Lichess Game of the Month January - Contest

As @nick195003 had beaten me twice before when I won this one , I literally threw my arms in the air and cheered, it was one of my favourite wins of late, after a terrible start I found a way back and eventually saw it out with a couple of minutes left on my clock , hope you like this one xxx

My game of the month
[Event "Hourly Rapid Arena"]
[Site "lichess.org/k7r6yOBq"]
[Date "2024.01.07"]
[White "GautaM0708"]
[Black "dhoom1997"]
[Result "0-1"]
[UTCDate "2024.01.07"]
[UTCTime "08:56:39"]
[WhiteElo "2050"]
[BlackElo "1577"]
[WhiteRatingDiff "-33"]
[BlackRatingDiff "+41"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[TimeControl "600+0"]
[ECO "C10"]
[Opening "French Defense: Rubinstein Variation, Fort Knox Variation"]
[Termination "Normal"]
[Annotator "lichess.org"]

1. e4 { [%eval 0.2] [%clk 0:05:00] } 1... e6 { [%eval 0.0] [%clk 0:10:00] } 2. d4 { [%eval 0.3] [%clk 0:04:59] } 2... d5 { [%eval 0.4] [%clk 0:09:58] } 3. Nc3 { [%eval 0.0] [%clk 0:04:57] } 3... dxe4 { [%eval 0.52] [%clk 0:09:56] } 4. Nxe4 { [%eval 0.39] [%clk 0:04:57] } 4... Bd7 { [%eval 0.66] [%clk 0:09:53] } 5. Nf3 { [%eval 0.69] [%clk 0:04:56] } 5... Bc6 { [%eval 0.49] [%clk 0:09:53] } { C10 French Defense: Rubinstein Variation, Fort Knox Variation } 6. Bd3 { [%eval 0.74] [%clk 0:04:54] } 6... Nd7 { [%eval 0.44] [%clk 0:09:52] } 7. O-O { [%eval 0.29] [%clk 0:04:53] } 7... Ngf6 { [%eval 0.56] [%clk 0:09:51] } 8. Re1 { [%eval 0.51] [%clk 0:04:51] } 8... Nxe4 { [%eval 0.44] [%clk 0:09:50] } 9. Bxe4 { [%eval 0.55] [%clk 0:04:50] } 9... Bxe4 { [%eval 0.45] [%clk 0:09:49] } 10. Rxe4 { [%eval 0.53] [%clk 0:04:49] } 10... c6 { [%eval 0.5] [%clk 0:09:49] } 11. Bf4 { [%eval 0.14] [%clk 0:04:47] } 11... Nf6 { [%eval 0.25] [%clk 0:09:48] } 12. Re1 { [%eval 0.23] [%clk 0:04:46] } 12... Bd6 { [%eval 0.15] [%clk 0:09:46] } 13. Bxd6 { [%eval 0.1] [%clk 0:04:43] } 13... Qxd6 { [%eval 0.06] [%clk 0:09:44] } 14. c3 { [%eval 0.09] [%clk 0:04:43] } 14... O-O { [%eval 0.0] [%clk 0:09:42] } 15. Ne5 { [%eval 0.14] [%clk 0:04:42] } 15... Nd7 { [%eval 0.04] [%clk 0:09:39] } 16. Nc4 { [%eval 0.0] [%clk 0:04:41] } 16... Qc7 { [%eval 0.05] [%clk 0:09:37] } 17. Qb3 { [%eval -0.05] [%clk 0:04:39] } 17... a6 { [%eval -0.02] [%clk 0:09:32] } 18. a4 { [%eval 0.06] [%clk 0:04:37] } 18... c5 { [%eval 0.13] [%clk 0:09:23] } 19. Ne5 { [%eval -0.23] [%clk 0:04:30] } 19... Nxe5 { [%eval -0.31] [%clk 0:09:20] } 20. dxe5 { [%eval -0.37] [%clk 0:04:26] } 20... Rfd8 { [%eval -0.25] [%clk 0:09:12] } 21. Qa3?! { (-0.25 -1.12) Inaccuracy. Rad1 was best. } { [%eval -1.12] [%clk 0:04:24] } (21. Rad1 h6 22. g3 Rac8 23. Qc4 Qb6 24. b3 Rxd1 25. Rxd1 Rd8 26. Rxd8+ Qxd8 27. h3 Qd1+) 21... Rd5 { [%eval -0.97] [%clk 0:09:03] } 22. f4?! { (-0.97 -2.05) Inaccuracy. Re4 was best. } { [%eval -2.05] [%clk 0:04:23] } (22. Re4) 22... Rad8 { [%eval -2.04] [%clk 0:08:59] } 23. Kh1?! { (-2.04 -2.77) Inaccuracy. Re2 was best. } { [%eval -2.77] [%clk 0:04:13] } (23. Re2 Rd2 24. Rae1 Qb6 25. Rxd2 Rxd2 26. c4 Qc6 27. Qf3 Qxf3 28. gxf3 h5 29. b3 Rd3) 23... Rd2 { [%eval -2.66] [%clk 0:08:55] } 24. b4? { (-2.66 -4.36) Mistake. Rg1 was best. } { [%eval -4.36] [%clk 0:04:10] } (24. Rg1 Qc6 25. a5 R8d3 26. Qb3 c4 27. Qa4 Rxb2 28. Qxc6 bxc6 29. Rab1 Rb3 30. Rgc1 Rdxc3) 24... cxb4? { (-4.36 -2.47) Mistake. Rxg2 was best. } { [%eval -2.47] [%clk 0:08:51] } (24... Rxg2 25. Kxg2 Rd2+ 26. Kg3 Qc6 27. Rg1 Qe4 28. c4 cxb4 29. Qf3 Rd3 30. Qxd3 Qxd3+ 31. Kh4) 25. cxb4 { [%eval -2.83] [%clk 0:04:10] } 25... Qc6 { [%eval -2.39] [%clk 0:08:45] } 26. Qg3 { [%eval -2.42] [%clk 0:03:59] } 26... R8d3 { [%eval -2.11] [%clk 0:08:40] } 27. Qg4 { [%eval -2.13] [%clk 0:03:53] } 27... h5?! { (-2.13 -1.19) Inaccuracy. h6 was best. } { [%eval -1.19] [%clk 0:08:29] } (27... h6 28. b5 Qd5 29. Rf1 g6 30. Rg1 Qd4 31. h3 Rf2 32. Rgf1 h5 33. Qg5 Rxf1+ 34. Rxf1) 28. Qg5 { [%eval -1.35] [%clk 0:03:50] } 28... g6? { (-1.35 -0.10) Mistake. Rd8 was best. } { [%eval -0.1] [%clk 0:08:05] } (28... Rd8) 29. Rac1?? { (-0.10 Mate in 6) Checkmate is now unavoidable. f5 was best. } { [%eval #-6] [%clk 0:03:47] } (29. f5) 29... Qd7?? { (Mate in 6 -0.14) Lost forced checkmate sequence. Qxc1 was best. } { [%eval -0.14] [%clk 0:07:58] } (29... Qxc1 30. Qh4 Rd1 31. Qd8+ Rxd8 32. h3 Rxe1+ 33. Kh2 Qxf4+ 34. g3 Qd2#) 30. a5?? { (-0.14 -1.85) Blunder. f5 was best. } { [%eval -1.85] [%clk 0:03:26] } (30. f5 Qd8) 30... Rd1?! { (-1.85 -1.18) Inaccuracy. Rf2 was best. } { [%eval -1.18] [%

Simple, yet beautiful.

This game was one of my best game in January! I had a sneaky tactic of sacrificing my queen for checkmate! Hope you like it and i hope this game will be the game of the month!