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1. e4
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For once, Freddy's given us a mini-tournament without a queen sacrifice. I thought that was a bit soft of him, so I decided to add one anyway. |
 
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1... e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4
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Standard opening play so far. |
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3... Nf6
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This move promises an interesting game. Black counterattacks White's e-pawn but blocks the queen's defence of g5, meaning that after 4. Ng5 Black has to give at least a pawn to stop the attack on f7. |
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4. Ng5 Bc5
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And this is the Traxler, the starting point for this mini-tournament. Black ignores f7 completely and eyes up the pawn on f2. There are several ways the game can go from here, but most of them are pretty wild. Instead, 4... d5 is usual, blocking the attack on f7; after 5. exd5 Black has several options including my own favourite 5... b5. |
2 comments
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5. Bxf7+
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So far I've played this move over Nxf7 as I think it's what I'd be more likely to play if I face this opening "in real life", and I wanted to practise it and explore some variations. After 5. Nxf7, Black can play 5... Bxf2+ 6. Kxf2 Nxe4+ with a bizarre position. The game move instead grabs a pawn and forces Black to move the king, preventing future castling. |
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5... Ke7
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This seems to be preferred over Kf8, perhaps because f8 is a good square for the rook. However, even though the king is in no immediate danger on e7, Black must be wary of the skewer Bg5+ should the f6 knight stray away from home. |
1 comment
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6. Bd5
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6. Bd5! according to Wikipedia, but I've tried out both Bd5 and Bc4 to see how the game progresses from there. |
1 comment
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6... Rf8
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In my first game in this mini-tournament, 6... Nxd5? was played, but after that move Black simply does not have enough compensation for the pawn and his exposed king. Freddy played 6... d6. The rook move lines up the pawn on f2, threatening 7... Bxf2+ 8. Kxf2 Nxe4++. |
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7. O-O
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Now f2 is guarded by the rook as well. |
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7... d6 8. Bxc6
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In my game with Freddy I left the bishop on d5 for too long and it got snapped up. Here I exchange it off, followed by retreating the knight, hoping for a quieter position in which White can enjoy his extra pawn in peace. |
1 comment
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8... bxc6 9. Nf3 Bg4 10. c3
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So much for a "quieter position". This unnassuming pawn move actually conceals a thunderbolt ready to strike. It indirectly defends the e4 pawn, since if Black takes... |
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10... Nxe4 11. d4
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...White has this counter. Now 11... Bb6 (suggested by the DB) leads to 12. dxe5 dxe5 13. Qxd8+ R(either)xd8 14. Nxe5 regaining the pawn and leaving Black with far the worse pawn structure. Black could instead swap B+N for R+P on move 12 but this is rarely a good idea. |
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11... exd4
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I think Black should nonetheless have played the line given in my last note. This allows White to pin the knight and threaten to regain at least a pawn. |
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12. cxd4 Bb6 13. Re1 d5 14. Bg5+
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But, as the saying goes, when you have a good move (14. Nc3) look for a better. This skewers the king and queen (a possibility I mentioned several notes back) and the pinned knight can neither take the bishop nor block the check. Black must give the rook, and with its loss the attack on f2 is greatly diminished. |
1 comment
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14... Rf6 15. Bxf6+ gxf6 16. Nc3
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Now, getting onto that queen sac I promised earlier. Of course 16. Ne5 was the first move I looked at in this position, but I don't think the time is yet right: 16... Bxd1 17. Nxc6+ Ke8 (trying to get out of the pin with Kf8 loses, since the knight can look back on d4 via Ne6+) 18. Nxd8 Bxd4 and now 19. Nc3 seems to have everything covered, but there's a flaw: 19... Bxf2+ is still possible even with the knight pinned. So, for now, I bide my time. |
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16... f5 17. Nxe4
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Obeying the maxim "When in front, seek exchanges". The immediate Ne5 is possible now, and I did consider it, but I didn't like leaving the knight on e4. In fact this was wrong and it poses no threat: 17. Ne5 Bxd1 18. Nxc6+ Ke8 19. Nxd8 Bxd4 20. Nxe4 is winning. However, exchanging first seems to be okay for White as well. |
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17... fxe4
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I wondered if taking with the other pawn was better, as it opens a second line of attack onto d4 and keeps the g4 bishop defended, but I don't see that Black can derive much advantage from this. 17... dxe4 18. Ne5 Qd6 19. Nxg4 fxg4 20. Qxg4 Qxd4 and now White has the simple Qxe4+ winning. Anyway, whichever pawn Black captures with, he probably hoped to win back some material now thanks to the pin. |
2 comments
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18. Ne5
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Pin? What pin? |
1 comment
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18... Bd7
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This move was a surprise to me, but evidently Black decided that after 18... Bxd1 19. Nxc6+ Ke8 20. Nxd8 being able to take the d4 pawn does not offset the fact that the material difference of rook for bishop becomes more significant with queens are off. Having taken with the f-pawn, moving the queen is no longer a possibility (due to Nxg4) so really this is the only other defence. |
2 comments
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19. Rc1
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Of course I looked at Qh5, but since I couldn't see a clear win I decided to bring another piece into the attack while holding onto the d4 pawn. At the moment that pawn is worth its weight in gold, since it supports the knight's strong outpost. |
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