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The Vienna Gambit is the “Mozart” of chess openings. Mozart, of course, spent much of his life in Vienna. He created works which are not only brilliant, but often also whimsical and fun! This is the exact character of the Vienna Gambit!

In this game I develop an absolutely crushing position out of the Vienna Gambit. Well, not quite – it was a Vienna Game where on move 2, my opponent played a waiting move (1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 a6). Effectively, it transposed into the same lines as the Vienna Gambit afterwards, but where I was effectively a step of tempo up.

And this acceleration absolutely destroyed the Black position! One of the things with the Vienna Game is that it might look like a quite defensive position if you’re not familiar with it. However, down some lines, especially the Vienna Gambit lines, it creates a devastating early attack down the f-file.

One of the tactical themes is the brilliant bishop sacrifice capture of the f7 pawn, something that has featured in several Vienna Gambit and Vienna Game videos. This forces the Black king to capture, drawing it onto the f-file, which in many of the gambit lines, will now be fully open, controlled by the White’s rook. The king then is relatively trapped that side while White marshals multiple pieces into the attack. Not uncommonly, Black has little development and is at the mercy of White’s invading forces.

In this game, Black had opened space on the queenside with some early pawn moves, and this allowed the king to desperately escape, eventually in an awkward and sad alcove on a7 on move 19. Incredibly, apart from pawns, all of Black’s remaining pieces (rook pair, queen, and queen’s knight and bishop) were still on their starting squares!

Black fought on valiantly, but on move 37, I captured Black’s last piece, a bishop with my queen, and Black resigned. Happily, my ELO rating for rapid crossed back into the 1400s at the end of this game. GG!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/live/67828298951

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2023.01.19"]
[Round "-"]
[White "vitualis"]
[Black "ADRIANENRIQUE59"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "C25"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Vienna-Game"]
[UTCDate "2023.01.19"]
[UTCTime "00:48:20"]
[WhiteElo "1405"]
[BlackElo "1402"]
[TimeControl "1800"]
[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]
[StartTime "00:48:20"]
[EndDate "2023.01.19"]
[EndTime "01:21:07"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/live/67828298951"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 {Vienna Game} 2... a6 $6 {[%c_effect
a6;square;a6;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] This is an uncommon waiting move
against the Vienna [+0.90]. Although the might initially appear passive, it can
also be an extreme quick and aggressive attacking system and step of delay is
not good for Black.} 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. f4 {Although this isn't technically the
Vienna Gambit, it is effectively the same as that line with Black losing a step
of tempo} 4... exf4 5. e5 Ng8 $2 {[%c_effect
g8;square;g8;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d7d5;keyPressed;none;from;d7;opacity;0.8;to;d5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d5;persistent;false] This was a mistake
[+2.1]. The difference is that White's bishop has developed and could be
counterattacked as a target.} 6. Nf3 Bc5 $2 {[%c_effect
c5;square;c5;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
b8c6;keyPressed;none;from;b8;opacity;0.8;to;c6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c6;persistent;false] A mistake [+4.7]} 7.
d4 $1 {[%c_effect d4;square;d4;type;GreatFind;persistent;true]} 7... Bb4 8. Bxf4
h6 9. O-O {And at the end of my development, I have the full centre, and have
developed all of my minor pieces. Black has only a bishop developed. Although
material is equal, the evaluation is [+6.4].} 9... d6 10. Bd2 $6 {[%c_effect
d2;square;d2;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
c4f7;keyPressed;none;from;c4;opacity;0.8;to;f7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f7;persistent;false] I thought that I
needed to open the f-file before the bishop sacrifice, but Stockfish finds a
savage line $1 This is a relatively inaccuracy [from +7.2 to +4.9] but still
completely winning.} ({... the best line according to Stockfish 15.1 NNUE} 10.
Bxf7+ Kxf7 11. Nh4 $3 {[%c_effect h4;square;h4;type;Brilliant;persistent;true]
The queen cannot capture the knight as Bg5+ comes with discovered check, and the
queen is lost} 11... Ne7 12. exd6 cxd6 13. Bxd6+ {Discovered check, with
simultaneous attack on the bishop} 13... Kg8 14. Bxb4 {...and chess continues at
better than [+7]}) 10... c5 $2 {[%c_effect
c5;square;c5;type;Mistake;persistent;true] A mistake [+10.2] with Black not
recognising the massive threat on the king down the f-file} 11. Bxf7+ $3
{[%c_effect f7;square;f7;type;Brilliant;persistent;true] A common tactic in
these lines - the brilliant bishop sacrifice capture of the f-pawn, which draws
the Black king into the full open f-file} 11... Kxf7 12. Ng5+ Ke8 13. Qh5+ Kd7
14. Rf7+ {I saw that Black's king could run into the space opened on the
queenside and I wasn't sure what was the best line. I decided to bring an extra
rook into the attack which was good but not the best [from +12.2 to +8.7].}
14... Ne7 15. e6+ $4 $9 {[%c_effect
e6;square;e6;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_arrow
g5e6;keyPressed;none;from;g5;opacity;0.8;to;e6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e6;persistent;false] This was a \"miss\"
[from +12.5 to +5.1]} ({...Stockfish at high depth thinks that this is the best
move for White, with the best continuation involving Black sacrificing their
queen. I would argue that this machine-line is practically impossible to see as
a human.} 15. Ne6 {...}) 15... Kc7 $2 {[%c_effect
c7;square;c7;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d7c6;keyPressed;none;from;d7;opacity;0.8;to;c6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c6;persistent;false] A relatively mistake
[+9.6]. The king's desperate escape makes finding the best square difficult $1}
16. Nd5+ Kc6 17. Nxe7+ Kb6 18. Bxb4 cxb4 19. Nd5+ Ka7 {Black's king finds
temporary safety in this rather awkward alcove on the side of the board [+6.6]}
20. e7 hxg5 $2 {[%c_effect g5;square;g5;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d8a5;keyPressed;none;from;d8;opacity;0.8;to;a5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
a5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a5;persistent;false] A mistake [+13] as
this forces an advantageous trade in pieces. Black needed to evacuate their
queen while they still had the chance} 21. exd8=Q Rxd8 22. Qxg5 Nc6 23. Nxb4
{[%c_arrow g5d8;keyPressed;none;from;g5;opacity;0.8;to;d8;persistent;false]
Black's knight is pinned to the defence of the rook [+16]} 23... Bd7 24. Nxc6+
Bxc6 25. Qxg7 d5 26. Raf1 Rg8 27. Qe5 Rge8 28. Qd6 Rac8 29. Qc5+ Kb8 {[%c_arrow
c5f8;keyPressed;none;from;c5;opacity;0.8;to;f8;persistent;false,f1f8;keyPressed;none;from;f1;opacity;0.8;to;f8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f8;persistent;false] With the triple
control of f8 and Black's king forced onto the back rank, I can force a trade of
rooks, simplifying into an easily endgame} 30. Rf8 Bb5 31. Rxe8 Rxe8 32. Qd6+ {A
relative error due to overthinking $1} 32... Ka7 33. Qc5+ Ka8 34. Rf8 {Back to the
original tactic that I had previous calculated to be good $1} 34... Ba4 35. Rxe8+
Bxe8 36. Qc8+ Ka7 37. Qxe8 {[%c_effect
g1;square;g1;type;Winner,a7;square;a7;type;ResignBlack] Black resigns. GG $1} 1-0