Friday, 17 August 2018

Chess Blindness

A REMARKABLE example of chess blindness occurred today in my round eight game at the Olomouc Seniors.
Position after 29.Rg1-g2 in Spanton (1946) - Jiri Kasparek (1746)
White is winning comfortably, but that was no reason for Black to play 29...Rg8?? nor for White to reply 30.Rh2??
Not that any harm was done; the game finished 30...Rxh2 31.Kxh2 1-0
ADDENDUM: Having posted the above, it suddenly dawned on me that 29...Rg8? was not quite as ridiculous as I thought. The best reply is certainly 30.Kxh4, although Black has not by any means lost a whole rook as he has 30...f5+
Nevertheless, during the game I failed to see that the h4 rook could be hanging. This, together with other tactical howlers I have been making in this tournament, suggest to me I must be much more tired than I realise.

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