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In the last video and blog (https://adventuresofachessnoob.com/?p=1577), I played a game against another Chess Boot Camp member @SassySkittles and gave some feedback on their opening. I recommended following the general opening principles (take the centre with pawns, develop pieces – knights before bishops if possible, and then castle before launching an attack) rather than a risky opening strategy they had developed.

This game was a rematch where they tried to implement some of these principles, and they did extremely well! I played the Vienna, and they responded with the Max Lange Defense (1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6). Black developed the knights, then a bishop, and then castled, ignoring my provocation with f5.

This is practically a perfect solid defence against the Vienna Game with Black castling first and entering the middlegame on an equal evaluation [0.00]. This is one of the things about the general opening principles – it results in perfectly good positions without necessarily understanding much opening theory for a specific, or an unfamiliar opening!

Now as the Vienna Game is kind of my thing, I throw some more aggressive and provocative attacks. I pushed my knight forward early (6. Nd5), knowing that it was an inaccurate move. However, the punishing response for Black isn’t obvious (6… Na5) and I was hoping to trade/remove Black’s knight on f6. My strategy was to get rid of that kingside defender, cut the board in two with my chain of pawns, and then attack down the kingside while Black’s pieces are on the wrong side of my pawn chain.

This strategy was somewhat high risk and with perfect play, Black had an advantage. However, with opposite side castling and then the pawn storm race reaching its end, my pawn chain simply meant that my attack on their king was structurally more venomous than Black’s. Operationally, this means that it is easier to play as a human with White than Black.

Nonetheless, Black’s first real mistake was on move 16 with a subsequent blunder on move 18. Both involved an underappreciation of the threat of my h-pawn reaching the sixth rank and the ensuing opening of the h-file, with an ensuring checkmate from rook and queen. For a 600-rated player, this is entirely understandable. They played a phenomenal game, and was equal or ahead, for most of the match against an unfamiliar system. Well done!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/daily/468926503

[Event "Let's Play!"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2023.01.22"]
[Round "-"]
[White "vitualis"]
[Black "SassySkittles"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "C28"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Bishops-Opening-Berlin-Vienna-Hybrid-Variation"]
[UTCDate "2023.01.22"]
[UTCTime "20:38:10"]
[WhiteElo "1183"]
[BlackElo "645"]
[TimeControl "1/259200"]
[Termination "vitualis won by checkmate"]
[StartTime "20:38:10"]
[EndDate "2023.01.22"]
[EndTime "22:24:13"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/daily/468926503"]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/208023435.6f2cd7a3.78x78o.c0269e8dfd0e@3x.jpg"]
[BlackCountry "2"]
[BlackTitle ""]
[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.82046355.78x78o.ebd68214df6f@3x.jpg"]
[WhiteCountry "17"]
[WhiteTitle ""]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 {Vienna Game: Max Lange Defense} 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. f4
O-O {Black plays pretty much a perfectly solid opening against the Vienna
[0.00]} 6. Nd5 $2 {[%c_effect d5;square;d5;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
g1f3;keyPressed;none;from;g1;opacity;0.8;to;f3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f3;persistent;false] I knew that this
aggressive push forward is technically a mistake [-2], but my goal is to get rid
of the defending knight on f6, and Black rarely finds the best response of Na5}
6... d6 $6 {[%c_effect d6;square;d6;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
c6a5;keyPressed;none;from;c6;opacity;0.8;to;a5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
a5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a5;persistent;false] A relative inaccuracy
[-0.88]} 7. f5 {And I now have a super solid centre to support an attack on the
kingside} 7... Nxd5 $6 {[%c_effect d5;square;d5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true]
An inaccuracy [-0.1]} 8. Bxd5 Nd4 9. c3 c6 10. cxd4 Bb4+ $1 {[%c_effect
b4;square;b4;type;GreatFind;persistent;true]} 11. Bd2 $1 {[%c_effect
d2;square;d2;type;GreatFind;persistent;true]} 11... Bxd2+ 12. Qxd2 cxd5 $1
{[%c_effect d5;square;d5;type;GreatFind;persistent;true]} 13. O-O-O $2 {[%c_effect
c1;square;c1;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
g1e2;keyPressed;none;from;g1;opacity;0.8;to;e2;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e2;persistent;false] A relative mistake
[-1.5]. Developing the knight was better.} 13... b5 14. g4 $2 {[%c_effect
g4;square;g4;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
g1h3;keyPressed;none;from;g1;opacity;0.8;to;h3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h3;persistent;false] My plan was to pawn
storm. Stockfish thinks this is a mistake [-2.5] and that developing the knight
was better. However, the pawn storm as a strategy ultimately worked in this
match.} 14... a5 $2 {[%c_effect a5;square;a5;type;Mistake;persistent;true]} 15.
h4 $2 {[%c_effect h4;square;h4;type;Mistake;persistent;true] Curiously, Stockfish
didn't approve of the pawn storm race by either White or Black} 15... b4 $2
{[%c_effect b4;square;b4;type;Mistake;persistent;true]} 16. h5 $6 {[%c_effect
h5;square;h5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true]} 16... Ba6 $2 {[%c_effect
a6;square;a6;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
h7h6;keyPressed;none;from;h7;opacity;0.8;to;h6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h6;persistent;false] However, this is a
mistake [+0.85], and is really the first mistake of importance by Black, which
is fantastic play by a beginner player rated in the 600s $1  The pawn storm has
progressed too far to ignore...} 17. h6 $6 {[%c_effect
h6;square;h6;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true]} 17... Rc8+ 18. Kb1 b3 $4
{[%c_effect b3;square;b3;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_arrow
g7g5;keyPressed;none;from;g7;opacity;0.8;to;g5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g5;persistent;false] A blunder [+7.7] as
Black is one tempo too slow, and White's threat is much more venomous than
Black's} 19. hxg7 $1 {[%c_effect
g7;square;g7;type;GreatFind;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d2h6;keyPressed;none;from;d2;opacity;0.8;to;h6;persistent;false,h6h7;keyPressed;none;from;h6;opacity;0.8;to;h7;persistent;false,h1h7;keyPressed;none;from;h1;opacity;0.8;to;h7;persistent;false,g7f8;keyPressed;none;from;g7;opacity;0.8;to;f8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h7;persistent;false,f8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f8;persistent;false]
My pawn chain diagonal supported a killer blow down the h-file, while Black had
no equivalent down the a-file} 19... bxa2+ 20. Kxa2 Re8 $2 {[%c_effect
e8;square;e8;type;Mistake;persistent;true] A mistake as checkmate is now
inevitable} 21. Qh6 Qh4 22. Rxh4 Bc4+ 23. dxc4 Rxc4 24. Qxh7# {[%c_effect
a2;square;a2;type;Winner,g8;square;g8;type;CheckmateBlack]} 1-0