Is this Tactic Common?

An easy blitz win this morning reminded me of several other games: my highest rated correspondence win on Chess.com, the first round of the 2009 Washington Open, and dozens of other blitz games. Although some elements of the position differ in each, the basic elements are there over and over again.

White to move

The key elements of the position: Black's knight is pinned, the d-file is open and both queens stand there, a knight is poised to jump to d5, which Black's c-pawn does not prevent.

This game continued 10.Qxd8 Rxd8 11.Nd5 Rd6 12.Nxc7 winning a pawn. This morning, my opponent opted not to save the rook with 12...Rb8.

A similar position appeared in the first round of the 2009 Washington Open.

White to move

I was disappointed that I managed only a draw in that game, but the event itself is notable because I finished with no losses and the event lifted my USCF rating into A Class.

In a memorable correspondence game on Chess.com, the key elements of the position appeared again.

White to move

In this game I played 10.Nd5 which may be more accurate than 10.Qxd8. I usually see this sort of position in blitz.