Making mistakes when under attack

People do make mistakes when under attack - guess it is one of the fundamental laws of chess. For example, the game I played yesterday evening. I threw in a knight on f7 and my opponent fell victim to this universal law.

After the game, we chitchatted and he voiced his frustration at me getting away so often with bad sacrifices - so I had to explain him that chess is also a game of psychology - a woodpusher always has a hard time switching from safe to wild mode, whilst the berserker thrives in the chaos.

1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 e3 5.Bxe3 e6 6.Ne4

Setting up some difficulties from the very start as 6...Nxe4 7.fxe3 Qh4+ seems like a white disaster, but it isn;t

6...Be7 7.Bd3 b6 8.Qe2 Bb7 9.0-0-0 Nbd7 10.g4 (diagram)

10...h5 11.gxh5 Nxh5 12.Nh3 Playing a move like this really makes my day :-)

12...Ndf6 13.Rhg1 Qd7 14.Nhg5 Nd5 15.Nxf7 (diagram) 

Wow, what a blow - and what a mistake. Maybe I was hoping that the fundamental laws of chess still apply ?

15...Kxf7 16.Ng5+  Bxg5 17.Rxg5 Nhf4
Certain to exchange a few pieces and stay with the extra piece. Strange what an extra piece can do to a woodpusher.

18.Bxf4 Nxf4 19.Rxg7+ (diagram)

A second blow to the defender - well it is sort of the only move I had at this point - but it brought my woodpusher opponent back to reality. The game soon ended in a draw after 19...Kxg7 20.Qe5+ Kf7 21.Qxf4 Ke7 22.Qg5+ Kd6 draw agreed.

Bottomline - when in doubt, go for the attack - the laws of chess are always with you.

A simple theme to move the king to f2 in the Vienna

 Managed a nice win last weekend with a simple theme, which I have been able to repeat three times now in similar positions. The theme consists of stepping to f2 after the bishop check on b4 in the Vienna 

1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 Bf5 5.g4 Bg6 6.g5 Nd5 7.Nxe4 e6 8.c4 Nb6 9.Be3 Bb4+ 10.Kf2

A surprising move, which should offguard many. STockfish evaluates as equal, but white surely has the surprise element on his side

The point of the move is that white hopes to capture the bishop after the pawn push c5 and a3, as illustrated in this game

10...Bxe4 11.fxe4 h6 12.c5

There it is, winning a piece with a simple theme. Black sees the mess he is in and tries to generate some counterplay

12...hxg5 13.cxb6 Qf6+ 14.Qf3 Qg6 15.Rc1

The remainer of the game looks like a slaughter

Remember this theme - it might come in handy

New option in the Ziegler.

I discovered a new option in the Ziegler - normally, white plays g4 and 0-0 in the Ziegler. However, this turns out to be quite bad as black quickly gets the better play.

A new idea is to refrain from castling - it seems this idea gives white a veru playable game in the Ziegler. Consider the below after 5...c6 6.Bc4 Bf5 7.Ne5 e6 8.g4

Blacks normal reply is 8...Bg6 ( 8...Nfd7 is much better, but impossible to find behind the board ) followed by yet another aggresive pawn move 9.h4. Black must play 9...Bb4 to open up the e4 square for his bishop. White only now throws in 10.0-0, with the below position

This complicated position is probably equal, but yields major complications after 10...Bxc2 11.Nxf7

Seems like a great alternative in the O'Kelly :-)

New ideas in the Euwe

 hello Blackmar Diemer fanatics.

Resuming my posts here after a long pause :-(

Working now with the latest Stockfish 17 engine which brings clarity in so many old lines. Today I am starting off with a basic position in the Euwe after 6...Be7 7.Bd3 Nbd7 (diagram)

I used to consider the old 8.0-0 as the strongest move ( cfr my earlier post ), but now, Stockfish 17 immediately indicates that 8.Qe2 is much stronger.\, followed by castling queenside.

Likewise, I automatically replied 8.0-0 against the main line 7...0-0, only to learn today that 8.Qe2 ( diagram) is much stronger.

The Zilbermints line after 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Bd3 Nc6 8.0-0 is immediately refuted after 8...Nxd4 9.Kh1 c5 and Stockfish thinks white has less than nothing. Instead, the simple 8.a3 0-0 9.Qd2 is suggested with equal game.

For another annoying line 6.Bg5 Nc6, i suggested 7.Bb5 but the silicon monster clearly prefers 7.Qd2

Seems like we have to review lots of new theory here :-(

What a great day

hello all, long time no see 😧

I got a new PC which seems to be a bit stronger than my previous - maybe this will help to develop Blackmar Diemer theory further...

In any case, I was looking at a strong black line in the Euwe defense : 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 e6 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Bd3 0-0 8.0-0 c5 (diagram)

I have always struggled with this move, just because it is so simple and thematic in the French defense. And also because I never found a good white continuation. Scheerer suggests 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.Kh1 which is obvioulsy not bad for white. But I never found a good white continuation after b;lack's most challenging line 9.dxc5 h6 .

So today, with the help of my new silicon assistant, I got to 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.Ne4 (diagram)

Black try it safely and play 11...Be7, but gets no advantage after 12.Kh1, removing the white king from any future annoying checks.

Also, 11...Bd4+12.Nxd4 Qxd4+ 13.Kh1 brings nothing aftre 13...f5 14.c3 Qd5 15.Bc4 and white will soon regain the pawn.

Which leaves 11...Bxb2 12.Rb1 (diagram) when black makes an awfull lot of moves with the blackcolored bishop.

a/ 12...Be5 13.Nxe5 Qd4+ 14.Kh1 Qxe5 15.Nd6 =+ ( Black cant capture the c5 pawn as this would result in a forced draw - try it yourself )

b/ 12...Bd4+ 13.Kh1 doesnt bring black anything more than line c

c/  12...Bf6 13.Bb5 =+ and white can damage the black pawn structure if black exchanges queens

d/ 12...Ba3 13.Rb3 += brings the black rook into the action

So, it seems that white has a decent answer to the 8...c5 9.dxc5 h6 line. True, it doesnt bring equality, but it sure is no refutation as I believed before.

A tough nut to crack

Just looking at "Long Bogo" Bogoljubow position with my new Stockfish 8 toy boy 👰  : 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf4 g6 6.Bf4 Bg7 7.Qd2 0-0 8.0-0-0 Bf5 (diagram)

I always believed 9.h3 was the key move here, but now I am not so sure anymore since white cannot avoid black swapping some pieces ; 9.h3 Ne4!! 10.Nxe4 Bxe5

Stockfish 8 now gives 11.Ng5 (diagram) as best and follows up 11...Bd5 (diagram)

I think everyone will agree with me that this is not a good position for the attacker - white has nothing for the pawn, maybe some distant development advantage, but certainly not worth a pawn. Stockfish suggests 12.Be3 as best now, which is certainly not a killer move 😞

Going back one move, at depth 26/46, my silicon assistant finds nothing better. Also at move 10, there is nothing better, so any improvement must come at move 9, when white played 9.h3.

The alternative is 9.Bh6 (diagram) which has the benefit of not exchanging any pieces needlessly as 9...Bxh6 10.Qxh6 Ng4 11.Qd2 is equal.

What did we learn today ? 8...Bf5 9.Bh6 is to be preferred over 8...Bf5 9.h3 in the Long Bogo. We will look at possible black moves in my next post.

Major improvement in GiveAway Declined variation

Just loaded Stockfish 8 and I have to admit, results are spectacular.

I was still glancing through the positions resulting after the GiveAway variation 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 c6 6.Bc4 Bf5 7.g4 Bg6 when Stockfish 8 quickly found an improvement to 8.h4 and 8.g5, namely 8.Qe2 (diagram)

The order of the moves is key here - white delays h5 or g5 and plays first a waiting move. Only when black commits to a move, white then moves its kingside pawns.

Let's look at a few lines.

A. 8...e6 9.h4
...A1. 9...h6 10.Ne5 (+)
...A2. 9...b5 10.Bb3 (=)
...A3. 9...h5 10.Ne5 (+)
...A4. 9...Bb4 10.h5 (=)
...A5. 9...Nxg4 10.Bg5 (diagram)

......A5a. 10...Be7 11.0-0-0 (=)
......A5b. 10...f6 11.Bxe6 (++)
......A5c. 10...Qc7 11.Bxe6 fxe6 12.Qxe6+ (+=)
......A5d. 10...Qb6 11.Bxe6 (++)
......A5e. 10...Qa5 11.Bxe6 (++)
......A5f. 10...Qd7 11.0-0-0 (++)
......A5g. 10...Qd6 11.0-0-0 (+)

B. 8...b5 9.Bb3
...B1. 9...a5 10.a3 (=)
...B2. 9...b4 10.Na4 (=)
...B3. 9...e6 10.h4 (+=)
...B4. 9...Nbd7 10.h4 (+=)

C. 8...Nxg4 9.Rg1 (+=)

D. 8...Nbd7 9.g5
...D1. 9...b5 10.Bb3 (=)
...D2. 9...Nh5 10.Rf1 (=)
...D3. 9...Nd5 10.0-0 (=+)
...D4. 9...Ng8 10.Bf4 (+)
...D5. 9...Ng4 10.h3 (++)

So it seems Stockfish 8 is much stronger then its previous version - it unearthed a simple improved to the GiveAway Declined variation in a matter of minutes.

Now fix the GiveAway Accepted !!!