The most unpleasant surprises come from unforced “forced” moves.
Yuri Rusakov White
Boris Verlinsky Black
Moscow 1947
King Pawn’s Opening C20
1 e4 e5 2 c3 ♘c6 3 d4 ♘f6 4 ♗g5
White could get a quite reasonable position with 4 ♘f3!, e.g. 4...♘xe4 5 d5 ♘e7 6 ♘xe5.
4...h6 5 ♗h4? g5 6 ♗g3
Better was 6 dxe5! ♘xe5 7 ♗g3 or 6...♘xe4 7 ♕e2.
6...exd4!
White would have little compensation for a pawn after 7 f3 dxc3 or 7 cxd4 ♗b4+ and 8...♘xe4.
7 e5 dxc3? 8 exf6?
Despite all his errors, 8 ♘xc3! gets White back in the game. Black should have denied that with 7...♘e4 or 7...♕e7.
8...cxb2! 9 ♕e2+
White banked on this. After the apparently forced 9...♗e7 he has 10 ♕xb2 ♗xf6 11 ♘c3 with an extra piece.
Question 30: What about 9...♘e7 10 ♕xb2 ♘-moves ?
9...♕e7! 10 fxe7 ♗g7! White resigns.
Much better than 10...bxa1(♕) 11 exf8(♕)+ ♔xf8. The story of a queen sacrifice to create an unstoppable passed pawn has been retold:
Henry Bird/Henry Dobell White
Isidor Gunsberg/Charles Locock Black
Hastings 1897
From’s Gambit
1 f4 e5 2 fxe5 d6 3 exd6 ♗xd6 4 ♘f3 g5 5 c3? g4 6 ♕a4+ ♘c6 7 ♘d4 ♕h4+ 8 ♔d1 g3 9 b3? ♕xh2! White resigns.
Geza Nagy White
Janos Balogh Black
Budapest 1948
Sicilian Defense, Wing Gambit
1 e4 c5 2 b4 cxb4 3 d4 e5 4 dxe5 ♘c6 5 ♘f3 ♘ge7 6 ♗f4? ♘g6 7 ♗g3 ♕a5! 8 ♕d5? b3+! 9 ♕xa5 b2! 10 ♕c3 ♗b4 11 ♕xb4 ♘xb4 White resigns.