Friday, July 25, 2014

Miss Easy Tactics! with Justin XVIII

[Our pedagogical series in which we look at a portion of a game I played recently in which some obvious tactic was overlooked. Readers are invited to practice their skill by seeing if they can spot what was missed.]



Fathallah-Horton, British Championhip (Aberystwyth) 2014. Round six. Position after 29. Nd3xc5.

Play now continued 29...dxc5 30. Bxc5 Rd8 31. Qc1 Bxc5+ 32. Rxc5 and eventually Black held on for a draw at move 45.

But in the above sequence, what did both players miss?



[Miss Easy Tactics! index]

6 comments:

Jon H said...

I guess 30...Bxc5 31.Rxc5 Qb6

ejh said...

Funny thing is that after 30...Rd8?? 31.Qc1 Bxc5+ 32.Rxc5 I did consider 32...Qb6 (which no longer works of course).

Jon H said...

Yes it's amazing how often you make an error because you forget it rather than overlook it. That really pisses me off!

Martin Smith said...

Ooo...I'm glad someone else has mentioned "forgetting" in chess - I thought it was just me.

Forgetting: not as in "forgetting one's opening preparation" (standard), or how to draw (or win) a certain endgame (common enough) - which is a failure of long term memory; but working out that a move A is rubbish, finding nothing else, then forgetting that you'd established that A was rubbish and playing it anyway (only for your opponent to remember for you) - a failure of short term memory, perhaps. Happens to me all the time.

Richard James said...

Yep. Happens to me all the time as well. Most recently against you, Martin.

Martin Smith said...

Oh yes, Richard; I'd forgotten that.