Something French ?

My latest blog covered some very interesting lines after 1.d4 Bf6 2.f3 c5 3.d5, when white did quite well.

I already indicated that 1.d4 Nf6 2.f3 d5 3.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 transposes to a normal Blackmar Diemer, but black can refuse the gambit and play 3...e6, transposing into a French defense after 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 - or something what resembles a French defense.

The attentive reader notices that there are one small difference compared to a normal French Advance variation 1.d4 d5 2.e4 e6 3.e5 Ne7 4.f4 - black's knight is at d7 instead of the normal e7 square. This small differences is quite good for white, eg consider the position after the natural 5...c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.Nf3

White has no weaknesses and can play with confidence in an equal position.

Wild, wilder, wildest

I was twice crashed lately in the Hubsch gambit by master opponents after the 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.e4 opening. My strong opponents indicated they would never play 3...dxe4 ( because of the upcoming Blackmar Diemer complications ), and both played the strong 3...Nxe4 4.Nxe4 dxe4 5.Bc4 Nc6 6.c3 e5 7.d5.

The first opponent ( rated 2340 ) tried 7...Ne7, the other player ( rated 2310 ) tried 7...Nb8, both crushing me. After the game, both confirmed to me that this was their prepared response to the Blackmar Diemer tries.
So I said to myself, "Never again !" and decided to focus on 1.d4 Nf6 2.f3 instead - at least I wont be crushed anymore by the Hubsch.

Today I will focus on the line 1.d4 Nf6 2.f3 c5 3.d5 e6 4.e4 exd5 5.e5

Black has three important options : 5...Qe7, 5...Ng8 and 5...Nh5

a/ 5...Qe7 6.Qe2 Ng8 7.Nc3 with slight advantage for white

b/ 5...Ng8 6.Qxd5 with an equal game

c/ 5...Nh5 6.Qe2 ( see diagram ) White threatens to play g4, winning the knight.

This blog looks at black's strongest reply 6...Nc6 7.g4. Other black options will be considered later.

c1/ 7...Nd4 8.Qg2 with very complicated play, eg
c11/ 8...d6 9.Nc3 dxe5 10.gxh5 with roughly equal play
c12/ 8...Qh4+ 9.Kd1 d6 10.Nc3 =
c13/ 8...Qa5+ 9.Nc3 =
c14/ 8...Qe7 9.Kd1 =
c15/ 8...Be7 9.gxh5 +=


c2/ 7...d6 8.exd6+ Be6 9.d7+ Qxd7 10.gxh, again with complicated play
c21/ 10...Be7 11.Bf4 =
c22/ 10...000 11.Bf4 +=
c23/ 10...Bd6 11.Na3 =
c24/ 10...Nd4 11.Qf2 +=



c3/ 7...Be7 8.gxh5 +=

For once, white is not on the gambiting sides...

Hard times

In my previous post I covered two critical lines in the Euwe defense 5...e6 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Bd3 00 8.00 Nbd7 9.Qe1.

We saw in post "New development in the Euwe defense" that black could not achieve equality after 9...h6 as 10.Qh4 Re8 is now refuted.

The next post "Out of nothing" focused on  9...c5, when black can obtain equality, provided he finds the single right move.

Other moves, apart from 9...h6 or 9...c5 also simply loose, eg

a/ 9...c6 simply looses after 10.Qh4, eg
a1/ 10...h6 11.Bxh6 winning
a2/ 10...Re8 11.Ne5 winning
a3/ 10...g6 11.Re8 winning
a4/ 10...h5 11.Ne4 winning

b/ 9...b6 is too slow, eg 10.Qh4
b1/ 10...h6 11.Bxh6 winning
b2/ 10...Bb7 11.Bxh7+ Nxh7 12.Bxe7 winning

b3/ 10...Re8 11.Ne5 Bb7 12.Rad1 with white advantage

c/ 9...Re8 10.Qh4 transposing into other lines, eg
c1/ 10...h6 11.Bxh6 winning ( see post "New development in the Euwe defense" )
c2/ 10...c5 11.Ne5 with black obtaining in equal game in one single line ( see "Out of nothing" ).

Bottomline : Hard times fall on black when stumbling into the line 5...e6 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Bd3 00 8.00 Nbd7 9.Qe1 in the Euwe defense, as only one line provides equality.

Out of nothing

In my previous post, I discussed about an improvement in white's play in the Euwe defense 5...e6 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Bd3 00 8.00 Nbd7 9.Qe1 h6.
After this improvement ( 10.Qh4 Re8 11.Bxh6 gxh6 12.Ne5 !! ), white is winning.

But obviously, white does not have to be so cooperative and can play differently, for example 9...c5 after which white answers 10.Qh4

a/ 10...Re8 11.Ne5 is black's only hope - black has nothing else than 11...Nxe5 12.dxe5 Qd4+ 13.Qxd4 cxd4 14.Nb5 with an equal game. All other moves loose quickly.

b/ 10...h6 looses as white can play 11.Bxh6 gxh6 12.Qxh6 with a large advantage for white

c/ 10...g6 removes a defender from f6. White gets the advantage after the simple 11.dxc5

d/ 10...cxd4 loose an important tempo 11.Bxh7+ Nxh7 12.Bxe7 Qb6 13.Ne4 and despite a pawn up, black's pieces are really badly placed. White should win easily, eg 13...d3+ 14.Rf2 Qxb2 15.Raf1

e/ 10...Qb6 is also too slow, eg 11.Ne5 winning

f/ the odd looking 10...h5 cannot be refuted easily, but 11.Ne4 gives white the better game


Bottom line -  Even if the obvious line in the Euwe defense 5...e6 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Bd3 00 8.00 Nbd7 9.Qe1 c5 10.Qh4 is not completely lost for black, there is only one line that gives black an equal game, namely 10...Re8 11.Ne5.

 All other moves seem to loose quickly - talking about an attack out of nothing !

New development in the Euwe defense

For years, I was wondering what was the best continuation against a line in the Euwe defense.
After 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf5 5.Nxf3 e6 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Bd3 00 8.00 Nbd7 9.Qe1 h6 10.Qh4.
Black's only defense now is 10...Re8 as it allows for the bishop to come to the defense.

I have been puzzled by this position, but using a silicon assistant I found a continuation that seems to give white the advantage : 11.Bxh6 gxh6 12.Ne5 !!

The idea is to give room for the white rook. 12...Bf8 13.Rf3 and now
a/ 13...Bg7 14.Rg3 and black has nothing better than to give back the piece with 14...Ne4 15.Qxe4 f5 16.Qe3 Nxe5 17.dxe5 with an obvious development advantage for white, eg 17...Kh7 18.Rad1

b/ 13...Qe7 14.Rg3+ winning easily, eg 14...Kh8 15.Rf1

c/ 13...Nxe5 14.dxe5 winning, eg 14...Nh7 15.Rg3+ Bg7 16.Qxh6

Of course, black does not have to be so cooperative and improve his play, eg on move 9 - but we'll cover that in a next blog.

Stay tuned !

New blog

Thank you all for visiting this new blog on the Blackmar Diemer gambit.
This blog will share games, new ideas, publications..... on the Blackmar Diemer gambit - a feared chess opening in which white offers his f pawn for quick development.
The Blackmar Diemer originates after 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3.

Black can accept it by 4...exf3 5.Nxf3 or refuse it by 4...e3 or 4...Bf5.
In any case, white gets terrific attacking chances for the pawn.

Stay tuned for the latest news on the Blackmar Diemer and check out this blog regularly !