Monday’s position occurred in a friendly game played at the Adelaide recently. I was white against our A-team captain Maks, who was trying out the King’s Indian Defence, an opening he doesn’t usually play.

I had much the better of the opening and sacrificed a pawn to reach this position. My queen and knights looked very strong, while Maks had a knight poorly placed on the side of the board and several undeveloped pieces.

I considered two possible knight sacrifices: Nxc5 and Nxe5, both of which looked very tempting, eventually choosing Nxc5 because I wanted to get rid of both Maks’s central pawns.

1. Nxc5?! dxc5? 2. Nxe5 is indeed crushing, but I’d overlooked that Maks could play 1… Qa7! instead, trading queens, after which the position was about equal, although Maks outplayed me from there and eventually won the game.

I should have preferred 1. Nxe5! dxe5, and now 2. Nxc5? Qd6 is again only equal, but 2. g4! is winning because the knight on h5 is in trouble. Second best here is 2. Qg6!?, also giving White what should be a winning advantage.

Thanks to Maks for reconstructing the position and sending it to me.

Do come along for social chess on Tuesdays during the summer: you’ll find players of all strengths, from 1st team stars to beginners, there.

Here’s the position for you to play through: click on a move for a pop-up window.