Help a bad player out?

[Mittens]

Hi guys. I'm bad at chess. I used to be good when I was little, but I haven't played in years. I played what I thought was an interesting game a few nights ago against a player who had just started a year ago. I'd like to get into chess again, but I'm having trouble thinking as deeply as I used to (not to mention I forgot all but 3 book openings).

I'm black in this position, and I ultimately chose to NxH2 to begin a rook/queen/pawn attack on the right side. Intuitively, I thought the knight sacrifice was worth it to open this possibility, but I couldn't see mate so it was sort of a guess. When evaluating a sacrifice like this, where mate or a material advantage is not immediately visible, what should I be looking for? Is this line even good in this situation? Thanks for any comments.

[Mittens]

hxg3 is much better now that I'm staring at the thread, because retaking the pawn leads to mate (right?). I'm an idiot. Sorry guys.

[holla]

Yeah hg3 seems good.

[hoyasaxa]

hxg3 looks really solid, he cant recapture because of rh2#, then you win the h pawn after his move and everything falls apart

edit: you also have b6 in your pack pocket, and that knight on g8 is going to cause you major problems. Develop all your pieces before you start attacking!

[Mittens]

Originally Posted by hoyasaxa

hxg3 looks really solid, he cant recapture because of rh2#, then you win the h pawn after his move and everything falls apart

edit: you also have b6 in your pack pocket, and that knight on g8 is going to cause you major problems. Develop all your pieces before you start attacking!

1) see something like b6 is trick of the trade that I've straight up forgotten.
2) I know nf6 is part of the book on the kingside fianchetto games, but I just didn't remember why it was good relative to keeping the fianchetto open so I didn't do it. You're absolutely right that the knight should have been helping this attack though.
3) Anyone with general advice on how to evaluate sacrifice situations like mentioned in the OP?

Thanks so far guys

[hoyasaxa]

im far from the best player here, so take what i have to say with a grain of salt, but:

basically, if you're going to make a sacrifice you have to evaluate the position before and after, and ask yourself if you're going to accomplish one of the following things, preferably in this order:

1. will it lead to checkmate?
2. Can I get the sacrificed material back?
3. Do I get significant enough positional compensation to justify the loss of material?

In this case, sacrificing the knight wont accomplish anything that hxg3 can't do. it would, however, deprive you of an extremely well-placed knight on f3

The idea of positional compensation is tricky, and I wouldn't recommend it for beginning players. Its kind of like implied odds - we always think we get more than in reality. An example of a positional sacrifice is this game:
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1006597

where white sacrifices the queen for two minor pieces, but also gains tremendous activity for his pieces. Spielmann went on to win the game. However, it takes an incredible amount of skill and knowledge about the game to make this kind of sacrifice, so for now I would say dont even consider it, just play solidly and work on your tactics

[Mittens]

It may not be a question that can be answered on the internet, but what's the standard in 3 that you look for?

[fezjones]

hxg3 looks just fine

[digeri]

yeah hxg3 seems really good.

hxg3, Rh1 big edge for black

Nxh2 seems to have some promise in any case. Nxh2 Kxh2, hxg3+ and then eventually pushing the g4 pawn brings the Q into the attack.

[d2d4]

Like hoyasaxa said, you should be looking for a positional compensation (much more active pieces, control of an important square, an initiative, etc.). In this position Nxh2 is very risky (obviously, hxg3 is much better and is winning immediately). You get some initiative but probably not enough to compensate for a sacrificed knight. Kxh2 looks like the only move and now you have hxg3++ Kxg3 Be5+ Kg2 (f4 gxf3+) Rh2+ Kg1 g3 and Qh3 on the next move. But instead of Kxg3? he can play Kg1! and black has nothing. So unless I'm missing something this sacrifice is incorrect.

[jewbinson]

b6??? at any time in the near future looks horrible because of stuff like a4 a5 Nb5 or Nd5 or Qd5 if you don't play immediate Nf6 etc etc

Anyway I think hg wins on the spot because white has no reply

[tpkatsa]

Originally Posted by digeri

yeah hxg3 seems really good.

hxg3, Rh1 big edge for black

Nxh2 seems to have some promise in any case. Nxh2 Kxh2, hxg3+ and then eventually pushing the g4 pawn brings the Q into the attack.

Agree that 1...hxg3 2. Rh1 looks good, but not seeing a forced win for Black. For the attack you need your heavy pieces involved (Q, R). You have R and Kt but White could bring his Q close or challenge your Kt on f3, while your Q is out of play. Nxh2 is interesting but again not clear where compensation is for sacrificed piece. Wish pawn was not on g4 :-)

[Mittens]

^If it makes you feel better I ended up getting the pawn off of G4 after:

...NxH2
KxH2 ... Hxg3
Kxg3 ... Be5+

and then at some point g3 to clear the diag for the queen (I don't have the game with me right now). Thanks again everyone for the comments.

[jewbinson]

Also, the only thing I can see saving white from hxg3 is the try c5 (not sure) with the idea of c6 and either opening the c (or b file if Bxc3) Or if dxc5 then exchanging queens might be a good option with Bxc5 to follow, preventing the bishop getting trapped and creating unclear complications imo

I just realized c5 would have to be played after the necessary Rh1. Still unclear, but this line looks much better for black

[d2d4]

Originally Posted by tpkatsa

Agree that 1...hxg3 2. Rh1 looks good, but not seeing a forced win for Black.

2...Nh4+ 3.Kg3 Be5+ 4.f4 gxf3+ 5.Kf2 Nf6.