Annotated chess game

great sacrifice, but any sh'moe should have seen the tatics. Nd7 being a dubious move.

No, Nd7 is good. b6 is the mistake. Black should have exchanged knight. Yes the sac is a good move. I am not convinced in wins in all lines, but Black's position is much harder to play than White's.

After just a move, c6, black's position turns unholdable... so it couldn't be so good before. Right, black could have equalized and even win the endgame, but he just didn't see the danger coming.

After 18. Re8+, Nf6xRe8 is not possible because of Bc4#. Just to point it out, since it is not so inmediately clear.

Yes, after 18. Re8+ the rook can't be taken, but Bf8 may be better than Nf8.

The thing is extremely complicated, and Black's life isn't going to be easy at all: just what you want for a speculative attack like this. Looking at pawnstar2010's sample line further: 16...Kf7 17.Ng5ch Kg8, we might consider here 18.Bc4 instead of 18.Re8ch at once. The threat here is mate on the move (e.g. 18...a6?? 19.Re8#). If now 18...Nd5 19.Re8ch Bf8 (let's try charleshiggie's move) 20.Bxd5ch cxd5 21.Bxf8 Nxf8 22.Rc1 Bb7 23.Re7 Ba6 24.Rc7 and White has a winning attack. OK - go back to ...Nf8 lines: (16...Kf7 17.Ng5ch Kg8 18.Bc4 Nd5 19.Re8ch Nf8 w). Now here White might simply try 20.Ba6 Bxa6 21.Rxa8, restoring a near-parity in material, whilst maintaining a strong attack. The threat here is Ra1-e1-e8, but also simply Rxa7 and don't overlook Ne6 (e.g. 21...h6 22.Ne6 Kf7 23.Nxg7 Kxg7 24.Be5ch etc). An alternative line leads to an interesting looking endgame (starting from the diagram): 20.Bxd5ch cxd5 21.Bxf8 Bxf8 22.Rc1 Bb7 23.Rxa8 Bxa8 2.Rc8 Bb7 24.Rc7 Ba6 25.Rxa7 Bd3 (say) 26.Nf7 and if 26...Bg7 27.Nxh8 Bxh8 28.Ra8ch Kg7 29.Rb8.

Thank you Ion for such a deep analysis...

What other moves does black have there is no way to defend Nf7+ except maybe Rf8 but I don't hold out much hope for black after Rae1.

I agree with yoshark, I think the losing move was the previous move.

After 17...Rf8 18.Re1 the threat is 19.Re8ch and mate next. If, say, 18...Bb7 (to give the King some air) 19.Re7 broadens the attack: 19.Re7 Bh6 (say) 20.Ne6ch Kc8 21.Nxf8 Nxf8 (not 21...Bxf8 22.Re8ch Nxe8 23.Rxe8#) 22.Rc7ch Kb8 (else 23...Kd8 24.Rxb7) 23.Rf7ch. Black might also have tried 17...Ne5, but this seems to founder upon the straightforward (?) and simple 18.Rxe5.

nice attack. Was it a speedy blitz, or longer game?

Very nice, Pawnstar!

Very nice finish! I hope you don't mind, I have made it into a "mate in 2" puzzle for Gameknot.

Neat finish! A fine speculative sacrifice, not on account of the immennse psychological pressure place4d upon your opponent.

GOTM brought me here, and I'm glad I was curious enough to review your game. Thanks, awesome and entertaining...