---

A few days ago in the video, “The Venomous Vienna: Part 5“, I pointed out the path of the f-pawn in that game. Yesterday, I played another game of the Vienna Gambit where the opponent played a very similar response. They declined the gambit with d6, and then developed their other knight to c6. Very interestingly, my f-pawn followed the same meandering path, capturing their way to the g7 square where it locks the opponent rook in place by threat of promotion. This seems to be a potentially powerful tactic, and if you are playing with the black pieces, it’s important to beware of the manoeuvres of this pawn!

I’ve described in a number of games of the Vienna Gambit now that d6 simply isn’t the best response to the Vienna Gambit. If faced with the Vienna Gambit, d5 is the only move that doesn’t immediately give an advantage to white, and indeed, d5 enters the main line of the Vienna Game. I hope you found this video interesting, and thanks for watching!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/live/39169748897

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2022.02.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "vitualis"]
[Black "9f65ouw5"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C28"]
[WhiteElo "1318"]
[BlackElo "1303"]
[TimeControl "1800"]
[EndTime "0:21:07 PST"]
[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d6 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. d4 Bg4 6. dxe5 dxe5 7. Qxd8+ Rxd8 8. fxe5 Bxf3 9. exf6 Bh5 10. Bb5 Bb4 11. fxg7 Rg8 12. Bxc6+ bxc6 13. Bh6 Kd7 14. O-O Rde8 15. a3 Bxc3 16. bxc3 Rxe4 17. Rae1 Rxe1 18. Rxe1 Rb8 19. Kf2 Bg6 20. Rd1+ Ke6 21. Bg5 Bxc2 22. Rd8 1-0