Vienna Game Main Line | Heyde Variation!
#vienna #viennagambit #mainline #bardeleben #heyde
This video is for Vienna Game and Vienna Gambit fans, and I'm going to take you further down the rabbit hole! I've a series of videos for the player with both the White and Black pieces:
- [White] How to Play the Vienna Gambit - A Complete Guide for Beginners: https://www.chess.com/blog/vitualis/how-to-play-the-vienna-gambit-a-complete-guide-for-beginners
The Vienna Gambit is full of win, but against the clever player with the Black pieces who knows (3... d5):
- [White] Introduction to the Vienna Game Main Line: https://www.chess.com/blog/vitualis/introduction-to-the-vienna-game-main-line
However, we can also take advantage of this knowledge for evil (with the black pieces!) and potentially punish White using the Bardeleben Variation in the Main Line:
- [Black] Vienna Game Main Line | WIN WITH BLACK against the Paulsen Attack!: https://www.chess.com/blog/vitualis/vienna-game-main-line-win-with-black-against-the-paulsen-attack
- [Black] Bardeleben Variation | CRUSH the Vienna Gambit!: https://www.chess.com/blog/vitualis/bardeleben-variation-crush-the-vienna-gambit
This video and game will be a potential approach when faced with the Bardeleben Variation of the Vienna Game Main Line. I'm going to introduce the Heyde Variation (1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5 4. fxe5 Nxe4 5. Qf3 f5 6. d4)!
This is an interesting option. While according to Stockfish, it isn't as good as (6. d3), in practice I find it easier to play as White.
The conceptual idea is that the pawn on e5 is an important resource for us. The aggressive stance of f5 in the Bardeleben Variation instantly makes our pawn a passed pawn. It is also important for central control, and at the moment, it's pretty tenuous. As can be seen in some of my other games where I played as Black and used the Bardeleben Variation, White had difficulty holding onto the e-pawn, and if it collapses, Black has an extremely strong attack down the centre.
The optimal next move for Black is (6... Be7) and our next few moves becomes relatively straightforward. We guard the g3 square with a knight developing move (7. Nge2) as our dark square diagonal to the king is open to attack. We develop our dark square bishop next (8. Be3) and then the king can be castled queenside and out of danger (9. O-O-O).
In this game, my opponent played an entirely reasonable move 6 (6... Nc6), but this was already suboptimal according to Stockfish, equalising the position [0.00]. I pin their knight (7. Bb5) and after the reasonable attempt to unpin with development (7... Bd7), and inaccuracy, I'm now ahead [+0.6]. Why? In trading my bishop for the knight places the bishop on the wrong square (8. Bxc6 Bxc6) as it no longer defends their "Bardeleben" pawn on f5, creating a target.
Now, although the f5 pawn looks hanging, it would be a massive mistake to immediately capture it with the queen. The king is much too exposed with the open dark square diagonal. So, I developed my knight to cover g3 (9. Nge2) and then opted to castle kingside (10. O-O), creating a nice battery down the f-file. Black castled the opposite side, which was a mistake as now, I can win the Bardeleben pawn with my queen, and force an immediate queen trade as the Black queen is pinned to the castled king, with my rook controlling the f-file (11. Qxf5 Qxf5 12. Rxf5).
With that, White has managed to navigate the opening, has no odd pawn structures (that often occurs with the Bardeleben Variation, 6. d3), and taken an advantage in the early middle game [+1]. This is a good outcome as the Vienna Game Main Line, especially the Bardeleben Variation, gives excellent tactical attacking lines for Black.
My opponent unfortunately blunders their knight on move 13, cleanly hanging it with no compensation. Bishops are long-range snipers so keep an eye on those diagonals! This was a [+10] advantage, and the remainder of the game was simple clean up. Black played well, but couldn't marshal a counterattack in the position. GG!
Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/daily/498962979
