Annotated chess game

Be sure they will. As for the opening: both lines are theoretically acceptable. I am experimenting with the "hard approach", trying to get the most of the tempoes. Still, I admit that against a correct white play, black will miss a tempo in order to complete safely his o-o-o - g5 attack on white's castled king. The 3...Bg4 is very interesting and sharp, with a lot of tactics... is my next battleground to explore. I think it' called "Portuguese" or similar (no time to check!). As for the Icelandic gambit (the one I play), you'll find easily videos explaining the main lines.

Hello again. Hope my comments will be as welcome as last time. First comment: is 3..Nxd5 not a viable option for you? I do not agree with sacrificing a pawn just to keep your tempo. If you wanted to do that, I'd recommend 3...Bg4. Here, this scenario cedes the center to white, which is not a good thing. ***** 3...Bg4 is called the Portuguese Variation. The Icelandic Gambit involves 3.c4 e6, which is why I didn't recognize the move (I'm not too familiar with the Scandanavian defense branches, so my apologies). I believe that Bg4 has more opportunities for black to achieve rapid development than e6.

Well. It's true that white's move wasn't the best, and if I play c5 now, Bb5+ would be a loss of tempo for him. But it is also true that if I play c5, I will allow him to perform on me the same attack I'm planning to play on him (sorry for my bad English!): check with the lsb, then Qe2, creating pressure. This way, he has fewer attack lines, and he needs more tempos to do it. His best on-agenda move here will be c4, but I am prepared to cope with it.

?! move. What is stopping you from moving your pawn to c5? The square is adequately protected and you could attempt to make a go for the center. ******* As white, my ideal agenda move is 6.Nf3 to continue castling and reinforce the center. c4 is way too guarded for my tastes. Your response?

I'd try to go for a greater share of the center with 6...c5 rather than develop queenside castling. Kingside castling and getting a stake at the center is my bread and butter. I don't have too much experience with queenside castling though, so feel free to take this with a grain of salt.

Of course, kingside castling will be the normal, logical, sraight-forward way to play. Now, look: My pieces are well placed for a kingside attack. You don't want to have your K behind a pawn storm (g5, h5...). So the bet I do is that I'll get him on the Kside - while he will try to break my Qside. And he CAN. So I have to attack and keep him too busy.

Definite ? move on his part. If he had been smarter, he would have done 8.c4 to further exploit the initiative of having control of the center or 8.Bf4 to try to clear the way for a central advance.

The right move here for white would be Ng5, threatening NxB. But he played the N on e2. c4 is also a must way to counter my plan. This helps me, allowing to start the pawn storm, but also gives him a good spot for his B on g3.

Now it's a ? move on *your* part. 8...Bxh2+! would have opened the door to 9.Kxh2 Ng4+ 10.Kg1 Qxg5, leaving you up a pawn. Here, 8...h6? allows your opponent to make things things worse for you with 9.Bf4, forcing your DSB to break ranks. He could also have retreated to Bc1 and Be3 to end things there. ? move on the opp's part as well.

You are ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. Shame on me, I didn't see this easiest combination... and I'm supposed to "see" tactics like this. Nothing to say: I played well under my skills.

Once again there is a missed opportunity to do Bxh2+ and win a pawn. I would have also been the one to initiate the bishop exchange with 10...Bxg3 in order to double the opponent's pawns on the g file.

Right for the missed tactics. But I didn't like fxBg3, opening the way for an annoying pressure on f7.

This is why I generally try to make more an effort to stake a claim at the center for versatility. You do not want to be on the defensive for long, especially since you are technically down a pawn still.

c5, with all his pieces free to jump to my K? When I have no dsb? The standard plan here is g5, but normally I have the dsb.

No, 13.Nf3 kills that plan very neatly. 12... c5 or 12 ... h5 are better choices. *****I suggested c5 since the Q and K both protect it, allowing you to make a go for the center. g5 does sound better than the above two options, so there's that too.

Rule number 1: Keep a calm mind and don't let the blitz pressure get to you. Easier said than done though  

Definitely on the gutsy side here. You're hoping that the opponent does some other slip up in order for you to take the game. This type of sac has a habit of backfiring too often in my experience (you said something along these lines as such).

Certainly I didn't save the game to show this...  

If the opponent was smarter, he could have done 15.f4 to really force an opening in the center of the board. He also should have done 16.Nd4 or Bc4 to pose a better e6 threat.

Ok, let's see: if 17. Nf5, I'd play BxN, 18. BxB, and I can keep on with Rh4 White can take Bx4, true, then Rd-h8, Bh3, and I think my attack is sound.

17.Nf5 would have been a much dangerous move for you to face (and a huge oversight on the opponent's part). You should have done 17...Qd5 instead of Qxd4. A smarter opponent would have done 18.Bc4 followed by 19.c3, putting you on the backfoot HARD. ***** No, White is able to defend against the Rdh8 attack with proper thinking. What do you do after Bh3?

To both, I'll answer g3.

You got very lucky he didn't do 18.Bc4. 18.Ng5 also puts you back. **** No, responding to 18. Bc4 with g3 leads to a scenario such as 19.Bxe6 Kc7 20.Nf3 gxf2+ 21.Nxf2, losing you another minor piece.

? Rh6 followed by Rdh8 threatens a much stronger mate here. 18... g3? allows for 19.Nc4, which can provide a threatening check and defend his kingside at the same time.

19...Rh6 or 19...Ne5 would be better moves if you were playing a smarter opponent. There are ways for him to get out of this pressuring situation and continue his assault.

This was the position I saved the game for.

The rooks are your best bet if you want to set up a mate. How can Qxg2 happen? That's just inviting him to exchange bishops, when White can afford with the +2.

21. c3?? is a huge blunder and the real turning point of your game. He should have done c4 to threaten the bishop if he was interested in moving the pawn. Heck, 21.Ne4 then Nc3 would have been better for him to try.

He can, but this will leave him at a huge disadvantage tactically and materially.

Only decent move for him. This underscores the importance and need to attack the center when possible (it should be the goal of both players).

Kf2 would have been a slightly safer position for the opponent to take.