Analyze with KIMPLODES! An Evans Gambit Game & Puzzles

An Evans Gambit game analyzed using KIMPLODES!, a human-oriented approach to analysis. [Links providing broad information regarding KIMPLODES! are found at the bottom of the post.]

INTRODUCTIONS!
Gentlepersons, chess connoisseurs, novitiates and masters of the 64 squares, and simple spectators! Let me introduce today's contestants!!

The Players
On your left, playing as White, we have Baron Ignaz Kolisch. Born in 1837, he played quite actively from 1857 until 1872. By the 1870s he had made a fortune in banking and became a sponsor of tournaments throughout the 1870s and 1880s. A very strong player he barely lost a match to Anderssen in 1861 by the score of 5-4. He also drew a match with Louis Paulsen that same year. And he won the 1867 Paris tournament, beating Steinitz along the way. Well known for his lively attacking style you are about to witness one of his finest efforts against one of history's best-known attacking masters.

On your right, handling the black pieces, we welcome Adolf Anderssen! A German chess master born in 1818, he was considered the world's leading chess player from 1851 to 1858, when he lost a match to Paul Morphy. Known best for phenomenal sacrifices, his play is forever enshrined in the pantheon of chess brilliancies, beginning with his scintillating play in the 1851 Immortal Game and the 1852 Evergreen Game. Gather around today to witness a game where the shoe was on the other foot!

The Opening
Having met the players, let's lay the groundwork for the battle you'll experience below. White played the Evans Gambit, a spicy way to liven up the Italian game. The Evans Gambit is named after the Welsh sea captain and chess player Captain William Davies Evans. The first example I found was in 1826 when the good seafarer played the gambit against none other than Alexander McDonnell, an Irish master who died too young, at age 37 from Bright's disease. We should also note that McDonnell introduced a variation of the King's Gambit that bears his name.

Time for a quick tour of the first few moves of our tableaux of interest.

What's the point of the Evan's Gambit? White wants to create a broad center and perhaps develop an early initiative by giving up some material. And yes, it still receives some attention at the top levels: Carlsen, Caruana, Grischuk, Mamedyarov, Morozevich, Vachier Lagrave, and the list goes on and on. Generally, in blitz or rapid games. But Nakamura played it against Anand at a standard time control in 2014. A game I spent considerable time analyzing on my own.

The Game
To the contest! Plenty of KIMPLODES! analysis. And if you're just here for the spectacular moves, then enjoy that😊. It's a blast🧨.

For those desirous of testing your short-term memory of analytic lines, you can find nearly a double fistful of puzzles below.

Let the puzzles begin!
Puzzle 1: What is White's only move to retain a slight edge after Black boldly grabbed a third pawn. All you are asked to do here is channel Paul Morphy's Opera House game (cf. the first game in Analyze with KIMPLODES! Two games, 12 puzzles) and focus on maintaining an initiative.

Lessons learned or revisited:
A. Initiative: Threats that target the f7 square are common in e4 openings, particularly if White gambits a pawn and then seeks a quick return on their investment.
B. Along with increasing the pressure on f7, White's queen also exerts pressure against the b7 pawn along the half-open b-file.

Puzzle 2: In the game, White offered another pawn on a platter by pushing to e5. Invigorating but there was an equally good or better move available to maintain the initiative. What was that alternative approach?

Lessons learned or revisited:
By continually creating new threats White's lead in development continues to expand. At the end of the problem, we find Black with five pieces still on their original squares.

Puzzle 3: In the game, Black played the somewhat inaccurate ...b5, perhaps believing the half-open b-file offered sufficient counterplay to justify some material. But that was an erroneous belief, even if made in the correct spirit. How should Black have continued?

Lessons learned or revisited:
If you are the recipient of a sacrificed pawn in the opening phase, then always offer extra consideration to moves that emphasize development. And if a move both develops a piece from its initial square and allows the king to consider castling on the next move then that may be all the incentive you need to choose that move over other safe options that do not offer two values for the price of one move.

Puzzle 4: In the game, Black sought counterplay with ...Nf5. What was the best move? Spoiler alert: The trailer (i.e., the notes after the puzzle is solved) is incredible!! But too difficult for a puzzle in my estimation.

Lessons learned or revisited:
A. King safety and Initiative: Black needed to observe that an active defense was possible if the king was first shuffled to safety.
B. Spilt milk is spoiled milk. Even the best move may not always save the game. That said, ensuring the safety of your king is sometimes just enough to tilt the battlefield. After all, what are the odds that your opponent will always find the required brilliant refutation to your straightforward efforts?

Puzzle 5: Castling was the safe move for Black. Instead Black chose ...Nf5, preparing attacks against the white kingside. Apparently, chess royalty in the Romantic era did not believe in cowardly behavior such as castling. "If my king is in danger, I shall attack yours!" Perhaps an apt battle cry on an actual field of battle. What would have been White's best response?

Lessons learned or revisited:
Sacrificing material to open central lines when the enemy monarch lingers in the center is like printing your own money. And opening lines is likely to pay off better than minting your own coinage...well, if you get caught at the latter it certainly will earn you something. Perhaps a sentence to a small room with a disreputable roommate, and two sentences in a local paper.

Puzzle 6: Black just opened the e-file with the king still in the center. But taking advantage is not quite as easy as 1-2-3. Can you find the best moves that gain a decisive material advantage?

Lessons learned or revisited:
Precise calculation skills are necessary to initiate play such as seen in this game. At one point White's material deficit was a piece and three pawns. Any miscalculation could have easily shifted the odds in Black's favor.

Puzzle 7: Black is in dire straits here. How can they restore chances to their position? (Even if the odds remain in White's favor.)

Lessons learned or revisited:
Sometimes undevelopment is necessary for a successful defense. By returning the b8-rook to its origin square Black could open a spot for the king.

Puzzle 8: In the game White chose to bring another friend to the party and delivered a thumping check by placing the rook on d1. How could Black have refuted White's play?

Lessons learned or revisited:
A. Lines: Opening lines in the center is often the key that unlocks multiple doors to success. White's first move should have been to push the pawn to crack open the center.
B. To repeat the lesson from puzzle 7, sometimes undevelopment is necessary for a successful defense. By returning the b8-rook to its origin square Black could open a spot for the king.

Related links:

For a slightly deeper summary of KIMPLODES! concepts than offered below you can click here.  If you want a full blog on a specific topic, for example, E=Energy (a particularly complex topic, skip it unless you want to reach FM), click the relevant link below.

Analyses of some specific games:
Analyze with KIMPLODES! Two games, 12 puzzles 
Analyze with KIMPLODES! Early Black Pawn Sac Philidor's Defense