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This video is for Vienna Game and Vienna Gambit fans, and I’m going to take you further down the rabbit hole! I’ve a series of videos for the player with both the White and Black pieces:

• [White] How to Play the Vienna Gambit – A Complete Guide for Beginners: https://adventuresofachessnoob.com/2023/02/08/how-to-play-the-vienna-gambit-a-complete-guide-for-beginners/

The Vienna Gambit is full of win, but against the clever player with the Black pieces who knows (3… d5):

• [White] Introduction to the Vienna Game Main Line: https://adventuresofachessnoob.com/2022/06/15/introduction-to-the-vienna-game-main-line/

However, we can also take advantage of this knowledge for evil (with the black pieces!) and potentially punish White using the Bardeleben Variation in the Main Line:

• [Black] Vienna Game Main Line | WIN WITH BLACK against the Paulsen Attack!: https://adventuresofachessnoob.com/2023/02/20/vienna-game-main-line-win-with-black-against-the-paulsen-attack/
• [Black] Bardeleben Variation | CRUSH the Vienna Gambit!: https://adventuresofachessnoob.com/2023/03/29/bardeleben-variation-crush-the-vienna-gambit/

This video and game will be a potential approach when faced with the Bardeleben Variation of the Vienna Game Main Line. I’m going to introduce the Heyde Variation (1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5 4. fxe5 Nxe4 5. Qf3 f5 6. d4)!

This is an interesting option. While according to Stockfish, it isn’t as good as (6. d3), in practice I find it easier to play as White.

The conceptual idea is that the pawn on e5 is an important resource for us. The aggressive stance of f5 in the Bardeleben Variation instantly makes our pawn a passed pawn. It is also important for central control, and at the moment, it’s pretty tenuous. As can be seen in some of my other games where I played as Black and used the Bardeleben Variation, White had difficulty holding onto the e-pawn, and if it collapses, Black has an extremely strong attack down the centre.

The optimal next move for Black is (6… Be7) and our next few moves becomes relatively straightforward. We guard the g3 square with a knight developing move (7. Nge2) as our dark square diagonal to the king is open to attack. We develop our dark square bishop next (8. Be3) and then the king can be castled queenside and out of danger (9. O-O-O).

In this game, my opponent played an entirely reasonable move 6 (6… Nc6), but this was already suboptimal according to Stockfish, equalising the position [0.00]. I pin their knight (7. Bb5) and after the reasonable attempt to unpin with development (7… Bd7), and inaccuracy, I’m now ahead [+0.6]. Why? In trading my bishop for the knight places the bishop on the wrong square (8. Bxc6 Bxc6) as it no longer defends their “Bardeleben” pawn on f5, creating a target.

Now, although the f5 pawn looks hanging, it would be a massive mistake to immediately capture it with the queen. The king is much too exposed with the open dark square diagonal. So, I developed my knight to cover g3 (9. Nge2) and then opted to castle kingside (10. O-O), creating a nice battery down the f-file. Black castled the opposite side, which was a mistake as now, I can win the Bardeleben pawn with my queen, and force an immediate queen trade as the Black queen is pinned to the castled king, with my rook controlling the f-file (11. Qxf5 Qxf5 12. Rxf5).

With that, White has managed to navigate the opening, has no odd pawn structures (that often occurs with the Bardeleben Variation, 6. d3), and taken an advantage in the early middle game [+1]. This is a good outcome as the Vienna Game Main Line, especially the Bardeleben Variation, gives excellent tactical attacking lines for Black.

My opponent unfortunately blunders their knight on move 13, cleanly hanging it with no compensation. Bishops are long-range snipers so keep an eye on those diagonals! This was a [+10] advantage, and the remainder of the game was simple clean up. Black played well, but couldn’t marshal a counterattack in the position. GG!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/daily/498962979

[Event "Let's Play!"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2023.04.04"]
[Round "-"]
[White "vitualis"]
[Black "the_nut_job"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "C29"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Vienna-Game-Main-Line-Paulsen-Bardeleben-Heyde-Variation"]
[UTCDate "2023.04.04"]
[UTCTime "08:33:03"]
[WhiteElo "1203"]
[BlackElo "971"]
[TimeControl "1/604800"]
[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]
[StartTime "08:33:03"]
[EndDate "2023.04.06"]
[EndTime "21:37:22"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/daily/498962979"]
[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.82046355.50x50o.c8c8e6b7296c.jpg"]
[WhiteCountry "17"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/199491106.43968df8.50x50o.368864373075.png"]
[BlackCountry "102"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5 {Vienna Game Main Line} 4. fxe5 Nxe4 5. Qf3
{Paulsen Attack} 5... f5 {Bardeleben Variation - probably the best response by
Black that can be difficult to play against as White [-0.11]} 6. d4 {Heyde
Variation. This is an interesting option that is not as good as d3 according to
Stockfish, but in practice, I find easier to play as White [-0.4]} 6... Nc6
{[%c_highlight
e7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e7;persistent;false][%c_arrow
f8e7;keyPressed;none;from;f8;opacity;0.8;to;e7;persistent;false] Black played a
perfectly reasonable move [0.00]. Stockfish believes Be7 is optimal.} ({This is
the optimal move for Black, and the next options for White is a straightforward
idea to castle queenside} 6... Be7 7. Nge2 {[%c_arrow
e2g3;keyPressed;none;from;e2;opacity;0.8;to;g3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g3;persistent;false] Defending the g3
square is an important tactic prior to castling the king the safety} 7... O-O 8.
Be3 {[%c_arrow
e1c1;keyPressed;none;from;e1;opacity;0.8;to;c1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c1;persistent;false] And the king can
probably be safely castled next turn, and chess continues...}) 7. Bb5 Bd7 $6
{[%c_effect d7;square;d7;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
a7a6;keyPressed;none;from;a7;opacity;0.8;to;a6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
a6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a6;persistent;false] A relative inaccuracy
[+0.6]} 8. Bxc6 Bxc6 9. Nge2 Qd7 10. O-O O-O-O {[%c_arrow
g7g6;keyPressed;none;from;g7;opacity;0.8;to;g6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g6;persistent;false] A slightly suboptimal
move [+1] as I can now force a queen trade and win a pawn} 11. Qxf5 Qxf5 12.
Rxf5 g6 $6 {[%c_effect g6;square;g6;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
e4c3;keyPressed;none;from;e4;opacity;0.8;to;c3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c3;persistent;false] An inaccuracy [+2.2]}
13. Rf7 Ng5 $4 {[%c_effect g5;square;g5;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_arrow
c6e8;keyPressed;none;from;c6;opacity;0.8;to;e8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e8;persistent;false] And Black blunders
their knight [+10] missing that the diagonal is covered by the dark square
bishop} 14. Bxg5 Re8 15. Bf6 Rg8 16. Rf1 h6 17. Nf4 Bb4 18. Nfxd5 Bxd5 19. Nxd5
Ba5 20. Ne7+ Rxe7 21. Bxe7 Kd7 22. Bb4+ Kc6 23. Bxa5 b6 24. R1f6+ Kb7 25. Bd2 h5
26. Bg5 a5 27. Rf8 Rg7 28. R6f7 {And I force trade Black's remaining rook} 28...
Rxf7 29. Rxf7 {[%c_effect
g1;square;g1;type;Winner,b7;square;b7;type;ResignBlack] Black resigns [+M8]} 1-0