[TCZ] A Quick Immortal w/ Zugzwang

5/12/2026

blunder-police, classic comeback, deflection, desperado, drawish, dubious, fiancetto attack, force-a-draw, forking tactics, immortal-ish, pin-exploit, skewering, zugzwang

A supreme opening, aggressive, yet graceful, both sides attempt to claim the dark diagonal from a1 to h8 – using b3 and g5 leads us to study the game with relation (in theory) to the Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack.. so now we have the following case to study!

[Event “Live Chess”]
[Site “Chess.com”]
[Date “2026.05.12”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Guest4411-346-260”] Anoth Ergoat
[Black “Guest5371-549-371”] Coach Chad
[Result “0-1”]
[TimeControl “120+1”]
[WhiteElo “400”]
[BlackElo “1500”]
[Termination “Guest5371549371 won by resignation”]
[Link “https://www.chess.com/game/168619929088”%5D

b3 g5 2. Bb2 Nf6 3. e3 Bg7 4. c4 Rg8 5. Nf3 g4 6. Ne5 d6 7. Nd3 Bf5 8. h3 h5 9. hxg4 hxg4 10. f3 c6 11. fxg4 Bxg4 12. Be2 Qb6 13. Bxg4 Nxg4 14. Qxg4 Nd7 15.
Bxg7 Nf6 16. Qg5 O-O-O 17. Rh8 a5 18. Rxg8 Rxg8 19. Bxf6 Rxg5 20. Bxg5 a4 21.
Bxe7 axb3 22. axb3 Qxb3 23. Ra8+ Kd7 24. Bxd6 Qxb1+ 25. Ke2 Kxd6 26. Rd8+ Ke7 27. Rb8 Kf6 28. g4 Kg5 29. Ne5 f6 30. Nf7+ Kxg4 31. Nd6 Kg3 (31… Qh7 32. Rxb7
(32. Nxb7 Qh2+) (32. c5 Qh2+) 32… Qh2+) (31… Qb4) (31… Qb6) (31… Qg1)
(31… Qh1) 32. Rg8+ Kh4 33. Nf5+ ?? (33. Rg7 =) 33… Qxf5 34. Rh8+ Kg5 35. Rg8+
Kh6 36. Rh8+ Kg7 37. Rb8 Qd7 38. d4 Kg6 39. Rg8+ Kf5 40. Rh8 c5 41. Rh5+ Kg4 42.
Rxc5 f5 43. Kd3 Qa4 44. d5 ?? (44. Rb5) (44. Rc7) (44. Re5) (44. e4) (44. Kc3)
(44. Kd2) (44. Rc8) (44. Rd5) 44… Qb3+ 45. Kd4 Qb6 ?! (45… Kf3 46. Ke5 Qxe3+ 47. Kd6 Qe8 ? (47… Qa3 ! )) 46. Ke5 ? Qxc5 47. e4 fxe4 48. Ke6 Qxc4 0-1

– full walk through for bullet pace
– pause wherever needed

1. b3 g5 2. Bb2 Nf6 3. e3 Bg7

Active bishop alert

4. c4 Rg8 5. Nf3 g4 6. Ne5 d6 7. Nd3 Bf5

After knight retreats to d3, black seems to be ahead in development with a second active bishop arriving at f5, but it’s very much an even game ->

8. h3 h5 9. hxg4 hxg4 10. f3 c6 ?

Exchange of pawn tension opens the h-file; but c6 opens an unnecessary lane for the queen and seems like a mistake more than inaccuracy; there’s a willing and able knight ready for work!

11. fxg4 Bxg4 12. Be2 Qb6

Call the Blunder Police on Coach Chad—Qb6?? What’s wrong with this move?

So many things went wrong after one little mistake, (10. ..c6?), there was temptation to justify the mistake by using the open lane right away; but moving the queen (12. ..Qb6??) loses material right away; simple calculations were missed; and if Coach Chad had exchanged bishops correctly at move 12, then Qb6 would have been natural and accurate, i.e. (12. .. Bxe2 13. Qxe2 Qb6) instead, see below, after 13. Bxg4 Nxg4 14. Qxg4 Nd7 15. Bxg7 Nf6

..hanging the bishop on g4 was not part of the plan..and the pin exploit of the bishop at g7 is a desperate shot at recovery, stubborn as it seems, white has not won yet; never give up 🌊

..all the sudden both kingsides got wrecked..fianchettoes be dammed..

16. Qg5 O-O-O 17. Rh8 ?!

Rh8 is an interesting idea by offering an exchange sacrifice; deflecting the rook from g8 would cancel the pinning tactic

Exchange deferred, what could have been,

Nf2 is stronger than Qg7 from here but those both might as well become their own new games!

Coach Chad gained space with 17. ..a5 but white has a commanding lead, and aims to prove it with 18. Rxg8 Rxg8 19. Bxf6 !? Rxg5 20. Bxg5 — exposing a lonely queen vs 4 majors below!

B+2N+R+6p (20) v Q + 6p (15) | everyone prefers white here but there is still a lot of proving to do!!

Perhaps missing some opportunities to preserve a pawn chain, both sides push ahead and all the sudden white finds itself with 3 of 4 majors under simultaneous attack after 20. ..a4 21. Bxe7 axb3 22. axb3 Qxb3 23. Ra8+ Kd7

..inaccurate attacking leads the king and queen into a tremendous counterattack, save the bishop, or one knight or the other?!

..mistakes follow inaccuracies, especially in time pressure, and coach Chad never gave up..soon enough..recovering a drawish effort, 24. Bxd6 Qxb1+ 25. Ke2 Kxd6 26. Rd8+ Ke7

..technically this should be a draw..but chess requires proof..there’s still work to do!

27. Rb8 Kf6 28. g4 Kg5 29. Ne5 f6 30. Nf7+ Kxg4 31. Nd6 Kg3? (31. ..Qh7! 32. c5 (32. Nxb7 ??) (32. Rxb7??))

Black is struggling to make progress; but the queen is ambitious! White is scanning for tactics, dismantling chained pawns.

In hindsight 31. ..Qh7 might’ve been a winning idea, eyeing h2 showcases the visual prowess of the queen to see a sneaky fork of the skewered knight and rook

Coach Chad played in quickly instead and uncovered another opportunity for blunder, this time for the opponent, call it karma after, 32. Rg8+ Kh4 33. Nf5+ ?? (33. Rg7 =)