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This was another daily game with my subscriber (@the_nut_job) with the sad frog avatar (https://adventuresofachessnoob.com/2023/02/06/vienna-game-main-line-my-opponent-is-a-frog/). They are a fan of the Vienna Gambit and so with me playing the with black pieces, this was our third game of the Vienna Game Main Line.

After the last game, I recommended that they try the Paulsen Attack in the Main Line (1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3 f4 d5 4. fxe5 Nxe4 5. Qf3). The Paulsen Attack is a great attacking system for White in the Main Line, and it’s the line that I personally play.

However, when playing with Black, it’s something to know how to respond to! Why? Well, Black has a certain power here. As Black, when you encounter a Vienna Game player, you can pretty much steer the game into the Main Line as many Vienna Game players will attempt the Vienna Gambit if allowed. With the Main Line, Black is better right in the opening, but how?

Against the Paulsen Attack on move 5, Black has four options. Three of the options are very thematic opening moves for Black in the Main Line and the evaluation is at or close to [0.00]. These are:

• Nc6 – develop the queen’s knight
• Be6 – develop the queen’s bishop
• Nxc3 – resolve the tension in the centre of the board

The reason why these are “thematic” moves is that they are moves that probably will need to be made at some point in a different order, if White plays accurately. It’s often good for Black to castle queenside.

The last and best move for Black against the Paulsen Attack is (5… f5), the Bardeleben Variation. I actually first learnt this when Battle Chess for DOS used this move against me (https://adventuresofachessnoob.com/2022/12/17/battle-chess-dos-vs-chess-noob/)! This move increases Black’s control of the centre and isn’t easy for White to manage. Should they capture en passant the Black knight can recapture with a backwards move (6. exf6 Nxf6). White is somewhat exposed in this position and although is fine, the advantage is now more firmly with Black [-0.7].

The best move for While in the Bardeleben Variation is (6. d3). In this line, with our knight attacked by the pawn, we now trade knights and damage White’s pawn structure (6… Nxc3 7. bxc3). And then, the subsequent moves, assuming White plays accurately are as per the previous thematic opening moves – develop the queenside pieces and castle long.

Interesting historical note: Curt von Bardeleben (1861-1924) is one of these characters in chess history. He was a member of the German nobility and had apparently married and then divorced for money, a number of women who wanted his noble name! He is also know for a game he lost to Steinitz in 1895, where he simply walked out of the tournament rather than resigning!

In this game, my subscriber immediately attempted to resolve the centre tension by capturing my knight (6. Nxe4) and this was an inaccuracy [-1.5] as I gain central control with my pawns, an open d-file for my queen, and a point of tempo with Black needing to move their queen out of the attack.

Unfortunately for White, their attempt to assertively gain some centre control with (8. d4) was a game-ending blunder [-8.5]. They had missed that their king and queen were on the same dark square diagonal, and my next move (8… Bb4) had the queen pinned and subsequently lost. My subscriber was a good sport and played on, but checkmate came on move 15. GG!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/daily/470076161

[Event "Let's Play!"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2023.01.25"]
[Round "-"]
[White "the_nut_job"]
[Black "vitualis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "C29"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Vienna-Game-Main-Line-Paulsen-Bardeleben-Variation"]
[UTCDate "2023.01.25"]
[UTCTime "01:27:19"]
[WhiteElo "897"]
[BlackElo "1186"]
[TimeControl "1/604800"]
[Termination "vitualis won by checkmate"]
[StartTime "01:27:19"]
[EndDate "2023.02.09"]
[EndTime "05:35:51"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/daily/470076161"]
[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/199491106.43968df8.50x50o.368864373075.png"]
[WhiteCountry "102"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.82046355.50x50o.c8c8e6b7296c.jpg"]
[BlackCountry "17"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5 {Vienna Game: Main Line $1 My subscriber really likes
the Vienna Gambit $1} 4. fxe5 Nxe4 5. Qf3 {[%c_arrow
b8c6;keyPressed;none;from;b8;opacity;0.8;to;c6;persistent;false,e4c3;keyPressed;none;from;e4;opacity;0.8;to;c3;persistent;false,c8e6;keyPressed;none;from;c8;opacity;0.8;to;e6;persistent;false,f7f5;keyPressed;none;from;f7;opacity;0.8;to;f5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c6;persistent;false,c3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c3;persistent;false,e6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e6;persistent;false,f5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f5;persistent;false]
Paulsen Attack - I recommend using the Paulsen in the Vienna Game Main Line.
It's a good move that immediately threatens the knight. But how do we respond if
we are playing Black $2 This is an important question as when playing against the
Vienna Game player, it is Black who steers the game into the Main Line.} 5... f5
{The Bardeleben Variation is the best response [-0.2] according to Stockfish,
and I recommend it $1 Other options are Nc6, Nxc3, and Be6 which are all about
equal [0.00]} 6. Nxe4 $6 {[%c_effect
e4;square;e4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d2d3;keyPressed;none;from;d2;opacity;0.8;to;d3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d3;persistent;false] Unfortunately for
White, this was an inaccuracy [-1.5]} ({This is the best response by White. If
the game went down this line...} 6. d3 Nxc3 7. bxc3 {[%c_arrow
d5d4;keyPressed;none;from;d5;opacity;0.8;to;d4;persistent;false,b8c6;keyPressed;none;from;b8;opacity;0.8;to;c6;persistent;false,c8e6;keyPressed;none;from;c8;opacity;0.8;to;e6;persistent;false,d8e7;keyPressed;none;from;d8;opacity;0.8;to;e7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d4;persistent;false,c6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c6;persistent;false,e6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e6;persistent;false,e7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e7;persistent;false]
... and the general approach is the develop the queenside pieces and long
castle.}) 6... dxe4 7. Qc3 Nc6 8. d4 $4 {[%c_effect
d4;square;d4;type;Blunder;persistent;true] A game ending blunder [-8.5]. You
have to be careful when your queen and king are on the same diagonal.} 8... Bb4 $1
{[%c_effect b4;square;b4;type;GreatFind;persistent;true][%c_arrow
b4c3;keyPressed;none;from;b4;opacity;0.8;to;c3;persistent;false,c3e1;keyPressed;none;from;c3;opacity;0.8;to;e1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c3;persistent;false] The queen is pinned,
and lost} 9. Bd2 Bxc3 10. Bxc3 Nxd4 11. O-O-O Qg5+ 12. Kb1 Ne6 13. Bc4 O-O 14.
g3 Rd8 {There is a back rank checkmate threat for White} 15. h4 $4 {[%c_effect
h4;square;h4;type;Blunder;persistent;true] Unfortunately, White misses the
threat} 15... Rxd1# $1 {[%c_effect
d1;square;d1;type;GreatFind;persistent;true,g8;square;g8;type;Winner,b1;square;b1;type;CheckmateWhite]}
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