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This is part 5 of the Venomous Vienna series of videos and I have another game that shows the power of the the Vienna Gambit at the beginner-intermediate level. The Vienna Gambit is my favourite opening when playing with the white pieces. For the opponent responding with the black pieces, one misstep can result in a devastating disadvantage, as was the case in this game. As per the subtitle of this video, pay attention to the f-pawn! Perhaps it’s just me, but I like to imagine a narrative around the game and the f-pawn has a remarkable “career” in this match.

After the opponent declined the Vienna Gambit with d6, I knew that using the gambit pawn on f4 to capture the opponent’s pawn on e5 was not the most optimal move. However, this was a gamble as I was creating extra threats. In essence, the threat of the Vienna Gambit is that effectively, if you refuse the gambit pawn, I’ll force the issue by capturing your pawn and thus, taking control of the centre. In essence, this trade is unavoidable for black, and actually isn’t bad for them. However, my opponent’s focus on protecting their e-pawn missed the fact that their knight was also being attacked. In the end, the f-pawn was the MVP of this game – surviving a series of aggressive and ostensibly sacrificial manoeuvres and eventually promoted to queen! With risk comes opportunity!

I hope you found this video interesting, and thanks for watching!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/daily/386599763

[Event "Let\\'s Play!"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2022.02.18"]
[Round "?"]
[White "vitualis"]
[Black "GavinGBegbie"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C28"]
[WhiteElo "1065"]
[BlackElo "892"]
[TimeControl "1/259200"]
[EndDate "2022.02.19"]
[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d6 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. fxe5 d5 6. exf6 d4 7. Nd5 Nb4 8. c4 c6 9. Nxb4 Bxb4 10. fxg7 Rg8 11. a3 Ba5 12. c5 Bc7 13. d3 b6 14. Qd2 bxc5 15. Qh6 Ba5+ 16. Kf2 Kd7 17. Ne5+ Kc7 18. Nxc6 Qd7 19. Nxa5 Qa4 20. Bf4+ Kd8 21. Qd6+ Bd7 22. Qf8+ Rxf8 23. gxf8=Q+ Be8 24. Nb7+ 1-0