Wacky Wednesday Double Feature

You’re in for a treat, kids, for today we have not one, but two Wacky Wednesday games for the price of one. And when you consider that said price is zero, well—such a deal!

The reason for the twofer is simple: Since I will first show you a game in which I went down to ignominious defeat, I'd like to balance it with another in which I soared to ignominious victory. If that last term sounds like an oxymoron, just wait till you see the game, and all will be clear.

Let's get on with it, shall we?

This was quite a neat little trap, the likes of which I hadn't seen before.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nxd4 5.Qxd4 Qc7 6.Nc3 e6 7.e5 A weak move. 7. Nb5 attacking the queen would have been better.

7. . . . Bc5 8.Qc4
Here again 8. … Nb5 would still have been good. Exchanging queens would not have been good for Black, since it would result in a knight fork on the king and rook. Black would lose the ability to castle and at least an exchange if not a rook.

8. … Qb6 9.Na4
A blunder that fails to take account of the zwichenzug to come. Ne4 protects the f2 square and attacks the bishop at the same time.

9. … Bxf2+ 10.Kd2
All is lost. 10. Kd1 keeps White’s hopes alive.

10. … Qe3+ 11.Kd1 Qe1# 0-1

This next game was more fun, though reviewing it and seeing all the blunders I made and missed opportunities I passed up enroute to victory was not:

5. 0-0.
Duh. A blunder, of course, called hanging a piece. My only excuse is that everyone does it sometimes. Not much of an excuse, is it?

12.Be3 Nxe4 13.Bxc5 Qxc5 14.Qxe4+
Sometimes the sequence of captures matters. Here I win back the piece I blundered away earlier by capturing the bishop instead of the knight. Consider what the reverse would have brought me.

14. … Qe7 15.Nd2
Yes, yes, I know: 15. Qxe7#. I see it now, all right? Don’t rub it in.

So be careful out there.

Nothing from Polly yet at this hour.