Won with a Mate in Five
Greetings to all chess fans! I’m sharing another one of my games from Chess.com. This was a fun game to play because I managed to find a nice tactical sequence that led to a mate in five. It’s satisfying when you spot the winning combination during blitz games, especially when you have only a few seconds to calculate and make your moves.
The game started with an unusual opening choice by my opponent. 1. e3 d5 2. c4 c6 3. b3 Nf6 4. Bb2 Nbd7
Against an unusual opening, my plan was to control the center and gain more space. 5. a3 e5 6. cxd5 cxd5 7. Nc3 Bd6 8. h4 8. a6
Looks like my opponent is planning to attack with his h pawn while his bishop is trained on my kingside. I moved a6 to prevent his knight from the b5 square. 9. h5 h6
I decided to stop his pawn from advancing further otherwise it will justify his unusual play. 10. Nf3 Qe7 11. Rc1 b5 12. b4 Bb7 13. Be2 O-O 14. Qc2 Rfc8
I completed my development while my opponent's h-pawn is weak. 15. Qb1 Nb6 16. Rh3 Nc4 17. Bxc4 dxc4
My bishop on b7 comes to life. The rook on c8 will go to e8 to support the pawn on e5. 18. Qa1 Re8 19. Ne2 Bc8
My bishop will go to g4 to win the weak pawn on h5. 20. Rh1 Bg4 21. Ng3 e4 22. Nd4 Bxg3 23. fxg3 Nxh5
I'm threatening to win another pawn. Meanwhile, White's counterplay rests on the a1-h8 diagonal. 24. Rxh5 Bxh5 25. Nf5 Qg5
White has counterplay on the g7 square but I found a win by mate in five. 26. Nxg7 Qxg3+ 27. Kf1 Bf3
It was satisfying to find this bishop sacrifice that led to mate. 28. gxf3 exf3 29. Nxe8 Qg2+ 30. Ke1 Qe2# { Black wins. } 0-1
Game link: https://www.chess.com/game/174450242598?action=createLiveChallenge&move=0
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