Combat Stories and King's Gambit

Great game! Thanks for posting it. After seeing four pawns in the center, which to me looks complicated, it reminded me of the Falkbeer Counter Gambit. I added that continuation, as well as the disastrous 3.fxe5!

The KG is full of peril. I wonder how well the KG will score at my local chess club?  After 1.e4 e5, most guys play 2.Nf3, and Black follows with 2...Nc6 or 2...d6. Surprisingly, the Philidor is popular at both my club and in the under 1200 pool at chess.com.

When I played in a 5 minute blitz tournament a few months back, my first opponent opened with the KG. I accepted the gambit pawn and lost in about ten moves!

My opponent defended with C31: King's Gambit Declined: Falkbeer counter-gambit. I know very little about this defense, so I played what made sense. Instead of grabbing pawns when I had the chance, which Fritz said I should have done, I focused on rapid development for an attack. Was I wrong?  I missed a few knock out tactics, so I will need to make a few flash cards to burn those patterns into my brain.

Anyway, it was fun and I won pretty quick with checkmate on move 23.

I’m glad you got a laugh!  No need to worry. My Silman’s middle game books are collecting dust at the moment.  His best book for beginners is the one on Endgames. That book taught me how to win a king and rook vs. king endgame. I need to go through it again to learn king and pawn endgames.  Those two types of endings alone are the most practical for me as a beginning chess player. Also a priority is doing 25 tactics puzzles a day using Tactics Trainer.

For the King’s Gambit, I just pulled from my huge chess library the following books:

1. The Art of Attack by Vladimir Vukovic – Edited and updated, with a preface by John Nunn, EVERYMAN CHESS. I would suggest that every beginning chess player buy this book, as there are many examples of how to attack the enemy king in the center. For the most part, beginners delay castling so they can attack faster. That’s the faulty thinking. So, learning how to attack the king in the center is extremely practical.

2. How To Beat Your Dad At Chess by Murray Chandler – Including  the 50 deadly checkmates. If I just took the time to master ALL 50 deadly checkmates, which I really should, then my rating would get a 100 point boost, at least. I flounder too often in the end, hunting for checkmate.

3. Chess Tactics for Kids by Murray Chandler  – 50 Tricky Tactics to outwit your opponent. Although Tactics Trainer has been helpful in spotting winning tactics, it doesn’t give me the repetition I need to recall all of those fundamental patterns in games. This book by Chandler will meet that need, and I need to do these 50 Tricky Tactics over and over again until they become instinctive.

I have several other books on tactics, organized by theme, that are equally good, but I need to exercise restraint, mastering one before going on to the next. As an example, Dan Hesiman has an excellent tactics book for beginners, Back To Basics: Tactics, and I have gone through a few chapters.

An unrated game against an improver

In post 43, my opponent met the King's Gambit with the Falkbeer Counter-Gambit. However, it became clear to me that he or she does not know this counter-gambit well, as I was able to win a tempo on Black's queen after 1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5(?!) 4.Nc3.

Here is the line that Black should have played according to GM Paul van der Sterren (FCO): 1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 (Falkbeer Counter-Gambit) 3.exd5 e4(!?) 4.d3 Nf6 5.dxe4 Nxe4.

White takes over the initiative if Black plays 4...Qxd5(?!): 1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 e4 4.d3 Qxd5(?!) 5.Qe2 Nf6 6.Nc3 Bb4 7.Bd2 Bxc3 8.Bxc3.

Can you just imagine two beginning chess players under 1200 making moves this clever, and with this much thought behind each one?

To the readers of this topic, especially the intermediate players, (not me!), I thought you might enjoy just a taste of GM Paul van der Sterren's outstanding comments in the diagram above, which can be found in his book, Fundamental Chess Openings (FCO).

As a beginner, I like the style of his writing, but can only appreciate 10% of what is said. At least I am learning a few of the many ideas behind the moves in the opening. It takes away some of the mystery of chess.

The only strong player that has played recently 3...e4 (the oldfashioned Falkbeer) is Karjakin. He lost against Short (not due to an opening failure).

Currently 3...ef4 and 3...c6 are much more fashionable (and probably stronger).

3...Qxd5 is not such a good move, of course (although recently the 2600+ rated Russian junior Maksim Matlakov played just that).

Thanks for KG game, post #46. Excellent smothered mate! Fritz saw 15.Ne4 as a dubious move. Was it your idea to set a smothered mate trap? It worked.

My first impression of 5...Nce7 was, yuck! Why retreat one's knight to a square that slows development, blocks pieces? Surprising to me, no other retreat squares were as good, according to Fritz, and that Black's best try was to counter attack with 5...g4, and Houdini, which gives me the most conservative pawn evaluations, shows the position as pretty much equal (= 0.10).

Big question: How do you know when to push a center pawn in the opening, and NOT develop a piece? In this game, if Black had no counter attack, then 5.d5 would be stronger, I would guess. Houdini shows 5.d5 as THE best move, with no move being a close second, so the idea to push that pawn was 100% correct.

Below are some engine continuations to satisfy my own curiosities. One idea I had in this game was to not play 4...g5, but 4...d6, opening a diagonal, followed with 5...Bg4, pinning White's knight, thus slowing down White's attack. Houdini doesn't see 4...d6 as good, but prefers 4...g5, 4...d5 and 4...Nf6. I am obviously missing a fundamental opening principle, which means it could be instructive, if someone could explain why 4...d6 is not a good move.

Was this a turn-based game? If so, I could last 40+ moves against you playing Black in the King's Gambit, no problem.

1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 c6

This move was proposed early in the 20th century by Aron Nimzowitsch, but never received full recognition until about 1985, when it suddenly became all the rage...Black is happy with his small lead in development that he enjoys after 4.dxc6 Nxc6 or 4.Qe2 cxd5 5.Qxe5+ Be7 (when 6.Qxg7?? loses the queen to 6...Bf6 7.Qg3 Bh4). 

3...c6 is one of the main replies to the King's Gambit. It is a more modern interpretation of the Falkbeer than 3...e4, and closely related to the Modern Variation (2...exf4 3.Nf3 d5). 

A fourth option (and a perfectly valid one) is to play 3...exf4. After 4.Nf3 this leads to the Modern Variation. The point of this move order is that Black avoids the Bishop's Gambit (3.Bc4). - Paul van der Sterren (FCO)

---

I own the MCO, but for beginners like myself, the FCO is much better, as explanations are given for moves and variations, along with a nice chunk of chess history, which I happen to enjoy.

Ever Try the Bishop's Gambit, It is the way the opening was meant to be played

Taking a look at King's Gambit groups, I figured out that it would be helpful to view KG games played close to my rating. It's perfect, in that I am seeing the same kinds of odd non-book moves by Black. Now, when the moves are not book, especially in the King's Gambit, a tactic is likely lurking in the shadows, and usually missed!

Here is one example.

Here's an example of an odd move by Black in one of my games, attempting to hang onto the pawn at f4 with a bishop. Having a bishop babysitting a pawn while blocking a center pawn from being pushed into the center...it's a bad move. How will Black complete his development in a timely manner? It isn't going to happen.

I've heard that it can work for White, but I forget the plan of attack. White's king loses castling rights, so the rook at h1 can't go to the semi-open f-file, thumping f7. What is the role of the h1-rook in the Bishop's Gambit? If anything, I will learn more attacking ideas in the King's Gambit.

Three logical looking moves by Black in the Bishop's Gambit that resulted in a loss.

16...Qxe7? - A basic recapture.

20...Re8? - Defending a passed pawn, with the idea of e6, exNd2.

21...exd2?? - Winning a knight, threatening pawn takes rook.

Thanks for KG game, post #46. Excellent smothered mate! Fritz saw 15.Ne4 as a dubious move. Was it your idea to set a smothered mate trap? It worked.

If you look at the position, I'm actually threatening checkmate after Ne4. Not so much a trap as a direct threat. Plenty of room for Black to go wrong.

Big question: How do you know when to push a center pawn in the opening, and NOT develop a piece?

Experience and pattern recognition. Normally, you'd want to keep the pawns on e4 and d4 to retain fluidity and hence threats. Pushing a pawn onto the fifth rank early, usually means that the central pawns become fixed, something Black would enjoy because he can:

1. Work in the "holes"

2. Undermine the supporting pawn.

In this case I played d5 for a variety of reasons:

1. I wanted to embarrass his Knight.

2. I wanted to get in d5 before he did.... which would fix my pawns, probably on d4 and e5.... then I'm struggling for a pawn break to stir things up.

I am obviously missing a fundamental opening principle, which means it could be instructive, if someone could explain why 4...d6 is not a good move.

Bad timing, play the Bishop to c5 first: controlling a fantastic diagonal (g1-a7), then play d6. 

Was this a turn-based game?

Yes, turn-based, finished in under two hours. 

If so, I could last 40+ moves against you playing Black in the King's Gambit, no problem.

Talk is cheap, bring it.

Well, the play behind it is to get your pieces out rapidly, I mean if you were going to castle, you may as well play the Italian game and Ruy Lopez.

I only play the Bishops Gambit. plus for how to play it just look at adolf anderssen

Ok, castling would be great, but white can be rather happy with his huge lead in development, his unchallenged centre and the exposed position of black's wandering queen. 3...Qh4+ is a perfectly ok defence if supported by very good defensive skills and the right amount of theory, but in practice for the average player it's a nightmare to play the position as black. In a world where everyone plays 2...exfx4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ i would definitely be a KG player. In a world where 2...d5 is possible i have some hexitations.

That is why I always play the KG against my friends at school, because they always accept, and then Go for the "obvious" Queen check

I'm not an expert or anything...but not even Bc4 is stopping d5. Black playing d5 is pretty much inevitable.

yes, but the difference is not small: 3...d5 is not necessarily a trasposition since it can be met with 3.Bxd5 which is more appealing to me.

I am seeing mostly non-book moves from my opponents, and this is one of them with 1.e4 e5 2.f4 Qh4+ (?!).  The move 3.g3 looked forced, and it drove the queen away, but the wheels came off a few moves down the road when I tried what looked like a clever combination starting with 8.Bxf7+ (?????).

Should I take up checkers?

Thanks for the tips. You definitely understand this game.

O.K.  Just so that you have the best chance of beating me in UNDER 40 moves, I'll let you pick White or Black, KG Accepted or Declined.

When I say beat me, I don't mean checkmate in under 40 moves. I don't even think that GM's can do that to me, in Turn-Based.

Simply destroy my position in UNDER 40 moves. Winning 2-3 pieces is not necessary. Bagging any single piece of mine will suffice.

Oh, one last thing. I own the MCO, so taking me down some book line for 25 moves will only give you 15 moves to trick me into making a mistake.

---

Now, don't get too confident after looking at my loss from #62. That was my absolute worst game ever on the internet, and I blame it all on indigestion.