The Bughouse Bug

Playing a lot of sports that demand fast reflexes can influence one to be sharper, not just studying a lot of tactics! The same applies for chess while playing different variants it can help us cross train and integrate new skills . In this example of the bug house bug the pawn on f5 coughs its way up the board eventually controlling key squares on f2 and d2. "Catch the flu, Catch the flu this is what this baby f pawn is going to give you!"




20...Qh4! I remember the advice of an extremely strong local player that if one has a chance to activate his pieces and take the intiative then you must never rule out the possibility to do so as later on in the game even in comparable positons 1 tempi changes the fate of the game. This especially holds true when white needs a few tempi to fully activate his pieces in this position I can afford to play loose. 21.g3 21...Qh3 22.fxe5 fxe4 23.Na3 finally the knight is no longer snoozing. However in the meantime black has sacrificed a noble steed for future considerations along the f file
which he dominates with his connected rooks as advertised in the following diagram.















23...Rf2! {Here it is! Had I played the natural 23..e3 move; white has a better game after he trades queens with Qg2. The knock out blow Rf2 is an extremely appeasing move to play in a 3 minute blitz game!
I credit the offer of the black rook from playing bughouse where lone pawns are a very valuable commodity. (edit: I just realized a few hours after posting that white can bail out with an excellent game after sacrificing the queen 24.Qxf2 returning material and planning to double rooks on the f file; it is still a dynamically unbalanced position since black closes the centre with d5 and the other white pieces are still out of the game but such is the beauty of chess that there are sometimes hidden solutions to our problems)}











24.Rxf2 e3! 25.Rf8+ there is little white can do here , despite blacks material deficit blacks pieces are extremely active Rxf8 26.Qg2 Qxg2+ 27.Kxg2 Rf2+ 28.Kh3 28...h5 29.Kh4 Kg7 30.h3






















Kh6 with the g5 mating threat 31.hxg4 Rh2#









So remember to take your chances and play the most active forcing moves! It's easier said than done but if you never try you will never know the truth =)