0:13:45]} 20... Kg8 {[%clk 0:15:37.3][%c_arrow
e6d7;keyPressed;none;from;e6;opacity;0.8;to;d7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d7;persistent;false]} 21. Qxc6 {[%clk
0:13:44.4] Now with 3 vs 3 pieces, it should be easier to win} 21... Bxa2 $6
{[%clk 0:15:39.8][%c_effect
a2;square;a2;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
e6d5;keyPressed;none;from;e6;opacity;0.8;to;d5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d5;persistent;false] An inaccuracy [+5.4]}
22. Nf3 {[%clk 0:13:28.4]} 22... Bd5 {[%clk 0:15:44.7]} 23. Qf6 {[%clk
0:11:38.8]} 23... Re8+ {[%clk 0:15:49.2]} 24. Ne5 {[%clk 0:11:29.3]} 24... Ra7
{[%clk 0:15:44.6]} 25. O-O {[%clk 0:11:12.7]} 25... Rae7 {[%clk 0:15:48.2]} 26.
d4 {[%clk 0:10:43.9]} 26... Bc4 $4 {[%clk 0:15:38.8][%c_effect
c4;square;c4;type;Blunder;persistent;true] Black hangs their bishop [+7] - they
may have been under the mistaken impression that opening the e-file with Nxc4
would be mate with Re1. Except it isn't as I don't have to play Rxe1...} 27.
Nxc4 {[%clk 0:10:45][%c_effect
g1;square;g1;type;Winner,g8;square;g8;type;ResignBlack] They realised afterwards
though... GG $1} 1-0