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I recently had a short game of the Vienna Gambit Accepted, where my opponent responded in an unexpected way after the push of the e-pawn to e5 (1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 exf4 4. e5). Now, the two most common moves with this threat against the knight are to, (i) undevelop the knight, Ng8, which is the most accurate move, or (ii) pin the e-pawn to the king with Qe7.

My opponent played the FASCINATING move Ne4! As Black is rated in the mid-1200s and spent over 20 seconds thinking, they didn’t just mindless blunder and hang a piece. There is intentionality, there is purpose behind this move! Black is playing an extraordinary countergambit – giving up a full piece, their knight for a rapid attack!

Now, this isn’t a good gambit, but I cannot help but admire the audacity of the attack! There are times when an early and immediate gambit of a piece, like the Halloween Gambit where a knight is given up for a pawn, can give powerful tactical lines.

Black finds the thematic idea – the potential weakness of an early f-pawn move is the dark square diagonal to the king. They play (5… Qh4+) – the wayward queen with check. With their pawn advanced to f4, this can often be a problem for White in the Vienna Gambit lines.

However, in this specific case, it geometrically doesn’t work! A consequence of the knight capture on e4 is that the queen’s knight, which normally on c3 cannot contribute to the defence against the kingside attack by Black’s queen, is positioned just right to deflect the attack! Black tries to double down by developing their bishop but my two knights overwhelm the uncoordinated attack by the queen. Somehow, everything is defended. On move 9, I manage to launch a double attack on Black’s two developed pieces simultaneously, and Black resigns. GG!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/live/73873217179

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2023.03.29"]
[Round "-"]
[White "vitualis"]
[Black "TAREK-FAWZY-GAMIL"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "C28"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Vienna-Game-Falkbeer-Vienna-Gambit"]
[UTCDate "2023.03.29"]
[UTCTime "23:55:47"]
[WhiteElo "1408"]
[BlackElo "1255"]
[TimeControl "1800"]
[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]
[StartTime "23:55:47"]
[EndDate "2023.03.29"]
[EndTime "23:59:53"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/live/73873217179"]
[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.82046355.50x50o.c8c8e6b7296c.jpg"]
[WhiteCountry "17"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/262168761.072fee47.50x50o.fd107835c5ac.jpg"]
[BlackCountry "45"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. e4 {[%clk 0:29:59.5]} 1... e5 {[%clk 0:29:57]} 2. Nc3 {[%clk 0:29:54.2]} 2...
Nf6 {[%clk 0:29:48.7]} 3. f4 {[%clk 0:29:47.1]} 3... exf4 $6 {[%clk
0:29:34.3][%c_effect f4;square;f4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] Vienna Gambit
Accepted} 4. e5 {[%clk 0:29:45.7]} 4... Ne4 {[%clk 0:29:11.2] This is a
fascinating gambit of a full piece $1 I cannot help but to admire my opponent's
audacity $1 [+5.4]} 5. Nxe4 {[%clk 0:29:43.9]} 5... Qh4+ {[%clk 0:29:00.5] I think
Black, who I presume was unfamiliar with the Vienna Gambit, saw this line and
presumed Qh4+ must be winning. This is a good insight, but unfortunately, not
today my friend...} 6. g3 {[%clk 0:29:39.6]} 6... fxg3 {[%clk 0:28:58.6]} 7.
Nxg3 {[%clk 0:29:32.8][%c_arrow
g3e4;keyPressed;none;from;g3;opacity;0.8;to;e4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e4;persistent;false] And fundamentally,
the geometry just makes this work $1} 7... Bc5 $6 {[%clk 0:28:35.9][%c_effect
c5;square;c5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
h4d8;keyPressed;none;from;h4;opacity;0.8;to;d8;persistent;false,d7d6;keyPressed;none;from;d7;opacity;0.8;to;d6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d8;persistent;false,d6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d6;persistent;false]
Black doubles down on the attack [+7.3]} 8. Nf3 {[%clk 0:28:44.3]} 8... Qf4 $6
{[%clk 0:27:50.8][%c_effect
f4;square;f4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
h4g4;keyPressed;none;from;h4;opacity;0.8;to;g4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g4;persistent;false] Unfortunately,
knights are just a little bit too tricky [+11]} 9. d4 {[%clk
0:28:24.7][%c_effect
e1;square;e1;type;Winner,e8;square;e8;type;ResignBlack][%c_arrow
c1f4;keyPressed;none;from;c1;opacity;0.8;to;f4;persistent;false,d4c5;keyPressed;none;from;d4;opacity;0.8;to;c5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f4;persistent;false,c5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c5;persistent;false]
A double attack, and Black throws in the towel. GG $1} 1-0