Jaws
Submitted by
on Sat, 06/14/2008 at 2:34pm.
It's always great to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, but it can be painful indeed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
In a NSWCA rapid play tournament I thought I had played well against a guy named Blair Mandla, and since he was rated at 1978 I was feeling pretty pleased with myself.
In fact I was completely relaxed when he moved his rook from h8 where it blockaded my passed pawn and said, "Check!"
That suited me, I'd just move aside and continue walking my king down the board where it would force his rook to exchange itself for my pawn, allowing me to pick off his tripled f-pawns.
Alas! On an almost empty board I had found the only square (on the only tempo) from which my king could find no escape.
Click on the arrows to see how it happened.