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Methought I would give this the title of one of the most well known roller coaster rides in the world. The reason will become apparent during the course of the game. Played in the Allgaier Gambit Mini-Tournament, Jo plays in a manner quite unlike her normal self - thoroughly entering the spirit of the gambit. The game becomes a switchback ride as fortunes favour one side then the other. Although Black probably had the edge in the final position, he might well have decided he would no further push his luck. Sit back, and enjoy the ride... |
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1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. h4 g4 5. Ng5
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This is the famous and ancient Allgaier Gambit - considered by many to fall short of real 'soundness'. White's Knight is trapped, and must be given up. Can White get enough for the material? That is what the MT is designed to discover. An alternative gambit line, by the way, is 5.Ne5, the Kieseritzky. It is considered a deal less compromising than the Allgaier. |
  1 comment
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5... h6
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Trapping the Knight. There is no turning back for White now! |
2 comments
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6. Nxf7
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At least Black's king gets displaced and lured into a position where he may be attacked. |
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6... Kxf7 7. Nc3
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[!?] The GK engine mislikes this move, on account of 7.Nc3 f3 8.gxf3 Be7 -(a line my old MCO11 describes as 'yet unexplored and unclear')- 9.Bc4ch Kg7 10.0-0 g3 11.d4 Bb4 12.Kg2 Bxc3 13.bxc3 Qxh4 -(and now 14.Rh1 looks fine to me)-. Instead, the engine prefers 7.Qxg4 Qf6 8.Nc3 h5 9.Bc4ch Ke8 10.Qg5. Can't say I go a bundle over this line at all for White. My MCO10, by the way, also suggests 7.d4 and 7.Bc4ch at this point. |
2 comments
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7... Nf6
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Not interested in the 7...f3 line. I'm not sure I would be either! |
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8. d4 Bb4
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Showing that Black's previous move did not mean he was going to sit back and defend. Black is now attacking White's centre, threatening ...Nxe4. |
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9. Bxf4
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White is out for blood, too! |
1 comment
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9... Qe7
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[?!] This move is difficult to understand. Possibly he was hoping to induce 10.e5, or maybe simply wished to subject White's centre to greater pressure. However, I would have thought 9...Nxe4 or the GK engine's suggestion, 9...d5 might have been more forceful. |
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10. Be2
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[?] Jo comes within an ace of slipping into passivity - a little bit of a tendency she still has to overcome. Nor would 10.Bd3 have been much chop. The GK engine offers a fine continuation in 10.Bc4ch! Ke8 11.0-0 Bxc3 12.bxc3 d6 13.e5 dxe5 14.Bxe5 ... and White's game looks great to me! Instead White wants to blunt Black's pawn wedge on the K-side, but Black can maintain that useful salient. White's gaze should be directed at and focused upon the Black King. |
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10... Qxe4
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...Or 10...Bxc3 11.bxc3 Qxe4. |
1 comment
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11. O-O
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Castling with malice aforethought! The Black Queen is at once attacked, and the rook directs a basilisk stare down the f-file. |
1 comment
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11... Bxc3
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A well motivated exchange that has been on the cards since move 8. Although Black has to give up one of his few active pieces, its scope was not huge, and the White Knight was showing a tendency to improve its prospects at e4, d5 or even b5. |
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12. Be5
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[!] In my view a clever intermezzo. Objectively speaking 12.bxc3 was probably no worse, but now Black has to contend with a situation that has suddenly become very complicated. |
1 comment
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12... Bxb2
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A courageous continuation, in the light of the threats White has mounted down the f-file. |
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13. Rxf6+
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[!?] Consistent and logical, but the GK engine pans it in favour of 13.Rb1 Bc3 14.Bxf6 Re8 15.Rb3 and an even but lively game. Possibly this is correct, but Jo is beginning to play 'out of character' here, and really wanting to take the fight to her opponent. |
1 comment
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13... Ke8
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Instead, 13...Kg8 would have got axed by 14.Bc4ch ... -(14.Qf1 would also have won)- 14...d5 15.Bxd5ch Qxd5 16.Qd3! |
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14. Rb1
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[?] But this really is wrong, as will become apparent... sort of. Time - timing - is of the essence in games like this. However, it is not easy to see how White ought to proceed here. No good seems 14.Rf4 Qe3ch 15.Kh1 Bxa1 -(or 15...Nc6!). The engine suggests 14.Rf1, but maybe 14.Rf2 is an improvement, depriving Black of a checking move. After 14.Rf2 Bxa1 15.Bxh8, White's active game seems to compensate for the piece deficit. |
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14... Ba3
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[?] Returns the compliment. But again, it is not so easy in a roller coaster ride like this to discern how the game is like to go. Instead 14...d6! would have placed White in real trouble: 14...d6! 15.Rxb2 dxe5 16.Rf1 ... (16.dxe5 Qxe5 attacks both rooks) 16...Qxd4ch 17.Qxd4 exd4 and White's attack has been blunted for good. |
1 comment
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15. Bd3
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[!?] This looks very good indeed, but the simple 15.Rb3 was probably even better, bringing the rook into action with a gain of tempo, ready to slide over to the e-file, say. A possible continuation would have been 15.Rb3 Bc5(!) 16.Kh1 Be7 17.Rf4 Qh7 18.Bd3, with a huge attack. |
1 comment
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15... Qe3+
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The Queen has very few squares available - pitiable, lamed creature that she is. |
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(2352)