I left you with this position from the game Matveeva – Skripchenko (Krasnoturinsk 2003), which I came across in Irrational Chess by Cyrus Lakdawala (Everyman Chess).

In this wonderfully chaotic – yes, irrational – situation, White could have won by playing 47. Rxc6! Rxc6 48. Nd5!, when Black has nothing better than 48… Qd6, leaving White with an easily won ending.

Instead she played 47. a6?, which should have lost, but, after further mutual errors (understandable given the nature of the position) later turned the tables, scoring the full point.

If you enjoy games of this nature, and you like the author’s colourful writing style (not everyone does) you’ll want to read this book. My review will be appearing soon on British Chess News.

You can play through the whole game (with Stockfish’s thoughts) here: click on any move for a pop-up window.