nygren.ca

I think I hallucinated a bit when calculating this line. I remember thinking that since the A8-H1 diagonal was blocked I was safe here but clearly that diagonal lacks that property.

You mean Nxf7 for move 23? Ahhhhh, I see where you're going with that. Nxf7 Qh4 Nxh6+ Qxh6 Bxe6+ Kh8 h3. Trades the knight for three pawns, sets up a very strong attack on my dramatically weakened king side and takes back tempo. I would have to fall back.

Hmmmm... My alternative would be Nxf7 Rxf7 Bxe6... That route doesn't go nearly as well for me.

vorapsak if you look at this later check 22.Nf7 looks like it provides some counterplay while white musters defenses or just reclaims the black knight after a bishop check and relieves all the pressure. interested to see if it would buy enough time.

This is the only move I didn't consider. The rest saw you losing a minimum of 3 - 5 points worth of pieces. We'll see how this one pans out. :)

I'm sure I'll be studying this game in Stockfish afterward. This is the best move I've found so far, as it removes 2 of the most potent threats at least temporarily, but I haven't convinced myself that it's sufficient. But, as it's the best I've been able to find, we shall push on.

So I was wondering why you made that comment then proceeded to not play for over a day. When I made that move, I thought it was a clever way to steal tempo by nullifying your attack while simultaneously creating my own.

I didn't realize how overwhelming that pressure was. I haven't found a way for you to escape certain checkmate without significant material loss.

My bishops have superior attack lines to yours, I think that is causing this. My black bishop has a direct king assault line, whereas your white bishop does not.

Lol yep. In my case, I decided aggression was the best defence.

If only I had an extra tempo, Nxe6 would be so fun. But I'd rather avoid checkmate for now.

Yes it has. I am horribly rusty.

It has indeed!

Been a while.