Middlegame Lessons From Basel II

White is two pawns down in Spanton (1814) - Anuar Tureshbayev (-), Basel Round 2, but can conjure up a strong attack by finding the right move

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24.Rd6?

Black gets a large advantage after this with the game continuation 24...Bf5.

White needed to find 24.Bd3!, according to the analysis engines Stockfish14 and Komodo12.1.1. The first point is 24...exd4? allows a draw by 25.Bh7+ Kh8 26.Bg6+ Kg8 27.Bh7+ etc. Also drawing is 24...g6? 25.Qh6 exd4 (only move) 26.Bxg6 fxg6 27.Qxg6+ etc. That leaves 24...Rfe8, when 25.Bc4! Be6 26.Bxe6 fxe6 27.R4d3 is only slightly better for Black, according to the engines.

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White is still two pawns down, but can equalise by finding the right move

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The game saw the hopeless retreat 28.Nf3?, but the engines point out 28.Bxf7+! Bxf7 28.Qh8+ Kxh8 29.Nxf7+ and 30.Nxd8.