Gameknot Chess, League D1: Why On Earth Did My Opponent Resign?

People tell you that chess isn't a game of luck, but let's face it, sometimes you definitely get lucky - as I did when my opponent (Black) resigned from what I felt was a winning position.

Here's the state of play when Black decided the best thing he could do was quit:

I was very surprised when I got the notification from Gameknot because as I see the game, Black can simply move his King out of check by taking my hanging h8 Bishop to gain both a material and positional advantage.

As I write this I am waiting for Gameknot to send me the post-game computer analysis that I requested. I am expecting to see the advantage line tilting firmly in Black's favour...

I Win By Playing A Massive "Penultimate" Blunder!

As I thought, Black resigned in spite of having a massive advantage! The Gameknot computer analysis rates White at a devastating -16.62 when Black decided to quit! LOL!

As you can see from the computer analysis, below, I made a massive BLUNDER by grabbing Black's g6 pawn with my Queen. The check is futile as the King can simply sidestep it and take my h8 Bishop:

However, players sometimes panic when the enemy Queen gets anywhere near their king. Also, my Queen had been defending the h8 Bishop on the a1-h8 diagonal for quite a while so perhaps Black was bamboozled into overlooking the fact that the h8 Bishop is no longer defended and is really dead meat for the King. My Qxg4+ move is a bit of "pub-chess-bluffery" which does not usually work in an online game with 3 days per move!

I was expecting 35.... Kxh8, after which I intended to play 36. Qxg2, which is far inferior to Gameknot's recommended move, 36.Qg3:

While that's better than my move, Black still retains a big advantage, and Gameknot played out the sequence of moves to end up with this winning position for Black:

I threw away my advantage and blundered my way to victory!

What the computer analysis also revealed is that it was White that had the advantage for much of the game. I threw away my advantage on the 32nd move by moving my Bishop to e5 instead of advancing my e4 pawn to e5, creating a past pawn and a strong pawn centre. My eyes were fixed on the a1-h8 diagonal and an attempt to get a quick and cheap checkmate with Bishop to h8 and then Queen to g7#:

It was easily countered by Black, but even so, I was fortunate in that every one my MY blunders was followed by my opponent also committing a blunder! And my final blunder (35.Qg6+??) turned out to be only the "penultimate blunder" - the ultimate blunder being my opponent's decision to RESIGN a winning game! LOL!

#PubChessBluffer power play tip: You will probably blunder but never commit the ULTIMATE BLUNDER!

The Game

Okay, here's how the game played out, followed by Gameknot's blunder-free continuation after 35. Qxg6+??

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 b5 4. a4 c6 5. e3 e6 6. Bd2 Nf6 7. axb5 cxb5 8. Nc3 Bd7 9. Ne5 Bd6 10. Nxd7 Nbxd7 11. Nxb5 Ne4 12. Bxc4 O-O 13. Nxd6 Nxd6 14. Bd3 Nf5 15. Qc2 Nf6 16. Bxf5 exf5 17. Qxf5 Qb6 18. b4 Qc6 19. O-O Ne4 20. Rfd1 g6 21. Qa5 Qc2 22. Be1 h5 23. b5 h4 24. Rac1 Qb3 25. f3 Ng5 26. Bd2 h3 27. Rb1 Qe6 28. e4 Nh7 29. Qc3 hxg2 30. d5 Qh3 31. Bf4 f5 32. Be5 fxe4 33. Bh8 Rf7 34. Qc6 Raf8 35. Qxg6+ 1-0

Gameknot's Continuation (How Black Wins)

1. ... Kxh8 36. Qg3 Qh6 37. f4 Rg7 38. Qxg7+ Qxg7 39. b6 Qc3 40. Re1 Rxf4 41. Re2 Qd4+ 42. Kxg2 e3 43. h3 Qe4+ 44. Kh2 Qxb1 45. bxa7 Qa1 46. d6 Qxa7 47. Kg3 Rf8 48. Kg2 Qg7+ 49. Kh2

Cheers!

David Hurley
#Pubchessbluffer