Possibly Black might "get away" with 3...h6, but not this, surely!

But there's not a lot wrong with the move played, either.

That's a common saying, but I've also heard that swapping pawns when ahead is good. Some say that it makes a draw more likely for the weaker player, but Josh Waitzkin in his Chessmaster series bring up the point that the ratio of, say, 3 pawns to 2 is less mathematically than 2 to 1, or 1 to 0. Like a lot of things in chess, it can be good and bad.

I feel if you look at it in "Imbalances" rather than good and bad your able to assess the true of the position.Therefore the area of the board and which pieces are left on the board should give a deeper sense as to how to play the position.Here i.e. white should try and rid black of the WSB or take away it's squares.However, the queen trade move as well is fine(as white controls more space) as long as black can not generate the needed counter-play which is the case here.

The extra piece can capture his pawns. Keep your pawns.

Instead, Black had a forced mate here: 43.Bf2+ Kh3 (43...Kh5 44.R2g5#) 44.R6g3+ Kh5 and White can mate in 2 by 45.Rg8+, or (prettier) 45.Rg4+.

The pawn duo-is extremely powerful in this position! The weakness,ruachessnut sees is an illusion.It easy to forget that the pawns are supported by connected Rooks, if white uses a passive defense.He merely has to wait for black to commit to an attack and a square before deciding which pawn to move...2ndly white has checks (with the rooks) to keep the initiative & may bring his king into the game.The Bishop needs to control the squares ahead of the pawns(in the future the bishop would move to 44.Bc4).I think what ruachessnut2 means is 43.d5 is an inaccurate move by not playing 43.Bf2+. There is no way for black to avoid mate.

Looks like a bad move but isn't. Both pawns appear weak. The trap is set. It is White that has the forced mate. 43. Bf2+ Kh3 44. R6g4 any 45. R2g3# The appearance of weakness causes black to attack & hem in his king. That is what I meant.

"Your sac was faulty." said NN. "How long did it take you to find the flaw?" asked Tal. "Almost a month" said NN. "Then I would win on time" said Tal. Point 1: World champ Tal made a faulty sac & won. Point 2: Retains a reasonable game does not refute the sac. Point 3: Attackers win more often then defenders. Point 4: Attacking is more fun! NN No Name If 8...Kg8 9.Ng6 Rh7 or? 10. e5 Ne8 or? 11. Qf3 Be7 or? 12. Qd5# The sac is sound!

I played the rest of the game without any analysis (bad, yes..I know), but I was just wondering about the bishop sac. Other players said that instead of 8...Nxd5, 8...Kg8 retains a reasonable game for black. Thank you for taking the time to annotate this, though, ruachessnut2.