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This was a very nice game were I gambit a full knight in the middlegame to create an attack, and it worked! Stockfish hated this tactic, but fundamentally it led to the win! This game doesn’t demonstrate perfect play, but it does allow us to think about middlegame strategy and tactics as from the engine’s perspective, my opponent should have won with better than a [+5] advantage after my knight sacrifice.

The game starts off in a very standard way. Italian Game, Two Knights Defense, Modern Bishop’s Opening. I had the Black pieces and Black castles on move 7, signalling the transition to the end of the opening (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 h6 5. h3 Bc5 6. Nc3 d6 7. O-O). The evaluation, as usual, is [0.00].

In the early middlegame, neither of us play the sharpest lines or the most accurately, but at the same time we don’t make any significant mistakes. There is some probing, and we have a series of trades in the centre. On move 11, White played a very typical attack in the Italian with (11. Na4) which was to pressure my dark square bishop on c5. The trades I mentioned before included a dark square bishop trade and one of the consequences of this is that White’s knight is hanging out on the edge of the board with no targets. On move 13, I played (13… b6), which cuts off any further forward advance for the knight on the queenside.

Evaluation-wise, White doesn’t make any mistakes with their knight, but as usual, the caveat is that this is assuming perfect engine play. For a human tactical perspective, the White knight is on the wrong side of the board and has also reached a dead end. As knights are not long-distance pieces, it also means that it isn’t exerting any influence to where the action is going to be, on the kingside. The knight should be rotated backwards and towards the kingside, and Stockfish identifies this as the optimal move over several turns in the middlegame.

On move 17, I saw a potential attack on White’s king’s position, and took note of the White knight being out at pasture. So, I sacrificed the knight as a gambit to enable the attack! Stockfish thinks that this is entirely unsound [-5], but I thought it had legs as White’s knight, at least temporarily, wasn’t participating.

The next series of moves tactically are simple in their idea. I need to manoeuvre my rooks to join the attack. There is some shuffling, and I manage to win some tempo with rook moves which attacks the black queen. On move 24 with (24… Rg6), my rook and queen now threaten a looming checkmate on g2. With the White king trapped in the corner of the board on h1, this locked one of White’s rooks into guard duty.

White is still winning, but what they need to do was to force trades! There were up on material, so simplifying by trading pieces would basically cancel my attack, and we’d be drawn into an endgame where they had material superiority. However, I suspect that aversion to material loss led them to avoid trading pieces. As White was mopping up some of my pawns, I used the tempo to place my other rook onto the h-file (28… Rh5). The position was now [0.00], but only if White immediately traded their rook for one of my defensive pawns to create a line of attack. They missed that difficult to see move, and instead, double defended their pawn on g2. However, this didn’t work! Because I now sacrifice the rook with (29… Rxh3+). White must capture (30. gxh3), and with the g-pawn forced to move, (30… Qxg1#)! GG!

The big takeaway from this game is that the defensive pawns in front of a king are tactically very important. Punching a hole with a piece sacrifice might be worthwhile, especially where it is backed with a credible follow up attack.

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/live/88511503057

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2023.09.15"]
[Round "-"]
[White "artur_zailyaev"]
[Black "vitualis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "C55"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Italian-Game-Two-Knights-Modern-Bishops-Opening-4...h6"]
[UTCDate "2023.09.15"]
[UTCTime "10:08:56"]
[WhiteElo "1357"]
[BlackElo "1352"]
[TimeControl "900+10"]
[Termination "vitualis won by checkmate"]
[StartTime "10:08:56"]
[EndDate "2023.09.15"]
[EndTime "10:32:55"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/live/88511503057"]
[WhiteUrl "https://www.chess.com/bundles/web/images/noavatar_l.84a92436.gif"]
[WhiteCountry "231"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.f52a0759.50x50o.ab18600a8723.png"]
[BlackCountry "17"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. e4 {[%clk 0:15:05.3]} 1... e5 {[%clk 0:15:03.4]} 2. Nf3 {[%clk 0:15:14.3]}
2... Nc6 {[%clk 0:15:11.9]} 3. Bc4 {[%clk 0:15:22.1]} 3... Nf6 {[%clk 0:15:19.7]
Two Knight's Defense} 4. d3 {[%clk 0:15:30.4]} 4... h6 {[%clk 0:15:28]} 5. h3
{[%clk 0:15:36.5]} 5... Bc5 {[%clk 0:15:31.4]} 6. Nc3 {[%clk 0:15:42.4]} 6... d6
{[%clk 0:15:39.1]} 7. O-O {[%clk 0:15:47.5] Super standard Modern Bishop's
Opening line in the Two Knights Defense [0.00]} 7... Be6 {[%clk
0:15:21.6][%c_arrow
a7a6;keyPressed;none;from;a7;opacity;0.8;to;a6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
a6;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;a6;persistent;false] I know that a6 is
technically best, but here, I usually want to play a little more aggressively
and see whether we can open the f-file [+0.3]} 8. Bxe6 {[%clk 0:15:48.4]} 8...
fxe6 {[%clk 0:15:30]} 9. Re1 $6 {[%clk 0:15:27.5][%c_arrow
c3a4;keyPressed;none;from;c3;opacity;0.8;to;a4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
a4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a4;persistent;false][%c_effect
e1;square;e1;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] An inaccuracy [-0.5]} 9... O-O
{[%clk 0:14:57.6][%c_arrow
a7a6;keyPressed;none;from;a7;opacity;0.8;to;a6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
a6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a6;persistent;false] Inacccurate [+0.2]}
10. Be3 {[%clk 0:15:26.3]} 10... Nd4 {[%clk 0:14:46]} 11. Na4 {[%clk 0:15:21.2]}
11... Nxf3+ {[%clk 0:14:47.3] A few trades...} 12. Qxf3 {[%clk 0:15:29.5]} 12...
Bxe3 {[%clk 0:14:48.2]} 13. Qxe3 {[%clk 0:15:28.9]} 13... b6 {[%clk
0:14:37.8][%c_highlight
b6;keyPressed;alt;opacity;0.8;square;b6;persistent;false] This blocks White's
knight's forward momentum. As it turns out, White not addressing this becomes
significant later in the game...} 14. Rad1 {[%clk 0:15:35.8][%c_arrow
a4c3;keyPressed;none;from;a4;opacity;0.8;to;c3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c3;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;c3;persistent;false]} 14... d5 $6 {[%clk
0:13:53.6][%c_effect d5;square;d5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] Stockfish
doesn't agree with this as it weakens the pawn on e5 [+0.3]} 15. Qg3 $6 {[%clk
0:15:14.1][%c_arrow
e4d5;keyPressed;none;from;e4;opacity;0.8;to;d5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d5;persistent;false][%c_effect
g3;square;g3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] But this was also inaccurate and
we're hovering around equality [0.00]} 15... Qd7 {[%clk 0:13:01.5]} 16. b3
{[%clk 0:15:14.6][%c_arrow
a4c3;keyPressed;none;from;a4;opacity;0.8;to;c3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c3;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;c3;persistent;false] This wasn't a
mistake, but tactically, the knight is on the wrong side of the board} 16... Qf7
{[%clk 0:12:07.3]} 17. Qxe5 {[%clk 0:15:09.4]} 17... Nxe4 $2 {[%clk
0:11:00.5][%c_arrow
f6d7;keyPressed;none;from;f6;opacity;0.8;to;d7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d7;persistent;false][%c_effect
e4;square;e4;type;Mistake;persistent;true] Here, after thinking for a minute, I
decided to go for this very unsound move where I effectively gambit my knight $1
Stockfish thinks it is madness [+5] but my thoughts were that this gamble was
worth taking. In essence, I infiltrate with my queen to attack White's king.
White technically has a knight, but it's on the wrong side of the board.} 18.
dxe4 {[%clk 0:14:52.2]} 18... Qxf2+ {[%clk 0:11:08.1]} 19. Kh1 {[%clk
0:15:01.6]} 19... dxe4 {[%clk 0:10:44.9]} 20. Qxe4 {[%clk 0:14:30]} 20... Rae8
{[%clk 0:10:28.1]} 21. Rd7 {[%clk 0:13:35.7]} 21... Rf4 {[%clk 0:10:04.3]} 22.
Qe5 {[%clk 0:13:28.3]} 22... Rf6 {[%clk 0:09:35.8]} 23. Red1 {[%clk 0:13:04.6]}
23... Kh7 {[%clk 0:08:58.9]} 24. Qxc7 {[%clk 0:12:32.8]} 24... Rg6 {[%clk
0:09:05.8]} 25. Rg1 {[%clk 0:11:35.9]} 25... Rf8 {[%clk 0:07:39.6]} 26. Qxa7 $2
{[%clk 0:11:40.5][%c_effect a7;square;a7;type;Mistake;persistent;true] A mistake
[0.00] as this gives up a step of tempo $1 Moves matter as what I'm doing is
re-routing my rooks to the attack $1} 26... Rf5 $2 {[%clk 0:07:48.2][%c_arrow
f8f3;keyPressed;none;from;f8;opacity;0.8;to;f3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f3;persistent;false][%c_effect
f5;square;f5;type;Mistake;persistent;true] This is a mistake returning to
White's advantage [+4.8] as I could have saved a step of tempo with Rf3 $1 The
g-pawn is effectively pinned as it cannot move off the g-file without Qxg1# with
the battery  on the g-file. I didn't have this insight during the game.} 27.
Qxb6 {[%clk 0:11:38.9]} 27... Qg3 $6 {[%clk 0:07:44.2][%c_arrow
f2c2;keyPressed;none;from;f2;opacity;0.8;to;c2;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c2;persistent;false][%c_effect
g3;square;g3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] Stockfish can see that the attack
doesn't work with perfect play, so suggests just winning some material. However,
people aren't engines $1} 28. Qb7 $2 {[%clk 0:10:47.8][%c_arrow
d7d3;keyPressed;none;from;d7;opacity;0.8;to;d3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d3;persistent;false][%c_effect
b7;square;b7;type;Mistake;persistent;true] White believes that they can defend
by counterattacking. They can, but this is a drawing tactic [0.00]. They needed
to attack my queen.} 28... Rh5 $1 {[%clk 0:07:52.4][%c_effect
h5;square;h5;type;GreatFind;persistent;true]} 29. Rd2 $4 {[%clk
0:09:01][%c_effect d2;square;d2;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d7g7;keyPressed;none;from;d7;opacity;0.8;to;g7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g7;persistent;false] And White's aversion
to material loss becomes their downfall. Their double defence of the g-pawn
doesn't work now $1} 29... Rxh3+ {[%clk 0:07:08.8]} 30. gxh3 {[%clk 0:08:59.8]}
30... Qxg1# {[%clk 0:07:17.1][%c_effect
h7;square;h7;type;Winner,h1;square;h1;type;CheckmateWhite] GG $1} 0-1