Opening: Pirc Defence Result: 0-1 (Resignation) Time Control: 2 min + 1 sec (Bullet) Rated

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Game Overview

This was a bullet game, one of about 14 that I played this afternoon. I probably should have stopped a couple of games earlier because I was on a bit of a losing streak, but I thought this was a good one to finish on because there’s a nice brilliant move. A short, sharp game where I defended a premature queen attack and then sacrificed a rook to win White’s queen.

The Opening (Moves 1-6)

1. e4 d6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. d4 Bg7 5. Bg5 h6

After 5. Bg5
After 5. Bg5: Attacking the knight. Must kick it before castling.

I went with my Pirc Defence. On move five, White played Bg5, which I’ve learnt is important to kick away before castling. If you wait until after castling to push h6, White can form a battery with the queen, take the pawn, exchange bishops, and leave the Black king very weak. So I’m glad I was able to kick the bishop and exchange White’s dark-squared bishop for my knight, preserving my own dark-squared bishop as a key defender.

6. Bxf6 Bxf6

After 6...Bxf6
After 6...Bxf6: Dark-squared bishop preserved as key defender.

Development (Moves 7-11)

7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O Nc6 9. d5 Ne5 10. Nxe5 Bxe5 11. Qd2 f5

After 10...Bxe5
After 10...Bxe5: Bishop on e5 eyeing h2.

Both sides castle and develop. White pushes d5 to gain space and I trade knights. I quite liked where my bishop ended up on e5, eyeing the h2 pawn. I wanted to leave it there and use other pieces to defend the king. I pushed f5 to challenge the centre.

The Queen Attack (Moves 12-14)

12. Qxh6

After 12. Qxh6
After 12. Qxh6: Queen invades. No concrete threat yet.

White decided to attack with the queen anyway, grabbing the h6 pawn. At first this was a little unsettling, but I couldn’t see any concrete threat so I thought it was a bit of a premature attack. I decided to use my rook to defend, sliding it to f7 to guard g7.

12…Rf7 13. Qxg6+ Rg7

After 13. Qxg6+
After 13. Qxg6+: Check. Queen on the same file as the king.

White checks with the queen on g6, and the tactic alarm bells started ringing. White just put the queen on the same file as their king with a long-range piece nearby that I could use to deflect the queen away and then check the king. I was pretty confident something good was coming.

14. Qh6 Qf8

After 14...Qf8
After 14...Qf8: Setting up Rxg2+ with a discovered attack on the queen.

White slides the queen back to h6, and this is where I saw a very concrete idea. I bring my queen to f8, setting up a discovered attack. Next move, Rxg2+ checks the king and uncovers the queen targeting h6. White has to deal with the check, and the queen is left hanging.

The Brilliant Move (Move 15-16)

15. exf5 Rxg2+ 16. Kxg2 Qxh6

After 15...Rxg2+
After 15...Rxg2+: Brilliant. Rook sacrifice to win the queen.

White takes on f5, and I play the move I’d been planning: Rxg2+. The rook crashes into g2 with check. White takes the rook with the king, but the queen on h6 is left hanging. I grab it with my own queen.

After 16...Qxh6
After 16...Qxh6: Queen captured. White resigns.
Chess.com Brilliant Move badge for Rxg2+
Chess.com Game Review: Rxg2+ rated Brilliant. Shown from White's perspective.

Now I’ve got two bishops and a queen all pointed in the direction of White’s king with an immediate threat of Qxh2. The king can escape via f3 but it gets pushed into the centre and I’m up material. It was extra satisfying when chess.com rated the Rxg2+ move as brilliant. White resigned.

Engine Review

Chess.com gave me 86% accuracy versus 75.7% for my opponent, with a game rating of 1050 for me and 800 for my opponent.

One blunder in the game from my opponent: move 15, which allowed Rxg2+. One mistake from me on move 12: the engine prefers f4 to prevent White from playing f4 themselves. It worked out fine since the Rf7, Rg7, Qf8 setup was exactly what won me the game.

The key mistake from White was Qxh6 on move 12, launching a premature queen attack without enough supporting pieces. The engine says the best way for me to have prevented the queen attack was to bring the bishop back to g7 after pushing f5. The bishop’s primary role in the Pirc is defending the king, and it shouldn’t leave that post until the centre is completely closed and there’s no risk of being attacked. That’s something to remember for future games.

Reflections

What went well:

  • Kicking the Bg5 pin before castling. I’ve learnt this lesson from previous games and executed it well here.
  • Seeing the discovered attack opportunity when the queen landed on g6 on the same file as my king.
  • Setting up the Rxg2+ sacrifice with Qf8, planning the whole sequence before executing it.
  • Playing fast, seeing tactics, and executing them in bullet time pressure.

What to work on:

  • Remember that the dark-squared bishop’s primary role in the Pirc is defending the king. Bringing it back to g7 after f5 would have prevented the queen invasion entirely. The bishop shouldn’t leave that defensive post until the centre is closed and there’s no risk of attack.

Full PGN:

1. e4 d6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. d4 Bg7 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Bxf6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O
Nc6 9. d5 Ne5 10. Nxe5 Bxe5 11. Qd2 f5 12. Qxh6 Rf7 13. Qxg6+ Rg7 14. Qh6 Qf8
15. exf5 Rxg2+ 16. Kxg2 Qxh6 0-1

Further Reading