Damiano Defense (C40) A Very Weak Defense

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dandaman1982

Okay this might shed some light on my last topic.The Damiano Defense and why it is so very unpopular.Here are a couple of my games as examples.The defense starts as 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6??.Why the questions marks.Just sit back and you'll see why.

Had to edit this but the last game is between me and YKNIT January Chess Tournament Round 1 01/19/2009 ratings were 1361-1221.I know your saying why are you playing someone with a lower rating,answer is that this my first tournament and second my rating wasn't that high when I registered for it.And third the guy that i played before was around 1300 too so why did he play such a weak defense.Don't know ask him.White must remember never give black a moment to breath he must keep his attack as viscious as possible or he might be able come up with something to slow down the attack or stop it all together."Might"  being a serious understatement.

dandaman1982

Thank you would be in order.So Thank you .Your right the fxe5 is the real blunder.So my question really is.Is it used in top flight chess today?And if so could you make some recommendations as to where to look.My point about the f6 pawn push and Nxe5 is that white scores 86% of the time with it being a sacraficed piece or not.This is why I ask about recommendations on it how to better prepare for the person who actually plays like the two games you presented to me.Is there any book material on it?

Scarblac

Well, it's still not a good move, it's not used in top flight chess. It brings the queen out too early, and ...f6 weakens squares around the king.

Chigorin was a top player, he could sometimes draw being a queen down for two pieces... But for general purposes, Black was dead lost after 9...Qg6.

So play like Schiffers :-)

shovingwood

With the games I have just seen, I think Black may be able to hang on after 3.Ne5 Qe7. I think even stronger is 3.Bc4 which could leave Black's king struggling in the centre for some time.

TheOldReb

After 2...f6? Chess Assistant has 4 white moves all scoring over 80% for white !!  They are : Nxe5, d4, Nc3 and Bc4 . For me thats plenty reason not to play it. If you want to protect e5 with a pawn just play 2...d6 , its much better than 2... f6

likesforests

The Damiano is not played at the master level. It does fine as a surprise at the class A level and below because many amateurs only remember 3.Nxe5 fxe5 4.Qxe5 and after that they flounder over-the-board and ultimately end up down a piece.

(Obviously, make sure your opponents don't know you plan to play this!)

Kupov

ilikeforests who would ever play like that?

Edit...wow that is a 1900 rated player? I never memorized anything for the domaino defence, I was reading capablancas book a premier of chess and he said that f6 was fatal. I initially did not understand so I set up my board to see why it was fatal, after forcing a checkmate on myself (by avoiding rook loss with g6) I had figured out why, a few games with people who played f6 proved it to me, after accepting the knight sacrifice the game is over for black.

likesforests

See above. The names of two class A players are in the game. This was the World Open... both players would've taken the game seriously.

Edit: Kupov, of course, both players above know 2...f6 is fatal.

Sam says, "But you can't prove it over-the-board with the clock ticking?"

Michael says, "Darn right I can! Take this! And that! And... uhoh... noOOO!" Tongue out

Sam has repeated this experiment many, many times.

Kupov

I could have played the correct line without memorizing anything, it is an extremely easy line to follow, you see a check and you give a check.

likesforests

Here's a game where he played a 2200 USCF who uses this site. Sam was headed for a draw, but he overpressed on move 35 and Jim found a clever way to score.

likesforests

Kupov> it is an extremely easy line to follow, you see a check and you give a check...

Actually, no. If you go check-check-check you don't win against best defense. The winning move is a quiet move--not a check and not a capture. Think about it for a second, you sometimes hang a piece in correspondence chess, while 1950s and 2200s rarely hang a piece or fall for a basic tactic with the clock ticking. It must not be quite so easy.

Of course, when someone plays the Damiano by accident, often the case and probably so with YKNIT, it can be as simple as check-check-check mate.

Well-played by dandaman. :)

likesforests

Puzzle:  Can you refute the Damiano without making any mistakes?

dandaman1982

Pretty cool,but I really don't expect to see it as well played as the examples that everyone has left in the lower ranks.But I do thank you, everyone for the insight on how to refute such an attack the information that I have gained from this will be very useful if I happen to come across such play.Again THANK YOU!!! this has helped immensley if you have anything else that might be of use please let me know.

mq1982

I've stuck a PDF of this on the resources-->downloads page.

OR get it from www.michael-quigley.com under "Chess PDFs" or see at www.chesspodcasts.blogspot.com podcast number 19!

:-)