Freestyle Chess Disasters!
Have you ever lost a chess game in one move? Probably not. Unless you're playing provocatively, you're unlikely to lose material or get mated early on in standard chess. However, in Freestyle Chess (Chess 960), even master-level players have resigned after losing material on the very first move!
That game wasn't unique. In another world championship event, another strong player dropped material on move one in a similar way.
A key feature of Freestyle Chess decided both of these games. Unlike in regular chess, there's no guarantee that every pawn will be defended in the starting position! Some other themes that lead to quick knockouts in Freestyle are deadly diagonals, trapped queens, and unusual checkmate patterns. Let's examine how each of these tricks can help you win miniatures, even against the best players in the world!
Deadly Diagonals
One of the most common opening blunders in Freestyle Chess involves missing an open diagonal that simply lets a bishop or queen in to checkmate or capture a piece. In the following game, a grandmaster allowed checkmate in the first five moves by leaving a diagonal to his king exposed.
The following is another game where an IM played by analogy to standard chess openings and allowed a forced mate by a bishop after three moves!
It's not only bishops that can attack on diagonals. GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda demonstrated a quick queen invasion to win a miniature against IM Marco Dobrikov in a recent Freestyle Friday.
Queen Traps
In both standard and Freestyle Chess, it's risky to develop your queen early because you might lose it. However, in Freestyle, even top players can't fall back on familiar patterns to tell when something is about to go wrong. Even world-class GMs like Maxime Vachier-Lagrave can lose their queen five moves into a game.
IM Levy Rozman, better known as Gothamchess, is not immune to early queen traps. Check out his recounting of a tough game against the world champion!
Shocking Checkmates
King safety is important in any chess game, but most experienced players can castle and protect their king out of the opening in nearly every game. In Freestyle, it's often more difficult to castle or even to remember how. Former world champion Magnus Carlsen might have forgotten those rules when he allowed GM Alexander Grischuk a seven-move knockout!
Carlsen's not the only player to fall victim to surprising mating ideas. See if you can spot the amazing sequence that secured a nice upset for WFM Emilia Sprzeczka against GM Andrew Tang.
Let's wrap up with one final miniature between GMs Christopher Yoo and Denis Lazavik. With pieces on unusual squares, it's easy for our typical sense of danger to misfire. See if you can find the punishment for Yoo's last move.
Remember, watch out for undefended pawns, open diagonals, queen traps, and quick mates in your own Freestyle games. These ideas might win you a short game or help you avoid disaster!
What differences have you noticed between Freestyle and standard chess? Let us know in the comments!
