sly rampart
Hello community!
I have just played all my games of Round 1. Sadly, I will not progress to the next round because I have finished in 2nd place, but thanks to Chess.com I still have prizes to compete for. Hence submitting a candidature for Best Move of the round-hoping to be more fortunate 😜
DETAILS
-GAME: SabioteCastle92 - PrinceJWoo
-LINK TO GAME: https://www.chess.com/game/daily/603742687
-MOVE: 14.e5
CONTEXT
I opened with the Italian Game (I trust it so much when playing with white) and my opponent responded with the Giuoco Piano line. We traded some pieces until we eventually got into a fight to dominate the e-file.
At this point, the position was fairly equal. After 13. Rae1, I was expecting PrinceJWoo to retreat the queen to the d-file (Qd7/Qd8) so it would be out of my rook's sight. I also thought he could do d5, although that move would have not been of much benefit for him. However, he played 13...c6 instead which was totally unexpected.
I was then presented with a golden opportunity to break the balance. And, of course, I was determined to seize it.
MY CALCULATIONS
I was assuming the following scenarios after 14.e5:
-
MOST LIKELY - 14...dxe5 15. Rxe5 Qxe5 16. Bxe5 Rxe5 - Black would trade his queen and therefore lose strength, but would still maintain both rooks to keep playing.
-
LESS LIKELY - 14...dxe5 15. Rxe5 Qd7/Qd8 16. Re1 - Black queen would retreat to safety, but white could win material after doubling rooks on the e-file.
Surprisingly for me, the black player moved his queen to d6. It was mate in three for whites, but after 16. Re8+ Nxe8 and Qxf7+ , PrinceJWoo surrendered - so only two moves were necessary to end the game.
It is of no doubt then that 14.e5 was a game changer for whites.