People do make mistakes when under attack - guess it is one of the fundamental laws of chess. For example, the game I played yesterday evening. I threw in a knight on f7 and my opponent fell victim to this universal law.
After the game, we chitchatted and he voiced his frustration at me getting away so often with bad sacrifices - so I had to explain him that chess is also a game of psychology - a woodpusher always has a hard time switching from safe to wild mode, whilst the berserker thrives in the chaos.
1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 e3 5.Bxe3 e6 6.Ne4
Setting up some difficulties from the very start as 6...Nxe4 7.fxe3 Qh4+ seems like a white disaster, but it isn;t
6...Be7 7.Bd3 b6 8.Qe2 Bb7 9.0-0-0 Nbd7 10.g4 (diagram)
10...h5 11.gxh5 Nxh5 12.Nh3 Playing a move like this really makes my day :-)
12...Ndf6 13.Rhg1 Qd7 14.Nhg5 Nd5 15.Nxf7 (diagram)
Wow, what a blow - and what a mistake. Maybe I was hoping that the fundamental laws of chess still apply ?
15...Kxf7 16.Ng5+ Bxg5 17.Rxg5 Nhf4
Certain to exchange a few pieces and stay with the extra piece. Strange what an extra piece can do to a woodpusher.
18.Bxf4 Nxf4 19.Rxg7+ (diagram)
A second blow to the defender - well it is sort of the only move I had at this point - but it brought my woodpusher opponent back to reality. The game soon ended in a draw after 19...Kxg7 20.Qe5+ Kf7 21.Qxf4 Ke7 22.Qg5+ Kd6 draw agreed.
Bottomline - when in doubt, go for the attack - the laws of chess are always with you.
