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This game was against my long-standing subscriber @Bogo-IndianaJones, who is substantially high-rated than me in rapid. I think that they enjoy playing tricky opening gambits and attacks, which will result in a fun game!

In this game, they had the white pieces and played the Scotch Game with a very tricky and aggressive attack, (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Ng5!?), an unnamed gambit line! I’d actually previously covered this in Quick Wins #24 and had dubbed it the Macbeth Gambit and so unfortunately for my mate with White, I had analysed it before and knew that it could be hard to play against. 😏

For the uninitiated, this line is potentially REALLY good for White with the Lichess community database demonstrating that White wins 56% to Black 42%, despite the evaluation being [-1.6]. Moreover, the most accurate and most common responses by Black still give an even better win ratio (😲) as it locks Black down a path where they must play very accurately against a massive attack – not easy!

A historical note:
This is an extremely rarely played line in competitive chess as at the masters level, it simply isn’t good for White. Nonetheless, we don’t see it in recreational and lower stakes games by historical chess masters either, for instance, it being used in simuls. The only historical game in the massive LumbrasGigabase is (Johnston — Hosmer, 1871, Cleveland USA). The game was played in the 2^nd American Chess Congress. Johnston played the gambit and lost against Henry Hosmer (1837-1892), an American chess master who ultimately came second in the tournament.

The idea for White in the Macbeth Gambit is to sacrifice their knight by capturing Black’s f7-pawn, a bit like the Alien Gambit. In the position, the most common for Black (which according to the engine, is good) is (4… h6). However, White wins (72%) vs Back (27%) from the position, with the single most common line being (5. Nxf7 Kxf7 6. Bc4+ Ke8 7. Qh5+ Ke7 8. Qf7+ Kd6 9. Bf4+ Kc5 10. Qd5+ Kb6 11. Qb5#), having occurred around 90,000 times on Lichess! 😳

The most accurate response for Black according to the engine is (4… Be7), but White still wins the vast majority of games, in the way seen in Quick Wins #24. Simply, after (5. Nxf7 Kxf7 6. Bc4+ Ke8 7. Qh5+ g6 8. Qd5), White is winning down every single line with the single exception of (8… Bb4+), a move that is difficult to find!

The move to play, and what I played in this game was the (4… d5), which reverses the win ratio (White 36% vs Black 60%)! This move is rarely seen and is the eleventh most common move in the position! The logic is that with the pawn on d5, the centre is closed and White no longer has Bc4, which comes with check if the black king is on f7!

My mate with White responds with another tricky move (5. c3?!), inviting (5… dxc3 6. Nxc3), which would be good for them. However, I saw through this and there is no reason for me to open things up. Instead, with one of the light square diagonals to f7 closed with my d-pawn, White’s aggressive g5-knight has a nerfed attack and I want to draw them in – (5… h6 6. Nxf7? Kxf7)!

White’s plan was of course to sac their knight, draw my king to f7, and then to attack with Lady Macbeth (7. Qh5+). However, with the attack just doesn’t have enough “juice” and after (7… g6), everything is defended! White gives another check (8. Qf3+?!) but rather than deadly Macbeth Gambit, it’s giving Wayward Queen Attack vibes! White’s attacks with the queen are met with developing moves, with block check or win tempo on the queen.

On move 10, White’s (10. Qc3??) blunders the queen as Black has (10… Bb4!), pinning the queen to the king! If White captures the bishop with (11. Qxb4), Black then has (11… Nc2+) royal fork!

In the game, I didn’t actually see this beautiful tactic, but played something almost as good – (10… Nc6 11. exd5 Bb4)! Once again, Lady Macbeth is pinned to the king. Doomed, and having gone mad with emotional damage, White resigns the game. GG!

“Out, damned spot; out I say. One, two, — why, then ‘tis time to do’t. Hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier and afeard? What need we fear who knows it when none can call our power to account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?”

Lady Macbeth, in Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 1

Game: https://www.chess.com/game/daily/668489053

[Event "Let\\'s Play!"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2024.06.14"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Bogo-IndianaJones"]
[Black "vitualis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C45"]
[WhiteElo "1165"]
[BlackElo "1244"]
[TimeControl "1/259200"]
[EndDate "2024.06.15"]
[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.f52a0759.100x100o.671ef4f371ed@3x.png"]
[BlackCountry "17"]
[BlackTitle ""]
[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/61032262.19ac7f24.100x100o.18e2c4c2344c@3x.jpg"]
[WhiteCountry "69"]
[WhiteTitle ""]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Ng5 $5 {[%c_effect
g5;square;g5;type;Interesting;persistent;true] Scotch Game, and an unnamed
gambit, what I've previously dubbed the \"Macbeth Gambit\" in chess noob Quick
Wins #24 $1 Stockfish considers this a mistake [-1.6], but it's a very tricky line
that is surprisingly good $1 On the Lichess community database, White has a
massive win ratio of 56\% vs Black 42\% $1 The idea is to sacrifice the knight on
f7 and exposing Black's king to danger $1 Unexpected, it's clearly very effective
but I have seen and analysed this before...} 4... d5 {[%c_arrow
h7h6;keyPressed;shift;from;h7;opacity;0.8;to;h6;persistent;false,f8e7;keyPressed;shift;from;f8;opacity;0.8;to;e7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e7;persistent;false,h6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h6;persistent;false]
This is not the most accurate move [-1.6 $37 -1.4], but I would argue that it's
the easiest to play $1 Note: we've plugged the light square diagonal along f7 to
d5 and this closes the centre against a potential Bc4. In this position, we flip
the win ratio: White (36\%) vs Black (60\%). As this occurs only 2\% of the
time, it might leave the \"Macbeth Gambit\" player twisting in the wind $1 The
seemingly good moves (which are reasonably accurate) h6 (72\% vs 27\%) and Be7
(50\% vs 47\%), can be very difficult to play against $1} 5. c3 $6 {[%c_arrow
f1b5;keyPressed;none;from;f1;opacity;0.8;to;b5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
b5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b5;persistent;false][%c_effect
c3;square;c3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] This is inaccurate [-2.1], but
tricky. White is inviting dxc3 Nxc3 and that would be (very) good for them.
However, I don't need to capture $1} 5... h6 6. Nxf7 $2 {[%c_highlight
f7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f7;persistent;false,f3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f3;persistent;false][%c_arrow
g5f3;keyPressed;none;from;g5;opacity;0.8;to;f3;persistent;false][%c_effect
f7;square;f7;type;Mistake;persistent;true] White doubles-down and sacrifices
their knight [-3.6]. Black still needs to play carefully, but White doesn't have
enough \"juice\" in their attack and the foiling of it will not be especially
tricky with the centre still closed.} 6... Kxf7 7. Qh5+ {White brings out Lady
Macbeth...} 7... g6 {Note: that everything is defended $1} 8. Qf3+ $6 {[%c_arrow
h5d5;keyPressed;none;from;h5;opacity;0.8;to;d5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d5;persistent;false][%c_effect
f3;square;f3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] But Lady Macbeth is encumbered and
unsupported... [-5.1]} 8... Nf6 9. cxd4 Nxd4 {It's Macduff, leading the attack
against the Macbeths $1} 10. Qc3 $4 {[%c_effect
c3;square;c3;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_highlight
c3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c3;persistent;false,d1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d1;persistent;false][%c_arrow
f3d1;keyPressed;none;from;f3;opacity;0.8;to;d1;persistent;false] This hangs the
queen... [-6.4]} 10... Nc6 {[%c_arrow
f8b4;keyPressed;none;from;f8;opacity;0.8;to;b4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
b4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b4;persistent;false] ... though I didn't
see it in the game as I undercalculated $1 [-4.8] 😅} (10... Bb4 $1 {[%c_effect
b4;square;b4;type;GreatFind;persistent;true][%c_highlight
b4;keyPressed;alt;opacity;0.8;square;b4;persistent;false] This would have been
the best move...} 11. Qxb4 Nc2+ {[%c_arrow
c2e1;keyPressed;none;from;c2;opacity;0.8;to;e1;persistent;false,c2b4;keyPressed;none;from;c2;opacity;0.8;to;b4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e1;persistent;false,b4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b4;persistent;false]
Royal fork $1}) 11. exd5 {[%c_arrow
c3b3;keyPressed;none;from;c3;opacity;0.8;to;b3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
b3;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;b3;persistent;false]} 11... Bb4
{[%c_effect f7;square;f7;type;Winner,e1;square;e1;type;ResignWhite][%c_arrow
b4c3;keyPressed;none;from;b4;opacity;0.8;to;c3;persistent;false,c3e1;keyPressed;none;from;c3;opacity;0.8;to;e1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c3;persistent;false,e1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e1;persistent;false]
Pin, emotional damage, GG $1} 0-1