Black loosing time in the Ziegler opening

The Blackmar Diemer defender has no time to loose in the opening. But sometimes, they do think they have all the time for fancy things - that's waht happened to my opponent today in a chess.com blitz game

1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 c6 6.Bc4
The Ziegler, which can turn into the O'Kelly defense when combined with a subsequent Bf5.

6...Nd5 (diagram)
Black wants to get rid of that annoying c3 knight, but is there time ?

7.Ne5 !! e6 8.0-0 (diagram)

Dark clouds appear on the horizon - black is forced to retreat his jumper.

8...Nf6 9.Ne4  (diagram)

Being so much behing in development, taking the knight is no option for black, eg 9...Nxe4 10.Nxf7 Qc7 12.Nxh8 (++)

9...Be7 10.Ng5 (diagram)

Black has to defend f7 and can do so in two ways.

a/ 10...0-0 11.Qd3 h6 12.Nexf6 Rxf7 13.Nxe6 Bxe6 14.Bxe6 Qf8 15.Qg6 (+)

b/ 10...Rf8 11.Be3 (+=)

I was actually quite proud of that finding this in a blitz game.
A fair punishment for black loosing so much time in the opening !

Sometimes the attacker has to defend first

I already covered an interesting line in the Paleface in earlier articles : 1.d4 Nf6 2.f3 g6 3.e4 d6 4.Be3 Bg7 5.Qd2 0-0 6.Nc3 c6 7.0-0-0 b5 8.g4 b4. In these articles, I showed that 9.Nce2 is not to be feared as 9...Qa5 can be countered by the simple, yet effective 10.Kb1

Yesterday my blitz opponent played differently and comtinued 1.d4 Nf6 2.f3 g6 3.e4 d6 4.Be3 Bg7 5.Qd2 0-0 6.Nc3 c6 7.0-0-0 b5 8.g4 Qa4 (diagram).

In good Blackmar-Diemer style, I attacked on the opposite end with 9.h4, but came in a difficult position after 9...b4 10.Nce2 Qxa2 11.Qxb4. Black now tried to open up things further with 11...c5 and I found myself quickly in a mating net.

So it is obvious that 9.h4 is far to slow - black's threats have to be dealt with first - I realize this is hard to accept for a Blackmar Diemer gambiteer :-(

After analysis it seems there are multiple white candidates : 9.a3, 9.Kb1, 9.g5, maybe even 9.b3 ( which I dont like as it opens the whole diagonal for the black bishop ).

9.g5 (diagram) seems insufficient as the black knigt can safely jump to h5, halting white's attack. White now has to play a3 or Kb1 anyway, so this seems like a loss of time.

White can transpose into the lines described earlier by 9.Kb1 b4 10.Nce2 with an equal game.

9.a3 b4 10.Na2 (diagram) seems the best option for white

10...c5 seems the most dangerous continuation here, but white has nothing to fear after 11.Kb1.
10...Na6 is met by the simple 11.Bxa6 and white is on top.

So there is nothing to fear in the Paleface - provided the gambiteer defends from time to time...

Yes, Boris, there is a Blackmar-Diemer gambit.

Yes, chess players from all over the world, yes indeed, there is a Blackmar-Diemer gambit.

Please read this magnificent article by Tom Purser, written in 1989 based on an editorial in the "New York Sun" from 1897.

Thank you Tom, for all the joy you brought to us with your BDG World magazine.

Kf2 always wins

I recall an excellent article by Tom Purser when Kf2 was claimed to be the winning opening's move - or maybe not completely ?! In any case. I also tried it in a fast game and guess what - Kf2 did win.

De Bouver - Dardha ( 2014, Antwerpen )

1.d4 Nf6 2.f3 d5 3.e4 dxe4 4.Nc3 Bf5 5.g4 Bg6 6.g5 Nd5 7.Ne4 e6 8.Ne2
Varying from both Diemer's 8.c4 as played in Diemer - Kopp ( 1947 ) and the proper continuation 8.h4.

8...Nc6 9.c4 (diagram)

Picking up Diemer's suggestion, one move later. Will my opponnet take the bait ?

9...Bb4+
Yes he does ! And now comes the move...

10.Kf2 (diagram)

Black now should have played 10...Nb6, with a small black advantage. But baffled by my unexpetced move, black makes a mistake,

10...Nde7
Blocking the retreat of the bishop

11.a3
And white has a small advantage which lead to a white win.

Check out Tom Purser's post on this, including the link to the Tim Krabbé article - it is really great reading.