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Welcome to another episode of the “chess noob Game Review” series where the focus will be on identifying in how a game, whether I win or lose, could have been improved. This gives me an opportunity to reflect more deeply about a game and hopefully, the lessons that I draw for myself will be helpful to my fellow beginner and beginner-intermediate chess players!

This was a World League 2023 match on chess.com between the clubs Team Canada and Team Australia. I’m playing for Team Australia (of course)! This game allows us to have a look at some of the tactics and tactical patterns when launching a massive kingside attack in the Vienna Game. Kingside attacks are one of the strategic themes in the Vienna.

I had the white pieces, and my opponent played super solidly against the Vienna in the opening with the Max Lange Defense up to move 4 (1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5).

At this point, Stockfish would suggest that the best move is the predictable Nf3, and we would transpose effectively into the Giuoco Pianissimo, the “very quiet” game in the Italian. I dislike playing the Giuoco Piano lines, so I never play that.

In the past, I’ve also played a delayed Vienna Gambit-ish f4 in this position, but it’s a bit tricky. With Black’s dark square bishop on c5, kingside castling is not immediately available.

Recently, and in this game, I’ve been playing the provocative Be3, immediately challenging Black’s bishop. According to the Lichess database of lower-rated games of blitz and rapid, this is the 5th most common move in this position and has one of the best win ratios (54% for white). In essence, I’m baiting Black to capture my bishop, to which I can capture back with my f-pawn, opening up the f-file and helping prepare for short castling with my rook controlling the f-file. If Black chooses to avoid this, they must make a second move with their bishop – which is what my opponent chose to do.

Next, I played another provocative move with Nd5, this time, baiting Black to trade their kingside knight on f6. They oblige and I capture back with bishop (6. Nd5 Nxd5 7. Bxd5). The tactical idea here is that I remove their defender on the kingside, and at the end of the exchange, my bishop is looking at the pawn on f7. This becomes a critical part of the subsequent attack as it is common that this pawn will become pinned to Black’s king.

Let’s take stock at the beginning of move 9. Other than one rook, all of Black’s pieces are on the queenside. On the other hand, I’ve both bishops, a knight, and potentially a queen ready to attack into the kingside. Although the evaluation is completely equal [0.00], White has a straightforward plan of attack – move the pieces in for the attack!

On move 11, I missed a potential brilliant sacrifice (11. Bxh6) that wins material and potentially an outright mate. I played a slower and more conservative line, thinking that I had to bring my queen into the field (Qh5) before striking. The general tactics, however, are quite similar!

Potentially, it’s okay to sacrifice a piece if it results in punching a hole in Black’s defensive pawns. With Black’s pieces on the wrong side of the board, the king can be trapped in their little castle. My bishop on d5 pinning the f-pawn to the king powerfully restricts the mobility of Black’s king, and the rook on the f-file. Moreover, it’s this also means that the f-pawn does not defend the g6 square!

I go through the potential lines, including one that I missed in the video as well as in the PGN. Move 15, my opponent resigned when faced with the unavoidable mating line. GG!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/club/matches/1461893

[Event "WL2023 R2: Team Canada vs. Team Australia - Board 294"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2023.02.15"]
[Round "-"]
[White "vitualis"]
[Black "owen21cc"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Match "https://www.chess.com/club/matches/1461893"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "C28"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Bishops-Opening-Berlin-Vienna-Hybrid-Variation"]
[UTCDate "2023.02.15"]
[UTCTime "17:05:33"]
[WhiteElo "1199"]
[BlackElo "1048"]
[TimeControl "1/259200"]
[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]
[StartTime "17:05:33"]
[EndDate "2023.02.22"]
[EndTime "03:31:55"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/daily/479000869"]
[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.82046355.50x50o.c8c8e6b7296c.jpg"]
[WhiteCountry "17"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/162370947.d46e39c1.50x50o.6503ccb2d81e.jpeg"]
[BlackCountry "3"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. e4 {[%clk 67:17:40]} 1... e5 {[%clk 68:17:10]} 2. Nc3 {[%clk 71:35:26]} 2...
Nc6 {[%clk 69:53:07] Vienna Game: Max Lange Defense} 3. Bc4 {[%clk 71:59:09]}
3... Nf6 {[%clk 71:57:31]} 4. d3 {[%clk 71:59:26]} 4... Bc5 {[%clk 71:55:52]} 5.
Be3 {[%clk 71:59:09][%c_arrow
e3c5;keyPressed;none;from;e3;opacity;0.8;to;c5;persistent;false,c5e3;keyPressed;none;from;c5;opacity;0.8;to;e3;persistent;false,f2e3;keyPressed;none;from;f2;opacity;0.8;to;e3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e3;persistent;false,c5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c5;persistent;false]
Tactical logic: open the f-file, or force Black to move their bishop a second
time} 5... Bb6 {[%clk 48:09:45]} 6. Nd5 {[%clk 71:41:32][%c_highlight
d5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d5;persistent;false,f6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f6;persistent;false][%c_arrow
f6d5;keyPressed;none;from;f6;opacity;0.8;to;d5;persistent;false,d5f6;keyPressed;none;from;d5;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false]
Tactical logic: entice a knight trade, removing a defender of Black's kingside}
6... Nxd5 {[%clk 60:19:28]} 7. Bxd5 {[%clk 66:45:17] Note: almost all of Black's
pieces are on their queenside} 7... O-O {[%clk 66:26:22]} 8. Nf3 {[%clk
71:11:33] The position is technically equal [0.00] but White has a
straightforward attack on Black's kingside} 8... d6 {[%clk 58:31:11]} 9. Bg5
{[%clk 68:38:37]} 9... Qd7 {[%clk 51:17:22]} 10. Nh4 {[%clk 69:09:18]} 10... h6
{[%clk 71:39:11]} 11. Qh5 {[%clk 71:56:20][%c_arrow
g5h6;keyPressed;none;from;g5;opacity;0.8;to;h6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h6;persistent;false] I thought that this
was a clever move as if Black captures the bishop, they fatally damage their
kingside defence. However, there was an even better move that I didn't see.
Interestingly, Stockfish on low depth mis-evaluates this move (rating it worse
than [-1]) as it doesn't see the tactical strength for White. At high depth it's
around [-0.3 to -0.4].} ({This is a brilliant line where we straight up punch a
hole in Black's defence. If Black captures the bishop (almost irresistable),
they are losing} 11. Bxh6 $3 {[%c_effect
h6;square;h6;type;Brilliant;persistent;true]} 11... gxh6 12. Nf5 Ne7 {[%c_arrow
d7f5;keyPressed;none;from;d7;opacity;0.8;to;f5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f5;persistent;false] To avoid mate, Black
needs to sacrifice their queen for the knight $1} 13. Qg4+ Ng6 14. Qxg6+ Kh8 15.
Qg7#) 11... Nd4 {[%clk 71:26:15] Great move by Black $1} ({If Black captures the
bishop, there is a forced mate line} 11... hxg5 12. Ng6 {[%c_arrow
h5h8;keyPressed;none;from;h5;opacity;0.8;to;h8;persistent;false,g6h8;keyPressed;none;from;g6;opacity;0.8;to;h8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h8;persistent;false] Black can do some
spite checks, but mate is inevitable} 12... Ba5+ 13. c3 Bxc3+ 14. bxc3 Qh3 15.
gxh3 Bxh3 16. Qh8#) 12. O-O $2 {[%clk 71:53:42][%c_effect
g1;square;g1;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
h2h3;keyPressed;none;from;h2;opacity;0.8;to;h3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h3;persistent;false] This was a serious
mistake if Black plays accurately. I end up losing a step of tempo in my attack,
which leads to it failing [-6]} 12... Ne6 $4 {[%clk 71:59:00][%c_effect
e6;square;e6;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_arrow
c7c6;keyPressed;none;from;c7;opacity;0.8;to;c6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c6;persistent;false] Luckily for me,
neither my opponent or I saw the required tactic and I'm winning [+4]} 13.
Bxh6 $3 {[%clk 71:54:14][%c_effect h6;square;h6;type;Brilliant;persistent;true]
Brilliant move $1} 13... Nf4 $2 {[%clk 52:20:02][%c_effect
f4;square;f4;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d7d8;keyPressed;none;from;d7;opacity;0.8;to;d8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d8;persistent;false] A mistake [+8], but
the best move was hard to find} 14. Bxf4 {[%clk 68:22:36]} 14... exf4 $2 {[%clk
52:11:12][%c_effect f4;square;f4;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d7g4;keyPressed;none;from;d7;opacity;0.8;to;g4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g4;persistent;false] A mistake and
checkmate is now unavoidable [+M3]} 15. Ng6 $1 {[%clk 68:36:05][%c_effect
g6;square;g6;type;GreatFind;persistent;true,g1;square;g1;type;Winner,g8;square;g8;type;ResignBlack]}
(15. Ng6 Bxf2+ 16. Rxf2 f3 17. Qh8#) 1-0