Lessons From Tegernsee V

IN my round-five game I reached the following position with white against a 2061.

Position after my opponent found the best continuation in a tricky situation, 8...Nf6-g4!

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I saw that after 9.Qxg4!? Black does not lose a piece as he has 9...d5.

Instead our game went 9.Bxf7+ Kxf7 10.Qxg4 Bxe5, when Stockfish16 and Komodo14.1 reckon Black's bishop-pair and central pawn-majority compensate for having a weakened king's position.

The engines reckon 9.Qxg4!? is the stronger option, eg 9...d5 10.Qe2 dxc4 11.f4, claiming a slight edge for White.

Also interesting is 10.Qf3 dxc4 11.Qxc6+ Bd7 12.Qxc4 Bxe5 13.0-0, when Black may not have enough compensation for a pawn.

CONCLUSION: it is easy to let excitement at a 'spectacular' or 'clever' continuation override the fact that a mundane move may be better.