Vienna Game Main Line | My Opponent is a Frog!

This was a rather fun game against one of my subscribers who like me, loves the Vienna Game! I'd previously lost a match against them in the Vienna Game Main Line, mostly by playing overly aggressive moves in the opening.  So, this was a rematch to regain my dignity!

I had the Black pieces, and we entered the Vienna Game: Main Line (1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5 4. fxe5 Nxe4 5. d3).  The Main Line, in a certain sense, is the Achilles' heel of the Vienna as Black has no disadvantage, is objectively better (at around [-0.2] according to Stockfish 15.1 NNUE at reasonably high depth) and gets some good attacking chances.

White played the Modern Variation (5. d3) which is entirely fine but is probably not the easiest to play. The Paulsen Attack (5. Qf3) would be my recommendation. The problem with the Modern Variation is that Black has an obvious way of immediately simplifying the tension in the centre in a way that is good [-0.9] - exchange knights and damage White's queenside pawn structure (5... Nxc3 6. bxc3).  White does get some compensation in that they potentially control the centre with their pawns.

As we move into the middle game, I actually make a few mistakes such that White is ahead at almost [+3].  However, this was somewhat theoretical as White didn't see the error and the tactic. Later in the middle game, I managed to set a trap for White.  It was successful - the apparent hanging pawn on f7 was poisoned as the fully opened f-file allowed me to pin White's greedy bishop to the king, and it was lost (16. Bxf7 Rhf8).

With the trap sprung, the evaluation dropped to [-7].  A few moves later, I had infiltrated with both of my rooks onto the second rank and White resigned.  GG!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/daily/466921471