Ten Tricky Traps in the Tennison

In this post, I continue my search for openings whose practical value deviates as much as possible from the theoretical minimax. I'm also helping you flesh out an ultra-aggressive but offbeat opening repertoire for White. As you'll know from my previous posts I like to play the Halloween Gambit but frequently Black avoids this with the Sicilian or Scandinavian. The latter I find to be particularly annoying because so many Black players employ it.

Have you ever been annoyed by the sequence 1.e4 2. Nf3 (pre-move, expecting ..e5 or ..c5 etc) 1..d5!? 2..de   When this happens you are playing the Tennison Gambit by accident. But is that so bad? I think it is less sound than most gambits ultimately, but let's let the statistics decide. Here's my last outing:

I want to point out that 3.Ng5 is an immediate trap in the sense that 3...f5 is so bad. For example: 

Alternatively, e5 and Qd4 look menacing, but the calm d3 puts an end to Black's fun. 

Here's a real game establishing that 3.Ng5 counts as our first trap, purely because ..f5 is sort of tempting yet quickly ruinous.

Next, we move on the the various ..h6 traps. In this opening White should always, always check whether h6 truly dislodges the knight or just sets up a debarcle for Black. I'm not suggesting that this will ever happen

but I think we count it. That's because it did happen, sort of. This is the mirror image of the shortest recorded master game I've ever seen. I recall seeing it in a book of miniatures years ago - it is hard to forget - but I don't know who the players were.  If anyone has the reference I'd appreciate it. 

It's so good you really have to give Black a second chance to fall for it, right? 

Okay, that's two and a half traps thus far. Too bad Nd7 is so unnatural, but here are some much more likely sequences from Black that, I hope, help illustrate why this is such a great bullet opening.  

Oops. The count is 3.5 tricky Tennison traps. Don't assume you won't clean up with this. Indeed, I've been having so much fun with the Tennison I've started playing the Reti opening. Here's a recent game in which I spent 4 seconds on my clock in total. 

And here's another quickie:

to bring us to 4.5. Now the next sequence isn't quite as deadly, but leaves White with a vastly superior end game that you should be able to convert. 

The 6.5'th trap might seem too obvious, but Black isn't' used to playing with a Queen on c8, and look how natural the moves are. 

I think the fianchetto might be a tad slow! Notice the Qc4 punch. Oh and if Black doesn't fall for it the first time, then we try again to lure the bishop to g5. Make that 7 traps. Black is lost in any case, brought down by a bad case of weak-dark-square-itis. 

Now, for the eight trap, here's a deeply satisfying one for those of you who pre-move more than you should, and have had your queen pinched by a cheeky ..Bg4. Ooohhhh I hate it when they pull that one off! Well, this time you can punish them for what they think is a shot-to-nothing. 

Boom! The ..Bg4 move is rather tempting in these kinds of positions, so you might also see it here:

This counts as trap nine. Notice that here Black hasn't lost material but he might as well be down a whole rook or more. That bishop on f8 and rook on h8 aren't going anywhere.

As an aside, it seems that if Black picks up the c8 bishop something bad is going to happen. For instance, even the calm ..Bd7 in the e5 line (to avoid the Bb5+ or Qh5 traps) leads to trouble if White plays the stutter-step Bc4. This leads to a slight advantage due to the awkward position of Black's knight on h6, and it is usually possible to create some weaknesses for Black. More importantly, there is ample opportunity for Black to stumble along the way. Notice the tenth trap in here...

Okay, so should you play the Tennison? I'm not as in love with it as I am the Halloween Gambit. If Black avoids the traps then some advantage is possible, almost inevitable.  However, I think you'll find that White gets a reasonable position - and hopefully a few seconds on the clock as well. This might be typical. 

As Black, I would try to play for the knight sac on g4 as this turns the tables on White. You also have to be careful about ..f5 threatening ..e4 if you retreat.

I promised you ten traps, but maybe you'll quibble with one or two so here's a bonus and, I think, a better line to try than retreating the knight to f3. After all, if you are going to do that and grovel for equality, why play the gambit in the first place? Instead, I recommend something that I'm not sure is played but it looks pretty okay. The idea is to play h4 !? intending Qh5 in response to ..h6. This is a very forcing line where Black - so that player can't possibly gain time on you. And if too materialistic, Black will leave his King too exposed. 

As noted in the sidelines here, Black can find a timely ..Bg4! and gain an advantage, but that isn't the easiest in-between move to spot - certainly not in bullet. And even then, the endgame after exchange of queens is good for Black but not lost by any means.

Also, White doesn't have to take the draw by repetition if a fight is preferable. There is some life in this line and Black is mistaken to push his central pawns too soon. 

As you can see, the Tennison can be a bit of fun.