<22 ... Qh5>

A bit of a blunt attack, but still it cannot be ignored, also it has the added benefit of not allowing Bh8 threatening Qg7#.

<23 Rb1 Qh2+>
<24 Kf1 Ne5!>

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Ng4 has done his job, he as got the queen to h2 and now he is in the way. Time to fall on his sword and let Bc8 at the party!

Ironically, and I hadn't really realised this at the start Pe4 is already at the party, lining up sambuca shots and taking his lighter out of his back pocket...

The problem for white is that Bh3 is coming and there is no defense, so white cannot play <25 Bxe5> due to <25 ... Bh3> mating

26 Bxh3 Qh1#
26 Ke1 Qg1#
26 Ne3/Ne1 Qh1#

25 e3? Bh3
26 Ne1 Qh1+!
27 Ke2 Bg4+
28 f6 exf6+ (Nf6/Bf6 Bxf6+ 30 Bxf6/Nxf6 exf6#)
29 Kd1 fxg2+ (Nxf6/Bxf6 Bxf6+ 30 Bxf6/Nxf6 Qxf6# 31 Ke1 Nd3#) 30 g1=Q

But as white is about to loose Bg7, so I would guess that white attacks back with f5, attacking Ne5 and provide a little luft for his king.

25 Qa8!? Kxg7

<25 f5? ...>

Now this seems a little dumb, as it opens the e file for the rook, but I can't see anything else...

<25 ... exf6(ep)>

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This just gets uglier and uglier. Time to stop...

~~~

It seems possible to attack the white king starting with 22... Qh5 23.Rb1 Qh2+ 24.Kf1 Ne5:

A) 25.Bxe5 Bh3

A.1) 26.Bxh3 Qh1#.

A.2) 26.Ke1 Qg1+ 27.Bf1 Qxf1#.

A.3) 26.f3(4) Qxg2+ 27.Ke1 Qg(f)1#.

A.4) 26.e3 Bxg2+ 27.Ke2 (27.Ke1 Qh(g)1+ 28.Ke2 Bf3#) 27... Bf3+ and mate next.

A.5) 26.Ne3 Qh1#.

B) 25.Ke1 Qxg2 26.Kd1 Kxg7 27.f4 exf3 - + [B+P].

C) 25.Ne3 Bh3

C.1) 26.f3 Bxg2+ 27.Nxg2 (27.Ke1 Qg1+ 28.Nf1 Qxf1#; 27.Kf2 Bxf3+ 28.Ng2 Qxg2+ 29.Ke3 Qxe2+ mates or wins decisive material) 27... exf3 28.exf3 Qh1+ 29.Ke2 (29.Kf2 Nd3#) 29... Qxg2+ 30.Kd1 (30.Ke3 Qxf3+ 31.Kd4 Qd3#; 30.Ke1 Nf3+ 31.Kd1 Qxd2#) 30... Qxf3+ followed by Kxg7 wins a piece at least.

C.2) 26.f4 Bxg2+ 27.Nxg2 Qh1+ 28.Kf2 Ng4#.

C.3) 26.Ke1 Bxg2 27.Kd1 Kxg7 wins a piece.

D) 25.f3(4) exf3

D.1) 26.Bxf3 Nxf3 27.exf3 Bh3#.

D.2) 26.exf3 Nxf3 27.Kf2 (27.Bxf3 Bh3+ 28.Bg2 Qxg2#) 27... Bh3

D.2.a) 28.Kxf3 Qxg2+ 29.Kf4 Qf2+ 30.Kg5 Qf5+ 31.Kh4(6) Qh5#.

D.2.b) 28.Rg1 Nxg1 29.Qxg1 Re2+ 30.Kxe2 Qxg1 31.Bxh3 Qh2+ - + [Q+P vs B+N].

24...Ne5 is the star move

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Threatening both Nf3 and Bh3.

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White has use two tempi to move his king to d1 to avoid mate, conceding both bishops.

FWIW, it also took me quite a while to see the difference between 24...Ne5 vs. 24...Nf6.

click for larger view

22........Qh5 threatening mate on h2
23.Rb1 Qh2+
24.Kf1 Ne5 disrupting connection between White's pieces on the long diagonal

25.Qa8 Bh3
26.Qxe8+ Kxg7
27.Ne3 Qh1#
subtle

Another variation could be:

Honestly, I did not find such brilliance.

In many books you can find Alekhine's advice: "Always try to keep the free pawns in front of your castled king on their original squares as long as possible".

But I have never met something like this "Don't touch pawn d2,e2,f2 until move 26",but I found it in this game.

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from afar set he include prop heel in toe the line at e3 nab g4 bad or be 22.Bxg7 hush in hinch a lift hopscotch an hash head inch hope has heal h5 catch again much hold fire such have rich hint good gare have gangway walks the plank garbage gesture gableing at e3 choose a wave in gash-up lol in rook bow away gaskets cover ground gadzook knight bishop gestapo invade giving g7 glisten good a jog around poor tender g7 spot an gumball gumption cant getaway gallant as ever tickle balck i net a point:

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Another POTD, another argumentative BOSTER comment.

20... Qc5 sacrifices a piece (the Bg7) for an attack that has to be calculated for more than 10 moves ahead and with white having a number of different defensive tries.

With hindsight white should have prevented this with 20. Nb3, but that would have meant that white would also have to have spotted the piece sacrifice. The players don't have the advantage of computers or kibitzing when they sit down to play.

Alekhine's advice about not moving pawns in front of your castled king? Except in openings which feature fianchettoed bishops, such as the English, the Sicilian Dragon, the modern, the pirc ...

... or the book h3 in the main line of the Ruy Lopez

... or when a player wins by advancing his h pawn ... as in this game?

Holy moly why did I stop after visioning three of black's moves? Is it the daunting challenge of a sunday puzzle, the non-existant confindence of my own line, or the fact that I completely underestimated the fourth move in the black combination? I guess it's all three. Together I decided to stop at the moment supreme.

I presumed Black sacced his bishop on g7 for an attack, and although it looks daunting, all of black's pieces are still quite far away. Black needs forced moves to get somewhere.

<22....Qh5 23.Rb1 Qh2+ 24.Kf1> note that if the rook doesn't move on 23 it's mate, and b1 seems like the most logical square.

The third move in black's combination is something Lagrave must have seen when he made his sacrifice. I did see it, but underestimated the potential.

<24....Ne5!> is the only way to reload pieces, and awkwardly enough it happens with a retreat. On g4, the knight serves no purpose any longer, and soon to be kicked out by Ne3 anyway. The simple idea of this move is to attack the bishop on g7 indirectly, but also to allow entrance of black's bishop in the party.

What I missed however, is how strong Bh3 in this position is. White has to immediately prevent this invasion or he will lose quickly. After <25.Bxe5? Bh3!<>> white will soon lose. At least Bg2 now, then Be5 and soon the game. The only move that prevents the bishop from entering is 25.g4, but this I did not see because I stopped after Ne5.

Such coordination the queen plus bishop in the game vs the king in the castled pos. is well known.

The <hole> g2-h3 is too big even for an <emmental cheese>.

So, I want to repeat <mrbasso 20.Ndc2? is a retreat that allows the black Queen to go to h5.

With his contempt for mere grandmasters, and the implication that *he* could trivially do so much better, perhaps he should have called himself "Boaster."

Well this is a surprise. Traditionally each GOTD is tied to one pun and one pun only, whereas this was recycled from "Digging Lagrave" before.

I almost used "Dark Horse" a la Katy Perry, but that was already taken.

It is curious now to see that in the Game of the Day Archive which covers the past 365 GOTD now there is a hole between September 27 and September 29.