Diemer-Duhm (continued)

I got an interesting mail from an attentive reader on my previous post, questioning the correctness of the position after 13.Qf2 in my previous post. Let's look at the alternatives

a/ 13...Kxh7 14.Ng5+ Kg6 15.Qg3 improves on my previous post, but black cannot hope for more than equality, eg

a1/ 15...Qa5 16.Ne4+ Kh7 17.Nf6+ gxf6 18.Qh4+ draw
a2/ 15...Ne4 16.Nxe4+ Kh7 17.00 with white advantage
a3/ 15...Re8 16.Nxe6+ Kf6 17.Bg5+ Kxe6 18.Bxd8 Kd7+ 19.Kf1 with complicated play
a4/ 15...Kf6 16.Nh7+ Ke7 17.Qxg7 followed by
a41/ 17...Kd6 18.Bg5 f6 19.Nxf6 with small white advantage
a42/ 17...Ne4 18.00 with white advantage

b/ 13...g6 14.Ng5 Kg7 (forced) 15.00

b1/ 15...f5 16.Qh4 followed by
b11/ 16...Ne2+ 17.Kh1 Nxc1 18.Rf3!! with white advantage
b12/ 16...Rf6 17.Rf3 with white advantage
b13/ 16...Qf6 17.Nxe6+ with white winning

c/ 13...d3 14.Ng5 with a very difficult position

14...f6 All other moves loose quickly 15.00 and black's only chance consists of the odd looking 15...Nd1 16.Rxd1 fxg5 17.Rxd3 Nd7 18.Qc2 with equal game.

d/ 13...Nd7 14.00 with an equal position

e/ 13...Nc6 14.Ng5 f6 15.Qh4 fxg5 16.Qh5 Rf6 17.Bg6+ Kg8 18.Bxg5 with white advantage

There are sure other moves to be considered, such as 13...e5, but I guess you 've got the idea - there are different openings than the Blackmar Diemer that result in aggresive kingside attacks, But then again, they are closely related as they often have the same ideas in common.

Diemer Duhm Gambit

I blitzed an interesting Diemer-Duhm this morning - lucky I knew the DDG theory up to move 13.

1.d4 d5 2.e4 e6 3.c4
I always try this against the French, even if it seems far weaker than the Blackmar Diemer lines

3...dxe4 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.f3
Diemer's pawn

5...Bb4
A strong move by black - often called the refutation of the Diemer Duhm

6.a3 Bxc3 7.bxc3 00 8.fxe4 Nxe4 9.Nf3
White seems to have less than nothing for the pawn - but now white's preparation comes in handy.

9...c5 10.Bd3 Nxc3
10...f5 was the other good option

11.Qc2 cxd4 12.Bxh7+ Kh8 13.Qf2
White unleashes a violent attack

13...Kxh8 14.Ng5+ Kg6 15.h4
My silicon assistant indicates that 15.Qg3 is better, eg 15...Kf6 16.Nh7+ Ke7 17.Qxg7 with a decisive attack.

15...f5 16.h5+ Kf6 17.h6 Rg8 18.hxg7 Rxg7 19.Rh6+ Ke7 20.Qh4 1-0

Obviously black's play was far from perfect after move 16, but I guess this game shows the tremendous attacking chances in the Diemer Duhm Gambit - but expert knowledge is certainly needed to be succesfull in these lines.