---

At the beginner-intermediate level, the Steinitz Variation is a brilliant response by Black against the otherwise very strong Scotch Game (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qh4). At the time of this video, I have NEVER lost a game against the Scotch with the Steinitz Variation with a record of 10 wins and 1 draw!

The killer black queen on h4 is difficult to counter by the unprepared Scotch player and the actual refutation is unlikely to be found by calculation in a rapid game alone. In practice, Black is close to being guaranteed to winning the e4 pawn, or, have a great position out of the opening especially if White wants to resolve the tension immediately.

That is what occurred in this game. White traded their knight (5. Nxc6) which is an immediate inaccuracy which gives the advantage to Black [-0.51]. At the end of the opening with opposite side castling, Black had a completely winning advantage of [-4.63] up two points of material!

After pieces trades in the middle game, we enter an endgame of Black having the rook pair against White’s bishop and rook. The rook pair can often be overwhelming, especially with few pawns on the board. In fact, White’s bishop last move was on move 23 and didn’t have an opportunity to move again until the penultimate move on move 41. This move was forced to avoid checkmate for one turn! GG!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/daily/443072997

[Event "Let's Play!"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2022.11.05"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Ayman_albdre777"]
[Black "vitualis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "C45"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Scotch-Game-Steinitz-Variation"]
[UTCDate "2022.11.05"]
[UTCTime "10:28:13"]
[WhiteElo "902"]
[BlackElo "1190"]
[TimeControl "1/604800"]
[Termination "vitualis won by checkmate"]
[StartTime "10:28:13"]
[EndDate "2022.11.05"]
[EndTime "11:38:34"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/daily/443072997"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qh4 {[%c_arrow
d8h4;keyPressed;none;from;d8;opacity;0.8;to;h4;persistent;false] Scotch Game: Steinitz Variation} 5. Nxc6 $6 {White immediately attempts to resolve the tension, but this gives a good advantage to Black in the opening} 5... Qxe4+ 6. Be3 $6 {Another inaccuracy [-1.31]} 6... dxc6 7. Bd3 {Black compounds yet another mistake [-4.55] demonstrating the potential power of the Steinitz Variation} 7... Qxg2 8. Rf1 Bd7 $6 9. a3 O-O-O 10. Nc3 Bh3 11. Qe2 Qxf1+ 12. Qxf1 Bxf1 13. Bxf1 {And at the end of the opening, Black is completely winning from the otherwise powerful Scotch Game [-5.63]. My goal from this point was to force trades and simplify to a winning endgame.} 13... Nf6 14. Bd3 Nd5 15. Nxd5 cxd5 16. O-O-O Kb8 17. f4 d4 18. Bf2 Bd6 19. Bg3 g5 20. fxg5 Bxg3 21. hxg3 h6 $6 22. gxh6 Rxh6 23. Bf5 $6 {Two rooks vs rook & bishop is often overwhelming in the endgame. This bishop doesn't again for almost 20 moves, and then only as a forced move immediately before checkmate $1} 23... Rh2 $6 24. c3 c5 25. g4 Kc7 26. cxd4 Rxd4 27. Rxd4 cxd4 28. Kb1 Kd6 29. Ka2 Ke5 30. Kb3 Kf4 31. Kc4 Ke3 32. b3 Rd2 33. a4 d3 34. b4 Rd1 35. Kc3 d2 36. Kc2 Rc1+ 37. Kb3 d1=Q+ 38. Ka3 Rc3+ 39. Kb2 Qb3+ 40. Ka1 Rc1+ 41. Bb1 Qxb1# {[%c_effect
e3;square;e3;type;Winner,a1;square;a1;type;CheckmateWhite]} 0-1