How to play against Budapest Gambit

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Interesting game #368. I thought that 16. Ncd2 kept things more solid. I was slightly surprised you didn't play it because he obviously wanted to take advantage of your lack of control of the centre squares after Q x a1, instead of waiting for another move to lose his queen, so that was a hint.  From d2, the N can proceed to b3 and thence to  d4.

I'm really frustrated. The analysis I saved on this site for that game is no longer available. I get an "Improper Saved Analysis" message. 

I did look at 16.Ncd2, and it does look ok, but I wanted to leave the N hitting d6. I thought that would slow down any shots he may have been thinking of. I was clearly wrong on that count. GM Lagarde found a nice way to attack anyway. 

The best chess engines are very strong but Centaur Chess [played by strong players with strong chess engine as now played in ICCF Correspondence] is even stronger.

Some day the best chess engines might catch up with Centaur Chess?

Then we will be seeing even more draws in ICCF Corrspondence Chess.

[and maybe this will be the end of ICCF Correspondence Chess?!]

Even recently I have viewed cross table where the winners had something like

2 wins and 10 draws and and the players at the bottom of the crosstable had 2 losses and 10 draws!!

interesting fact...

What kind of position is that?

You are queen for rook up.

16. Rc1 is wrong, unnecessarily weakens the f2-square.

Why not 16. Nd4 straight, trading down heavily?

Really boring and disgusting.

That is why the trust in correspondence players is low.

I mean the link between their ICCF and OTB elos.

They are doing the same thing and using basicallt the same state-of-the-art hardware and software, how do you want that result are different?

SF, Houdini and Komodo and Dual Xeons - the output will be identical, naturally.

I just thought Nd2 was the strongest move in that position. As you say, white is winning. White doesn't need to win it quickly. I spotted some of the tactics, and in that position, white has no need to calculate it all. Just play solid.

The point is that in practical play, white forces black to do all the thinking and it still isn't enough. In practice, if white plays Nd2 then black has to think for a quarter of an hour in an otb game. Black plays a few moves and then probably resigns.

16.Nd4 doesn't trade down heavily, at least not immediately. Black just plays Bd5, and keeps the pieces on. Objectively, 16.Rc1 is just as good as 16.Nd4. Practically speaking, perhaps I should have paid more attention to his attacks on f2 and h3, but my idea of active defense by attacking the c-file and harassing his minor pieces was just as good. It did allow some fireworks though. For the record, 16.Rc1 did lead to some massive trades, but he found a way to keep the game alive longer than I expected by sacking material instead of trading it.

I believe that almost any sequence would have allowed fireworks when Black is a creative and strong GM.

Come on - 16. Nd4 DOES attack 2 enemy pieces, forcing a trade.

16. Rc1 attacks nothing and consequently forces no trade.

Besides, Nd4 weakens nothing.

I best this might be SF's first line too.

What does it pick?

Of course, 21. Ncxd6 was a howler - why sac a piece here?

Oops, I forgot to say that on your suggested 16...Bd5, white simply captures on c6(here is your trade) and then plays Nd2 or Na5. One way or another, even here the best place for a white knight is at d4.

Let's not lose perspective.

My move won, and only an extremely creative GM was able to find any counterplay at all after my move. I'm not claiming my move was objectively best.

In fact, the engine jockeys don't appreciate how hard it is to come up with the toughest resistance.

Probably not. No, definitely not. But I still think you made it difficult for yourself by ignoring black's attack possibilities down the centre.

guys honestly engine analysis is completely nonsense to me..... As it's the most extreme line of play.. 

I don't have a chess engine.

Yeah, you are won after 16. Rc1 too, and also after the sac on d6.

It's queen for rook plus pawn.

Indeed, I can only acknowledge the game was very diverse, imbalanced and generally difficult to play for a human, especially under competitive conditions.

My points were analytical.

...

With this avatar, you look much much less like a ghostess...