The above position occurred in a 10-minute Blitz game that I played recently. I have just blundered a Pawn as Black, but remarkably it is White who loses in just eight moves. Indeed his next move is probably the losing one. After it, Black builds up a winning attack with simple, logical moves.
Why does White collapse so quickly? There are a number of reasons for this:
- Black controls the open h-file.
- White has a weak pawn on h4.
- The White minor pieces are cut off on the Queenside.
- Black's pieces combine well.
- There are some unfortunate tactics, e.g.20.g3? Nf3+.