Wartime streak, Day 2: Win (1495-1534)

Yesterday should have been day two of my chess streak, but it was Shushan Purim. I had been up since 4:30 in the morning, and there were events in my neighborhood throughout the afternoon and evening. Leading up to today's game, I had gotten more than enough sleep overnight and the takeaways from Tuesday's loss were still fresh in my mind.

In today's game Chess.com matched me with one AlkanasAlsakr, rated 1507 out of Germany. Already on move 10 I was up a piece and a pawn, and on move 19 Alkanas abandoned the game. There is little that's instructive about the win, other than it featured the dubious Perseus Gambit. I document it here more for the sake of protocol than anything else. Current streak record: 1-0-1.

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Black to move

Assigned the black pieces, I replied to White's 1.e4 with 1...e6, after which the game continued 2.Nf3 d5. Then came 3.d4, and I correctly chopped with 3...dxe4. White continued 4.Ng5, attacking my e4-pawn, and I correctly defended with 4...Nf6. White developed his light-square bish with 5.Bc4, and I developed my queenside knight with 5...Nc6. Black developed his other knight and double attacked my e4-pawn with 6.Nc3, but I calculated a sequence where my c6-knight could fork White's king and rook from c2 and chopped with 6...Qxd4.

White initiated an exchange of queens with 7.Qxd4 Nxd4 and defended against my fork with 8.Bb3. I chopped with 8...Nxb3, White recaptured toward the center with 9.axb3, and I pinned White's c3-knight with 9...Bb4. Oblivious to my pin, White chopped with 10.Nxe4, and I replied 10...Nxe4, recapturing with immunity. White castled with 11.0-0, and after initiating an exchange of knights with 11...Nxc3 and 12.bxc3 I chopped another pawn with 12...Bxc3. White developed his rook with 13.Ra4, I castled with 13...0-0, and after 14.Be3 a6 15.Rc4 Be5 16.f4 Bd6 17.f5 Bd7 18.Rg4 exf5 19.Bg5 fxg4 I was up eleven points of material and White abandoned the game.