Sep-15-25 Landa vs A Ivanov, 1985 
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| TheaN: Holy *%# I completely missed the h-file is open. I've been looking at the position for 5-10 minutes. Probably one of the worst blindness I've had in recent months. I played <22....d5?!> with the idea <23.Bxd5 (Nxd5 Bxe2+ -+) Rxd5 -+>, for as far as I can see this wins even |
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Sep-09-25 Vasiukov vs Alburt, 1972
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| TheaN: Wow, both Monday and Tuesday on point this week. <17.Qxe8+!> clears f7 and picking up Re8 <17....Rxe8> for what it's worth, after either interposing 18.Nf7+ +- anyway <18.Nf7+ Kg8 19.Nxd6 +-> and because Nd5 is hanging White wins a full rook, not the exchange, and ... |
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Sep-09-25 Abdusattorov vs Y K Erdogmus, 2025
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| TheaN: On move 113 everyone was rightfully claiming "Nd4 is a draw". Some were saying it's an <easy> draw. It really isn't, Black is walking a 75-move long tight rope and misplacing queen or king once leads to a very simple loss, as White can trade and wins. Incredibly impressive. |
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Sep-08-25 Seirawan vs Van der Wiel, 1978
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| TheaN: "I'll do it myself" moment here, given after <28....Qxh2+ 29.Kxh2 Kg7/Kg8+> it's essentially the Black monarch pulling the trigger (which is the h8-rook). Sadly it's not mate straight away, rook has to fire again himself, <30.Bh3 Rxh3#>. |
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Sep-02-25 M Sion Castro vs J Cardenas Valero, 1998
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| TheaN: I actually managed to go the long route with this one... but lets add one more move to the winning moves for Black: <28....Qe2+!? 29.Qf3 (Kxg5 Qh5#) Rh4+!>:
[DIAGRAM]
Black just starts a long sequence of remove-the-guards of the White queen and in all variations the rook falls |
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Sep-01-25 Kaidanov vs Anand, 1987
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| TheaN: Very rare pattern here <25.Qxf7+ Rxf7 26.Ng6+ Kg8 27.Rh8#> where all White pieces work beautifully to ensnare the Black king. It's striking that even someone like Anand can judge such a position wrongly. On move 23 he's up after 23....Kf8 ∓. 23....Bd5?! is a slight ... |
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Aug-26-25 E Tairova vs M Sandu, 2008
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| TheaN: Pretty complicated because it <seems> Black can counterattack easily... not really though. <36.Rxh7!>. First question, can Black decline? Answer: not really. There's no counterattack potential, at least not enough to keep the rook on h7. Ie 36....Bxd6 and now 37.Rfh1! #7 ... |
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Aug-25-25 E Cosma vs J Hajkova-Maskova, 1992
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| TheaN: <39....Rh1+ 40.Bxh1 Qh2+ 41.Kf1 Qf2#>. Bit of an odd pattern here; normally Rh1+ is a king magnet, in this case it's a bishop magnet to clear the second rank. It <does> happen fairly often, but definitely rarer than the former. |
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Aug-21-25 T Engqvist vs Bronstein, 1990
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| TheaN: Oh oops, I missed the queen utilizing the pin at all. I saw <22.Nxc6 Qxc6> alternatives are grim for Black with Nxe7+ and Qd8+ also in the air whilst winning a crucial pawn <23.Bd5> and here I thought Black had no real way to keep Ra8 on the board, ie 23....Rd8? 24.Bxc6 ... |
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Aug-20-25 R Rodriguez Rodriguez vs J Diez del Corral, 1953
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| TheaN: Requires a bit of end evaluation, but then it show <30....Rxh3!> is the way to numb White indefinitely. Black threatens Ng3+ and Rxe3 if need be, so White can really only accept <31.gxh3> opening up the long diagonal (at least half of it) <31....Qe4+>:
[DIAGRAM]
... |
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Kibitzing
